Blog Posts:
Latest News and Blog Posts from Wayne “Pendragon” Owens.
Moving to the Backbenches
This evening was the Installation meeting of the Maesgwyn Lodge of Installed Masters, and my last night as the Secretary. It will be the last time I sit in the North with all the notes and information needed for the night to go smoothly.
It does mean I have less say on the speakers and talks we book, but since some people who have not attended in years are looking to turn it into a daytime dining Lodge, I will probably be missing the meetings anyway.
Being Secretary of this Lodge was my last role in any Craft Lodge, since I have already stood down as Lodge Mentor, Assistant Provincial Grand Mentor, Provincial Pathway Team Member, and so on. I am now free to just sit on the back benches and enjoy the meetings I want to attend.
Coronatio Quadrans – “Ye Sons of the Widow”
Coronation Lodge No. 2927 has a quarterly Masonic Publication associated with it called Coronatio Quadrans, or CQ for short.
One part of the publication is “Question from the Master” This is where the Lodge’s Worshipful Master asks a esoteric or masonic question to the Lodge Mentor who will answer it in an article in the next edition. After the Mentor answers the question, the “Question” is thrown open to all, and anyone can try and answer it themselves anonymously. The CQ Editors will read all the submissions and pick the best which gets published in CQ.
The Question in the last edition of CQ was “To what extent are Masonic rituals Theurgic Rites?” The question intrigued me, so I decided to enter the competition again. I won, and my prize again was to write a paper on a topic of my own choosing.
The topic I selected was “Ye Sons of the Widow” which is my attempt to answer the question “why do Freemasons get called the Sons of the Widow or Widows sons”
I first asked myself this question when I needed to wrote a short paper as part of the LOLS paper writing challenge during Lockdown.
Three Meetings, Three Orders, Three Days
Over the last three days (M-T-W) I have been out at three different meetings, and oddly of three different orders. If you add this to the two installation meetings, of two orders, over two days (F-S) that I just had, it makes me query my belief that this year will be a lot quieter than any over the last decade, and so to not do the Year of a Busy Mason this year.
Monday (Craft)
Monday evening was the rehearsals for the Installation meeting of the Maesgwyn Lodge of Installed Masters. Any time we have to do ritual with the Installed masters it is a laugh because the members are all past masters, and come from a collection of different lodges. This melting pot of members has the interesting side affect that everyone’s ritual is slightly different, and of course everyone thinks they are doing it the correct way. It makes it interesting for the DC.
Luckily I am but the Secretary, so I just have to organise the event and sort out all the paperwork. I get to stand back and ignore the ritual stuff.
Tuesday (S.R.I.A.)
Tuesday was the meeting of Bishop Wilkins College Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) which was held over the border in England. Again I was the Secretary so had the paperwork and administration to sort out. I also stood in on the evening as the Celebrant (master). We had a grade four ceremony and a paper. Then to thank my hard work I had an extra pie during the festive board, since a couple of people had to drop out at the last minute and the catering staff brought out the spare pies for us to share.
Wednesday (Royal Arch)
Wednesday was a short notice extra month early rehearsal meeting for Wrexhamian Chapter, along with a committee meeting. The committee meeting made sense, but the rehearsal was a bit pointless since two of the three principles had not even looked at the work yet since the meeting is a month away, and the incoming J has not looked either. Plus they were not going to rehearse the inner workings. So I am not sure why it was called as a rehearsal and not just a committee meeting. We did head to the pub after for a few drinks.
SRIA Certificates and Ceremonies
This evening was the meeting of Bishop Wilkins College.
I am the Secretary (and Director of Studies) of Bishop Wilkins, and due to the Celebrant not being able to make the meeting I also stood in for him. This did lead to some comedy gold where I (wearing Celebrants hat) would ask me (wearing Secretary’s hat) things such as minutes, etc.
Being in this strange double roll did have one unexpected treat. We had a load of certificates to hand out, so I requested the Chief Adept to present them, and I read out their names so they could go and receive their certificates. After the last one was being taken back to his seat, I sat down and the Chief Adept sat down. I then acted surprised, and stood back up “ooops. Sorry I missed one!” I then looked at the DC and asked could he collect…. And I named the Chief Adept. Who on hearing his own name looked extremely shocked and confused.
I then had the pleasure of presenting the Chief Adepts Certificate to the Chief Adept at his mother college.
Pictured below is the Chief Adept along with members of the Third Order who were present at the meeting.
We also had an enjoyable rest of the meeting with a Grade IVº ceremony, and the candidate afterwards presented his first paper which was interesting and led to many questions.
I will not mention that the top table got extra pie’s with their meals due to a couple of no shows. So overall it was a great evening.
Are we a third world country?
The heating in my place is via storage heaters. So they heat up over night on cheap electricity and then discharge the heat over the day. To do this they are all wired into a separate fuse board that only becomes live when the meter switches to over night mode.
For those not familiar with the UKs system, think of the meter as having one incoming feed, and two outgoing. One outgoing is live 24hours a day, the other turns on at a set time, and then off again. This switching is all done automatically.
OR….. It used to be done automatically, it has not been working for a few days. I did not spot when it stopped working because it is not the cold yet so I only had the one heater on. When I spotted that heater not working, I tested it, and then turned some others on to check. All remained cold the following day.
Ergo, the meter is not turning the second feed on, so must be broken. Sever calls to the Power Supplier who just kept suggesting I hire an electrician to come check the heater, until I could get them to understand the issue is on their part of the system. And they agreed to send out an engineer.
The engineer turned up and said I needed a smart meter, I said No. I did not want spyware in my house. It was then that I found out that the original plan was for all normal meters to be turned off last June, and they needed to be replaced. If you want access to cheap overnight power you needed a smart meter, if you were happy for the same price 24 hours a day you could have a dumb one (but they had no dumb ones anyway).
It was while chatting to the engineer that I discovered the reason for the change was (and I am still in shock). The UK meters are controlled by radio waves from radio stations. They play a sequence of beeps at a set time to turn the overnight on, and then off again. And since UK radio stations are all going digital the signal is going. The government has pushed it back a bit from the June deadline since a large number of the UK still runs off radio waves.
All our technology and we need Radio 4 to control our meters… Madness
The engineer sorted the meter swap so heating worked again, and it only took him 2.5hours to do what I calculate as a 30 minute job (And that 30 includes a coffee break).
Two Installations in Two Days
The season has really started with a vengeance. In the last two days I have attended two installations (Technically one was an enthronement).
Installation one.
On Friday evening Robert Lomas invited me to visit Mold Lodge’s Installation. I normally can not make this meeting because the second Friday in September is the meeting of Valle Crucis Chapter, but this year we have moved our Chapter meeting and I was available. I enjoy visiting Mold Lodge, the Lodge room has lots of interesting artifacts, and the people are very friendly. I believe there were over 40 people in attendance, the ceremony was good and the conversation at the festive board was enjoyable.
Alas I did not win the raffle, the Goddess of Luck and Raffles still hates me. I had a strip of numbers 140 to 144. The winning numbers were 139 and 145. I swear she is now openly mocking me.
Enthronement two.
After getting home late Friday evening, I was back up and suited early Saturday morning to head out to Rhyl for the Enthronement meeting of Rhodri Fawr Rose Croix Chapter. This was another enjoyable meeting. I like Rhodri Fawr because it is the Past Sovereign Chapter, and so the members come from all over North Wales, this means you get to see people you do not see very often.
Again the meal was excellent, but then both Masonic Halls have the same caterer and Ian never fails to provide.
As an aside, I realise I have meeting coming up on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of this coming week, then Monday, Tuesday, Friday of the following. And I am not doing the Year of a Busy Mason this year due to not being so busy.
In Memory of Charlie Kirk
It is with heavy hearts that we mark the passing of Charlie Kirk, a figure whose presence stirred thought, provoked dialogue, and left an indelible mark on the political landscape. Whether one agreed or disagreed with his views, few could deny the passion and conviction with which he spoke, the energy he brought to public discourse, and the loyalty he inspired in those who followed his work.
Charlie was more than a commentator; he was a catalyst. He challenged norms, sparked conversations, and stood firm in his beliefs. To his supporters, he was a voice of clarity in turbulent times. To his critics, he was a formidable opponent who never shied away from debate.
But beyond the headlines and microphones, Charlie was a son, a friend, and a human being navigating the complexities of life like the rest of us. His death is a reminder of the fragility of our time here, and of the importance of listening, engaging, and seeking understanding, even in disagreement.
The biggest issue with the death of Charlie Kirk is the cheering, dancing, singing and all around happiness the Left are posting online. They are treating the murder of a husband and father as an excuse for a party. They are so happy that a man is dead, and a young family ruined. I have even seen them making lists of who else needs to be killed. They even posted their celebrations on the post Charlie’s wife made announcing his death.
What has happened to the world where people can happily celebrate murder on the internet? And do it his wife and children who were then and watched him get shot.
The Left has lost all claims of being the kind, caring party.
Start of the New Season
This evening was the start of the new Masonic Year.
So for the first time in a while, I suited up and headed off to the coast, well sunny Mostyn for the meeting of Clwyd College SRIA.
It was a very enjoyable evening, the new officers did a great job doing both a Grade IIIº, and a Grade IVº. We did have a couple of missing members so I stood in as 4th Ancient. (Yes the mad fools trusted me with fire.)
As usual with the Mostyn Hall, the food was amazing. So overall it was a great start to the new season, Good meeting, Good food, Good Beer, and Great company.
Well!
Not everything was great. Traveling home I fond that not only were the slip-roads onto the A55 closed, but the A55 itself was closed. So while I traveled along old streets to get home, the massive amounts of traffic redirected off the main East-West road that were trying to use backroads did make the whole thing “Interesting”
I was shocked that it only added 20 minutes to my journey, it felt like a lot longer.
BBW – Sams Cafe 2025 Fundraising Weekend
Sam’s Cafe is once again having one of their week long fundraising events in aid of Blood Bikes Wales.
Unfortunately the weather forecast has been full of doom and gloom, with promises of thunder storms, torrential rain, and heavy wind. This kind of weather does not go well with Motorcycles, and as today was the quietest I have ever seen Sam’s Cafe.
We still seemed to have done well today, and they Crew will still be raising money over the rest of the weekend.
UK Online Safety Act – My Account is Old Enough
This morning I received an email from Microsoft Xbox.
“As part of our compliance program for the UK Online Safety Act and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help ensure age-appropriate experiences, we need you to verify your age so you can continue enjoying social features on Xbox.”
This amused me a lot, since apart from December when I dusted off and used my old Xbox after the winter storms blew up my PS4. my Xbox has been collecting dust for over a decade. The account itself is old enough in the UK to go to the pub and get pissed, since it is over 20 years old.
I believe if I was actually under age, I would either need a time machine, or a past life to be able to create the account many years before I was born. Twitter had the right idea by saying anyone who has an account older than X (see what I did there) number of years is obviously old enought.
Some of the things in the UK my account is old enough to do :-
- Buy Alcohol (18 or 21 depending where in the UK)
- Buy Fireworks (18)
- Have Botox (18)
- Buy offensive weapons (18 previously you could only get none offensive weapons)
- Get married (18)
- Join the army (16)
- Drive a car (17)
Some of the things in the UK my account is NOT old enough to do :-
- Avoid age verification