Stated Communication & Festive Board with Discussion Led by Bro∴ Christopher Murphy of Vermont

Name: Stated Communication & Festive Board with Discussion Led by Bro∴ Christopher Murphy of Vermont
Start: 2025-11-15T17:30:00-05:00
Location: The Elm City Club

Schedule

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 05:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

The Elm City Club | New Haven, CT

Quinta Essenta Lodge will hold a Stated Communication with a Festive Board featuring a discussion led by Bro∴ Chris Murphy, from the Grand Lodge of Vermont, 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 15 at The Elm City Club.
Join for the degree, followed with good food and drink, conversation and fellowship (see more details about our guest and the topic of conversation below)!
ATTIRE - Black Tie
COST - $125 (not including drinks from the bar) per brother.
RSVP TO THE JUNIOR WARDEN AT [email protected] .
DISCUSSION TOPIC TO BE LED BY BRO∴ CHRIS MURPHY
“The Traditional History: Freemasonry’s foundational mythos”
The entirety of the Craft hangs upon the superstructure of the Masonic legend of the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Despite being drawn from a Biblical context, including figures and places from the V∴S∴L∴, it is not a Biblical recitation; it is a distinctly Masonic narrative.
Although it is largely undiscussed in contemporary Masonic practice, within the classical era of Masonic development, that story of the three Grand Masters, was merely one “chapter” of a far larger mythos. The overarching story related that the Craft was conceived by God and placed, by creation, in the heart of Adam. That knowledge was passed through Adam’s son Seth, unto Enoch, Noah, and the builders at Babel. The likes of Pythagoras, Hermes Trismegistus, and Zoroaster were then linked in as Masonic brethren. From them, the Ars Mason was passed to the world’s greatest artisans and architects, to the monarchs of Europe, and ultimately to the Grand Lodges and unto each of us.
The totality of this story—this narrative symbol—represents an unbroken chain of sacred, secret knowledge; and is widely referred to as the “traditional history.”
Freemasonry is ultimately syncretic in its design, and calls upon its votaries to plumb the depths of its symbolic lexicon. As such, this traditional history represents everything speculative about our Craft. A discussion of this central myth (its distinct elements, its general contours, its traditional role in propagating Masonic self-concept, and its deeply esoteric nature) will make for a rousing and inspiring conversation among the Brethren and guests of Quinta Essentia Lodge.
BIOGRAPHY
Bro∴ Christopher Murphy, FPS, is a past District Deputy and past Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of Vermont. He is the editor and contributing author of Exploring Early Grand Lodge Freemasonry (2017) and The Secret’s Kept Sacred: The Orations, Sermons, and Songs of Early Vermont Freemasonry (2025). In 2022, he was elected as a Fellow of the Philalethes Society, and is a frequent contributor to Philalethes: A Journal of Masonic Research and Letters. He has been a guest lecturer at Masonic Lodges and events across the country, and makes a particular study of the esoteric underpinnings of 17th and 18thcentury Freemasonry. Bro∴ Murphy is so pleased to be able to join the Brethren and guests of Quinta Essentia Lodge № 500.