The Grand Orient of the United States of America : A Modern Masonic Experiment ?
GOdF . However , even at this early stage , there seems to have been an element of mistrust between Slifko and Peace , as Slifko recalls when he travelled to Paris to collect the Charter :
‘ The Michalek Brothers 10 went with me to Paris as Wardens of the GOUSA . They wanted to get the Charter so it could be placed in Halcyon . They were in contact with Jeff by cell phone as they tried to get the Charter and whatever else they were talking about . It was all behind my back . But I gently said I am bringing the original Charter back with me to the USA . I did .’ 11
As a gift from the American contingent , Slifko presented a painting of the Statue of Liberty to the GOdF dignitaries , and speeches and pleasantries were duly exchanged as a new relationship between the Americans and GOdF was secured . At this stage , despite Slifko being Grand Master , Peace seemed to be in control of most of the aspects of GOUSA , planning from the side-lines , conducting an internet strategy and constructing his vision of a modern form of American Freemasonry . While all this was happening , the Halcyon versus the Grand Lodge of Ohio legal action was intensifying , and along with the daily attacks that the more public GOUSA members were receiving online , strange messages started to be sent to leading members of GOUSA from a source known as The Eye of the Blind . Slifko put forward his own ideas on this :
‘ The Eye of the Blind was a maneuvering tool to help Jeff potentially build the secret society within a secret society that he wanted . Jeff told me of his wish to build this secret society within a secret society asking me what I thought . He wanted me as a member . This would be the epicenter of liberal Freemasonry in America because of the status of the Grand Orient of France and his Charter . When I arrived on the scene some people had already begun to sense the Eye of the Blind was nonsense . It was supposedly a small but powerful group that was offering directions to Halcyon and the others . It was actually Jeff sending cryptic messages to his group about what steps and direction needed to be taken . The Halcyon building would be the physical heart of his secret society behind a secret society . For some reason this secret society behind a secret society is an obsession for Jeff .’
The Eye of the Blind was indeed sending cryptic messages in the form of directions , posting them to online forums that GOUSA members used and via personal emails . Peavy had an inkling that Peace may have been behind them , but when asked , Peace categorically denied it . Some of the messages
10 Chris and Joel Michalek were members of Halcyon Lodge and were active in the split from the Grand Lodge of Ohio .
11 According to the interviews with Jeff Peace and Chris Michalek , the GOdF Charter is now kept by Joel Michalek .
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