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We actually sell fireplace accessories and nothing else.
Printers? Where on earth did you get THAT idea?
The above uses the logic behind the marketing of (the former) Halcyon Lodge in Cleveland, Ohio, USA

The ONLY lodge in the GOOFUS universe - if you want to call it a lodge....

The story of Halcyon Lodge in Cleveland, Ohio is one of a Pied Piper, sycophantic and egotistic followers, and - probably - a desire to do far more with Freemasonry in an undesirable part of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Sadly, it's also (at least to this observer and many others) a tale of lies, deceit, unrealistic expectations merged with idealism, egotism, and hope. It was - from our perspective, the story of big plans, some readily available cash, and a group of impetuous 20 to nearly-40 year olds who never learned the Masonic lessons of temperance and justice pitted against "a bunch of 'old fogies'" who were seen to be standing in the way of great plans and dreams. From one angle, it was high-minded ideals battling against the atrophy and stupidity which had allowed a cherished monument to decay - but the rest of the Masonic world didn't seem to see it that way, particularly with the already tainted activities of the person who came to be their spiritual mentor.

It all began with a fabrication

Halcyon Lodge BLAZED (and that's no exaggeration!) onto the Masonic Internet scene with their announcement that the founder of the then-embryonic United Grand Lodge of America would be coming to Cleveland (Ohio, USA) to present a program in which remarkable new material related to the history of Freemasonry would be revealed. Like everything else concerning that organization, its predecessors and its successors, this was soon shown to be pure hype/tripe. Reading between the lines subsequently, it would appear that the presentation was probably little more than ONE (a little-used one) of the theories conjectured over the years and presented by the speaker's darling, author Margaret C. Jacob. Although Professor Jacob's material about French Freemasonry has been intriguing for most, it seems to have been truly awe-inspiring for the less-than-knowledgeable. When Mr. Peace "quit Freemasonry" (one of the couple of times....), a fawning Toronto gadfly (generally ignored for his pomposity by the rest of the Masonic online world) wrote "Jeff Peace has been described as one of the brightest living masonic scholars." In truth, NO ONE who is recognized as a Masonic scholar, researcher or educator has ever made such a preposterous and exaggerated claim. As far as we know, Mr. Peace had never written more than (a large volume of) internet posts, a few un-sourced opinion essays and, of course, parts/pieces of the ritual for the various groups he's formed. As far as we know, he had/has NO credentials as a Masonic historian, scholar or educator and has certainly never received any recognition as such that anyone we know is aware of. (If we're wrong on this, please do let us know and we'll issue an immediate correction!)

But that's where the Halcyon beginnings of 'revolution' began to finally erupt.

Break-away and the Lawsuit

Jeff apparently had such a good time with those at Halcyon who were in the process of fermenting revolution within the moribund lodge that his message of 'join with me' resonated and next we heard, they were about to make Jeff - who had by then been expelled by regular/recognized Freemasonry in Georgia - an Honorary Member of their lodge, asserting that the Code of the Grand Lodge of Ohio permitted such actions.

Questions raised by regular/recognized Freemasons online were met with various degrees of avoidance or belligerence and while many sought to fully understand things in which they were not involved and had no specific stake, the heat increased. Those staging the revolution at Halcyon seemed to be emboldened by what they apparently saw as a challenge to their sovereignty and those questioning felt they somehow had a right to a full explanation since they were - with those at Halcyon at that time - Freemasons.

The bitterness began to grow, fueled by pseudonym-postings (typical for all of Jeff's prior pseudo-Masonic activities) and claims of activities which, although seen in Freemasonry (particularly Prince Hall Freemasonry) over the history of the organization, were thought to be new, radical and treasonous by those getting into the online discussion. Breaking away from a Grand Lodge had happened hundreds of times in the past: many never realized that - and most never expected such a thing would happen with a lodge under the aegis of the staid and stable Grand Lodge of Ohio.

And then, the members who were interested and taking part decided that they should take over. They did, declaring themselves independent from the Grand Lodge and associating themselves with the Grand Orient of the United States, certainly a coup for the latter. The bragging began as the lawsuit sought to shut things down. The charity fund of the lodge was taken by the defectors and they began the hard work of renovating a building that was suffering from decades of neglect according to all reports.

The Grand Lodge surely must have thought that their 'proprietary' ownership of lodges would have caused this aberration to be quickly ended but the actual paper on which the court would decide matters was created in a time long ago and far removed from the present situation. Who would have, in 1875, thought that a group would even consider 'taking ownership' of a lodge? Who could have imagined it even a few years earlier without the internet providing fuel, an opportunity to brag unceasingly, the Pied Piper ready to make it seem like there'd be a path to national - nay, INTERNATIONAL - adulation for righting all the wrongs of Freemasonry in one fell swoop and more besides? It was, simply, unimaginable!

But reality set in...

Slogging through court proceedings for more than a year seemed to have left everyone at a disadvantage.

Being completed....

SOME TOTAL TRIPE!

Living off of the history of a Masonic lodge founded in the late 1800's, the current 'owners' of this organization consistently pretend that they and their predecessors are one and the same. Simply put, they're NOT. It's a bald-faced lie to claim that they are! The original lodge was under the Grand Lodge of Ohio. This group belongs to an entirely different organization which has no connection with (not now nor ever) that Grand Lodge. While the current handful of members which remain joined when the lodge was under that jurisdiction, they severed all ties with them and even engaged in a lawsuit to separate themselves.

That they now wrap themselves in the history of the lodge they destroyed is, at best, shameful.

Here's a recent example:

ASK THEM: how many of your members are currently serving and/or veterans of the Armed Forces? You'll find, we suspect, only one: the Grand Master du jour - but NONE of those in Cleveland! So what would you call this type of tripe? Pandering? Perhaps....

Begun December 23, 2011.

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