The song bring out the clowns starts to ring in my head when ever I start to think about the Shrine in a large way. Not out of any misanthropic meanness but because of their excellent work and commitment to the happiness and well being of so many children.
.
Say the name of the Shrine and instantly the image of charity, children's hospitals, and red fez's comes to mind, but behind those iconic images is an organizational powerhouse that, some suggest, drives the future of the Masonic fraternity.
.
Joining Masonic Central this week is Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder who is Imperial Outer Guard for Shriners International to talk about all things big and small as it relates to the Shrine.

What makes a lodge successful? Is it the energy behind the lodge, the people that create it? And, does that energy come at a cost? Is there a social capitol that is bartered in an invisible exchange that at times reflects a huge value where at others it challenges its very existence.

One such lodge happens to be a nexus for this very question, and has had a year to barter and trade on its own social capitol building a reputation amongst its community and amongst its peers. And this development has not been free of cost. Gate City Lodge in Atlanta Georgia has had a dynamic year, from a public forum on Catholicism and Masonry to a feature article about them in the New York Times. All in all, Gate city is not unaccustomed to controversy or at least some growing pains since its founding in 1887.

Since then, Gate City has suffered war, fire, growth and decline, all of which are no strangers to lodges of this age, yet Gate City has re-awoken as a cosmopolitan styled lodge, progressive in its ideas (even if they do not see themselves as such) and yet still as traditional as the day they fought to become the 4th lodges in the already crowded Georgian capital.

In the wake of the most turbulent period of American history, the story of the intersection of Freemasonry and the Civil War have been many and profound - fact and fiction have become impossibly merged until now. In an eloquent narrative story telling, Michael Halleran's new book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War separates the dime store novel and after dinner yarns from the real and verifiable stories of the American Civil War.

Madness, mayhem, mystery, and murder, these are but a few of the terms one could use to define the book, and later film, From HELL.
Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell (and Pete Mullins), the book is really at the for of recent fictional works in print and celluloid that featured the fraternity of Freemasonry in some diabolic aspect. One of its earlier for-bearers was more of a positive turn in the Return of the King, and so many years later, Moore and his work From Hell has transformed the benign fraternity into something malignant and nefarious. And, on its ascendancy to the cinema, the seductive spell of aristocracy and secret society takes center stage (pardon the pun) to position the fraternity at the very heart of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Few places give you consistent discourse on the occult and the western mystery tradition. And even fewer present the thought leaders within that field today. Masonic circles aside, few are the sources to find this type of conversation, and even fewer that produce it with the passion that Greg Kaminsky does.
Greg is the spirit, production, and host of the Occult of Personality podcast which has an ever increasing inventory of programs centered squarely on the idea of the occult and how it intersects with those of us who are interested in its practice and wisdom.
He could perhaps be called a techno mage, but In light of the conversation, I'd like to call him brother.

The MRF provides education and training to individuals, lodges and Grand Lodges on ways to establish quality programs, academic excellence and social relevance in their Masonic communities. As American Freemasonry faces some of the most important challenges in its history, the MRF stands to ensure a sense of purpose and identity for the Craft.

Joining us this week on Masonic Central to talk about the MRF, Traditional Observance Lodges (TO), and the European Concept Lodge (EC) are Mark Allen Tabbert and Cliff Porter, both of whom are active Board members of the Masonic Restoration Foundation. What exactly is a EC lodge? Are TO lodges the wave of the future? How do I start the conversation on forming a TO lodge? Listen in and ask the questions with us as we explore the TO and EC lodge archetypes with the Board of the Masonic Restoration Foundation.

Brothers Michael Pearce and Bill Patterson launch their inaugural edition Masonic Central Asia with their guest Br. Jim Johnston, PhD., who is one of the foremost scholars on Masonry in Japan. Also, Br. Johnston is a Past Grand Master of the island nation, a 33º Brother of the Scottish Rite, and a founding member of the Lodge of research Japan.

This episode was pre-recorded for the time difference but your questions and comments are very much welcome and encouraged!

The holidays are done and past, and the cold grip of winter is taking hold, but what better time to catch up with a warm conversation and some reminiscence of what was 2009.

This week on Masonic Central, join us as we go over the highlights (and low lights) of Masonry in 2009 and look ahead at some of the trends that seem to be already charting the course of 2010.

The show goes live promptly at 9pm EST/6pm PST and the phone lines will be open for your questions and comments. I know it will be a lively show, and I hope you can make it!