Jim Tresner, Grand Cross

It was the first book I can remember being given. Only about four inches square and an inch thick, it had very big type and told a story about a ‘possum, a ‘coon, and a fox who lived together in a hollow tree. Santa tucked it into the toe of my stocking on my fourth Christmas, and I’ve loved stockings, Christmas, Santa and, most of all, books ever since. Each year, this column suggests books and other items for holiday giving to yourself and others. Hope you find something here you like!

The first part of this is so simple it’s almost too easy. Go to the Web site of the Supreme Council at www.srmason-sj.org. If you are a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, you can save 10% on everything you order here. (If you are not a member, click on the Research Society and download an application. It costs $30 a year, and it brings you much more than $30 worth of books and bonus items every year.) Once you’re at the site, click on “Scottish Rite Store,” then click on one of the areas of the store, and browse to your heart’s content. You will find books and items of every sort, and, if you order soon, there should be no problem with delivery by this year’s holiday season.

Let me call your attention to a few of my favorite items. Click on “Accessories” and look at #146. This is a tie with the logo of the Research Society in silver-grey, woven into the deep blue silk fabric (see photo above). It’s also available in magenta on blue if you prefer. Each is a sharp-looking tie. They are $25 each—$20 each if you order two or more. Also, see page 7 of this issue for a Scottish Rite eagle tie and other fine items for holiday giving.

Also in the “Accessories” section is item #44, an umbrella with a large double-headed Scottish Rite eagle. It’s cheap—only $7.50—but I can testify that it’s strong. I got one at a Scottish Rite Leadership Conference several years ago, and it’s held up to Oklahoma thunderstorms and tornadoes like a champ.

Click on “Jewelry” and you’ll find several different pins, cuff links, etc. I especially like item #186 (see photo above). It’s listed as a tie tack, but I like to use it as an attractive 32° double-headed eagle lapel pin. Best of all, it’s only $5.00.

A Glossary to Morals and Dogma (right)

Then click on “Major Publications” and then “Masonic Philosophy.” Browse at length among the treasures, but let me call one to your special attention, A Glossary to Morals and Dogma (#11, see photo next page), by Dr. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°, Grand Cross. One of the most important Masonic books published in the 20th Century, it makes reading Morals and Dogma so much easier. It’s a fine work of scholarship, and I’d no more recommend a Mason start reading Morals and Dogma without the Glossary at hand than I would that he go into the wilderness without a map and compass. It’s a well-printed, hardbound book of some 538 pages. At only $11.00, it is a real bargain.

Also, while you’re in this section of the Online Store, take a look at item #19, the new, 2004 edition of Is It True What They Say about Freemasonry? In 1994, Ill. Bros. Arturo de Hoyos and Dr. S. Brent Morris, GC, wrote the original version of this book, then published by the Masonic Information Center. This 2004 edition, published by M. Evans and Company, Inc., is substantively updated and expanded. It is a very important book for every Mason to have because it takes on the major anti-Masons point by point and provides convincing factual proofs in defense of the Craft. The book costs $14.50 but is worth a great deal more. If you are not able to access the Supreme Council’s Web site, call 202-777-3136 and request a free printed copy of “Supreme Council Publications and Other Items for Sale.”

Leaving the Supreme Council’s Web site, let’s turn our shopping attention to the Masonic Service Association of North America—still the source of some of the best and least expensive Masonic educational information around. For all these items, write to MSANA, 8120 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910-4785 for a free catalog or visit the Association’s Web site at www.msana.com. You may also place an order by calling 301-588-4010 or faxing 301-608-3457. When ordering, send the amount shown below per item plus $2.50 S&H on orders up to $5.00, and $6.00 S&H on orders from $5.01 to $10.00 or more. Here are three of my favorites.

• Allied Masonic Groups and Rites” #204, cost $3.00. There are an astonishing number of organizations with Masonic affiliations or associations. Both interesting and informative, this digest lists many entities you probably have never heard of and gives a brief description of each.
• The Regius Poem” #274 cost $3.00. The oldest Masonically related document in the world, this poem has been dated by scholars to about A.D. 1390. It is sometimes called doggerel, but that’s unfair. It is a didactic, teaching, poem that sets out the rules for behavior in Lodge and in life. The poem is presented in this digest both in its original Middle English, which is quite difficult to read, and in a very good modern translation.
• A Shared Spirit” #289 cost $4.00. Ill. Bro. Robert G. “Bob” Davis, Grand Cross, and I put this booklet together a few years ago to celebrate the relationships between Freemasonry and the American Indian (Native American) traditions. There are some astonishing parallels in thought, symbolism and ritual, and it is no surprise that many Native Americans have not only joined the Fraternity but also risen to roles of importance and honor. The booklet contains essays on symbols, traditions, and legends as well as several brief biographies.

Happy Holidays!

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