In the hearts of men
A layman’s tour of the Scottish Rite Temple on Taft Avenue, Manila.
My husband Sam became a Freemason late in December of 2006. It is by this association that I finally entered that building on Taft Avenue that I had seen often enough as a child. The Scottish Rite Temple is a stone’s throw away from my paternal grandmother’s dress shop at the corner of Nakpil and Taft, a mere arm’s breadth from the Philippine Women’s University. In the numerous times that I had passed it, whether looking out of of the window of my aunt’s old Ford Taunus or with my head turned east while I held my older cousin Binggay’s hand while walking to the Goldilocks outlet on the west side of Taft, I had always thought the SRT was a church of some sort.
I have been inside the SRT only twice. Once was in January of 2007, to witness the installation of officers of the Jacques deMolay Lodge No. 305. The second time was last Saturday, the 19th of January 2008, also for the installation of officers of JDML 305, to which Sam was the newly installed Lodge Secretary. I brought a camera during the first visit, but I only took pictures of the ceremony, and not of the features of the building itself. On this second visit, I took more liberties with my camera. Let me take you on a slow walk through the interiors of the Scottish Rite Temple.
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