[CrackMonkey] No hope for the widow's son.

[Nick Moffitt]

	This came up in #tron, so I thought I'd forward it along for
the list's enjoyment.

----- Forwarded message from Rex Brooks <rexb at starbourne.com> -----

Monkey Master wrote:
>begin  Rex Brooks quotation:
> > However, if you feel like living dangerously, find a high ranking
> > mason and say, "Sorry bud, but there just ain't no hope for the
> > widow's son."
>
>Here's what my dictionary of freemasonry has on the widow's son:
>
>WIDOW's SON.  Hiram, the architect, is described in two places of
>Scripture; in the first he is called a widow's son, of the tribe of
>Naphtali, and in the other is called the son of a woman of the
>daughters of Dan; but in both that his father was a man of the Tyre;
>that is, she was of the daughters of the city of Dan, in the tribe of
>Naphtali, and is called a widow of Naphtali, as her husband was a
>Naphtalite; for he is not called a Tyrian by descent, but a man of
>Tyre by habitation.
>
>         Following that reference, we look up Hiram:
>
>HIRAM ABIFF.  This curious and cunning architect was a widow's son, of
>the tribe of Napthali, but his father was a man of Tyre, a worker iun
>brass.  He was the most accomplished designer and operator upon earth,
>whose abilities were not confined to building only, but extended to
>all kinds of work, whether in gold, silver, brass, or iron; whether in
>linen, tapestry, or embroider; whether considered as a architect,
>statuary, founder, or designer, he equally excelled.  From his
>designs, and under his directions, all the rich and splendid furniture
>of the Temple, and its several appendages, were began, carried on, and
>finished.
>
>HIRAM, KING OF TYRE.  When Solomon had determined to build a temple at
>Jerusalem, he sent an embassy to Tyre, requesting Hiram, the kind of
>the Tyrians, would furnish him with workmen to cut down timber at
>Lebanon, and stone in the quarries of Tyre, for the construction of
>that holy edifice.  He returned an answer to Solomon's communication,
>which contained the language of amity and esteem.  He agreed to extend
>the fraternal bond of that charity and brotherly love that was common
>to both the true and spurious Freemasonry, by furnishing cedars and
>other timber from the forest of Lebanon for the erection of a temple
>to the living God, and providing the most expert architects in his
>dominions for its construction, on the simple condition of receiving
>certain supplies of provisions in exchange;  and he performed his
>contract with princely munificence and masonic candour.  But even this
>would have been insufficient to produce any satisfactory result,
>without the presence of a master-mind to animate and direct the
>proceedings; and the kinf og Tyre furnished this Master in the person
>of his chief architect, Hiram Abiff, by whom the re-union of
>speculative and operative masons was to be consummated.
>
>         So my assumption is that "no hope for the widow's son" refers
>to the fact that freemasons are all poseurs who've never built so much
>as a popsicle-stick bridge, and that real architects and stoneworkers
>think they're all silly old men who like prancing around in aprons.
>
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I'm leaving your cited passage in its entirety because it is fascinating, 
and your assumption is fairly accurate as to my own views of masons and 
their ilk (having had some real pretenders in my own extended 
family--who've since succumbed to Alzheimer's not unlike their hero 
Ronnie), but to be specific:

The phrase "Is there hope (or 'Is there no hope...') for the widow's son?" 
is an old secret recognition sign among some relatively high level or 
degree of masonic leadership circles. I'm not sure it is still current but 
it was at the only time I actually used it on a self-important, politically 
connected, cariciature of a lawyer in SF in 1988 who seriously needed 
strangling -- and 12 years is nothing as semi-secret societies reckon 
things. It damn near did strangle him, come to think of it.

If you're feeling faintly occulted tonight, don't be surprised because 
tonight marks the longest total eclipse of the moon for the next thousand 
years or so.

Uh Oh, here comes the antichrist, gotta go,
Rex

p.s. don't even ask about Zeke....

-- 
Rex Brooks			http://www.starbourne.com
1361-A Addison			rexb at starbourne.com
Berkeley, CA 94702		Vox: 510-849-2309



----- End forwarded message -----

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