Muddled Meanderings of a Master Mason

Initiation

You have made it to the fun part of becoming a Mason, that of initiation, actually it is plural as you need to go through three of them to claim the title of a Master Mason. There is nothing about the process that is going to make you be embarassed in the sense of doing something you will regret in your memory at a later date. There is no hazing, no riding a goat, no sacrifices, nothing done at midnight on a dark and cold moonless night.

In actuallity it is rather boring. The biggest thing the candidate has to do is answer a few questions and then be prepared to take the degrees by taking off anything of a mineral or metallic nature and then to change into some different clothes that conceal as well as reveal parts of the upper torso and lower legs and accept the fact they need to be blindfolded for a time. This part takes place in all the degrees of a Blue Lodge (Symbolic Lodge).

The idea is that one is coming into the lodge without any thing but the clothes on their back. That they are looking not only for membership but also a way of making themselves better men. It is the work of a Mason to do exactly that, to make themselves better.

The questions raised before initiation is to confirm your reasons for joining the Order and if it is because you think it will bring you better contacts or to make yourself better.

In each degree it is the Stewards who prepare the candidate for the initiation story to take place. It is a story and the candidate is the star in the story line. He may not feel that way at the time but he truly is. Every movement he makes and every word he answers a question with is considered. It is his story and the actors are there to make him understand what he is joining. Each of the officers play a part within the story. Each degree is a different story with a different moral and ethical value attached to it.

The initiate finds that there is a lot of repetition and they all ask the same question afterward, "Why was it so important to keep repeating it?" The simple answer is that it is a reminder of not only how you were prepared but also some Biblical History that it pertains to. After moving around and listening to the same stuff over and over it becomes necessary to have the Initiate take on an Obligation.

The Obligation or Oath or Pledge or whatever you may desire to call it is not actually to the Order but rather one taken upon oneself that they will fulfill throughout their personal journey through life. They are making a personal declaration about what they would be willing to feel should they ever violate the Obligation they have taken. The question about does it include a "death clause" is always brought up because it is heard by many that it is enforceable. It isn't enforceable as it is an image that is presented to the initiate as to how they should feel should they ever violate a trust that has been given them. Nothing more and nothing less then that, a feeling of loss.

Many churches are against any sort of obligation or oath or pledge of that would require a member to keep something secret. What they forget is that we all have secrets. A family has secrets from the outside world and we insist that they are private thoughts or activities. A company has secrets regarding financial or projects being built or worked on. The government has its own secrets that could damage the image of the country or hurt other nations should information get out too soon or at all. A friend once stated the following to me: "Nobody should have secrets when I want information. On the other hand it is nobody's business what I do as that is a secret." So the Lodge has secrets, like any other group out their. It is about how a meeting is opened and closed, who is sick and needs to see a fellow member, financial help to an individual or group, community support and participation.

The working tools of a Mason are always presented in the first half of the Initiation. Each degree has a relevant tool to correspond with what the degree taught. Each tool is more then just an instrument, it is a symbol of something important on a moral and ethical scale. Not to get into detail but rather to give an example is the following:

" A 24 inch gauge is used by Operative Masons to measure and layout their work. But we as Free and Accepted Masons make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of dividing our time, it being divided into 24 equal parts is emblematic of the 24 hours within a day whereby we find a part for our devotion to God and a distressed worthy brother, a part for our usual vocation, and a part for our rest and repose."

Ironically this is one of the written parts that most people can find in a library. That is one of the so called secrets. Yet, to truly understand it as it was meant to be is best instilled by initiation.

In the second half of each degree, a lecture of great importance is given. When I took my first degree many years ago, it was done in the long form. A couple of years later they made it optional and asked the new member to read his monitor for that part. I would like you to remember that this is all done from memory and in the long form the lecture took over 45 minutes to complete. It takes a good memory to be able to perform that without an error. On a Past Masters night, the lecture was given by a member over the age of 100 years without an error. When he was asked how he was able to do it he gave a very classic answer, "It kept my mind off of my bodily pains to keep reciting the passages."

Initiation is not new in our lives. We go through many of them just by growing up. Our first bicycle, our first date, our first time leaving home for what ever reason. It is all a type of initiation into life. It doesn't require us to do a ritual to be accepted but they are there even so. Joining any group of any flavor requires us to learn about it and ourselves as to if this is what we signed up for or are interested in for the long haul.

Most initiatory groups are usually aimed towards men as these groups were originally labor guilds of some sort and the men joined them and learned the trade of that guild. During time the need for some types of guilds passed on and some modified to groups like the Freemasons, the Odd Fellow, Foresters and Woodsmen groups. The latter two being fraternal benefit groups that have an insurance side to them available to the membership.

The initiation deals with the various parts of a mans growth as a human being. In the first degree it is all about being young and just starting out. In the second it is about our adult life and our education and moral teachings. In the third it is about being the elder who has lived through many things and can teach the youth, lead others with wisdom while looking towards his eternal life in peace.

Most of the groups follow this concept. It allows one to become a part of the group by sharing a common bond that all can point to while still bringing diversity to the group and encouragement to the younger members. There is a change to the person as they go through the ceremonies of the various degrees. The degree of change can be based on how well the degree work was done, how receptive the candidate was and lastly how well he was taken care of after the degree was done in the follow up work and his inclusion in lodge functions. Many new members are lost not because of the first two parts but because of the lack of follow up after the degree. Either his coach has never made contact (usually because the coach feels he should be contacted and not him making contact) or after the degree ceremony the presenter get into a clique and talk about how good they did that night.

Many of the changes are about personal outlook on life. In a sense the degrees focus attention on parts of our lives we need to work on. To read a book on the degrees, Duncan's Ritual for one, does not give the subtle nuances that actually participating in them brings about. It involves trust to be given to those you may not truly know just to participate in the degree as a candidate. The Blue Lodge teaches the symbols of being an active member and by active I mean one who lives the life that the initiations challenge you to be in day to day living.

For those that say a church can do the same thing for someone, I will not disagree. On the other hand, one joins a church because of its nearness to home or personal witness to God, whereas one becomes a Mason by choice and to live to be the very best he can be to those Philosophical and basic Religious Principles we all can live with.