Meudell Oildale Masonic Lodge #695

Happy Thanksgiving!

Expand your philanthropy.

This is interesting.

You should've known this by now.

Welcome to the Fraternity. Welcome to our story.

We were there. Read on.

RIP Brother Dave Stevenson. May you find joy in that celestial lodge.

TODAY IN MASONIC HISTORY (9/26/1872): The Shriners began with the first official meeting at Mecca Temple, now known as Mecca Shriners, in New York. Shriners ado...pted Turkish fezzes, name-dropped Muhammad, Allah, and Islam as part of their rituals. The reason being that Shriners back then wanted to project for themselves an image of being the playground of Masons, and that back in 1872, all things Middle-Eastern or pseudo-Arabic were deemed wildly "exotic" and "fun", far from the modern-day perception that such images now conjure. In fact, after the September 11 terror attack in New York, some Shrine branches have allegedly changed their names to get rid of any Islamic reference. However, though their main rituals still have Islamic elements, such were obviously used without any real intent of promoting or mocking Islam whatsoever. Such were merely injected from the very beginning in order to add an air of vague mysticism and therefore attract membership. Some Shriners believed that their organization can be traced to some ancient Persian crime-watch group, not realizing that, in actuality, their organization was merely set-up for the sake of "fun." In fact, the group’s lengthy name, "Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" was chosen specifically to fill out the initials AAONMS that serve as an anagram for "A MASON." Despite the "fun" objective, Shriners International has now become the most charitable institution ever spawned in the entire history of organized Freemasonry, providing complete medical care to burned and crippled children wherever they are found.

Famous Shriner: William Frederick Cody aka Buffalo Bill 1846-1917... Platte Valley Lodge No. 32, North Platte, Nebraska Entered Apprentice: March 5, 1870 Fellowcraft: April 2 1870 Master Mason: January 10, 1871 1887 member of Euphrates Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons, of North Platt, Nebraska 1889 member of Palestine Commandery No. 13. North Platt, Nebraska 1892 Tangier Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Omaha, Nebraska. 1894 He became a member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States of America in the Valley of New York City. In the American Civil War (186165), he worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian scout. In 186768 he hunted buffalo to feed construction crews on the Union Pacific Railroad. Cody acquired a reputation not only for accurate marksmanship but also for total recall of the vast terrain he had traversed, knowledge of Indian ways, courage, and endurance. He was in demand as a scout and guide. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872, but the award was revoked in 1916 on the ground that he was not an officer or an enlisted man in the army (scouts were classified as civilians). The U.S. Army restored the Medal of Honor to Cody posthumously in 1989. In 1883 Cody organized his first Wild West exhibitiona spectacular featuring fancy shooting, a buffalo hunt, capture of the Deadwood (S.D.) stagecoach, a Pony Express ride, hard-riding cowboys, and yelling Indians. His stars included Annie Oakley, the famous rifle shot, and, in 1885, Chief Sitting Bull. His Wild West show so popular that by 1883 it appeared at the Chicago World’s Fair and four years later was presented to Queen Victoria during her Golden Jubilee. Source: https://alchymiashrine.org/famous-shriners/

Feels like a million bucks!

These are literally our values.

Kind of like your ring. LoL. Be careful not to poke your own eye or your brother's. Be circumspect in your activities.

At the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Fascist dictator Francisco Franco took power and would rule Spain for another four decades. Like his fascist contem...poraries Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, Franco outlawed Freemasonry. Lodges were shuttered, many Masons were persecuted, and more than a few Masonic leaders were imprisoned or killed. And for almost three decades, the top Masonic library in Spain had to remain hidden from view. In 1895, the Biblioteca Pública Arús (or the Arús Public Library) opened on the second floor of a downtown townhouse in Barcelona as one of the city's first public libraries. The library was donated to the people of Barcelona upon his death by Spanish playwright, journalist, philanthropist and Freemason Rossend Arús for the education of the working classes. Located at 26 Passeig de Sant Joan in Barcelona, the Arús Public Library today is home to 80,000 books, booklets, manuscripts, documents, microforms and more. In addition to being one of the largest reference libraries on Freemasonry in Spain, it also houses one of the world’s most comprehensive Sherlock Holmes collections. It is also has extensive material about labor unions, social and cultural movements, and more. But because of its large Masonic collection, the rise of Franco resulted in the owners of the library closing its doors to the public in 1939, and it remained safely closed and hidden from sight for another 28 years...(MORE BELOW)

Borrowed from another local lodge.

The very definition of Brethren!