Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 272 pages
- Published by: Univ Tennessee Press August 15, 2006
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1572334967
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1572334960
-
Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 1 pounds
Reader Reviews
Masonic temples with external and internal features to evoke King Solomon's temple in ancient Jerusalem built throughout New York state from 1870 to 1930 were intended to "anchor [Freemasons] within a cognitive framework as they faced the existential crisis of being American men" in this period of profound, challenging, and often perplexing cultural change. New York state serves as an instructive example of the architecture of Masonic temples throughout the United States and the types of rituals and other activities they were built for because of this state's diversity embracing urban, suburban, and rural areas. The author is also familiar with New York Freemasonry from his one-time position as director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library in New York City, though he is not himself a Mason. This Masonic Library also contains an incomparable amount of Masonic literature for study. The main chambers of a Masonic lodge are built and furnished to define--and thus to anchor--different facets of masculinity as these are recognized by the different stages of Freemasonry's initiations and rituals. The four principle chambers known as the Masonic lodge room, armory and drill room of the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the Shriners' mosque correspond respectively to the masculine facets of the heroic artisan, the holy warrior, the wise man, and the jester. Moore moves back and forth from physical aspects of these rooms, the relationship of these aspects to the different facets of masculinity, and how Masonic rituals, lore, values, and practices work to define these aspects and keep them in proper balance in the formation of the ideal Freemason.
Comment | |
(Report this)
Search for books at
