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WCF 2022 - Preliminary Program

 
 
 
The Conference on Fraternalism, Social Capital, and Civil Society is coming back to Paris in 2022!
 
 
As we sadly postpoed the June 5th event in 2020 in Washington DC, we are now looking forward to the next edition of the conference in 2022 at the Grand Orient de France, in Paris. The Call for Proposals is now open!
 
The conference is about fraternalism and social capital. To submit a proposal please contact Daniel Gutierrez at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . There is no attendance fee but registration is needed for catering and other arrangements. The preliminary list of speakers below will be continusously updated as we receive proposals.
 
If you had a paper in mind, our journal on Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society (RSCS) is at http://www.ipsonet.org/publications/open-access/ritual-secrecy-and-civil-society and warmly welcomes your submissions.
 
 
 
 
Conference on Fraternalism, Social Capital, and Civil Society
 
 
 
 
Fraternal Art and Music
 June 9-11, 2022
 Grand Orient de France
Paris, France
 
  
Preliminary List of Speakers
 
 
 
1. The Iconography of Mexican Freemasonry
Guillermo De Los Reyes, University of Houston
 
 
2. Saving Masonic Temples: The Crisis in Preservation
Paul Rich, Policy Studies Organization
 
 
3. The French Rite: Culture of the Enlightenment
The French Rite is directly inherited from the early English freemasonry which was the offspring of the Enlightenment, in the wake of the Glorious Revolution and of the 1689 Bill of Rights which put an end to divine right monarchy and, to a certain extent, emancipated Protestant Dissenters, in times of increased religious and political liberties.
 
The Grand Lodge of England, later called the Grand Lodge of “Moderns” by the Antients, conveyed the values of religious and political tolerance, as well as the belief in man’s capacity to improve himself and society thanks to knowledge and discovery, as exemplified by the significant number of English freemasons – Desaguliers and others- who were members of the Royal Society at the beginning of the century.
 
In France, the values of the Enlightenment were endorsed by several French philosophers and freemasons, including Montesquieu and Voltaire.  Voltaire’s Lodge des Neuf Soeurs, among others, promoted the arts and sciences, religious tolerance and emancipation. The Enlightenment has left its imprint on the French Rite, which embodies its main values today, within the Grand Orient de France, but also in other Grand Lodges and other countries of the world.
 
Opening
George Serignac, Grand Master, Grand Orient De France
 
Introduction: From Early Freemasonry to the French Rite: The Culture of Enlightenment, Religious Tolerance, and Liberty of Conscience
Cécile Révauger, Grand Orient De France
 
The Culture of the Enlightenment: Lodges of Adoption and Democracy
Margaret Jacob, UCLA
 
Lumières, franc-maçonnerie et universalisme
Pierre Yves Beaurepaire
 
Pourquoi faut til défendre les Lumières aujorud’hui
Stéphanie Roza, chargée de recherches CNRS en philosophie politique
 
Les Lumières, une méthodologie de l’émancipation
Charles Coutel, Professor of Philosophy
 
Des maçons en quête de modernisation et de raison. Le voyage de Bode à Paris  en 1787
Jean Mondot, Emeritus Professor, Université de Bordeaux Montaigne, director of the Académie Montesquieu in Bordeaux
 
Le Rite Français, quintessence de l’humanisme
Philippe Foussier, former Grand Master, Grand Orient de France
 
Roëttiers de Montaleau et le travail de la Chambre des Grades. Les grades symboliques
Pierre Mollier, Grand Orient De France
 
Sur la naissance des hauts grades en France
Roger Dachez
 
Les 81 grades du Rite Français, fruits des Lumières
Colette Léger
 
Closing: L’esprit des Lumières, les enjeux du Rite Français aujourd’hui
Philippe Guglielmi, Très Sage et Parfait Grand Vénérable du Grand Chapitre Général du GODF, Rite Français
5. The French Rite in America: 1794-1837   
Joe Wages
 
 
6. Enlightened Ideas, Renaissance Culture: Syncretism and Emblems in Eighteenth Century English Freemasonry
Felipe Corte de Real Camargo
 
 
7. Influence de la RF et des idées des Lumières au Portugal
Joachim Grave Dos Santos
 
 
8. (Sujet à préciser)
Yvan Pozuelo
 
 
9. Les principes des Lumières au cœur de la refondation du GCG du GODF
Paul Leblanc
 
 
10. From “INRI” to “JURE”, the evolutions of the French Rite in 2000
Jean Charles Nehr, Former Chancellor of the 5th Order of the FR
 
 
11. Penser le Rite Français
Stephane Brunel, Conseiller de l’Ordre, GODF
 
 
12. Screening: The Man Who Would Be King
 
 
13. Concert: Mozart's Masonic Music
 
 
14. Title: TBD
Brent Morris, Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction
 
 
15. Title: TBD
Arturo De Hoyos, Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction
 
 
 

About the 2018 Speakers

 

World Conference on Fraternalism,
 
Social Capital, and Civil Society 2018:
 

Not Men Only: Sisters, Sororities, and Ritualistic Societies


 

 

May 18, 2018

 

The 2018 conference will take special note of "The 200th anniversary of the Birth on August 31, 1818 of the unique Robert Morris, the Masonic and Eastern Star laureate"
 
 
 
Morris will be remembered by some as the prolyfic Presbiterian hymn writer, notably of the much loved gospel "Gaililee". His enduring fame is as Masonic writer and author of the original ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star, worldwide fraternity and charity that includes Freemasons and is primarily composed of their female relatives and friends.
 
The world headquarters of the Star is the celebrated Belmont mansion, which is within sight from the steps of the historic Whittemore House where our conference sessions will take place:
 
 
A special speaker will be Dr. Nancy Theiss. She is the Executive Director of the Oldham Historical Society. Its campus includes the church where Morris gave a number of signigicant sermons and lectures, and she has helped lead a multi million dollar campaign to preserve and enlarge the society's role in Kentucky history and research.
 
Dr. Theiss has published several books, numerous articles, and writes a column for the popular Louisville Courier-Journal as well as collecting oral histories in the Living Treasures Program. She and her husband live near La Grange, Kentucky, site of the Oldham historical park and near Dr. Rob Morris' tomb and home.
 
 
 
The title of Dr. Theiss' address encapsulates one of the conference themes, that of women's fraternalism, and is "A Beacon of Light: How Rob Morris Gave Credibility to the Women's Movement"
 
She remarks: "Cajoled and nicknamed the Petticoat Mason, Rob Morris opened the door for women into the light of Freemasonry when he created the Order of the Eastern Star in 1850.  The time at which Morris created the Eastern Star Degrees was ripe for the women's movement.  It allowed, in a conservative fashion, for women to belong to an organization with traditional and respected history, while giving them a voice.  Morris had created a system of degrees that could be duplicated and passed on easily enough through ritual.  The order was established as an androgynous branch of Freemasonry where both men and women were members.  The timing was right for attracting women to a fraternity that was well respected and established in the Masonic Lodges that were part of the villages and townships growing across Antebellum America."
 
A reviewer describes a recent and unique book based on the letters uncovered by by Dr. Theiss: "This book was written about the life of Rob Morris (1818-1888) based upon a collection of over 200 letters composed by Morris and members of his family. The letters were salvaged by Marjorie Morgan Applegate and her first husband Davis "Zeke" Morgan. Marjorie and Zeke, both members of Masonic orders, cared for Ethel Morris , whose husband, LeRoy Morris, was the great-grandson of Dr. Rob Morris. The letters had been passed down through the family line. When Morris began these letters with his wife, Charlotte, he instructed her to save and bind the letters so they could read them in their old age. 
 
The letters in this collection were transcribed by the author and for the most part, kept in their original vernacular and vocabulary. The misspellings that were kept, gave context and insight to the character and background of the people who wrote the letters...
 
Morris's early years, as he pursued his Masonic career while trying to support his wife and young children, provided a perspective about travel, family relationships and day to day life in the antebellum south. Many of the issues regarding education, the women's movement, pioneer living and the widening fracture between the northern and southern states are reflected in the family letters."
 
 
 
Participating in the Conference will be Teresa Lynn, familiar as a researcher, writer, and presenter of historical topics. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Ingalls Wilder Legacy & Research Association, and has researched both Freemasonry and the Ingalls family extensively for many years. Little Lodges on the Prairie (Tranquility Press, 2014) is a book by her of very considerable pertinence to our meeting. Besides the Eastern Star and Wilder Association, she has been involved in Women Writing in the West, the Story Circle Network, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Former Texas Rangers Association, and the Texas Master Naturalists.
 
 
 
Those who enjoyed the long running series Little House on the Prairie, a celebrated television show based on Laure Wilder's life, which aired in 1974 and ran until 1982, will recall how children and adults across the country followed Laura's tragedies and triumphs, watching as actress Melissa Gilbert, in her award winning part, grew up on the screen. The show guaranteed continually interest in Wilder, and has helped encourage whole new generations of "Little House" readers. Ms. Lynn has made remarkable discoveries in the relationships between the Wilders, the Freemasons and the Eastern Star.
 
 
 
Cecile Ravauger as Professor at the University of Bordeaux has led young European scholars into pondering the gender roles of  fraternalism in history, and her most recent book on African-American and black involvement has prompted widespread debate on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
 
 
Olivia Chaumont, the well known architect and leading urban designer has had a major influence on European Freemasonry by her decision while a leading Mason to assume a female identity and continue as a member, the only female member for a time of the Grand Orient, thus initiating a major consideration of membership requirements and the decision by the Grand Orient to admit women.
 
 
Demetrio Xoccato has an M.A. in History from the University of Turin. His research field is the relationship between Italian Freemasonry and laic associations. Another topic of interest is the Italian Masonic geopolitics. Since 2012 he cooperates with the Centro Ricerche sulla Libera-Muratoria of Turin (CRSL-M)
 
 

WCF 2019 - Program

 
Third Conference on Fraternalism, Social Capital, and Civil Society
 
3e Conférence Internationale
d’Histoire de la franc-maçonnerie
et des organisations fraternelles
 
 1000 Degrees: Constructing Fraternal Rites 
 Des rites pour construire la fraternité

 
 
June 13 - 15, 2019
The Bibliothèque Nationale - Paris, France
 
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Site Tolbiac-François Mitterrand
Quai François Mauriac - 75706 Paris
 
Vendredi 14 juin et samedi 15 juin 2019 
 
Policy Studies Organisation (Washington)   Musée de la franc-maçonnerie (Paris)  
 
*Simultaneous translation will be available for all sessions. Translation will be offered for the Thursday seminar. Refreshments will be available all day during the sessions. Registration is free but needed to provide for catering and translation headphones.
 
Eventbrite - 2017 International Criminology Conference
 
 
 
 
Program 
 
*Click on the sessions with links (in blue) to read the abstracts/papers
 
 
The conference is about fraternalism and social capital, so all are welcome. We have had papers on many different fraternities and aspects of fraternalism. It does have an interest in 2019 in having some papers on the creation of various degrees and rites.  The workshop on the Thursday before the opening will specifically examine some rare documents related to the generation of Masonic degrees in the 17th and 18th centuries. We recommend the recent book by Dr. David Harrison, The Lost Rites and Rituals of Freemasonry as a good introduction. 
 
Among the several dozen Masonic bodies in Paris might be mentioned the following, some of which have awesome libraries:

GODF
 , Grand Orient of France - GLDF , Grand Lodge of France - FFDH , French Federation Le Droit Humain - GLNF , French National Grand Lodge - GLFF , Women Freemasons Grand Lodge of France - GL-AMF , Grand Lodge of the French Masonic Alliance - GLMF , French Grand Lodge of Co-Masonry - GLTSO , Traditional and Symbolic Grand Lodge (Opera) - GLMU , Universal Grand Lodge of Co-Masonry - OITAR , Initiatory Order of the Royal Art - GPDG , Grand Priory of Gaul - LNFU , French National United Lodges
 
 
Jeudi 13 juin
 
 
 
14h30-17h Workshop
Sur invitation
Bibliothèque du Grand Orient de France
16, rue Cadet -75009 Paris (Métro Cadet)
Translation French-English/English-French : Jean-Pierre Gonet
 
Les matériaux de l’histoire des grades/Sources of degrees history
 
Accueil par Jean-Philippe Hubsch
Président du Musée de la franc-maçonnerie
Grand Maître du Grand Orient de France
 
Paul Rich
Introduction
 
Pierre Mollier
Comment apprehender et étudier les manuscrits anciens de rituels 
 
Joe Wages
The Early Scot Masters: Which Manuscripts?
 
Jean-Pierre Gonet
Translating and Editing the Sharp Documents: A New Franco-American Project
 
Dominique Jardin
Les apports de l’iconographie dans l’étude des rituels maçonniques anciens
 
François Gruson
La presentation des Temples dans les manuscrits anciens de hauts grades
 
 
Vendredi 14 juin
 
BnF Grand Auditorium
 
1. 9:30-11:00. Plenary
Greetings and Introduction of Opening Plenary Panel by Paul Rich, Guillermo De Los Reyes and Pierre Mollier, Conference Co-Chairs
 
Andrew Prescott
The Origins of Freemasonry and the Invention of Tradition: New Perspectives
 
2. 11:00-11:20. Coffee Break in foyer.
 
3. 11:20-13:00
Chair: Felipe Côrte Real de Camargo
Thomas Fressin
Les compagnies des nobles jeux de l'arc, de l'arbalète et de l'arquebuse : des sociétés urbaines initiatiques, fraternelles et privilégiées  
 
Francis Delon et Yonnel Ghernaouti
Une société para-compagnonnique dans la France de la fin du XXe siècle
 
4. 13:00-14:00. Lunch Break. 
 
5. 14:00-16:00. 
Une table ronde organisée par Renaissance Traditionnelle
Chair: Andrew Prescott
Sources et histoire du "Maître Ecossais"
 
Pierre Mollier
Les origines de la légende de la Voûte 
 
Paul Paoloni
Les premiers Maîtres Ecossais et les débuts des hauts grades
 
Reinhard Markner
The 1745 Berlin Scots Master Catechism: Context and Significance
 
Roger Dachez
Le grade d'Ecossais dans les différents
rites maçonniques (RF, RER, REAA etc.)
 
Felipe Côrte Real de Camargo
The Royal Arch degree and the decoration
of aprons in England (1750s -1810s)
 
Bartholdi Award for Distinguished Scholarship
Dominique Jardin for his years of research and his many reference books and papers on the masonic trestle boards.
 
6. 16:00-16:30. Coffee Break in foyer
 
7. 16:30-17:20.
Chair: Gabriella Fernandes
Samuel Macaigne 
Du mythe au rite : Fabré-Palaprat et l'Ordre du Temple
 
 
BnF Petit Auditorium
 
8. 11:20-13:00
Chair: Joe Wages
Reinhard Markner
Cagliostro's Initiation: His 1777 Grand Lodge Certificate Rediscovered
 
 
9. 13:00-14:00. Lunch Break. 
 
10. 14:00-16:00. 
Chair: Joe Wages
Patrick-André Chéné
L'Ordre du Pacificateur Américain, Chevalier, Prince du Tropique
 
Pierre-Henri Landrieau
Les degrés du Tabernacle, marqueurs de l'évolution des Tuileurs
 
Francis Delon et Yonnel Ghernaouti
Être membre de l’Ordre DeMolay dans les bases américaines de l’OTAN
 
11. 16:00-16:30. Coffee Break in foyer
 
12. 16:30-17:20.
Chair: Guillermo de los Reyes
Rogelio Aragon
 
 
 
Samedi 15 juin
 
BnF Grand Auditorium
 
 
 
13. 9:30-11:00.
Sources et histoire du grade de Chevalier Kadosh (Part 1)
Table ronde organisée par l'Aréopage de Recherche «Sources»
Chair: Brent Morris, rédacteur en chef de Heredom

Jean-Marie Mercier 
De l'apparition d'un proto-Kadosch à la fixation d'un grade à connotation templière ou la ''malédiction'' d'un nec plus ultra maçonnique ayant suscité fascination et détestation
 
Henri Lombard
L'imaginaire du chevalier Kadosch
 
Guy Giraud
 
Regulus Award for Distinguished Service to the Scholarly Community
The "Commission d'Histoire de la Grande Loge Féminine de France" for all the work they have contributed towards the field of history of women's freemasonry.
 
14. 11:00-11:20. Coffee Break in foyer.
 
15. 11:20-13:00
Sources et histoire du grade de Chevalier Kadosh (Part 2)
Table ronde organisée par l'Aréopage de Recherche «Sources»
Chair: Brent Morris, rédacteur en chef de Heredom
 
Jean-Luc Lebras
L'échelle du Kadosh dans tous ses états - Esquisse d'une typologie de sa représentation dans une quarantaine de rituels, entre 1750 et 1805
 
Bernard Pateyron
Etude lexicographique du corpus des rituels de chevalier Kadosch
 
16. 13:00-14:00. Lunch Break. 
 
17. 14:00-16:00. 
Scottish Masonry in US before the Scottish Rite
Round table organized by Heredom. 
Chair: Guillermo De Los Reyes
 
Joseph Wages
Etienne Morin and the Baylot Manuscript
 
François Gruson
Hauts grades et stylistique architecturale dans le manuscrit Francken
 
Brent Morris
 
Pierre Mollier
Deux Députés Inspecteurs Généraux français -... ou presque - aux Etats-Unis: Augustin Prevost et Pierre Le Barbier Duplessis
 
Kilwinning Award for Lifetime Contributions to Research and Scholarship
For the "Aréopage Source": since 1970, this Lodge of the 30th degree has been studying and publishing a valuable trove of materials and research on the high degrees of the Scottish Rite. Recently, they published a superb volume on the Rose-Croix degrees and its history.
 
18. 16:00-16:30. Coffee Break in foyer
 
19. 16:30-17:20.
Chair: Rogelio Aragón
Dominique Jardin
Les hauts grades en France vers 1780 à travers leur iconographie : les 80 planches d'un étonnant proto-tuileur
 
20. 17:30 Conclusions de la IIIe Conférence internationale d’histoire de la franc-maçonnerie par Brent Morris, Pierre Mollier, Paul Rich, and Guillermo De Los Reyes
 
21. 18:00-19:00 
Cocktail / Farewell toast
*PLEASE NOTE WE ARE CONVENING IN THE FOYER OF THE GRAND AUDITORIUM FOR THE CLOSING TOAST
Paul Rich, President of the Policy Studies Organization, Jacques Oréfice, Grand Commandeur du Grand Collège des Rites Ecossais - Suprême Conseil du 33e degré en France.
 
 
 
BnF Petit Auditorium
 
 
22. 9:30-11:00.
Chair: Guillermo de los Reyes
Paul Rich and Guillermo de los Reyes
 
Sylvia Hottinger
 
Françoise Moreillon
 
23. 11:00-11:20. Coffee Break in foyer.
 
24. 11:20-12:20
Chair: Rogelio Aragón
Aymeric Le Delliou 
Philippe Buchez et Saint-Amand Bazard dans les années 1820, l'utilisation politique des organisations rituelles et ses limites : Les amis de la Vérité, la Charbonnerie française, le Saint-Simonisme...
 
25. 13:00-14:00. Lunch Break. 
 
26. 14:00-16:00. 
Chair: Joe Wages
Emanuela Locci
 
Emanuela Locci
 
Michael Coughlin
 
Henri Lombard
 
27. 16:00-16:30. Coffee Break in foyer
 
28. 16:30-17:20.
Chair: Joe Wages
Joseph P. Garske
 
29. 17:30
Conclusions de la IIIe Conférence internationale d’histoire de la franc-maçonnerie par Brent Morris, Pierre Mollier, Paul Rich, and Guillermo De Los Reyes
*PLEASE NOTE THIS SESSION IS IN THE GRAND AUDITORIUM
 
30. 18:00-19:00
Cocktail / Farewell toast
*PLEASE NOTE WE ARE CONVENING IN THE FOYER OF THE GRAND AUDITORIUM FOR THE CLOSING TOAST
Paul Rich, President of the Policy Studies Organization, Jacques Oréfice, Grand Commandeur du Grand Collège des Rites Ecossais - Suprême Conseil du 33e degré en France.
 
 

WCF 2018 - List of speakers

 

World Conference on Fraternalism,
 
Social Capital, and Civil Society 2018:
 

Not Men Only: Sisters, Sororities, and Ritualistic Societies


 

 

May 18, 2018

The Quaker Meetinghouse
2111 Florida Avenue NW, Washington DC
 
 
Eventbrite - 2017 International Criminology Conference
 
 
The World Conferences on Fraternalism do have themes, but in addition to the themes, we welcome  other subjects  on  both general and specific subjects that touch on the history of particular orders, social capital, the place of volunteerism in political life, the  role of ngos in  national life – this broad umbrella will be best seen by looking at the programs of past conferences.
 
The Paris conferences created a welcome network of those working in the fraternal field, and so it was decided that having a Washington conference in alternative years would be welcome in order to sustain the friendships and contacts that Paris has so happily created.
 
Because we feel that the place of women’s fraternalism has not received the attention it deserves, a theme of the Washington meeting is gender history and gender issues, but as we have noted that does not mean that other topics are not warmly welcome. Similarly Paris in 2019 has singled out the proliferation of degrees in the past and the creation of different rites as a theme, but that does not in any way exclude other  papers.
 
We are committed to publishing the presentations and have done so with Westphalia Press. We also place videos of the presentations on a convenient site for use in classrooms and lodges.  And we welcome advice and suggestions for improving the future World Conferences.
 
 
 
Final List of Speakers
 
 
Complimentary food will be served continuously all day in the Assembly room, or if the weather permits outside on the terrace.  The admission fees are complimentary but please register so we can plan on numbers.  
 
Among our distinguished guests we welcome our PSO neighbor and friend on New Hampshire Avenue. the acting Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, PGM Alma Lynn Bane.
 
images-5
 
9:30 am Continental Breakfast and Registration
Please help yourself during the day
 
10:00 - 10:30 am
Opening Remarks: The 200th Birthday of Rob Morris
Paul Rich and Guillermo de los Reyes
Fraternalism, Feminism, and the Eastern Star 
introducing Rob Morris at 200
10:30 - 11:15 am
Nancy Theiss
A Beacon of Light: How Rob Morris Gave Credibility to the Women's Movement
11:15 - 12:00 pm
Teresa Lynn
The Little Lodge on the Prairie Revisited: Surprising Eastern Star Connections
12:00-12:30 pm
Amanda Brozana
Equal from Birth: The Patrons of Husbandry, Grangers All
 
Robert Morris 200th Anniversary Awards Presentation, Lunch Break
 
Gender in Fraternalism and European Views
12:30-1:15 pm 
Cécile Révauger
Call me Sister!: A World View
 
1:15-2:00 pm
Olivia Chaumont
Gender Issues within Masonry: from Theory to Practice
International Perspectives 
Each World Conference highlights a country, and this May it is Italy
2:00-2:45 pm 
Emanuela Locci
Female Freemasonry in Italy
 
2:45-3:30 pm 
Demetrio Xoccato
Freemasons in the New World: Italian Lodges in the USA
 
3:30-3:40 pm Closing
Paul Rich, Guillermo de los Reyes
As Fraternalism Evolves
 
We encourage each speaker to leave time for questions. Next year the conference is at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, June 13-15, including video panels from Washington. The 2020 Washington seminar will be on Fraternalism and Music.
 
Welcome to the Friends Meeting House of Washington DC, a carefully preserved historic building and its beautiful gardens. The Religious Society of Friends has enjoyed a long history in the region.
 
Washington DC is ground zero for fraternalism—the Grange was founded here, and its national of offices and High Priest of Demeter are here. Albert Pike made this a world center of the Scottish Rite, as illustrated by two grand buildings on 16th Street NW. The 1822 organization of Prince Hall fraternalism now includes several temples in the District, and Prince Hall Eastern Star has its historic collections and lodge rooms on U Street.
 
Also nearby, on New Hampshire Ave and Corcoran St NW, is the International Headquarters of the Order of the Eastern Star. Only steps away is the Garfield House, home of Phi Sigma Omega, Phi Sigma Alpha, the World Conference on Fraternalism, the Policy Studies Organization.
 
And close to the studio of John Cavanaugh, who evidentially knew the history of the Star. He admired its building and had friends in the Order, creating inspired sculptures of Morris’ heroines:
Martha Adah Electa Esther Ruth
     Martha                              Adah                      Electa                  Esther                  Ruth
 
Martha: Represents faith in the hour of trial. Her corresponding goddess was Thetis (Thesis), goddess of creation and the sea. She was mother of Achilles and dipped him in the River Styx to make him invincible. Thetis had the power to prophesy and was a shape-shifter.
 
Jephthah's daughter, whom Morris named Adah: The OES teaches that she illustrates respect to the binding force of a vow. Jephthah made a vow in Judges 11 that the first thing to greet him from his house when he returned from battle with a victory from God would be offered to the Lord. The first to greet him when he returned home from that battle was his daughter, so he kept his vow in spite of how much it would cost him. Adah was originally the goddess Luna, the goddess of the moon. Luna is the "goddess with three forms" and also called Diana, Selene, Artemis, and Hecate. She is goddess of sorcery, night (darkness), the far world, and patron saint of feminists since she perpetually shunned males.
 
Electa: Morris gave this name to the woman hosting the church in her house in 2 John. The goddess who she replaced in the original plan by Morris for the Eastern Star was Areme, a secret goddess of the Egyptians whose name is not widely known.
 
Esther: Illustrates delity to kindred and friends. Esther was previously Hebe, the goddess of youth who was cupbearer to the gods and goddess of domestic matters. The Romans called her Juventas.
 
Ruth: She illustrates devotion to principles. Originally she was Flora, the goddess of springtime and flowers who was also called Chloris. Every year in honor of Flora, the Romans held the festival of Floralia in the spring. Floralia was much like Mardi Gras where the people participated in merriment 
 
 

WCF 2015 Conference Videos: Petit Auditorium

 
 
Issues of Gender and Universalism
 
 
Rex Kallembach (Chair and Commentator) 
 
American Female Makers of Masonic and Fraternal Regalia
Aimee E. Newell
 
L'Ordre de l'Union de la Joye- A Women's Order in the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age
Ineke Huysman
 
'Universal freemasonry' and Transnational Masonic Movements (c. 1870–1930)
Joachim Berger
 
The Curious Case of Helene Hadik-Barkóczy with the Freemasons
László Vári
 
 
Ancient Ideas in the New World
 

 

 
Terry McCammon (Chair and Commentator) 
 
Contemporary Canadian Freemasonry: Social Dynamics and Possible Futures
J. Scott Kenney
 
Pilgrimage and Procession: The 1883 Knights Templar Triennial Conclave and the Dream of the American West
Adam Kendall
 
Freemasonry, Secret Societies and Civil Society in Cuban Independence
Olga Romero Mestas
 
A Contemporary Look at the Various Forms of Freemasonry among African-Americans in the United States
Oscar Alleyne
 
 
German Aspects of the Craft
 

 

 
Andreas Önnerfors (Chair)
 
Freemasonry Under the Nazis
David H. Lewis, presented by Mike Kearsley
 
The Grand-Duchy of Baden 1780-1820: State, Politics and Masonry
Ralf Bernd Herden
 
Unveiling the Copiale-manuscript: layers of fraternalism, ritual and politics in eighteenth century Germany
Andreas Önnerfors
 
 
Masonic Biography
 

 

 
Luis-Jose Meja (Chair and Commentator)
 
Dudley Wright: His Early 'Truth-Seeking' Years (1906-1916)
Simon Mayers
 
Santa Anna, the Mason
Casey D. Stanislaw
 
The Master’s Mask: Richard Wagner & Freemasonry
Maria Danova
 
 
 
Fraternalism and Lodges Coping with Challenge
 

 

 
Guillermo Izabal (Chair and Commentator)
 
Some Masonic Activities in the Australian Military During WWI
Neil Wynes Morse
 
Writing History with Lightning: American Nativism, the Ku Klux Klan & the Fraternal Press in the 1920s
Adam Kendall
 
The Paradox of Infallibility in Masonic Leadership: Can a Grand Lodge be Wrong?
Andrew Hammer
 
Fraternalism in Times of War: a hundred years since the emblematic case of the Lodge Euphrates No. 1078
Juan Abadjian
 
 
 
Lodge Quatour Coronati- Panel Session
 

 

 
Brent Morris (Chair)
 
Masonic Research by Mason and Non-Masons: Can Ever the Twain Meet?
 
Brent Morris
Gordon Davie
Yasha Beresiner
John Belton
 

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