X-Oriente

In this episode, Eric and Jason talk with Heather D. Fulton, a member of Le Droit Humain. Le Droit Humain is a coed form of Freemasonry that is recognized by the Grand Orient de France, and while much smaller than our mainstream English style Freemasonry, they are just as active as our system.

Heather was a lot of fun to talk to, and we think this was a conversation you won't want to miss.

In this episode, Jason and Eric discuss anti-intellectualism, what it is and how it is affecting Masonry. This was recorded before our break, so ignore all the talk at the end about how we're taking off time. We took it, and we're back, baby!

Our first Live broadcast! In this episode, we discuss Traditional Observance and the Masonic Restoration Foundation: It's a force for good, but like any powerful idea, there are perils and pitfalls to watch out for.

For additional show notes and links, go to the blog page

Our very first video X-Oriente! Well not actually our first, but our first in our regular shows. This is more an experiment. Going forward we will try to record LIVE and we invite you to join. We will record at 8pm Central, 0100 (Next Day) UTC on Sundays. Join us at Facebook Live. See our Facebook Page For more details. For now you can get the video on our Youtube Channel, on Facebook, or get the Audio on your Favorite podcast software or on iTunes. Links below.

In this episode, Eric and Jason have a frank discussion about Grand Lodge Amity and Recognition, the "nuclear option," and why it seems to be used more and more these days. Is this unusual? If so, what might be the cause? Who really suffers? We take a thoughtful, yet respectful look at what is going on and why.

Also, we are switching audio format to AAC (.m4a). We are doing this because the license agreement for MP3 is expiring and software will slowly start to phase it out. (Betcha didn't know, but someone actually owns the MP3 format!) Most of you should be able to play AAC files with no problem, but if you do have an issue, please drop us a line and let us know.

Links

Article on Freemasons for Dummies

X-Oriente YouTube Channel

Facebook Video Channel

X-Oriente Facebook Page

Jason has a lot on his mind in this episode. He's thinking about advertising and Masonry. Is it necessary? Is it a good idea? What role does marketing and advertising play in attracting men to Freemasonry? We have a discussion. Visit www.xoriente.com for links and references!

By the way, you will notice a break in the numbering. Don't worry, you haven't missed anything. We've got some episodes that we decided not to publish for various reasons. We'll try and bring them back.

W. Bro Michael Swaney is an expert on Leadership and developing executive talent. He was the Worshipful Master of Oriental Lodge No. 33 in Chicago for the 2016 Masonic Year. In this episode, Jason and Eric discuss the qualities of Leadership in life and the Lodge and the challenges that leaders in an all-volunteer organization like Freemasonry are likely to face.

This episode was originally recorded last Fall 2016, and thanks to a technical problem wasn't usable, but thanks to some hard work, we were able to restore it for your listening enjoyment.

In this episode, Jason and I sit down with Thomas Francis Lane II and Eve Bottano, of the 357s, a Masonic themed-alt-rock band from Northwest Indiana. Jason and I love the sound, which is a mixture of punk, rockabilly, goth, a little New Wave and, as Eve insists, the B-52s. The 357s challenge what a Masonic rock band could and should be: aside from Thomas, all the members of the band are female. But the sound is distinctive and haunting.

Thomas, Jason, Eve and I talked about the band's influences and how Masonry informs Thomas' musical experience. Funny story: Thomas thought we recorded the show in a proper studio, so they made the trip up from Indiana to Skokie. My home studio will barely fit 2 people, let alone 3, so we had a lot of last minute scrambling to relocate all the recording gear to the dining room! Apologies for any dogs barking. I'm glad Eve and Thomas were such good sports about it, and after several tech challenges we were able to get the recording going.

The 357s album drops on September 17th, and will be available through all the usual suspects (iTunes, Google, etc.) as well as on Spotify, Apple Music and the band's website. Both Jason and I urge you to BUY the album though as artists get paid between $0.006 and $0.008 per play, or if you are decimally challenged, it is about one-sixth of a penny. Both Jason and I are big believers in supporting Masonic artists.

The band is having a record release party on September 17th at Porter's Tap in Hammond, IN. if you are in the area, please come out and support the band, it should be a very good time. (Hanging out with Eve is worth the ticket price alone! I'm mean... sorry Thomas, but she rocks the gold spangly dress better than you ever could--but I digress) Tickets are available at Eventbrite. You can hear the band at their website, the357s.com, on Soundcloud, and check out their new video on YouTube.

Thomas tells me the goat references in the video are completely coincidental. Sure, they are, Thomas. Suuuure they are.

Does your lodge have it's own unique traditions? Maybe you are like Williamsburg Lodge No. 6 in Virginia that March in Colonial garb every St. John's Day. Perhaps you are like St. John's No. 1 in New York that takes care of the Washington Bible, or Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2, which is largely credited for re-inventing the modern "Table Proceeding" ritual. Or maybe like my lodge that performs the Tyler's Toast at the end of each social gathering.

Lodge traditions help lodges find their own voice, but traditions must be managed to make sure they don't interfere with the core work and traditions. In this episode, we'll discuss lodge traditions: creating them, maintaining them, reinventing them and retiring them.

In this show, the first of our summer season, we are joined by special guest Dr. Ramesh Rhagavan to give us an introduction to mysticism from the Hindu perspective.

Ramesh is Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the School of Social Work at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick. He is also a member of the core faculty of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. He is both an MD and a PhD, so I guess you could call him a high degree Mason (i crack myself up sometimes). He was initiated, passed and raised in Ionic Lodge No 520 (now Ionic Composite Lodge No 520) in 1999 in Los Angeles, CA. He is a current member of Tuscan Lodge No 360 in St Louis, MO, where he was most recently Senior Warden.

I really enjoyed our conversation with Ramesh, and learned a lot about the Hindu perspectives. It gave me new insights to my own practice and I hope you enjoy the conversation.

We recorded this almost a month ago, so the Masonic news is a little bit stale. For those who are wondering why the show was delayed, we had a technical bug that was inserting noise into the audio. We worked with the software developer and fixed the bug (we think it was due to a change Apple made to OS X). Should be all fixed now and blue skies going forward.

The recent actions of some grand lodges to withdraw recognitionof others is based in the idea that there are certain principles,or Landmarks that are the foundational principles that defineregularity. While we like to think of them as fixed andimmovable, the truth is that they are highly variable and open tointerpretation. In this episode, Eric and Jason discuss Landmarksand why they are important. They also discuss some differentcollections of landmarks and compare and contrast them.

For additional reading, see Paul Bessel's excellent website.