A Quiet Sunday - Albert Pike

I spent the day relaxing, reading, visiting my friend Jack Horowitz who is in the Hospital. He seems to be doing well. I also met Ann Clubine who was visiting him. Her Husband and I worked together to set up the Culture Kits and Friendship Fairs in the early 1970's. He was a visionary and I am glad I got a chance to meet her. She and the Horowitz's share grandchildren.

I rented some more movies from Hollywood Video. I seem to be having a Simser Film Festival at the house this weekend.

I have the back porch cleaned off and got some flowers at Holubs to make it nice. The bushes around the back are sending out a nice scent and it was fun to have supper out there with Bailey begging for chunks of chicken.

The movie "Night at the Museum" was fun to watch. The others were heavier and were both foreign language films with subtitles. I stil have two to go.

I am reading "Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry - Albert Pike's ESOTERIKA" transcribed and edited by Arturo de Hoyos. It was sent out by the Scottish Rite Research Society and it was worth the entire cost of the dues. The book is a copy of a book by Pike in which he gives his thoughts about Masonic symbolism. It opens up depths to our degrees and what things really stand for that I had never thought possible. Pike was an incredible thinker and it really shows in this work.

To many the Masonic initiation is straight forward and the explanation of the ritual is enough. For others of us there has to have been a deeper more spiritual meaning and this book points the way to those meanings. Pike spent years thinking about Masonry and studying the underlying meanings of our degrees. Believe me when I say that I will never look on our work superficially again but will continue to look for those deeper meanings.

Pike had two copies of this book made and directed that it not be published or distributed. I am so glad that his wishes were not followed as these ideas should be widely distributed. I am not finished yet and in the preface it suggests reading it twice. I have never been able to finish Pike's Morals and Dogma but this book is very readable and I am getting a lot out of it. I hope others will read it and we can discuss some of the ideas in the book.

All in all a beautiful, restful day. Be happy. Hugs.