Freemasonry through the Funnel: The Widow's Sons of Sombor 1897-2017

Freemasonry through the Funnel

A Story of Freemasonry

The Widow's Sons of Sombor

1897-2017

Karlo Hameder

Smashwords Edition

Published by Karlo Hameder at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Karlo Hameder

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Contents edited by László Vári

This book is dedicated to Katarina, Karlo and Viola

CONTENTS

Foreword

The intent of this publication

What is Freemasonry?

24 hours of survival

The Masonic Society from times immemorial to perfection

Secret and secret societies

Cognition, learning, spirituality and knowledge

Building construction and architecture

Pythagoras, Plato and Geometry

Further life of antique thought and Geometry

The Seven Arts

Masonic legends

The importance of Solomon’s temple for Freemasonry

Possible connections

Jesus Christ

Operative (medieval) masonry

The oldest Masonic manuscript, the Halliwell or Regius manuscript

Traces of operative masonry in modern Freemasonry

Kabbalah

Brief prehistory of speculative masonry

A further contribution to the history of „modern" Freemasonry

The first 150 years of modern Freemasonry

Expansion of Freemasonry in the world

Freemasonry around us and with us

Franz I Stephan of Lorraine and Maria Theresa

The Vatican and Freemasonry in the time of Maria Theresa

The attitude of the Orthodox Church to Freemasonry

The attitude of Protestant churches to Freemasonry

Further fate of Freemasonry in Austria and Hungary

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold II

Franz II (Franz I of Austria)

An overview of Freemasonry in Hungary from the 18th century to 1918

The Templar system

The two Ivans – the Drashkovic observance

The Berlin system

Grand Lodge of Austria

Freemasonic activity in the territory of the Hungarian Provincial Lodge in the time of Leopold II

The Templar system in Hungary

The Austro-Hungarian Freemasonic silence

The 1848 Revolution

A new life of Freemasonry in these territories

after 1848

Freemasonry in the region

Masonic lodges in Hungary 1850-1918

Lodges under the protection of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary

A short history of Freemasonry in the Principality (later Kingdom) of Serbia

The first steps of lodge Stella Orientalis, Orient Semlin/Pančevo

Lodge Pobratim (Bloodbrother), Orient Belgrade

The role of Lodge Arpad a Testvériséghez (Brotherhood Arpad) Orient Szeged in the expansion of Freemasonry in Vojvodina

Basic Rules of Lodge Arpad, Orient of Szeged

Basic Rules of 1872

The 1881 House Rules of Lodge Arpad

The years that preceded the birth of Freemasonry in Sombor

Guild rules of 1819 and 1828

Stories and findings

Sombor by the end of the 19th century

Events in Sombor in the period 1867-1897

The formation of Daughter-Lodge Philanthropia

The Report of 14th April 1897

List of the members of Philanthropia

Basic rules of Daughter-Lodges under the protection of Lodge Arpad

The situation in Sombor in 1899/1900

Daughter-Lodge Philanthropia, the year 1900 report

Societies and associations in Hungary 1848-1919

Freemason members of societies and associations in Sombor

Sombor at the turn of the century

Freemasons of Sombor in Baja

Freemasons of Sombor, Bács Palánka and Hódzsák in Lodge Honszheretet

Sombor in the period 1904-1909

Formation of Lodge Jövendő

Members and petitioners to Lodge Jövendő

The Rulebook of Lodge Jövendő

Freemasonic documents and the procedure of admission, the example of Dr A. Feles, the first Secretary of L. Jövendő

Events, correspondence and important moments in the life of L. Jövendő

First signs of preparation for war

Infamous conspiracy and the Great War

The Treaty of London

The Paris Peace Conference

How Vojvodina became a part of Serbia

Vojvodina in the Kingdom of SCS and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Political conditions in the Kingdom of SCS

The Croatian issue

Friends (?) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The economy of the Kingdom

A brief history of Freemasonry in the territory of the Kingdom of SCS and Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Life in Sombor between the two world wars

Freemasonry in Sombor between WW1 and WW2

Members of Lodge Budućnost

Prominent Freemasons of Sombor (selection)

War- and postwar fate of Freemasonry in Yugoslavia and Serbia

Epilogue

Annexe

Freemasons of the Grammar School

Freemasons of the Secondary School of Economics

Freemasons of the Teacher Training School

List of Lodges that affected Austrian and Hungarian Freemasonry between the years 1750 and 1869 (after Ludwig Aigner)

Masonic Grand Lodges in this book

Masonic lodges in this book

Personal names in this book

Place names in this book

Bibliography and further reading

About the author

FOREWORD

This text is extraordinary in many ways. On the one hand, it is its contents, its readability and its wide scope and its peculiar concept on the other. Many books, articles, and discourses have been written on Freemasonry but this one is different from the rest. It is generally thought that if a sub-area is uncovered in depth and then it serves as a source of further relevant conclusions, then the big total is reflected like the sea in a drop on the basis of the discovered interrelations. This book works oppositely; here, a drop - the Freemasonry of Sombor - plops into the sea - the world history of Freemasonry.

The author describes the development of Freemasonry as well as its many systems - focusing mainly on its regular variant - its philosophy, symbolism, and constitutional structure i.e. all that Freemasonry is characterized by from its very beginnings to the present day.

Just as the history of Sombor Freemasonry is embedded in the world history of Freemasonry, so is the story and operation of the Sombor Freemasonry, like the story of various major Masonic organizations, embedded in the world history. The author clearly sees and presents this to his readers. Do not be surprised if the same event occurs more than once throughout the book, described from different perspectives since the periods and processes discussed cannot be made into a linear narrative.

South Slav Freemasonry is connected with many threads, very often being inextricably intertwined, to Hungarian Freemasonry. Think of the Draskovich obedience from which Croatian Freemasonry originated, or the Belgrade lodges labouring under the aegis of Hungarian Grand Lodges, or Georg Weifert, governor of the Serbian National Bank, one of the founders of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Serbia, admitted into the Scottish Rite by the Hungarian Supreme Council. The existence of the Sombor and Voivodeship lodges was largely due to the Árpád Lodge of Szeged.

The author presents the significant historical events in an exceptionally readable style avoiding scientific loftiness = boring and incomprehensible. He mentions many interesting facts and curiosities, among which I would like to highlight the fact that there was an operative masonry lady among the author's ancestors; similar cases were referred to as the justification of women's Freemasonry.

I hope that the reader will find this book enjoyable, thought-provoking and educational as much as I found it.

Budapest, 12 April 2018

László Vári

THE INTENT OF THIS PUBLICATION

This book is, to a great extent, historical by its nature, although it delves into other areas as well aiming to present a world that has always been a part of all societies, in one form or other ever since the dawn of mankind.

This is a book about Freemasonry, what it actually is, about its character and its world, a theory of its origin and life, about its ubiquity and mutual interweaving with the secular world. To avoid inflating the size of this work, we selected only those materials and elements that we considered informative for those who have little or no prior knowledge of the subject. At this and many other points, we suggest further expansion of knowledge on those aspects that will penetrate deeper into this phenomenon within the human civilization called Freemasonry.

Freemasonry, in a wider sense, is a psycho-social phenomenon, embedded in all human societies, which has existed since the first steps of mankind, from the time of the birth of Man’s need to provide, through functional groups of individuals, not only for his own survival and position in the biological hierarchy but also to contribute to his own spiritual growth and enrichment of the environment. Initially, an association of this type did not even have a name let alone anything that might point to Freemasonry, although it seemed unmistakably characteristic of what Freemasonry embraced as its main property.

The Masonic community is a secret society without secrets. Whoever is bent on learning the secrets may freely grasp them through the enormous opus of literature that has been piling up for centuries, even more so with the eruption of online materials. However, it will still be a laborious undertaking to snatch the essence.

The Freemason, in order to preserve and maintain the privacy of the community, uses a language of symbols, references, procedures, visuals, allegories, audio and imaginative incentives, words and texts and even more, which draw on the achievements of the millennium-old science and civilization in general. What makes the world of Freemasonry is actually the globality of world heritage and culture elevated to a spiritual level, which the Freemason targets to improve the world and the environment in which he lives.

The primary goal of Freemasonry is the spiritual progress of the Community. Therefore, initiation and rituals have been developed through history in order to provide a framework for the necessary teachings that are aimed at being impressed into the mental world of the followers. These Masonic rituals exist within the domain of privacy, not intended to erect a secret wall against the profane world but to instruct those who are dedicated to Freemasonry. Therefore, it is considered that the ignorant i.e. the one who has not committed himself to the spiritual goals of Freemasonry, may misunderstand what it is all about. That is why the majority tend to mystify it and, as it almost always happens with what is not fully grasped, they detest it and consider it as an all-out danger.

The profane world is a complex fabric of social and personal interests. The main motive that drives the activities of living beings, humans included, is their attempt to survive. To be able to come to grips with the world around us, we need to know what or who we are facing so that we could develop such qualities that will help us secure safe existence, which also includes others in both the narrow and the wider community in which we live. The profane world, in its entirety and loose organization, is not able to secure their survival. Therefore, organized societies, communities or groups are instinctively perceived by them as overly threatening, without even intending to comprehend their benefits and intentions. Undoubtedly, there have always been organized groups that have turned against all other groups as well as the secular world as a whole. We know of some criminal groups’, technocratic and other stakeholders’ destructive goals against the human society and the living world and their desire to dominate, but the problem lies in the fact that the profane world identifies such groups, devoid of positive spiritual guidance, with those whose members devote their qualities to what the profane world needs most i.e. to humanism, acquisition of knowledge and labour on increasing Man’s chance to overcome the errors that he has been making for millennia and finally help him fly out of his mental cradle.

For the aforementioned reasons, this book is aimed at the profane world, at all those who have no knowledge or information about the world of Freemasonry, first and foremost the young, who are just entering the world of information. Stemming from our reflections, our intention is to present and demystify Freemasonry and, based on a substantial amount of factual material, offer it a position, which should be perceived without bias, neither negatively nor positively. With this book, we appeal to the awareness of the reader to draw conclusions on the issue of Freemasonry as well as other areas of human activity, culture and civilization, only after they have already become familiar with the basics. This book has no intention, and may not provide answers to most questions of Freemasonry, due primarily to the rather limited geographical scope of its main topic and size i.e. Freemasonry in Sombor, a typical Central- and South East European town with a 120-year-old Masonic tradition stretching from 1897 to 2017, although it may arouse further interest and search for information. As long as we lack sufficient knowledge (here we mean all kinds of knowledge), nothing should be labelled as good or bad. Both agreeing and disagreeing with what others wish to present to us or impose on us may be equally good because both intentions do launch the spirit and offer an opportunity for action. After careful reading of this book, the reader is left to themselves to form their attitude to Freemasonry and continue acquiring further knowledge and information on the subject. Thus, this book serves for informational purposes only with no aspiration to be scientific or expertly historical.

As source materials, we used the abundantly available literature on primeval communities, pre-Christian societies, history of human knowledge, especially in the area of the seven arts, religious publications, literature on the organization of guilds, on ancient masonry and Freemasonry, operative masonry, the beginnings of modern Freemasonry, works on recent history, as well as a large number of original documents from the National Archives of Hungary, the Archives of the City of Sombor (Serbia), the State library Széchényi of Hungary, the National Library of Serbia, Somogyi Library of Szeged (Hungary), Ady Endre Library of Baja (Hungary) as well the City Library of Sombor (Serbia).

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

Following the generally accepted definition, Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that has existed in various forms around the world since times immemorial. The so-called modern Freemasonry has existed since 1717, when four London lodges united into the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster, later called the Grand Lodge of England (GLE). Reverend James Anderson (1680-1739), a Presbyterian clergyman, better known as one of the most prominent Freemasons, the Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster, was given the task in 1721 to write the history of Freemasonry, from which the Constitution of the Free-Masons descended in 1723. Anderson's Constitution largely served as a basis for organizing the Masonic association, especially at the time of its expansion in Europe and the world although a remarkable number of authorized differences have existed until the present day. Most changes have taken place in the rituals and systems of Freemasonry.

Although Freemasonry is considered to be a secret organization, many members of the Fraternity publicly stood their affiliation, while others shuddered at the thought of disclosing their affiliation in the Society of Freemasons which, in many cases, cannot be proven due to the lack of written documents (list of lodge members). It can be said that, at certain moments of history, when the prevailing attitude of the public to Freemasonry was far from benevolent, due to various reasons, written documents did miraculously survive, but the bulk of Masonic documents and regalia have disappeared without a trace. In particular, this happened to be the case in recent times, during and after WW2 when various regimes harboured a paranoid fear of everything that they were not able to fully control. The attitude of who is not with us is against us has always been an impediment to the development of human civilization since it initially excluded the possibility of exploitation of new ideas beneficial to the human community as well as to everything else that the Supreme Being created. Many documents were lost due to natural processes. Namely, it happened rather frequently that lodges went dormant or were reorganized, thus lodge documents were drowned in the process or the personal names, registration numbers, geographical names were incorrectly spelt and/or transcribed, so that the data rendered incomprehensible.

Oral tradition and written statements of contemporaries, family members and descendants of Freemasons included in this book do dwell within the confines of reliability and veracity. However, due to the reasons mentioned above, there is no direct material evidence of membership and oral submissions from trusted sources can be considered acceptable since they are so numerous or originate from such authorities that they may be treated as near facts. The symbolism that Freemasonry exploits and the knowledge of it can also contribute to revealing the membership of a person in the Masonic community.

Due to the scope of this book, we cannot deal with all the forms of Freemasonry. Therefore, we will provide the most basic information only about the most widespread Masonic system the so-called Blue Lodge dedicated to Holy Saints John, after St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, whose role is symbolic. Namely, for Christians, baptism is meant to be symbolic death and rebirth into a spiritually new world of a higher rank, and colour blue (in addition to a few other colours) in Freemasonry caries a special meaning based on ancient religions and systems - it is a symbol of perfection, truth, immortality, and deity. On the Secret Evening, St. John the Evangelist was sitting to the right of Christ as the most beloved disciple, the symbol of learning and knowledge.

How does one become a Freemason?

In the 1960s, there were ca. 6 million Freemasons in the world, but the numbers were rapidly decreasing, especially in the 21st century to reach 2.655 million in 2010 (Hans Hermann Höhmann: Freimaurerei, Analysen, Überlengungen, Perspektiven, Temmen). A man may become a Freemason when his spiritual development has reached a point of his own dissatisfaction and craving for search for the philosophical meaning of existence, who is willing to receive the knowledge and experience of others, thus exploring himself and the world around him and showing readiness to transmit the results acquired to those who his new knowledge and feelings can be shared with to mutual satisfaction. In all times, as well as currently, Freemasons have been considered to be free men under the tongue of good report i.e. those who have a good reputation in their respective community, which would primarily be understood as people of status, respect and integrity, those who do not intend to accept their current status as final but try, with the help of their Brethren, and the environment to enrich their spiritual being. They are people in constant search for what light symbolically represents in order to work on perfecting their personality and the world around them. A Freemason believes that the human society can become more humane and more just if the individuals that make it are such.

As a rule, a Freemason is selected from the ranks of those people who, in the profane world, have proven their commitment to hard work and moral quality, provided he intends to continue improving his own self. Such a man, regardless of his origin, profession and position, is invited by the members of the Fraternity to submit his petition.

Who can become a Freemason?

Although the world of Freemasonry does not exclude the female sex, in the vast majority of Masonic obediences (from the Latin oboedientia = obedience, obeyance), a grand Masonic authority in a country or territory, grants access only to men.

However, there are certain explanations of the reasons why women are denied access, although these still depend on the strategy of acceptance and philosophy. For some, it is a matter of tradition and regulations. The Grand Lodge of England who, as we noted, is the father of modern Freemasonry, accepts the so-called Old Charges stipulating exclusivity of membership for men only. An equally popular explanation is that Freemasonry is descended from operating masonry, which was organized into guilds where access to women was also not possible. This explanation is questionable since, in later times, there were cases where guilds of masons were headed by women, a position inherited after the deceased husband. One such case happened in Sombor in 1842, when Anna Gfeller, maiden name Hameder, inherited her deceased husband, Franz’s position as Head of the local masons’ guild. All in all, the mere name Brotherhood/Fraternity leaves no space for the female sex.

It is common nowadays that the minimum age for admission is 21 years, but exceptionally it may be even lower. However, a Freemason may not be installed Master, holder of the Third Degree before the age of 24. In the past men below the age of 24 were not admitted to the Brotherhood in this part of the world. In addition to the said moral values, another condition stipulated that the candidate should be employed and have stable income which would fund his membership and participation in philanthropic activities.

Is Freemasonry a secret organization?

Since secrecy will be discussed later, the answer is negative because Masonic organizations have to be registered with the authorities. However, there have been cases in the course of history when, in certain countries, during periods of general paranoia against secret organizations that were not fully and thoroughly under the control of the respective government, that these organizations were banned. Thus, persecution of Freemasons was the course of action by such totalitarian regimes.

What are the goals of Freemasonry?

The Masonic alliance operates in three interwoven ways: philanthropic, philosophical and progressive as a unique operative model. It is an alliance that brings together people of different religions, nationalities, races, and political commitment and those belonging to different social strata. Basic tasks: charity, love of fellow humans and equality, unobstructed development of personality, raising awareness and ennobling the human society are achieved through ritual work and its symbolism, which a Freemason is directed by towards spirituality and moral perfection.

The roots of Freemasonry are very deep, dating back to primordial times, as it will be discussed later. The human society has been trying to regulate its existence and relations between people for thousands of years. However, this process is utterly laborious because laws have predominantly served for the objectives of the ruling class, being opposed in some areas of life, to basic and natural rights of human beings. Instead of providing equality and basic human freedom regimes in various parts of the world have often implanted intolerance, hatred, national, religious and racial exclusivity, and various degrees of inequality among people. Bearing its aforementioned threefold operative model in mind, the main task of Freemasonry is to strive for the dignity and natural rights of Man by permanent bettering his spiritual power.

How is Freemasonry organized?

Firstly, there is no world centre of Freemasonry. What unites the Fraternity are its goals and operative model. All Freemasons are guided by basic symbols and legends originating from ancient civilizations and original building practices in order to lay the foundation for personal and collective contributions to the betterment of the human society. This is accomplished by lodge work which, in ancient times, was labour in a space where the Brotherhood gathered to plan its works. Space was not permanent since builders were moving from location to location searching for works and materialization of their plans. The term lodge today means a permanent place where members of the Brotherhood are brought together as well as the assembly of Brethren dully congregated for labour. Although the number of members of a lodge is not strictly determined, it is considered that works might not be efficient enough if the number of members is too big, so it happens that there might be more lodges in one city.

The lodge, as the basic unit, is to be under the aegis of a Grand Lodge. Most often, Grand Lodges are organized on the territorial principle, but there are cases that on the same territory (usually the state) there are more Grand Lodges or that a lodge may request (and receive) the protection of a Grand Lodge of a geographically distant territory. Each Grand Lodge has under its protection a number of lodges. Some Grand Lodges are considered by other Grand Lodges as regular or irregular, and there are so- -called illegal Grand Lodges. Regularity is more the subject of disagreement than agreement; it is determined by a number of requirements which one Grand Lodge sets against another in order to be accepted as regular. Since certain Grand Lodges have a better reputation than others, due to tradition or their role in Freemasonic history (the United Grand Lodge of England - UGLE, for example), they are widely accepted and recognized. However, in our opinion, it is the number of foreign Grand Lodges who have granted recognition to a particular Grand Lodge which is of utmost importance, thus facilitating wider dissemination of Freemasonry in the world. Regardless of specific requirements the basis for recognition is a set of rules referring to both lodge and member qualities, being as follows, according to the abridged and paraphrased rules of the Constitution of the Antient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons under the United Grand Lodge of England, 2016:

1. Belief in the Supreme Being or the Great Architect of the Universe who must be mentioned at the opening and closing of the lodge. Freemasonry is not a religious organization, nor a substitute for religion or church. Members are to believe in perfection and moral laws of the Creator. It does not matter which religion the Brethren belong to because all monotheistic religions are respected in accordance with the religious affiliation of the membership.

2. During lodge work, the Book of Sacred Law shall be open i.e. the Bible for Christians. Every candidate is required to be bound over to the book that in his faith offers the sanctity of an oath or promise.

3. Everyone who becomes a member of the Masonic Alliance is strictly prohibited to act against peace and order of the state and must comply with the applicable laws of each country in which he resides.

4. Although it requires full loyalty and respect of civil liability, each member is given the right to express their opinion on public events. However, no member is allowed to express and impose their religious and/or political views in the lodge or anywhere else in the capacity as a Freemason.

5. The member of a lodge under the aegis of the United Grand Lodge of England (or a regular Grand Lodge, A/N) refuses to express any opinion on the issues of domestic and international policy of his state, whether at home or abroad, and does not allow the name of his Grand Lodge to be connected with any activity, even if it is of humanitarian character, which would come into conflict with its permanent policy of distancing from all matters concerning the relations between this or that government or political parties, or questions concerning the rival theories of government.

6. United Grand Lodge of England completely refuses to have any relations with bodies, structured as Masonic, which do not comply with the above-mentioned principles.

7. United Grand Lodge of England is an independent and sovereign body that practices Freemasonry within three degrees, and only within the limits defined in its Book of Constitutions as pure Ancient Masonry. It does not acknowledge or allow the existence of any other, higher Masonic authority, regardless of its organization.

8. United Grand Lodge of England does not participate in conferences with the so-called International associations that claim to represent Freemasonry, whose membership and affiliated organizations do not adhere strictly to the principles on which the United Grand Lodge of England is established.

9. No secrets exist about the principles of Freemasonry. United Grand Lodge of England will always consider recognition of Grand Lodges that recognize, follow and implement these principles.

10. If Freemasonry is diverted from their path by expressing opinions on theological or political questions, not only would it sow the seeds of discord among its members, but would also lose their detachment in relation to the facts that are happening in the society, which has always enabled a peaceful life in Freemasonry.

11. United Grand Lodge of England is convinced that by strict adherence to these goals and relationships, Freemasonry has survived the constant changes in the doctrines of the outside world, and is still compelled to emphasize its complete disagreement with any procedures that could allow for even a slight deviation from the basic principles of Freemasonry. It is this firm stand that may guarantee the Grand Lodge to retain the right to claim succession to the ancient charges and regulations of Freemasonry.

Who are the members and what goes on in the Lodge?

Members of the lodge are all those Brethren who had submitted a petition, their admission was approved by the other Brethren and confirmed by the Grand Lodge, and subsequently were initiated in the same or any other lodge followed by acceptance of their application for admission to the lodge. By their initiation, they gained the first degree (Entered Apprentice) in the Blue Lodge. After the time spent at Entered Apprentice degree in accordance with the requirements of a particular Lodge, the Entered Apprentice may be conferred the Second Degree (Fellowcraft) provided he exhibits a certain level of proficiency in his current degree and undergoes the Fellowcraft ritual. After the prescribed time and fulfilment of certain requirements of the Fellowcraft Degree, a Brother may advance to the highest, Third Degree (Master Mason).

A vast majority of Freemasons remain at that level. There is also a series of higher degrees, depending on the system of rituals, for example the Scottish Rite, York Ritual, Rite of Memphis-Misraim etc., and there are the degrees of Templar Freemasonry as well.

'Ritual Degree Labour' refers to the gathering of the members of a Masonic Lodge, with the possible presence of guests from other sister Lodges, the Grand Lodge and/or Obediences that have an agreement on mutual recognition with the Grand Lodge. There may also be Lodge meetings that are not ritual labour.

At ritual works, which may slightly vary but are essentially the same throughout the world, Brethren have to wear Masonic clothing prescribed by a respective Grand Lodge e.g. black suit, white shirt and black bow tie, black socks and shoes, white gloves, apron corresponding to degree, lodge officer jewel, lodge pendant and lapel pin.

Ritual work is performed in a space that is symbolically referred to as the lodge. The works are varied in content and depend on the degree of participants. This is the place where everything of importance for the Masonic activity of that particular Lodge takes place, in addition to the symbolism of the ritual that is performed, which should remind all those present to the mission of each and every i.e. admission of new members, promotion to the Second or Third Degree, reading of minutes, reports and papers, discussion and decision-making. Through the works, the Brethren - free men under the tongue of good report – are in constant quest. Every time a Freemason enters the Lodge for labour, he undertakes a journey of self-realization, self-understanding and development. Ritual work is followed by the festive board i.e. snack or dinner, which may take place at a different location: a restaurant, private home, cottage or in the open. At Lodge business meetings no formal clothing or regalia are worn and discussion is conducted on current issues of immediate importance for the Lodge.

Philanthropic, philosophical and progressive work

Among the principles of Freemasonry benevolence and charity are of paramount importance. Philanthropic and humanitarian work is one of the foundations of Freemasonry. It can be said that almost every Lodge is a patron of a humanitarian association or society that targets bettering of the living and social environment in which it exists. The list of areas in which Freemasons act, through the above associations, is very long. Most often, funds are collected from Freemasons themselves as well as from sponsors, to help the financially challenged, talented students, foundations dealing with environmental protection and conservation, educational institutions, humanitarian organizations that assist the socially challenged, especially children who have got into problems with crime, drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc. Families of deceased Brethren are also under special care by the Fraternity. Spiritual and professional support is also offered to all who need it.

Most Brethren are recruited from the ranks of the intellectual elite. These are mostly top experts in their secular professions, and as such, through bearing in mind the principles and objectives of Freemasonry, collaborate in newspapers and magazines, write books, do scientific work and publish electronic texts on topics that are of general and special benefit for the Masonic Community.

24 HOURS OF SURVIVAL

A measure of physical life is the day - twenty-four, one-hour periods with all the relativity of their relations. It is the framework of life with a single primordial objective: to survive! The security of survival is what the living world, thus mankind as well, with all the complexity of its structure and organization, is very much dependent on. Survival is, actually, the provision of time for a living being to complete all those activities that buy continuity.

Since the day as a benchmark lays the eternal dualism in front of Man, he uses it to fathom his position, thus enabling himself to overcome the dangers of living. The dualism of day and night, of light and darkness, provides a framework in which Man finds both his starting and ending point.

We are the children of light. Its appearance determines the break of the day; with its fading, we are taken to its mere opposite. The relativity of the perception of time in these periods during the 365/7-day cycle forms the physical and mental world of human beings, giving place to all those physical and mental processes through which Man tries to secure his continuity.

Although we prefer not to admit it, the essential driving force of survival is fear. The appearance of light,