Freemasonry and J. K. Rowling – Strike 8

February 7, 2024 by 3 Comments

As the last days of what seemed like an interminable January faded, speculation about the next instalment of Robert Galbreath’s Strike-Ellacott series was given a welcome boost as J. K. Rowing posted a new header on her X homepage. Strike sleuths were quick to identify the Art Deco façade of Freemason’s Hall in London, which is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England, the governing body for Freemasonry in England.

Dr Beatrice Groves has written about the connection between the square and compass masonic symbol and the Deathly Hallows symbol, but the image here is the coat of arms of The United Grand Lodge of England. The compass and square is represented here on the left side of the shield aligned as a chevron. The official description given by the collage of arms is:

Arms : Per pale gules and quarterly azure and Or, dexter on a chevron between three castles argent a pair of compasses extended of the third, sinister cross quarterly of the fourth and vert between in the first quarter a lion rampant of the third, in the second an ox passant sable, in the third a man with hands elevated proper vested of the fifth the robe crimson lined with ermine, and in the fourth an eagle displayed also of the third; the whole within a bordure of the first charged with eight lions passant guardant of the third.
Crest: On a wreath of the colours, A representation of an Ark supported on either side by a cherub proper, with the motto over in Hebrew characters “Holiness to the Lord”.
Supporters: On either side a cherub proper.
Motto: Audi, vide, tace

The shield is a combination of the arms of the Masons’ Company, a London guild of operative masons granted in 1472. This is the three castles separated by the compass and square. The other half of the shield belonged to the Atholl or Antient society of Freemasons with merged with Grand Lodge to form the United Grand Lodge in 1813. The shield of the Atholl Masons is comprised of the symbols of the four evangelists, the lion (Mark), the bull (Luke), a man (Matthew) and the eagle (John). I was not the first to notice the similarity between these symbols and the Hogwarts Houses. The motto: “Audi, Vide, Tace”, means “Hear, See and be Silent” enforcing the famed secrecy of Freemasonry.

J. K. Rowling by dint of her sex is ineligible for membership. It is curious however, that she has both grown up and ended up in areas that are particularly noted for their Freemasonry. Lodges within the Masonic Province of Bristol are unusual for several reasons. All lodges within Bristol meet at the Freemason’s Hall, Bristol and despite the drop in popularity for the craft it boasts 38 Craft Lodges, 14 Royal Arch Chapters, and 7 Mark Lodges, 3 Royal Ark Lodges. It is also home to the esoteric Rite of Baldwyn comprising of seven degrees:

Iº − Craft Freemasonry
Entered Apprentice
Fellowcraft
Master Mason

IIº − Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch

IIIº − Knights of the Nine Elected Masters
IVº − The Ancient Order of Scots Knights Grand Architect
Order of Scots Knights Grand Architect
Order of Scots Knights of Kilwinning
Vº − Knights of the East, the Sword and Eagle
VIº − Knights of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta
Knights of St John of Jerusalem
Knights Templar
VIIº − Knights of the Rose Croix of Mount Carmel

The Royal Arch degree is unique in England for including the ceremony of “Passing the Veils” symbolising the path to enlightenment that a mason undergoes as he progresses in the craft. Given Peter Rowling’s upward social mobility from working class apprentice to engineer and moving from the Bristol suburbs to middle class Tutshill, it isn’t beyond reason to wonder if Peter might have been tempted by the social and career advantages that freemasonry might have offered him and exposed a young Joanne to some of the symbolism.

Edinburgh, as well as being the home of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, is also home to if not the oldest lodge in the world, then at least the one with the oldest records. Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No. 1 has minutes of meetings from 31st July 1599. There have long been arguments between this Lodge and the one in Kilwinning on the other coast of Scotland as to which is the oldest. (see IVº of the Rite of Baldwyn above)

We don’t yet know what the meaning behind the header will be for book eight, but the secrecy, symbolism and ceremony of Freemasonry would prove a fertile ground for Rowling, Robin, and Strike to explore.

 

 

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Twitter

J. K. Rowling and the Missing Greyhound Tweet

April 25, 2023 by 2 Comments

Saturday was a busy day for me, it was the final for the Wales Rugby championship to be played at our national stadium and I was there for the afternoon alternately watching the games and celebrating with colleagues. I was aware via alerts on my phone that there was some twitter activity between J. K. Rowling and a well known English Lawyer Jolyon Maugham. By the time I got home, tired (and it must be admitted in a fairly advanced state of liquid refreshment), I turned in for an early night.

When I awoke the next morning there was an alert on my phone for a @JK_Rowling tweet. It looked like the start of a story or anecdote, although the tweet was listed as 6/, presumably the sixth tweet of a series. Pressing the alert sent me to the message “Tweets are unavailable” which is usually the sign that the tweet has been deleted. I confirmed this by checking her timeline, and sure enough the tweet wasn’t there, nor were there any signs of the other tweets in the series.

In the past when Rowling deletes a tweet quickly, due to an error, there is some chatter about this on Twitter. In the past we have also seen occasions when entirely fake tweets have been presented as the tweet that was deleted.

In this case there was silence. I checked all of the replies to her @JK_Rowling twitter account for twenty minutes before and after the time the alert was sent and there was nothing. I was expecting to see at least one or two replies to a deleted tweet. I checked the online haunts of fellow Rowling obsessives, and it seems none of them received this alert.

The tweet contained nothing objectional and appeared to be the start of a story : Rowling was preparing to turn in for the night, when the dogs asked to be let out. Her greyhound started making a commotion as if it had found something. The existence of the greyhound helps to date this story, she adopted a greyhound called Sapphire in late 2007, whereas she currently has two west highland terriers called Bronte and Emma.

Was the tweet real? It isn’t impossible for some clever fellow to spoof a twitter alert, but this isn’t easy and I have to question why, if they were to go to so much trouble, they wouldn’t have something a bit more incendiary. I have a screenshot, but this really is trivial to fake, and I do not include it here for that reason.

My guess is that J. K. Rowling was drafting a series of tweets to publish at some later date, when she accidently published one. Realising this as she did it, she quickly deleted it. Once a tweet is deleted, Twitter will stop pushing notifications. Mine was one of the few that was pushed before the delete was registered. If this is true, keep an eye out for a greyhound story shortly!

 

Filed Under: Nick Jeffery, Twitter

New Rowling Twitter Header: Aylmerton Country Road in Vicinity of Previous Pic

March 30, 2023 by 1 Comment

 

If that village name seems familiar, the Aylmerton parish church is an old friend: the round tower aedifice of St John the Baptist’s. See Beatrice Grove’s Round Tower Churches and Rowling’s New Twitter Header for information about this church, the history of the architectural style, and a little about the region, the North Country of Norfolk.

Great work, @CormStrikeFan, in finding the exact location of this image!

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Twitter

Rowling Twitter Themes: Women in Iran, Trans Violence, and Government Idiocy

March 25, 2023 by 1 Comment

When a feminist in New Zealand is attacked by trans activists, what is the headline in The Daily Mail the next day?

JK Rowling blasts ‘repellent’ New Zealand ‘mob’ after British trans critic Kellie-Jay Keen is doused in tomato sauce and evacuated by police before she can speak at rally

  • ‘Transphobe’ Kellie-Jay Keen hit with tomato juice and may not continue her tour 
  • JK Rowling has since hit out at trans rights protesters in New Zealand and the UK

By BRIDIE PEARSON-JONES and MAILONLINE REPORTER

PUBLISHED:| UPDATED:

As disturbing as the attack of Gender Theory Extremists was, I’m skeptical that the story would have merited a mention by Fleet Street if the world’s most famous author hadn’t flagged it with a series of tweets on her twitter platform to her 14 million followers. Many of those followers are journalists who recognize that Rowling’s name in a headline is click-bait gold.

Rowling-Murray clearly understands this as well and uses her unique second-job as online-influencer to highlight transgender violence and attacks on freedom of speech (not to say ‘reason’), to keep the world’s attention on the plight of women in Iran, and to call out government officials for their efforts to reduce women’s rights in the UK.

Join me after the jump for examples of all three themes on Rowling’s twitter feed. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, Twitter

St. John the Baptist Church – Twitter Header

January 23, 2023 by Leave a Comment

New J. K. Rowling twitter headers are coming thick and fast, this time it is a lovely image of St. John the Baptist parish church in Aylmerton, Norfolk. Prof Groves quickly identified the church as a type typical of Norfolk and situated close to the A148 Cromer to Holt Road.

St. John’s is tantalisingly close to Cromer Pier, just 3 miles via a fairly busy main road. Two twitter headers showing Cromer Pier, and this new one showing Aylmerton church. We are sure to be seeing much of this area when The Running Grave is finally published.

 

Filed Under: Nick Jeffery, Twitter