Arcana Lodge #187
Ancient Free & Accepted Masons 

More New Members

Our newest members are being treated to exceptional ritual work by the officers of Arcana Lodge. On the evening of March 31^st I was sitting in the South while our Junior Warden, Brother John Fosdick presided in the East over the Entered Apprentice Degree. Although John looked a little nervous, he did a fine job that I am sure the new Entered Apprentices will remember for the rest of their lives.

A few weeks later on April 20^th I was sitting in the West while our Senior Warden, Brother Doug Roswold wore a sharp new top hat and acted as Master for the Fellow Crafts Degree. Doug was under the weather that evening, but didn’t let that stop him from doing an excellent job. He even joked that his cold gave him a deeper voice that should have made it easier for the sideliners to hear him.

That evening we were also treated to a modified presentation of the "Stair Case" lecture as edited and recited by Wr. Brother Ken Odegaard. Of course all the officers did an excellent job in both of these degrees, and we all look forward to May 17^th when we will raise our new brothers to the sublime degree of Master Mason. With more petitions being read, we’ve already scheduled another set of degrees which will start with the Entered Apprentice Degree on June 30^th.

Until next time, may the blessing of Heaven rest upon us and all regular Masons.

Fraternally yours,
Richard Hunt, Wor. Master

Laid on with a Trowel

As Masons we have to make sure that our image, the image of the Masonic institution, does not have the appearance of being "Laid on with a Trowel."

William Shakespeare used this term in "As You Like It" when Lady Celia describes language that’s plastered on, not with workmanlike care, but with unsubtle force. It is the speculative Masons skilled use of the trowel to spread the cement of Brotherly Love and Affection that will leave the true impression of what Masonry stands for.

The Grand Lodge Masonic Flood Relief Project exemplifies this Masonic tenant. Masons are taking an active role in assisting communities that were devastated by the floods along Minnesota rivers. Several lodges in these communities have offered the temporary use of their Masonic buildings for such things as an emergency shelter, a post office, and a city hall. Another lodge stated that they are not a lodge of donors but a lodge of doers and they organized a work detail clad in rubber gloves and hip waders to help the clean up efforts.

If you would like to help the flood relief project by using your trowel in the manner in which speculative Masons are intended to use it, please refer to Brother Johnson’s message on page two.

I would like to thank the companies and individuals for their contributions, and support of the Arcana Trestleboard. Please contact me if you are interested in contributing an article or financial support for this publication.

Fraternally yours,
Doug Roswold, Sr. Warden

In Memoriam

The following Brothers have recently answered the roll call of the Grand Architect of the Universe:

Harold T. Smith

Ingwald A. Wiggen

Gerald E. Knealing

Ronald W. Erickson

Masonic Flood Relief

Many lodges and individuals have asked how they can be a part of the Minnesota Grand Lodge Flood Relief project. If you would like to contribute, please send your checks to:

GRAND LODGE OF MINNESOTA
FLOOD RELIEF
200 EAST PLATO BLVD
ST PAUL, MN 55107-1618

To ensure that your contribution is tax-deductible, it should be made payable to: Minnesota Masonic Foundation, and marked "Flood Relief."

This is truly an opportunity to provide relief to those so distressed by this natural disaster and thereby show the entire state that Masonry in Action is a potent force for good.

Steven Johnson (209)
Masonic Flood Relief Coordinator
PO Box 366
Winthrop, MN 55396

507/647-5371 (W)
507/647-2648 (H)

LEO Corner - The desires of a Fellow Craft

After our second degree on April 21^st several brothers got together at a local watering hole and debated whether the Masonic ritual has lost its original meaning in contemporary life. The use of archaic terms make our ritual difficult to understand. Examples were taken from the Stair Case Lecture in the Fellow Crafts Degree and the Tylers duties to keep off all cowans and eavesdroppers. Several brothers had different ideas of what "cowans" are. Our Lodge Education Officer even said that he had looked up that word and was surprised with its meaning. This comment stuck with me, and on my way home that evening I realized that although our ritual may be out of date and many of the words are no longer used in everyday speach, it’s unlikely we will see many changes in the near future. Therefore, it would be better to shed light on the meaning of several of these areas to help improve our understanding of the craft and the beautiful leasons therein.

To start out on my quest to bring more light to the Masons of Arcana Lodge I looked up the meaning of one of the words in question that evening. The first place I looked was Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition. No luck, the word "cowan(s)" is not in there. Next I tried my "Unabridged" Random House Dictionary: again no luck. Finally I turned to the Internet and searched for the word "cowan." There I found 21,132 references to the word. After scanning the first few references I found the following (not exactly what I was looking for, but curious none the less):

Edith Cowan: Who was She?

When Edith Dircksey Cowan wrote the words Light! Light on this and other subjects! in a plea for openness on taboo public health issues of the day, she left a succinct reminder of her unswerving belief that education was a fundamental element in tackling social problems.

Edith Cowan believed education held the key to growth, change and improvement. She believed that better and more widely available education, open dialogue, and a stripping of taboos on important social issues would see change effected faster than by any other means. So it is fitting that Western Australia's oldest educational institution and newest State University should bear her name - Edith Cowan University.

Edith Cowan will be remembered by most as the first Australian woman parliamentarian, and indeed the second in the entire British empire. Her fight for social justice throughout her long and hardworking career also earned for her the reputation as one of Australia's most prominent crusaders for social equality.

The effects of much of her work were widespread, not just on the lot of women, but also children, families, the poor, the under-educated, and the elderly. Her accomplishments and reforms reached far, to touch every level of society.

Although that was interesting it wasn’t what I was looking for. I continued to search other sources on the Internet and found one reference to the word in the 1913 edition of Webester’s Unabridged Dictionary.

Cow"an (kou"an), n. [Cf. OF. couillon a coward, a cullion.] One who works as a mason without having served a regular apprenticeship. [Scot.] Among Freemasons, it is a cant term for pretender, interloper.

I then remembered that I had purchased a Masonic Vocabulary reference at the book store during the last Grand Lodge Annual Communication. Its reference to the word is:

Cowan - Old Scotch for Mason without the word; unskilled laborer in wall building and stone work; one who builds walls without mortar. In Freemasonry an uninstructed mason; an initiate who has not yet learned his work. No longer a term of reproach, while eavesdropper, meaning one who tries to hear Masonic work or unlawfully gain entrance to a lodge at work, is such a term. Cowan appears in print and writing as early as 1598. It appears in organized Grand Lodge Masonry in print in 1730’s. Universally used in English-speaking Grand Lodges as the name of one who cannot be admitted to a lodge.

Doug Roswold

Outstanding Mason of the Month

Henry Maday

Arcana Lodge wants to acknowledge the Outstanding Mason of the Month for May, Brother Henry Maday. He is the coordinator for the Coffee Club. He calls all coffee club members before meetings and Masonic Services. Henry is generally considered a very giving individual who rarely misses a lodge meeting and demonstrates all the outstanding qualities of a Mason.

Arcana Lodge Committees

Sunshine Visitation Committee for the Ill or Homebound

Cass Lodge
St. John’s Day Banquet

Your check will be your reservation. Mail your check to:

WBr Mark Campbell, Treasurer, Cass Lodge
8657 – 22nd Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55425
Phone: 854-5172

Attention all graduates of Minneapolis Edison Senior High School:

Edison 75 Year All Class Reunion
will be on October 9 - 12, 1997

For more information contact Dick Anderson, Chairman, at 788-9771

This publication is issued with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M of Minnesota.

Send stories, ideas or comments to:
Doug Roswold, Editor at webmaster@arcana187.org

This page was updated on May 02, 2003 by Doug Roswold