Paul Pennington

Brother Paul Pennington grew up in central Texas and currently lives on the Texas Gulf Coast. He was Initiated, Passed, and Raised at Solomon Lodge No. 484 in Taylor, Texas and is a Past Master of Thorndale Lodge No. 978 in Thorndale, TX as well as Post Oak Island Lodge No. 181 in Beaukiss, TX. Bro. Pennington served the Grand Lodge of Texas as a Grand Master’s Conference Coordinator, District Communication Officer, and District Deputy Grandmaster. He is also a perpetual member of the Austin, TX and Guthrie, OK Scottish Rites in addition to the Texas Lodge of Research and Rockport Masonic Lodge No. 323 in Rockport, TX. Bro. Pennington is recognized as a facilitator for the Masonic Legacy Society and an Instructor for the Academy of Reflection. Brother Pennington is a psychotherapist in private practice licensed in Texas and Colorado who leans heavily on mindfulness and meditation.

Randy Sanders

Randall (Randy) Sanders lives near St. Louis, MO. Randy earned a BS in Chemistry from the University of Tulsa, and currently works in Telecom management. Randy has over 3 decades teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu, Chi Kung, tactical firearms, and firearms safety. 

Randy’s Masonic bio includes Past Master of Naphtali #25 in Missouri, Past Sovereign Master of the E. F. Coonrod AMD Council No. 493, Co-Librarian of the Scottish Rite Valley of St. Louis, Instructor in Masonic Contemplative studies, 32nd degree KCCH, serves on the Grand Lodge of Missouri and Missouri Grand Cryptic Education Committees, Full Contributor to the Midnight Freemasons, Regent Emeritus of the TF Riddick Society, past Lodge Education Officer for two Missouri Masonic Lodges, founder of the Wentzville Lodge Book Club, and a Masonic Legacy Society facilitator.

Dru Wood

WB Wood has been a Freemason since 2006, and is the sitting Master of Claremont Lodge No. 436, an observant lodge in Los Angeles County, California. He is a member of various Masonic bodies including York Rite, Scottish Rite, AMD, SRICF and Southern California Research Lodge. Brother Wood enjoys writing and speaking on topics such as Freemasonry and rites of passage, the grail quest, and the western esoteric tradition. He has studied various traditions including Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, Martinist, and Vedanta.

Outside of his esoteric pursuits, he enjoys film, reading, spending time in nature, as well as practicing and teaching various forms of meditation, NLP and hypnosis for positive mental health and self-awareness.

Doug Russell

Doug Russell became a Mason in 2012. He served SCRL—Southern California Research Lodge—as Master (Oct. 2014-Jan. 2016) and Editor in Chief of Fraternal Review (2015-2021). He was Custodian and certified Instructor in the AOR—Academy of Reflection of the Guthrie Oklahoma Scottish Rite (2015-2024), where he led meditations at the semiannual Reunions and mentored brothers studying the AOR coursework. His video presentation on Masonic Meditation is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmdOV6cQWuk. His Masonic papers are published in The Journal of the Masonic Society, Philalethes, and Short Talk Bulletin, available here: https://independent.academia.edu/DouglasRussell.

Doug is a life member of Wisdom Lodge No. 202 in Pasadena where he served as Junior Warden. He is a life member of Scottish Rite Valleys in Guthrie, Oklahoma and Pasadena, California. As a member of South Pasadena Lodge No 290, he led a monthly meditation group from 2017-2020. He is a retired psychotherapist and educator who specialized in psychologies of personal and spiritual growth. His meditation practice and esoteric studies continue to be based on Ageless Wisdom teachings of modern theosophy through affiliation with the Arcane School in New York, that started in 1969. He studied mindfulness meditation from 2002-2019 in a series of weekly classes and all-day silent retreats. His presentations and writings focus on spirituality, philosophy and symbolism of the Craft. He is currently doing research and writing on the Esoteric Memory Arts and Freemasonry, a topic he has presented at many blue lodges in northern and southern California and elsewhere.

Robert Sachs

Brother Robert Sachs’ interest in Freemasonry began in 2000, after the US National election.  Reading about the lives of the Founding Fathers inspired him to attend an “On-the-Level” open house at King David’s Lodge in San Luis Obispo.  Subsequently, he was initiated, passed, and then raised as a Master Mason in 2011.  He completed the Lodge Management Certification program in 2015 and served as Junior and Senior Steward, Junior and Senior Deacon, Junior and Senior Warden, then Master in 2018.

Robert serves as one of District 534^th ’s Funeral Masters, was President of KDL’s Masonic Hall Association for two years, and is the Lodge’s Ambassador to Masonic Outreach Services (MOS). He is a lifelong member of Royal Arch, a member of Cryptic Council and  Knight Masons,  and is a 32nd degree, KCCH Brother, a past Venerable Master, (2023, now 2025) and current Orator for the Scottish Rite’s Valley of Santa Barbara Orient of California.

Robert is a regular contributor to KDL’s Trestleboard , Santa Barbara’s’ Trestleboard, Masonry at Work, and has been featured in the SCRL Fraternal Review and Scottish Rite Journal. Along with  his Freemason articles and orations, he has written well over a hundred articles for national health magazines and has penned and published fourteen books to date. These books focus on daily well-being, meditative, and contemplative arts.  He is the author of Becoming Buddha: Awakening the Wisdom and Compassion to Change Your World, The Ecology of Oneness, The Path of Civility: Perfecting the Lessons of a President by Applying the Wisdom of a Buddha, Don’t Lose Your Mind: Re-Imagining Age and Re-Claiming the Place of Elder and Sage, and a manual for the Freemason community on dying and death, entitled The Kind Messenger (Macoy Publishers).  Robert has also served as a meditation instructor for the Academy of Reflection, with forty years of teaching experience for Buddhist centers and holistic health conferences and retreats.  Many of his talks and podcasts are on YouTube.

Robert lives on a small urban farm in Oceano, California with his wife and partner-in-all, Melanie, and his Scottish Rite Brother and son, Jabeth, and his partner, Dzi.