Freemason Guide And Compendium

Book: Freemason Guide And Compendium by Bernard Jones

First published in 1950, the Freemasons' Guide and Compendium is filled with authentic, detailed information on a wide variety of subjects related to masons and masonry. Written by an experienced Freemason with the interests of rank-and-file members of the ordinary lodge in mind—especially the young Craftsman who wishes to learn the nature of Freemasonry's claim to have a history that goes back to ancient days—it provides key facts about masonic history, tradition, and lore. In doing so, the book offers a far greater scope of information than any other comparable work. And Bernard E. Jones critically examines conflicting ideas about how some of the traditions came to be, coming to conclusions of his own.

The book is divided into six main sections:

1-Operative Masonry and the London Company
2-Speculative Masonry
3-The Grand Lodges (1717 - 1813)
4-The Craft Degrees and Other Matters
5-The Lodge and Many Related Subjects
6-The Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, and Additional Degrees

There are also 31 illustrated plates, and numerous other illustrations throughout the text.

There is so much in the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" that it is difficult to describe the breadth of its content, and yet for all its amazing content Worshipful Br. Jones continues to hele, conceal, and never reveal an. o. t. scs. ars. prts. o. r. pnts. of. th. hdn. msts. o. fmy.

The early chapters of Freemasons' Guide and Compendium describe how the masonic guilds arose in eleven-century England after the Norman conquest. From there Jones moves into the emergence of speculative Freemasonry in the late medieval period and exlpores its amazing growth as an esoteric system during the eighteenth century.

The major part of the book consists of a comprehensive, systematic presentation of information about masonry's customs, principles and tenets, words and phrases, lodge appointments and working tools, symbols and emblems. With the help of the guide and compendium, the Craftsman will have no difficulty in making daily progress in masonic knowledge, and the thorough, exhaustive index will help him to access a great story of knowledge.

As interest in the subject of Freemasonry continues to grow, as seen in the movie National Treasure and in Dan Brown's forthcoming book, the Freemasons' Guide and Compendium will be a valuable source of information for anyone who wants to research and understand the masons.

For any Master Mason the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" is an essential addition to his personal library and to that of the Lodge. An absolutely outstanding book! Highly Recommended!

Bernard E. Jones (1879 - 1965), a Freemason of fifty years, living in Sussex, England, was widely recognized as a great authority on the history, beliefs and symbols of Freemasonry. In the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" Worshipful Br. Jones has given us a most excellent and detailed reference to the Craft.

Buy Bernard Jones's book: Freemason Guide And Compendium

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Oto Under Crowley

Aleister Crowley served as the Outer Head of the Order from 1922 until his death in December of 1947. Crowley's first act as O.H.O. was to reconfirm the charters of Jones and Tranker as Grand Masters for North America and Germany, respectively. Tranker, on Jones's recommendation, invited Crowley to formally assume leadership of O.T.O. as well as of the various organizations included in the Pansophical movement, at a conference to be held at Hohenleuben, near Weida, in the summer of 1925. The other attendees of the conference were: Heinrich and Helene Tranker; Karl Germer (Saturnus, Jan. 22, 1885 - Oct. 25, 1962), at the time Tranker's secretary and publisher); Albin Grau; Eugen Grosche; Martha Kunzel; Henri Birven; a gentleman named Hopfer; Crowley; Crowley's associates Dorothy Olsen, Leah Hirsig, Norman Mudd; and others.

The results of the conference were mixed. The attendees were divided over Crowley's teachings and The Book of the Law, of which they had previously been largely unaware (it had only recently been translated into German). There were personality conflicts as well. Fraulein Kunzel and Herr Germer went with Crowley. Herrn Tranker, Grau, Hopfer and Birven decided to keep the Pansophical Lodge independent from the Master Therion. Herr Grosche originally sided with Crowley, but he and Germer quarreled, and Grosche decided to remain independent. After the closure of the Pansophical Lodge in 1926, Grosche regrouped a number of the ex-Pansophists to found the Fraternitas Saturni. Fraternitas Saturni recognized Crowley's status as a prophet, and accepted the Law of Thelema in a modified form; but Grosche insisted on keeping it independent from O.T.O. and under his own, rather than Crowley's, authority. Fraternitas Saturni continues to the present day in Germany, Canada and elsewhere, and does not represent itself as being O.T.O.

Tranker apparently attempted to lay claim to the title of O.H.O. of O.T.O. for himself in 1925, but it appears that he was not widely recognized as such and that he ceased his efforts in this direction by 1930, when he and H. Spencer Lewis began to work together directly (but unsuccessfully) to establish a German branch of A.M.O.R.C.

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