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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Kick Off of the 2013 "30 Guns In 30 Days" Give-A-Way - Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM


As we are nearing the kick-off of our 2013 "30 Guns In 30 Days" Fundraiser / Give-A-Way, hosted by Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM, we would like to thank each of you who purchased a ticket.

Your contributions are very much appreciated!

We would also like to thank those businesses who worked with us to make the firearms available, those who provided sales or services, and who supported us.


We wish you all the best of luck during the upcoming month!

Please take just a moment to review all the details concerning the drawing as well as the notice and disclaimer.




"30 Guns in 30 Days" 2013 Fundraiser / Gun or Merchandise Give-A-Way - Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM

SEE FULL "30 Guns In 30 Days" Notice / Disclaimer




 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!
 
 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!
 
 
 



 



Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
*Home - http://www.tupelomason.org/
*Blog - http://tupelomason.blogspot.com/
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©2011 All Rights Reserved - TupeloMason®

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Last & Final Call For Tickets: "30 Guns In 30 Days" - 2013 Fundraiser - Tupelo, MS


Last and final call to get your ticket for the 2013 "30 Guns In 30 Days", a fundraiser sponsored my Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM.
 
The last day to purchase your ticket is Saturday, August 31st.
 
Please follow instructions below carefully to make sure you get one before it's too late.
 
The first drawing will be held on the evening of Sunday, September 1st.
 
Winners will be announced daily on the blog and a link to the post will be provided on our Facebook page.
 
Remember, all donations are tax deductible!
 
Don't miss out on your opportunity to win some awesome firearms and help out some needy non-profit organizations at the same time.

One ticket not only helps us help those in need, but also gives you 30 chances to win a gun and three chances to win a custom laser engraving!

You can see any of the members of Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 to purchase your ticket.  
 
To locate a member or if you have any questions, you may either read the original announcement in it's entirety by following the link below or by contacting us by phone.
 
 

  • Bro Ray Stanford - (662) 610-7407
 
  • Bro Derik Rushing - (662) 488-6367
 
  • Bro Isaiah Edger - (662) 610-7991
 
  • Bro John Davidson - (662) 687-1169
 
  • Bro Arnie Cade - (662) 255-2656

 
Tickets can also be picked up during normal business hours at MDN Laser Engraving. Follow link for directions. You may also contact Bro Mike Neely with MDN directly at, (662) 397-5799
 
However, if you are not local, and would like a ticket mailed to you, please send a check or money order only, in the amount of $30 per ticket. Please, NO cash if mailed.
 
Be sure to include your name, telephone number and return address. Once received, we will mail your ticket(s) back to you. Please contact Bro Derik Rushing, Secretary, by email once your donation is mailed. Your information will be recorded to assist us in our prompt follow up.

Please mail to:
 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
P.O. Box 3566
Tupelo, Ms 38803
 

An added bonus to this years "30 Guns In 30 Days"... MDN Laser Engraving, Inc. has partnered with us to help benefit these worthy causes. Mike, with MDNLaser has been so kind as to donate three gift certificates to us, to be drawn on Oct 1st, 2nd, & 3rd. The gift certificates are valued at $75, $50, and $25. If you purchase a raffle ticket, all you have to do, to be entered to win is "like" & "share" their facebook page!

We will draw from the pool of remaining names following our September raffle. Once it has been verified that you have liked and shared MDNLaser's Facebook page, you will be able to claim your winning on the bonus drawing. If you do not know how awesome this would be to win, please check out their Facebook page as well as the website! This laser knows no boundaries!



*Notice: By law, winners must be 18 years old to win a long gun, rifle, or shotgun, 21 years old for handguns. Gift certificates of equal value (see calendar), will be issued for merchandise if winner is under age.


*Disclaimer: Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM reserves the right to modify the rules for the raffle / fundraiser, with or without notice, based on the total number of tickets actually sold, out of the 1000 ticket lot printed.

By participating in this drawing / fundraiser/ give-a-way, you agree to the terms and use described by our notice and/or disclaimer.

Please take a moment to review the contents below:

SEE FULL "30 Guns In 30 Days" Notice / Disclaimer


Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!
 
 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!


 

 


Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
*Home - http://www.tupelomason.org/
*Blog - http://tupelomason.blogspot.com/
*Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TupeloMason
*Twitter - http://twitter.com/tupelomason
*PHOTOS - http://tupelomason.shutterfly.com/
©2011 All Rights Reserved - TupeloMason®

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

THE SYMBOL OF THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES AND ITS MASONIC APPLICATION: Sir Knight P.D. Newman



 
Sir Knight P.D. Newman
 
New Albany Commandery No. 29
 
 
   There has been a great deal of controversy of late concerning the symbol of the skull and crossbones and whether or not it should be regarded as a legitimate Masonic emblem. The present paper is an attempt to demonstrate that the aforementioned symbol is indeed authentic in its Masonic association, for it both conceals and reveals genuine Mysteries pertaining to our Craft. Considering the fact that the skull and crossbones continue to be a common addition to Chambers of Reflection and Third Degree Tracing Boards of many Masonic Jurisdictions, as well as a prominent feature within the Templar ceremony and Kadosh Degree of the York and Scottish Rite, respectively, it would seem to this author that the symbol’s legitimacy is, if the audience will allow the parlance, a ‘given.’ But, unfortunately, for many Masons the connection between the seemingly macabre emblem of the skull and crossbones and our Gentle Craft is one which remains obscured by what in all probability are simply and understandably the shadows of their own ill-founded fears and insecurities. For, the association of the symbol of the skull and crossbones with notions of piracy and poison has no doubt left many Masons desirous of distancing themselves and indeed the Fraternity from the symbol under discussion and like emblems.
  Memento Mori. It is natural to fear death, but we as Masons are taught to view that inescapable moment not as something about which to dread, but rather as the motivating factor in accomplishing our own work and duty as men and as Masons.
“The particles [of the hourglass] run rapidly, and, for aught we know, with the passing of one of them you or I shall die. It is uncertain. We should not…neglect a moment, but…do all we can do to the great end of being really happy. For we shall die, and in the grave there is no working. There is no device, no knowledge, no pardon there.”
For this reason we are given a sobering reminder every time we have the fortune to sit in Lodge during the Raising of a Fellow of the Craft to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason, or, conversely, during the Knighting of a Mason as a Templar or Knight Kadosh, that death is always near, and that it could come at any place and any time, regardless of the person or persons involved. The lessons of the degree of Perfect Master immediately spring to mind.
  Be it in the Chamber of Reflection (in the Jurisdictions where one is permitted or required), the Tracing Board of the Master Mason Degree, the Knighting ceremony of the Order of the Temple in the York Rite, or the Knights Kadosh Degree in the A.&A.S.R., S.J., that which stands as the primary reminder of the grim truth that death is ever immanent is the chilling human skull and/or crossbones. However, the symbol also has an esoteric application which is equally if not more profound in its relevance.
  We shall begin our explication by first focusing on the Masonic significance of the death’s head or human skull. In his book Low Magick, Bro. Lon Milo DuQuette half-jokingly stated regarding the mechanism of ritual work and ceremonial magic that “[i]t’s all in your head…you just have no idea how big your head is.” According to one 18th century Masonic expose, Bro. DuQuette is absolutely right. In Samuel Pritchard’s Masonry Dissected we encounter the following dialogue:
Q. Have you any Key to [the Secrets contained in the Lodge]?
A. Yes.
Q. Where do you keep it?
A. In a Bone Bone Box that neither opens nor shuts but with Ivory Keys.
Q. Does it hang or does it lie?
A. It hangs.
Q. What does it hang by?
A. A Tow-Line 9 inches or a Span.
Q. What Metal is it of?
A. No manner of Metal at all; but a Tongue of good Report is as good behind a Brother’s Back as before his Face.
-- N.B. The Key is the Tongue, the Bone Bone Box the Teeth, the Tow-Line the Roof of the Mouth.
A similar exchange, appearing in the Sloane Ms., led historian Tobias Churton to declare outright that indeed “the Lodge is in the head.” This suggests that the Lodge, furniture, ornaments, and Officers may all have their reflection within the make-up of man. Sufi-inspired Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff offered a similar teaching. According to Gurdjieff, every man, not unlike a Perfect Lodge, has an internal sevenfold constitution which he termed the Seven Men. This notion is not unlike the Theosophical teaching concerning the septenary nature of the soul of man, an interpretation which has, since the occult revival of the 19th century, consistently been extended by authors such as Manly P. Hall, J.S.M. Ward, and W.L. Wilmshurst to the seven Officers which constitute a Perfect Lodge.
“[M]an, the seven-fold being, is the most cherished of all the Creator’s works. And hence also it is that the Lodge has seven principle officers, and that a lodge, to be perfect, requires the presence of seven brethren; though the deeper meaning of this phrase is that the individual man, in virtue of his seven-fold constitution, in himself constitutes the “perfect lodge,” if he will but know himself and analyze his own nature aright.”
More recently, in his formidable book Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance W. Kirk McNulty applied a decidedly Jungian solution to the problem of Masonic ritual, placing the Lodge, Candidate, & Officers squarely and neatly within the conscious and unconscious mind; that is, inside of the head.
  The crossbones are also possessive of an intriguing Masonic application. In the guidelines provided by the Grand Lodge of CO for implementing and conducting a proper Chamber of Reflection, Masons are informed that “[t]he crossbones are also a hint at the pillars, the portico of man upon which he must stand as he labors in the quarry.” As Matthew C. Pelham, Sr. demonstrated in his thought provoking article A Search for More Light in the Symbolism of the Skull and Crossbones, the association between the crossbones, which themselves are always constructed using human femurs or thighbones, and the two Pillars of the Temple, stems no doubt from the verse in Song of Solomon which announces in a moving hymn to Deity that “His legs are as pillars.” Philippa Faulks and Bro. Robert Cooper outline a similar application of the symbolism of the Masonic pillars.
“The now famous (and often ridiculed) rolling up of the trouser leg in Masonic ritual is figuratively interpreted by some Freemasons as representing one of [the] pillars.…The same ‘pillar symbolism’ is found in the ancient Egyptian writings; in fact the fully balanced enlightened man was called ‘the Master of Two Legs’, representing the concept that, when both pillars of the self were mastered, one could walk a good life.”
Still, there is another similarity between the Pillars of the Masonic Lodge and someone’s (or, more specifically, something’s) legs which is so absolutely striking that I dare not fail to give it mention.
  In the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, the ship Argo sailed to Europa in Crete following Jason’s legendary retrieval of the golden fleece. Upon the island of Europa the Argonauts encountered a great metallic giant called Talos, meaning sun or solar, which was cast wholly of solid bronze. His legs, on the other hand, while also made of bronze, were cast completely hollow, and one of them, it was said, contained a single vein through which flowed the divine ichor or golden blood of the gods. The presence of the ichor within his leg animated the giant, enabling Talos to perform the sole function for which he was created; that is, to circumambulate Europa three times daily in order to protect and guard the land from approaching pirates. If the reader will recall, the Pillars of Freemasonry are also said not only to have been hollow and cast from bronze, but according to some traditions within the Craft, it was only one of them which contained the treasured archives of Freemasonry, not unlike Talos’ peculiar legs, only one of which was possessive of the Olympic gods’ magical ichor. Lastly, it is notable that scholar A.B. Cook interpreted the myth of Talos as being a veiled allusion to the Masonically-relevant lost-wax casting method of metallurgy, thus bringing us back full circle to the question of the legitimacy of the present symbol under scrutiny.
  Regardless of the negative connotations which may surround the image, the symbol of the skull and crossbones, whether considered exoterically or esoterically, is absolutely possessive of profound Masonic import. As we have demonstrated, the image is suggestive of both man’s mortality and, more significantly, initiation within the Masonic Lodge. We are hopeful that we’ve aided our more uncertain Brn. in laying aside some of their underlying fears and insecurities concerning this most curious but otherwise potent of Masonic emblems. For, the symbol of the skull and crossbones points at once to the inevitable end of man, as well as to one of the means by which he might accept and come to peace with the knowledge and anticipation of such an ending: tried and true Masonic initiation.
  
REFERENCES
Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine
Churton, Tobias The Golden Builders: Alchemists, Rosicrucians, and the First Freemasons
Cook, A.B. Zeus
De Hoyos, Arturo Committed to the Flames: The History and Rituals of a Secret Masonic Rite (with S. Brent Morris)
De Hoyos, Arturo Albert Pike’s Esoterika
DuQuette, Lon Milo Low Magick: It’s All In Your Head…You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head Is
Faulks, Philippa The Masonic Magician (with Robert Cooper)
McNulty, W. Kirk
Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance
Ouspensky, P.D. The Fourth Way
Pelham, Matthew C. A Search for More Light in the Symbolism of the Skull and Crossbones Porter, Cliff The Secret Psychology of Freemasonry
Pritchard, Samuel Masonry Dissected
Ruck, Carl A.P. Classical Myth
The Holy Bible: Master Mason Edition
Ward, J.S.M. The Master Mason’s Handbook
Wilmshurst, W.L. The Meaning of Masonry


 
 


Disclaimer: This paper entitled. "THE SYMBOL OF THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES AND ITS MASONIC APPLICATION", was submitted to Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM for publication by the author, P.D. Newman. The printing of this or any other writing does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM or the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Please read our Terms of Use for full details.


Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
*Home - http://www.tupelomason.org/
*Blog - http://tupelomason.blogspot.com/
*Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TupeloMason
*Twitter - http://twitter.com/tupelomason
*PHOTOS - http://tupelomason.shutterfly.com/
©2011 All Rights Reserved - TupeloMason®

 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Get your "30 Guns In 30 Days" Fundraiser Ticket TODAY At Scruggs Farm, Lawn, & Garden In Tupelo!!!

If you have not picked up your "30 Guns In 30 Days" ticket yet, we will have a table set up this morning (Saturday, August 17th) at Scruggs Lawn, Farm, & Garden in Tupelo beginning at 8am.

Come out and see us and show your support for a great non-profit cause! If you have any questions, please contact Ray Stanford at (662) 610-7407.

Hope to see you there!

DETAILS:

"30 Guns In 30 Days" fundraiser is on the downhill slide and we are reminding you that it is not too late to get your ticket. Only 1000 tickets will be sold, so you need to hurry! Proceeds go to help local charity's throughout the year and all donations are tax deductible to you. 

In just a couple of weeks, we will begin the drawing to be held September 1st - 30th, 2013!

 
You don't want to miss this opportunity to WIN!!!
 
One ticket not only helps us help those in need, but also gives you 30 chances to win a gun and three chances to win a custom laser engraving!

You can see any of the members of Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 to purchase your ticket.  
We also have a booth set up at Scruggs Farm, Lawn & Garden in Tupelo on most Saturdays. Please use info below to verify dates and times
 
To locate a member or if you have any questions, you may either read the original announcement in it's entirety by following the link below or by contacting us by phone.
 
 


Bro Ray Stanford - (662) 610-7407

 
Bro Derik Rushing - (662) 488-6367
 
Bro Isaiah Edger - (662) 610-7991
 
Bro John Davidson - (662) 687-1169
 
Bro Arnie Cade - (662) 255-2656
 

 
Tickets can also be picked up during normal business hours at MDN Laser Engraving. Follow link for directions. You may also contact Bro Mike Neely with MDN directly at, (662) 397-5799
 
However, if you are not local, and would like a ticket mailed to you, please send a check or money order only, in the amount of $30 per ticket. Please, NO cash if mailed.
 
Be sure to include your name, telephone number and return address. Once received, we will mail your ticket(s) back to you. Please contact Bro Derik Rushing, Secretary, by email once your donation is mailed. Your information will be recorded to assist us in our prompt follow up.

Please mail to:
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
P.O. Box 3566
Tupelo, Ms 38803


An added bonus to this years "30 Guns In 30 Days"... MDN Laser Engraving, Inc. has partnered with us to help benefit these worthy causes. Mike, with MDNLaser has been so kind as to donate three gift certificates to us, to be drawn on Oct 1st, 2nd, & 3rd. The gift certificates are valued at $75, $50, and $25. If you purchase a raffle ticket, all you have to do, to be entered to win is "like" & "share" their facebook page!

We will draw from the pool of remaining names following our September raffle. Once it has been verified that you have liked and shared MDNLaser's Facebook page, you will be able to claim your winning on the bonus drawing. If you do not know how awesome this would be to win, please check out their Facebook page as well as the website! This laser knows no boundaries!



*Notice: By law, winners must be 18 years old to win a long gun, rifle, or shotgun, 21 years old for handguns. Gift certificates of equal value (see calendar), will be issued for merchandise if winner is under age.


*Disclaimer: Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM reserves the right to modify the rules for the raffle / fundraiser, with or without notice, based on the total number of tickets actually sold, out of the 1000 ticket lot printed.

By participating in this drawing / fundraiser/ give-a-way, you agree to the terms and use described by our notice and/or disclaimer.

Please take a moment to review the contents below:

SEE FULL "30 Guns In 30 Days" Notice / Disclaimer


Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!
 
 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM - 30 Guns In 30 Days Fundraiser - 2013 - *Click on photo to enlarge!



"30 Guns in 30 Days" 2013 Fundraiser / Gun or Merchandise Give-A-Way - Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
 
 
Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM
*Home - http://www.tupelomason.org/
*Blog - http://tupelomason.blogspot.com/
*Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TupeloMason
*Twitter - http://twitter.com/tupelomason
*PHOTOS - http://tupelomason.shutterfly.com/
©2011 All Rights Reserved - TupeloMason®