Jim Tresner, Grand Cross

John Goldsmith, Three Frenchmen and a Goat: The DeMoulin Bros. Story, Tri-State Litho, 2004, paperbound, 196 pages, illustrated with photographs and drawings, no ISBN given. Order from the author: John Goldsmith, 409 Wyatt St., Greenville, IL 62246. Send check or money order for $21.00 per book ($18.00-book and $3.00 S&H) with your name, address, and e-mail address if available.

This is a fascinating little book. It is the history of one of the most important fraternal supply and regalia houses in the 1900s, which is now one of the largest suppliers of band uniforms. And it is the story of the famous goat. Our younger brethren may not know that for many years it was believed by the general population that the Masonic initiation involved riding a goat. There were songs about it, post cards, and many other things you’ll find referenced elsewhere in this issue. Yet it was certainly never an official part of any Blue Lodge initiation and, so far as most of us can determine, not an unofficial part, either. As the author points out, it was indeed a part of the initiation of the Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal and insurance association. The DeMoulin Bros. seem to have been the first to actually manufacture mechanical goats used for initiations. The book has drawings of different models. It is a lot of fun to read, and also gives an interesting vision of the fraternal movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s. What with collapsing chairs, slapsticks rigged with gunpowder charges, machines which gave the candidate an electrical shock while swatting him in the seat of the pants, and other such contrivances, it was a very different world from that in which we live today. This book helps recapture a more innocent, if less sophisticated age. To view an original, fully illustrated DeMoulin catalog from the 1930s on-line, go to www.phoenixmasonry.org and follow the links.

Tobias Churton, Magus: The Invisible Life of Elias Ashmole, Lichfield, England: Signal Publishing, 2004, paperbound, large format, 231 pages, many illustrations, ISBN 0-9543309-2-7. Available from Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Company, Inc., 3011 Old Dumbarton Rd., Richmond, VA 23228, 804-262-6551, or on the Web at www.macoy.com, stock #M702, $35 + $7.95 for packing and domestic UPS shipping.

I thought I knew who Elias Ashmole was. I knew he was the first “speculative” Mason—the first person we can prove joined a Masonic Lodge who had never actually worked with stone. We know that because of an entry in his diary (October 16, 1646). And I knew that he had an interest in natural history and that his collection, given to Oxford University, became the Ashmolean Museum, the first museum open to the public. And then I read this book and discovered that I knew nothing at all about Elias Ashmole.

He was a fascinating and complex man, and the book reads like an adventure novel. He was one of the leading intellectual and spiritual lights of the time, an accomplished alchemist, and a close friend of some of the most brilliant men in England. He was a soldier, caught in the middle of Cromwell’s revolution—a Royalist at the time of the Parliamentarian victory. He was a respected philosopher and author (see next book), and he was interested in everything and expert in many things.

Churton has given us a compelling picture of his life, the city in which he lived (Lichfield had been a spiritual center of England for centuries), and the guild structure of the time. The author will be familiar to many readers as the founding editor of the magazine Freemasonry Today, which I’ve recommended several times as an outstanding publication. I can highly recommend this book.

Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), The Way to Bliss, orig. Pub. 1658. www.barnesandnoble.com lists two versions, both paperbound. One sells for $26.95 and one for $32.95

It is interesting to read a book by a man so significant in the transitional stage of Freemasonry, and it gives a good snapshot of the intellectual climate of the time. The book is about the alchemical search for the philosopher’s stone, which implies it is a mixture of medicine, alchemy, and philosophy. It is not a physically easy book to read. The copy I have is a photocopy reproduction of the original printed edition, which means we are dealing with old type styles, with the tall “s” which look like “f” and all “the rest of that sort of thing.” But it is interesting reading. Not for everybody, but for those who are interested in Ashmole and his era, it’s a jewel.

Jay Kinney, editor, The Inner West: An Introduction to the Hidden Wisdom of the West, New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2004, ISBN 1-58542-339-4 paperbound, 324 pages, cover price $16.95, available on the Internet, new, from $10.17, used, from $0.40.

I’ve mentioned before that I greatly enjoy Jay Kinney as writer. I first became aware of his work as an editor with his first-rate and deeply lamented magazine, Gnosis. This book shows his skill both as author and editor. He has a superlative introductory essay, taking us through something of his personal journey. And then there are more than 20 fairly short chapters by some of the most respected thinkers of today, exploring such topics as Christian mysticism, the Tarot, an overview of the Kabbalah, and much more. If you have ever wondered where the western tradition of spirituality came from, or how it has expressed itself over time, or why the inner approach to spirituality has been the most rapidly growing religious phenomenon in America, or simply what all the shouting is about, this is a very good, clear, and approachable book.

Jim Tresner, Valley of Guthrie, Okla., is the Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute; Editor of The Oklahoma Mason, Member of the Steering Committee, Masonic Information Center; Director of Work in Guthrie; and author, among other books, of Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument and Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. Contacts: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie OK 73044; Tel. 405-282-3212; Fax 405-282-3244; okmasonmag@hotmail.com