Category archive
for Feature

Meet the Builders of California’s Newest Masonic Lodges

Read More

A spate of new Masonic lodges have gone up across the state in recent years. What they are building is reshaping the landscape of California Masonry.

At La France No. 885, a Lodge of Bon Vivants

Read More

At La France No. 885, a longstanding legacy of French Freemasonry in California is being carried into the future.

Paying Homage to a Masonic Hero at Rizal No. 882

Read More

At Gat Rizal No. 882 in Menifee, California, a Masonic lodge takes its name—and inspiration—from a national hero of the Philippines.

At Oakland No. 61, Something Old Meets Something New

Read More

At Oakland No. 61, two historic East Bay groups dating from the 1800s are teaming up to form a new kind of Masonic lodge.

At Logos No. 861, a Culture of Craftsmanship

Read More

At Logos No. 861 in San Francisco, handmade, lovingly crafted material culture is part of the very fabric of the lodge.

In Masonry and Politics, Finding Common Ground

Read More

The political fights of daily life are conspicuously absent from the Masonic lodge. Can those lessons be practiced in the outside world?

His Grandfather Was Canceled. His Grandmother Was a Hero

Read More

When a monument to his grandfather came under newfound scrutiny, Julius Kahn used the opportunity to shine a light on a lesser-known familial legacy: Florence Prag Kahn.

Is It Manly to Talk About Politics, Religion, and Money?

Read More

Politics, religion, and money: An expert on “manliness” explains how to discuss these tricky topics.

The Masonic Homes at 125: An Ever-Changing Haven

Read More

The Masonic Homes of California evolved from a 19th century widows and orphans home into an innovative apparatus of care and relief.

New Masonic Homes CEO Terry Quigley: “We’re Standing On A Lot of History Here”

Read More

For new CEO Terry Quigley, there’s a solid foundation—and amazing potential—at the Masonic Homes of California.

In Masonry and Magic, Blending Illusion and Wonder

Read More

For generations, the world’s greatest magicians have found a second home in Masonry. Why have Masonry and magic shared such a close connection?

How Richard Potter Vanished From History

Read More

For 200 years, magician Richard Potter—once the most famous performer in America, and a Prince Hall Mason—has kept the public guessing.

The Brotherhood of Famous Mason-Magicians

Read More

Meet the experts of two crafts: Exploring the hallowed roster of famous master Mason-magicians, from Harry Houdini to Lee Grabel.

Masonic Rebirth Is an Infinite Loop

Read More

The story of Freemasonry is one of death and rebirth. As recent events show, when it comes to California Masonry, what’s old is new again.

The Unique Charms of California’s Small-Town Masonry

Read More

From Ferndale to Big Bear, California’s small-town Masonic lodges have their own unique character—and offer a model for community involvement.

At the California Masonic Memorial Temple, a Community Treasure

Read More

For 64 years, the California Masonic Memorial Temple in San Francisco has been the home of the Masons of California. But it’s so much more.

Emile Norman’s Endomosaic: A Window of Wonder

Read More

Artist Emile Norman never became a household name. But his massive artwork remains a treasure of California Freemasonry in San Francisco.

In Freemasons’ Hall, What’s Old is New Again

Read More

At Freemasons’ Hall, inside the Grand Lodge of California temple in San Francisco, the past and future of Masonic lodge rooms collide.

In Yucca Valley, an Art-Making, Skateboarding Mason

Read More

A skateboarding Mason and installation artist at Yucca Valley No. 802 is shredding perceptions about Freemasonry.

Neighbors, Friends, Hermanos: Freemasonry in Mexico Today

Read More

A history-spanning, forward-looking celebration of the fraternal and cultural connections between California and Mexican Freemasonry.

In California’s Spanish-Speaking Lodges, a Masonic Culture Club

Read More

For members of California’s two official Spanish-speaking Masonic lodges, the sense of brotherhood is twice as strong.

Latin America’s Masonic Liberators

Read More

In the revolutionary movements of Latin America, Central America, and South America, Freemasons were front and center.

Freemasonry in Brazil: When Masonry Went Pop

Read More

In the past two decades, the number of Freemasons in Brazil has practically exploded. Inside a cultural and fraternal phenomenon.

The Famous Masonic ‘Traveling Trowel Train’ to Mexico of 1909

Read More

In 1909, a special delegation of California Masons set for Mexico City to deliver a world-famous Masonic traveling “Unity” trowel.

Hammer, Sickle, Square, Compass: Freemasonry in Cuba

Read More

A road trip through Cuba reveals a thriving—and colorful—Masonic community full of eye-catching Masonic lodges.

The Latin America-to-California Masonic Connection

Read More

Meet a group of California Masons who also belong to Masonic lodges in their home countries in Latin America.

The Rite Stuff: The Many Masonic Rituals of Latin America

Read More

From Mexico to Argentina, Latin American countries embody a wide range of Masonic rituals, from the familiar to the highly esoteric.

For Freemasons, Death Is Not the End

Read More

Freemasonry offers a framework to living a better life. That’s why it holds so many lessons for confronting death—and whatever comes next.

At a Masonic Cemetery, a Forever Home

Read More

In rural Tuolumne County, a new effort to bring a pair of Gold Rush era Masonic cemeteries back to life.

Underwater, Reminders of a Masonic Cemetery

Read More

Buried among the rocks and rubble of San Francisco’s Aquatic Park breakwater, a reminder of a long-lost Masonic graveyard.

These Morticians Are the Last Masons You’ll Ever Meet

Read More

It takes a special temperament to succeed as a mortician—and one, it turns out, that Freemasons are well suited to.

Three Masons Working as Death’s Doormen

Read More

Meet three Masons with an intimate familiarity with death—and the other side.

At a Hollywood Cemetery, a Masonic ‘Forever’ Lodge

Read More

The Masons moved out ages ago, but their aura remains at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

From Sublime to Masonry to Politics: The Mayor of Dub

Read More

From one of the early members of Sublime to mayor of La Palma, California Freemason Marshall Goodman is well-qualified to represent the L.B.C.

Mystical, Magical, Scarce

Read More

Lodge organists are a vanishing breed—but one with the power to transform the Masonic ritual.

Anything but Silence

Read More

Why two grand lodge officers are on a quest to bring music into every Masonic lodge.