There is a new Masonic Magazine, a Quarterly Review, on the market - "Freemasons Press". You might not hear about this new publication from other popular bloggers who have invested in another new American venture that needs no competition. Freemasons Press touts itself as being An Independent Review not beholden to any jurisdiction. Of course it has a forum where one doesn't have to be careful about critisizing American Grand Lodges, like the Grand Lodge of West Virginia ( which if so constricted enables WVA to continue medieval Masonry).
Here is what the publication says about itself:
FREEMASONS PRESS
Independent Masonic Review
A NOTE TO OUR READERS
Freemasons Press is an Independent International Quarterly Review on Freemasonry and related subjects.
“Independent” means that views and opinions expressed here are not of any Masonic organization or group, nor of the publisher, but solely of individual authors of various papers and articles. Independent also means that publishing of the FP Review is not financed by any of the Masonic organizations or groups but strictly through the subscriptions and donations from the readers.
“International” means that the views, news, articles and papers published in FP Review come from the authors from all over the world. Those papers and articles written in other languages than English are always published in both original language and English translation. International also means that the FP Review is distributed worldwide.
“Quarterly” means that FP Review is published four times a year: September 1st – Fall Issue, December 1st-Winter Issue, Mart 1st-Spring Issue, and June 1st- Summer Issue.
“Review on Freemasonry and related subjects” means that we publish articles and papers on all aspects of Freemasonry: history, philosophy, symbolism, ritual, and current issues and events. We also publish articles on related esoteric subjects like Cabala, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Mystery Schools and Tarot.
As Freemasons we believe in freedom of expression. In accepting papers and articles we do not discriminate on basis of Masonic affiliation, understanding of Freemasonry, Masonic grade, race, ethnic or religion origin or gender. The only criteria for publishing an article or paper is the quality of the content of the article and benefits it may have for our Masonic and non-Masonic readers.
The purpose and mission of the FP Review comes out of our duty as Freemasons: To work on our self-improvement, to search for that which was lost, to gather that which was scattered, and always, always to stand for the highest ethical values and more than anything - TRUTH…
Freemasons Press is a world wide publication and will publish in multiple languages. It will be open to everyone and will publish stories of many different obediences. You can see by some of its contibuting authors that ity has a good world wide spread.
STEVAN V. NIKOLIC, NEW YORK, USA
The Author of the "Royal Art" and "The Purpose of Freemasonry"
FRANCESCO BRUNELLI, ANCONA, ITALY
The Author of the "Via Iniziatica E Nuova Era"
DR. MIGUEL H. BRONCHUD, BARCELONA, SPAIN
The Author of "The Secret Castle"
Educator, Researcher, and Published Author in the field of Medical Sciences
FRA. MICHAEL NICHOLAS, DWC, LONDON, ENGLAND
The Founder of the TemplarSeal Society, Published Author and Lecturer
PROF. DR. MICHAEL B. GAVRILOV, VRSAC, SERBIA
Published Author, Educator, and Independent Researcher
DR. SUSAN GONZALEZ, NEW YORK, UAS
Professional Musician, College Professor, Published Author, Reiki Master and a Freemason
LILIANE SCHACHMES, NEW YORK, USA
One of the pioneers of the Female Freemasonry on both American contients, and active member of the Women's Grand Lodge of Belgium
MILICA KRKOVIC, BELGRADE, SERBIA
The Author of the "Mala Knjiga O Pocetku"(Little Book of Creation), and the founding member of the Lectorium Rosicricianum-Belgrade
Issue #! will be out this September and will include the following stories:
"QUO VADIS DOMINE?" - The Dawn of the Third Millennium
Aquarian Age and the Path if Initiation
The Strange Franciscan Connection
The Healing Power of Sound
Rosslyn Chapel
The Lodge Aurora and its Temple
The Human Being as a Microcosm
Humanity, Humility, Humiliation And Freemasonry
The Godmother
One Europe, One Freemasonry, Same Goals - Is it possible? What UGLE says?
If I were going to add another Masonic Research and Journalistic adventure to The Scottish Rite Research Society, The Philalethes Society, The Phylaxis Society it would be Freemasons Press. Its independence is something that David Lettlier, Tom Thorton and I have promoted and carried over into a Masonic Yahoo Group. That freedom is very important in being able to speak out for or against actions, programs and solutions in one's own jurisdiction. Editor in Chief, Stevan V. Nikolic explains it very well in Freemasons Press' press release.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- In the first issue of FREEMASONS PRESS readers will find 132 pages of articles and papers on various aspects of Freemasonry written by the prominent Masonic scholars from the USA, England, France, Italy, Spain, and Serbia, as well as views and news from the Masonic organizations, groups, and communities worldwide.
Editor in Chief, Mr. Stevan V. Nikolic ( from New York) says: "Freemasons Press was envisioned as an open arena for free expression of the views and opinions on Freemasonry and related subjects. Our ambition is to become the most popular Masonic publication worldwide. As Freemasons we believe in freedom of expression. In accepting papers and articles we do not discriminate on basis of Masonic affiliation, understanding of Freemasonry, Masonic grade, race, ethnic or religious origin or gender. The only criterion for publishing an article or paper is the quality of the content of the article and benefits it may have for our Masonic and non-Masonic readers. Some of the readers may be enlightened with the controversial content of the Review, others enraged and disturbed, but none will stay indifferent."
Freemasonry is the oldest and largest international fraternity. There are an estimated 3 million Freemasons worldwide, and more than a half of it in the United States. Most of the Masonic periodicals around the world are under strict control and censorship of the organizations that publish them, and express only the views of those particular groups. The efforts by some Freemasons to start an independent and international publication were usually labeled as heretical, un-Masonic, and even anti-Masonic.
"It seems that we have "struck the cord"-says Michael Nicholas, the London correspondent of the Freemasons Press; - "The first issue just came out, and we already have subscribers from USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia.
Let's see the competition top this one!
13 comments:
*Yawn.*
So a group of largely irregular Masons have issued a press release.
(Have you actually read any of their credits?)
Dear Brother, as the Editor in Chief of the Freemasons Press I would like to inform you of some of the "credits" of "a group of largely irregular Masons":
Stevan V. Nikolic ( me- Editor in Chief)
PM of the Consolidated Lodge 31 ( GL of NY), at present Master of the American Lodge of Research, NY, Honorary Member of the St. John's Lodge No.1 ( GL of NY), Honorary member of the Singidunum Lodge No.16 ( Regular Grand Lodge of Serbia), PSM of the "Half Moon" AMD Council (NY), Past MWM of the Rose Croix Chapter Valley of NY, recipient of the "Brother Franklin" Award for the best publication ( for "Brotherhood" Magazine), winner of the "MAGLA" ritual contest of the GL of NY in 2000. Author of numerous articles and papers published in the Masonic publications worldwide including "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum" Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 from London.. Author of the books:
Royal Art: Three Centuries of Freemasonry" (2006), "the Purpose of Freemasonry" etc. As a side comment: 100% of all of the royalties of my two books go to the Masonic charities.
Bro. Dr. Miguel H. Bronchud from Barcelona. Spain is PM of the Lodge under Jurisdiction of the UGLE, PM of the Lodge under Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Spain. Past Presiding Officer of Royal Arch and Knight Templar bodies that he belong to, renowned researcher in the medical field, as well as the Author of the book "Secret Castle- The Key to Good and Evil"..etc.
Bro. Francesco Brunelli is PM of the Lodge under Jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy, and the Author of the book "Aquarian Age and Path of initiation".
Bro. Prof. Dr. Milivoj Gavrilov is the Officer of the Aurora Lodge" of the Regular Grand Lodge of Serbia, educator, researcher, and world authority in the field of meteorology.
Fra. Michael Nicholas is high ranking ordained priest of the Orthodox Christian Church, 50-years Masonic veteran, member of the regular Grand Lodge in Europe), who uses his alias ( Michael Nicholas) due to his sensitive professional position.
Out of three Ladies that submitted their articles, two ( Dr. Susan Gonzalez and Lilian Schachmes) are Freemasons in their own right, of impressive professional and academic background. Their papers were published in accordance with the editorial policy of the FREEMASONS PRESS. If you don't like it, don't read it, but dont "Yawn" on it. That "Yawn" is exactly what brought American Masonry to present membership numbers. So wake up, Brother! FREEMASONS PRESS is here to stay.
I forgot to mention Milica Krkovic. She never claimed to be a Mason. She never claimed to be anything but seeker after inner light and self-improvement. Read her article and then come back to discuss our credits. Milica is also published Author (The Little Book of Creation").
This is all very short and basic... If you bother to read at all?
With Kind Fraternal Regards
Bro. Stevan V. Nikolic
I'm convinced. Of course I was so before you shot the commenter down. I can see that this is going to be a very professional publication. Money and sign up on the way. And if it is as good as I think it will be, I shall write more on Freemasons Press.
Sounds like a publication that is long overdue. I would be interested in subscribing myself to what appears to be an excellent source for Masonic information. Thank you Squire for bringing this to our attention.
Not to detract from the good news about this new publication, but Fred, I must comment on the insinuation that "the publication that does not need competition" will not support this new venture.
I'm a member of the Masonic Society and also a subscriber to Freemasons' Press. I plan to support both financially and through contributions of my writing.
If I misunderstood your opening paragraph, I apologize, but from where I sit, it looked like a veiled attack.
Bro. Fred, I have to weigh in and agree with Bro. Stephen.
I'm a member of TMS and plan to subscribe to the Freemasons' Press as its content interests me very much. Subscribing to one doesn't necessarily preclude one from the other. The insinuation that an unnamed organization needs no competition, and the additional dare that it "top this one", merely perpetuates an imaginary conflict started ever since TMS was created (funny, why didn't TSS get dragged into this conflict?)
Truth be told, there is no real competition and nobody, except a few on both sides of the coin, that cares to perpetuate such a notion.
Let's allow the information contained within the respective publications speak for itself rather than leading a cheer for imaginary teams.
Furthermore, let's be respectful of those who put in countless hours and effort to produce and write for these publications.
Threaten? Who me? All I have is a squirt gun!!
Seriously I don't mean to disparage anyone. What I mean to do is to encourage free and open Masonic journalism and discourse.
Posting one day on a Masonic forum (which I don't do much of anymore), I was mentioning what a good Masonic site I thought Phoenix Masonry was and how some of my writings were featured there. I was promptly castigated because the site owner is a Co-Mason and therefore clandestine. How dare I associate with a clandestine Mason, I was told. By doing so I was encouraging and promoting them, said another.
I said well there is a lot of good material there. Look - a complete collection of the Builder's Magazine! Doesn't matter said another, it comes from a tainted source.
Well I am not going to sit in Lodge with a C0-Mason or a woman Mason or any other clandestine Mason. But I fail to see how Masoic discourse with them is a crime. In fact I might actually learn something.
So what I am doing here is championing those Societies, Forums and scholarship which are open to all Obediences for membership. There is no violation of my Obligation in associating with these people.
What I am seeing is a growing attempt at Masonic censorship and I don't like it. In Texas a mainstream Mason is forbidden Masonic discourse with a Prince Hall Mason - even though Recognition passed (don't even think about cross visitation).
All this reminds me - to create an analogy - of the Chrristian Right in the religious field. Exclude, exclude, exclude making your little community the one and only true one.
What happened to Masonic tolerance and bringing together people of many different viewpoints?
Secondly, I see a tendency in today's Masonic circles to remove any discussion of any problems in the Craft. We don't talk about that or write about it either, many say. Talk about veiled threats. Well that is veiled censorship.
I made a post on a Masonic Forum I rarely go to anymore saying that the WVA GM demanded to know in his court brief what were the real names of the posters on Masonic Crusade and what were their E-Mail addresses. I commented - " I wonder what the GM of WVA wants with the true identies of these people"? The post was removed as it was deemed a criticism of a Grand Lodge which was against policy.
The trend is to say there are no problems in Freemasonry because we do not acknowledge any. Making believe something isn't there isn't going to make it go away. As a matter of fact it only emboldens and authorizes those who perpetuate Masonic injustice.
Again we have a form of censorship but what I would rather call sterilization. There is no justice ( A Cardinal Virtue) if there is no upholding of virtue and morality - especially Masonic code.
One of the biggest modern injustices was what has been done to Frank Haas. When in the history of Masonry has a GM expelled another past GM? Yet the majority of USA Masons say - its not my problem.
Where is the body of Masonry in helping this Brother. Oh, I'm not talking about interfering in WVA's Masonic goverance, I'm talking about helping Frank Haas. Why couldn't another jurisdiction offer him membership in their jurisdiction?
But that's not the way the big boys play. You see the fallacy of removing all Masonic politics out of your Socities, Forums and Writings is to leave the dirty political manuvering in the hands of the Masonic power brokers who will be encouraged and emboldened by the lack of opposition to their wheeling and dealing and arbitrary actions.
I will continue to encourage free exprssion of all viewpoints, speaking out against Masonic censorship. I will continue to publisize Masonic problems and injustices in the hopes of discouraging future more prevalent problems and with a view to solutions.
Then and only then can we walk into Camelot.
Umm I am not so sure about that Squire. I was censored on your Masonic Brothers list afterall. I get what you are saying and I agree but don't false advertise.
S&F,
BC
Well said Squire. Thank you for being one of the few that "gets it" regarding censorship in Masonic circles. It seems to me that if a greater degree of democracy were practiced among masonic "brothers" who meet "on the level" than most of the problems wouldn't exist. I doubt that a majority of the membership of the GL of WV would ever have agreed to expel PGM Haas.
Brother SB,
Excellent response to explaining why you do what you do. It is tough to wrap the brain around the notion of restricting discourse and interrelations on a "brotherhood" basis in America?
We, the whole human race, need men and women of the 21st century, who fully understand the principles of freemasonry(there is nothing in the 3 degree's that makes gender an issue) and can intelligently expose the masses to it.
Br. Ben Franklin, who printed Anderson's Constitutions in America in the early 1700's was a fore runner of Freedom and the Freedom to print it. PERIOD.
freedom means freedom. The restrictiveness experienced from within, from association to literature, was a revelation.
The more Freemasons from all ways can come together, meld minds, and put forth the results; it could only benefit the masonic world as a whole, which in turn would benefit mankind. Which should be a goal of the freemasonic world.
Remember, American Freemasons died to promulgate Liberty, Equality and Fraternity! The Fraternity needs to resurrect Liberty and Equality if it wishes to be like their Freemasonic forefathers.
So Mote It Be
Dear Brother Squire,
I never got to thank you for your welcoming words. So I thank you now for all of the support and passionate cheering words. I noticed that your original post inspired quite a few comments, on your page as well as on other sites. It seems that some people don’t appreciate your “all American spirit’ to always support “the under-dog” and “say what you really think” no matter what. I do my Brother, and anyway that “all American Spirit” was the reason I moved some twenty years ago to US from the communist Yugoslavia where my father spent nine years in prison simply for being a Freemason.
I have to say that we in Freemasons Press never intended to be in any kind of competition with any other Masonic Publication. The time will show that we are completely different kind of “endeavor”. It would be real embarrassment to admit that handful of Masonic publications with minuscule run can not be supported with readership base of one and a half million Freemasons in the USA. Besides that, we already have more contributing authors as well as subscribers overseas and in Canada than in US and our intentions are to keep our “international” and “independent” character regardless of the reactions of the Masonic Authorities in the US.
I am happy to report that our first issue is available for distribution and is about to be shipped to subscribers and reviewers. For those who want to purchase single issues without subscribing, they can do so on Amazon.com or on our site www.freemasonspress.info . In a few short days everybody will see that Freemasons Press is not a “revolutionary manifesto” but a serious and responsible source of the news, views, and opinions for and from Masons worldwide.
On one of other sites that posted info about Freemasons Press, it was written that FP Review “will also address irregular/unrecognized Freemasonry”. As a Freemason I have a problem with that statement. There is no such a thing as an “irregular /unrecognized Freemasonry. There is only one Universal and Everlasting FREEMASONRY. There are, however, regular, irregular, recognized, and unrecognized Masonic Institutions, and as material creations they are all temporary, earthly political things. Freemasons Press is interested in Freemasonry, not in the Masonic Institutions and not in Masonic politics.
In the same comment it was mentioned that one could find about Freemasons Press in one of “several unsolicited e-mails about it”. The only thing I could say about this comment is: “Welcome to the 21st Century, Brother”. If you don’t like it, it takes only click to delete it. It is unfortunate but those things work. My direct mail was in compliance with the “Federal Anti-spam Act”, being sent from the real address, with the real return address; sign with my full legal name, and with the option to “opt-out”. Two years ago, when my book “Royal Art” came out, it was reviewed favorable by Jim Tresner ( Scottish Rite Journal), Thomas Jackson ( Northern Light), Wallace McLoud ( Royal Arch Magazine), Stephen Dafoe ( Masonic Magazine), as well as several other Jurisdictional Magazines. Six months of this kind of publicity sold only twenty five copies of the book. Only two weeks of my direct mail brought much more subscriptions to Freemasons Press. So, in order to spread the word we have to live with times... But not to worry, there won’t be any more direct mail. The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York ordered me to stop with direct mail and I have to comply with it. It is against the Constitution of the GLNY. That was quite a revelation for me. As a passionate history buff I always wondered where Stalin found his inspiration for the communist constitutions of the USSR, where the USSR citizens could not travel not communicate with their friends and family in other towns without written permission from the authorities.
So, Brother Squire, Thank you one more time…
Stevan V. Nikolic
"Br. Ben Franklin, who printed Anderson's Constitutions in America in the early 1700's was a fore runner of Freedom and the Freedom to print it. PERIOD."
Is that so? Please provide us with references so we can see why you say, "PERIOD".
I paid last year and still have not received a copy and the Freemason Press stopped answering emails.
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