Looking for hidden treasure? Folks around the world doing just that in one of the fastest growing pastimes. It's called geocaching.Think of geocaching as a giant, hi-tech treasure hunt. Players use a Global Positioning System (GPS) system to "bury" and find containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") all around the world. The geocache itself is usually a small watertight container with a logbook and some kind of treasure (usually a coin, toy or some other small collectable trinket - often referred to as geoswag). The container can be as simple as a plastic 35mm film container, or as complex as a hand-made box.
Since September of 2000, geocaching has grown from 75 caches to over 670,000 active caches worldwide, with between 2 and 3 million participants.
To see where geocaches are hidden in your neighborhood, go to http://www.geocaching.com/
On November 1st, the first Masonic Geocaching Society meeting will be held in Washington DC at the Scottish Rite House of the Temple. Addressing the meeting will be author Dr. S. Brent Morris, who will speak about codes and ciphers (Brent argues that Masons were arguably the first geocachers—when Enoch and Mathuselah buried a golden plate with the ineffable name of God upon it, and buried it deep beneath the foundation of the temple). The event sign in will be at 10AM, Brent will speak at 11AM, and there will be prize drawings at 1PM.
For more information, contact Dean Alban at dalban@scottishrite.org
