From the Venerable Master (December 2024)
My Brethren,
I will start by saying Hi, and hope that I find everyone in good Health. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I also wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I pray that 2025 be a very Healthy year for everyone.
The Month of November as of this writing was a very busy Month. Our Stated Meeting was very attended. We had a capping ceremony where several candidates received their 32nd degree Scottish Rite Cap. We also had our Military Night Observance where we recognized the Army ROTC from Santa Clara University, and the Junior ROTC from Solead California. It was a good night had by all. A reminder my Brethren that you need to re- serve Dinner Reservations for our Stated Meetings at least the Friday before the Meeting. Our Smoke Room is coming almost to completion. Painting, Walls, Tile and Lighting have been completed. T.V. has been installed and working. It looks great. I know it will be enjoyed by many Brethren.
My Congratulations to Honorable Brandon Duenas, KCCH on being Elected and Installed as Pharaoh for all Sciotry. Congratulations also to Bro. Kaleo Gagne on being appointed as Supreme Neokori.
In this Month's Rite Word, I am quoting an article on the Lost Word. It was taken from an article from a book called Masonry Defined.
The Rite Word December 2024 Volume 18 Issue 12 The mythical history of Freemasonry informs us that there once existed a Word of surpassing value, and claiming a profound veneration; that this Word was known to but few; that it was at length lost; and that a temporary substitute for it was adopted. But as the very philosophy of Masonry teaches us that there can be no death without a resurrection---no decay without a subsequest restoration---on the same principle it follows that the loss of the Word must suppose its eventual recovery.
Now, this it is, precisely, that constitutes the myth of the Lost Word and the search for it. No matter what was the word, no matter how it was lost, nor why a substitute was provided, nor when nor where it was recovered. These are all points of subsidiary importance, necessary, it is true, for knowing the legendary history, but not necessary for understanding the symbolism. The only term of the myth that is to be regarded in the study of its interpretation, is the abstract idea of a word lost lost and afterwards recovered. But there is a special or individual, as well as a general interpretation, and in this special or individual interpretation the Word, with its accompanying myth of a loss, a substitute, and a recovery, becomes a symbol of the personal progress of a candidate from his first initiation to the completion of his course, when he receives a full development of the mysteries.
May you always have love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends who care. May you be blessed.
San Jose Lodge of Perfection Art Pasquinelli, 32° KCCH 2024 Venerable Master
From the Wise Master
(December 2024)
As of this month, my time in the East as the Wise Master comes to a close. As I leave the Chapter of Knights Rose Croix in the capable hands of Brother Chris Boyes, I want to thank everyone in the Valley for an exceptionally transformational year for both myself and our Valley. We have seen an interesting year in our society, additions to our facilities, powerful Reunions, financial growth and several memorable events and occasions for me personally.
These times we live in are ever more challenging, both locally in our homes and towns but nationally as we continue to find our way and continue to build our country, find our place in the world order, and contributing to mankind across the globe in our never-ending effort to create peace, prosperity and tranquility for all. These are no better times for the practice of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.
That being said, fall and the holidays is one of my favorite times of the year and a great way to accomplish our Masonic values. I am looking forward to getting together with brothers, friends and family, to break bread and take a break from the world, attend holiday meals with all the various organizations I spend my time with, both Masonic and Social. I think there is at least one holiday dinner a week and often two for all of December. I heard once “À table, personne ne vieilli, A Tavola nessuno invecchia” (At the Table, no one grows old).
I would like to thank the Valley for the opportunity to once again to sit in the East. I look forward to continuing to serve the Valley in the Council of Kadosh. I cherish the Scottish Rite and the people in it. It is a great opportunity to experience and contribute to my life and the lives of others, to learn and grow as a person as well as to share time with others and continue to contribute to Society. I think that Brother Theo Rosevelt said it best, "Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive.”
Lastly, I wish all of you and your families a prosperous, happy and healthy New Year.
San Jose Chapter of Rose Croix Mark Burger, 32° KCCH 2024 Wise Master
From the Commander of Kadosh (December 2024)
The 29th degree, Scottish Knight of St. Andrew is one of the most distinguished degrees in Masonry. The kilt and glengarry hat mark with distinction those who make up the active body of the group. The Knights of St. Andrew, are, in Masonic lore, said to be the final bastion for the remnant of the Knights Templar, and to carry on that storied legacy.
As the legend goes, the Knights Templar were double-crossed by Pope and King, their wealth stolen and their honor indicted. After the executions of its prominent members, the surviving portion dispersed into hiding across Europe. Those arriving in Scotland joined the army and, helping the Scottish King defeat his English rival, were formed as an order under the name of Scotland’s patron saint, the Knights of St. Andrew.
Truth or legend, the Knights and chivalry in general are symbols to us. The battle we wage is no longer against national, religious, or political enemies, but against vice and corruption. The armor we wear is our own virtue, that which “we cannot lose, unless we be false to ourselves.” The duties we assume in this degree, are expressed in Morals & Dogma and echoed in A Bridge to Light; to “lay aside all uncharitable feelings” and to have contempt for “the vices, and not the vicious.” This same sentiment is commonly expressed in churches and temples across the world where congregations are reminded it is the sin which is evil, not the sinner.
Our Scottish Knights of St. Andrew, and indeed all Masons, are bound by obligation to forgive, to “lay aside all uncharitable feelings.” This is something Freemasons must, and should with happiness, do, not just for each other and our families, but for everybody; our friends, co-workers, and fellow citizens. While this message is communicated clearly and repeatedly throughout the degrees of Masonry, it is one that many still find difficult to embrace. Putting aside our feelings, particularly negative feelings of anger and frustration, and replacing those with kindness and understanding is not easy; that is why we call it work.
The work is difficult and often the reward seems little to ourselves. However this is the work we’ve accepted and our good word depends on our earnest efforts to perform it to the best of our abilities. The Great Architect will ultimately see that you are paid all the wages which are due to you. A Mason, as the lecture of this degree reminds, is not what he says but what he does. “Men are not born, some with great souls and some with little souls. …By an act of will, he can make himself a moral giant or dwarf himself.”
Until Next,
San Jose Council of Kadosh Peter Cardilla, 32° 2024 Commander of Kadosh
From the Master of Kadosh (December 2024)
When I started writing these articles, I thought that I would shy-away from biographies and concentrate on Geometry (as most of the articles have). This month, however, being a big space- buff, I make an exception and present one of the more interesting astronauts from long ago. Of the original “Mercury 7” astronauts, 4 were Masons: Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom, John Herschel Glenn Jr., Walter Marty “Wally” Schirra Jr., and Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., the last American to fly into space solo. The following is excerpted from Wikipedia http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Cooper.
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Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004), also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space program of the United States.
Cooper piloted the longest and final Mercury spaceflight in 1963. He was the first American to sleep in during that 34-hour mission and was the last American to be launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission. In 1965, Cooper flew as command pilot of Gemini 5.
Early years
Cooper was born and raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He attended Shawnee High School and participated in football & track. During his senior year his father, Leroy G. Cooper, was called back into military service and the family moved to Murray, Kentucky, where he graduated from high school. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the second highest rank of Life Scout. In 1945 Cooper turned down the possibility of a football scholarship to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, but was too late to see combat in the Second World War. After completing three years of coursework at the University of Ohio he received a United States Army commission. Cooper met his first wife Trudy while in Hawaii, and they married in 1947.
Military career
Cooper transferred his commission to the United States Air Force in 1949, was placed on active duty and received flight training at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas and Williams AFB, Arizona.
Cooper's first flight assignment came in 1950 at Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany, where he flew F-84 Thunderjets and F-86 Sabres for four years. While in Germany he also attended the European Extension of the Univer- sity of Maryland. Returning to the United States, he studied for two years at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Ohio and in 1957 completed his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. Cooper was then assigned to the Experimental Flight Test School at Edwards Air Force Base in Califor- nia, and after graduation was posted to the Flight Test Engineering Division at Edwards, where he served as a test pilot and project manager testing the F-102A and F-106B. Cooper logged more than 7,000 hours of flight time, with 4,000 hours in jet aircraft. He flew all types of commercial and general aviation airplanes and helicopters.
NASA career - Mercury
While at Edwards, Cooper was intrigued to read an announcement saying that a contract had been awarded to McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri, to build a space capsule. Shortly after this he was called to Washington, D.C., for a NASA briefing on Project Mercury and the part astronauts would play in it. Cooper went through the selection process with the other 109 pilots and was not surprised when he was accepted as the youngest of the first seven American astronauts.
Each of the Mercury astronauts was assigned to a different portion of the project along with other special assignments. Cooper specialized in the Redstone rocket. He also chaired the Emergency Egress Committee, responsible for working out emergency launch pad procedures for escape. Cooper served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for Alan Shepard's first sub-orbital spaceflight in Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) and Scott Carpenter's flight on Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7). He was backup pilot for Wally Schirra in Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7).
Cooper was launched into space on May 15, 1963, aboard the Mercury- Atlas 9 (Faith 7) spacecraft, the last Mercury mission. He orbited the Earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined—34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds—traveling 546,167 miles (878,971 km) at 17,547 mph (28,239 km/h), pulling a maxi- mum of 7.6 g (74.48 m/s²). Cooper achieved an altitude of 165.9 statute miles (267 km) at apogee. He was the first American astronaut to sleep not only in orbit but on the launch pad during a countdown.
Like all Mercury flights, Faith 7 was designed for fully automatic control, a controversial engineering decision which in many ways reduced the role of an astronaut to that of a passenger, and prompted Chuck Yeager to describe Mercury astronauts as "Spam in a can".
Toward the end of the Faith 7 flight there were mission-threatening technical problems. During the 19th orbit, the capsule had a power failure. Carbon dioxide levels began rising, and the cabin temperature jumped to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38°C). Cooper fell back on his understanding of star patterns, took manual control of the tiny capsule and successfully estimated the correct pitch for re-entry into the atmosphere. Some precision was needed in the calculation, since if the capsule came in too steep, g-forces would be too large, and if its trajectory were too shallow, it would bounce off the atmosphere and be sent back into space. Cooper drew lines on the capsule window to help him check his orientation before firing the re-entry rockets. "So I used my wrist watch for time," he later recalled, "my eyeballs out the window for attitude. Then I fired my retrorockets at the right time and landed right by the carrier." Cooper's cool-headed performance and piloting skills led to a basic rethinking of design philosophy for later space missions.
NASA career – Gemini
Two years later (August 21, 1965), Cooper flew as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day, 120-orbit mission with Pete Conrad. The two astronauts established a new space endurance record by traveling a distance of 3,312,993 miles (5,331,745 km) in 190 hours and 56 minutes, showing that astronauts could survive in space for the length of time necessary to go from the Earth to the Moon and back. Cooper was the first astronaut to make a second orbital flight and later served as backup command pilot for Gemini 12.
Retirement from astronaut corps
Cooper was selected as backup commander for Apollo 10 and hoped for an assignment as commander of Apollo 13. However, after a falling-out with NASA management, Alan Shepard was chosen instead (Shepard's crew was later moved onto Apollo 14, and the Apollo 13 command went to Jim Lovell). Having flown 222 hours in space, Cooper retired from NASA and the Air Force on July 31, 1970, as a colonel.
Later years
After leaving NASA, Cooper served on several corporate boards and as technical consultant for more than a dozen companies in fields ranging from high performance boat design to energy, construction, and aircraft design. During the 1970s, he worked for The Walt Disney Company as a vice-president of research and development for Epcot.
After divorcing his first wife Trudy, Cooper married Suzan Taylor in 1972. He had four daughters, Camala Keoki (Cooper) Tharpe and Janita Lee (Cooper) Stone (both from his first marriage) along with Elizabeth Jo and Colleen Taylor (from his second marriage).
Cooper received an honorary doctorate of science from Oklahoma State University in 1967. His autobiography, Leap of Faith (ISBN 0-06-019416-2), co-authored by Bruce Henderson, recounted his experiences with the Air Force and NASA, along with his efforts to expose an alleged UFO conspiracy theory. Cooper was also a major contributor to the book In the Shadow of the Moon (published after his death), which offered Cooper's final published thoughts on his life and career.
Death
Cooper developed Parkinson's disease late in life. At age 77, he died from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, on October 4, 2004. His death occurred on the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch and the same day that SpaceShipOne made its second official qualifying flight, winning the Ansari X-Prize.
He was a Master Mason (member of Carbondale Lodge 82 in Carbondale, Colorado), and was given the honorary 33rd Degree by the Scottish Rite Masonic body.
Cooper was a member of several groups and societies including the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society, Scottish Rite and York Rite Masons, Shriners, the Rotary Club, Order of Daedalians, Confederate Air Force and Boy Scouts of America.
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See you at the meeting and dinner!
San Jose Consistory
Helmuth Litfin, 32°
2024 Venerable Master of Kadosh
From the Chief Knight
(December 2024)
Congratulations to all of our newest 32nd degree Scottish Rite masons and we hope you will feel welcome and right at home in our valley. I hope everyone is doing well and keeping warm this holiday season. Our Valleys chapter of the Knights of Saint Andrew is doing well this year and has seen some growth. We have welcomed five new members into our ranks this year, with one more interested brother who was just capped and came charging right in with interest to get more involved with the KSA.
I am proud of the continued efforts that our KSA team has put into this year and am excited to see what the following years bring. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Chief knight this year; thank you to everyone that helped make this year happen and all those behind the scenes that helped with good council and guidance.
If any brother in the valley is interested in getting more involved with helping out the valley during meetings, reunions and other events, and/or if you would like to join us in representing our valley at outside ceremonies and events, find a member and ask, or feel free to come out and join us for one of our meetings. We normally meet in the conference room right here in our building, 3rd Sunday of the month, at high-noon. Kilt not required.
Did you know that the emblem we wear on our garb comes from; the emblem you see on things like our glengarry and balmoral hats, our sashes and sometimes as broaches, or simple designs on shirts? It comes from Scotland’s patron saint.
Scotland’s patron saint Andrew refers to Andrew the apostle. He became the patron saint of Scotland in 1320. When the apostle Andrew died, he was crucified on an X- shaped cross, and that symbol was adopted and used in many ways, including the white X on the Scottish national flag, and it is why we have the same X adapted into the symbols of the Knights of Saint Andrew.
San Jose Knights of St. Andrew
Michael Lammer, 32°
2024 Chief Knight, KSA
The Knights of Saint Andrew 2024 Officers
First Knight | Bro. Chris Boyes 32º |
Chief Knight | Bro. Mike Lammer 32º |
Knight of the Watch | Bro. Alan Porjesz 32º |
Secretary | Bro. Tim Lynch 32º |
Monk Knight | Bro. Adrian Otero 32º |
Sentinel | Bro. Angelo Encarnacion 32º |