I found this website just now. It is an extensive site full of information about Freemasonry in the U.S. Looks interesting.
I have not read enough of the site to declare how good the information is, nor can I swear that I am a worthy judge even if I had. One should always judge for oneself the value of an information source. I will speak more of it when I have read more.
If anyone has links to any good Masonic sites, please leave a comment.
As much as I consider myself endlessly fascinating—somebody has to!—I have not expected that I would continue finding interesting new material for this blog. I expected routine to take over, and I would be repeating myself about the Masonic experience. Surprises, however, arise.
Last night was Step Up Night. I did not know what that meant. I knew there would be a cook out, which was attraction enough for me.
When I arrived, no cook out was evident, though a flatbed truck was in the parking lot. At the door were our two new Associate Stewards. They wore Thomas Talbot sashes and greeted arrivals.
Six candidates were to be entered as Entered Apprentices. I hung with a recently raised (last week) brother. I also met one of the candidates at the open house last winter. He was accompanied by his father-in-law, who belongs to another Lodge.
At the opening of the Lodge, I sat with a Past Master. It was helpful because I saw that our Junior Warden sat in the Senior Warden’s seat. When I commented, the Past Master explained Step Up Night. Simply, each of the officers step up to the office they will hold in the coming year. Well, that is interesting. A sort of spring training for the upcoming year.
ALL the officers were in new positions. And six candidates were to be entered. I like that, shaking things up.
Lodge was opened then we repaired to the cookout. Most of us went outside, where a gas grill (delivered by the flatbed) cooked burgers and hot dogs. New England was being kind, so the temperature was moderate and humidity low. We get three days like that each year, so enjoy, enjoy.
In the conversation, while we waited, a brother handed out cards for his activity as a clown for the Aleppo Shriners. The Shrine is one of the affiliated organizations of the Masons. Clowns are trained, and are available to cheer up sick children. Without cost.
A Past Master and his wife deserve credit for the cook out. They busily prepared and served the meal.
And food was consumed.
During dinner I mentioned that my grandfather was a Mason. I mentioned the uniform that my grandfather wore in the picture I have of him. I somehow had the idea that the uniform was Scottish Rites, but an older Brother said that my grandfather belonged to York Rites. He himself belonged to York Rites. In York Rites, you participate in the rituals, in Scottish Rites, you watch. Scottish Rites presents plays, like Mystery plays.
The ritual was nifty to watch. Most of the principals were in new positions. This is practice for when they assume their new offices. Memorizing what they have to memorize is impressive. As I have mentioned before, the vocabulary of the ritual is archaic, derived from the 18th Century. The locutions are more long-winded than we might speak today. To put that into your memory is hard work. A prompter is always at ready to supply lines.
Besides entering six new candidates, we voted on the applications of several other people and the reinstatement of someone. The vote is largely ceremonial. The name and address of the candidate is hardly enough information to make a determination on.
We actually voted on the new officers. This was just a formality. The system is that one moves through the various position to more responsibility until one reaches Worshipful Master. You can write in a candidate, but you would need a good reason to go against the people being prepared.
It will be interesting to see how things change with the new regime. These offices have substance mostly in the ritual. The Lodge is run by committee, that is the Service Committee, in which any Brother can participate. Still, different people bring different styles.
We were given ballots consisting of the offices and candidates. You could vote for someone outside the line, but it is obviously unlikely that write ins would garner any votes. They didn’t.
Still, we had to tear the ballot up and vote with each piece of the ballot for the respective candidate. This was rather silly, especially given that no candidate was opposed. We spent fifteen minutes tearing the ballots while hearing the announcements that someone had won the ballot with a shutout.
One further piece of business concerned delinquent dues. I read in the communication that the names of those who had not paid would be read at the meeting. I had never received any word about dues, did not even know how much it was. I contacted Terry, our Secretary, and paid him when I saw him on Sunday. He was not worried about my not paying.
Some discussion arose about whether the names should be read, but the by-laws state that they should. The list contained 60 names, which is a lot. One Brother, before the list was read, said, Whoa! I haven’t paid. I will pay right now. Which was funny.
I have no problem having the list read (though I do have a problem being on the list). The dues are not high, and it is easy to see where the money goes. I take it that if circumstances are difficult, one can make arrangements. People can be pretty lax about these sorts of duties.
Anyway, the list was read. I recognized none of the names. I asked someone who was raised at the time I was if he had been given a dues notice, and he hadn’t. Nor had he paid, yet. His name was not read.
The Brother who spoke about York Rites was somewhat abashed that he was coatless. Other Brothers were, in anticipation of a stuffy Lodge Room. I wondered how to dress because of the temperature, and also because of the cookout, but opted for my lighter jacket and what the heck. I did not suffer.
This Brother, by the way, is our oldest Past Master. That is, his term was earlier than any other surviving Brother, predating Terry.
The doors to the Lodge Room, including the outside door, were open, and fans ran. This would presumably be against strict observance of tyling, or tiling, since cowans could be lurking. I still have not discovered the derivation of this term. I guess the sense is tiled over, as in closed off. Even certain parts of the website, where personal information is, must be tiled, that is, a secure server.
After the meeting, I made a quick visit to the dessert table then hurried home.
I have missed a number of recent Masonic activities lately, to wit:
So it goes. I am especially sorry that I missed the special communication, I want to see the Third Degree again. Also, I want to support the new members.
Today I managed to get to the breakfast. I did not arrive until around 7:30. Because we were shorthanded, I was recruited to do scrambled eggs. The pressure was on.
Past Master Bob, who has District responsibilities, took me in hand. It truly took me years to learn to cook scrambled eggs properly, but at that, I was not doing industrial levels of production.
The method is thus:
Briefly blend a quantity of eggs and half that quantity of milk. These proportions make up for inconsistency in eggs size. I do not add milk at home, just a splash of water. Blend them on lowest spend till the milk disappears into the egg. Fry in an electric pan.
May not sound like much but I barely saw the dining room. I moved between my two stations, and as orders came up I put eggs on the plates.
It was hot in the kitchen, and rainy outside. I had the advantage of being near a window, but that was not enough.
Though breakfast runs from 8-10, people arrived after 10:30. When demand finally stopped, I scrubbed dishes.
There is little to call especially Masonic about the breakfast. It is a friendly time, despite the pressure. What distinguishes Freemasonry from other organizations?
Camaraderie exists in most social organizations, I imagine. I belong to one other organization, Toastmasters. The focus differs greatly—I would even say completely—from the Masons. In Toastmasters, we gather to give and hear speeches. Nevertheless, a camaraderie exists, just like with the Masons.
Freemasonry offers the attraction of its rituals. I, personally, enjoy watching and participating in these rituals. York Rites and Scottish Rites offer even more ritual.
The rituals are lessons, if you want to focus on their philosophic aspect. That is, you can join Freemasonry to improve yourself, just as I joined Toastmasters to improve my ability to speak in public.
Freemasonry offers a regular calendar of social events, some keyed specifically to Freemasonry, like the monthly communications, and some that could been any organization, like the blood drive or monthly breakfast.
I am reading a book of Freemasonry, The Masonic Myth by Jay Kinney. I could find few books on Masons in my local library network. Most that I saw seemed like rabid exposés of those colluding, controversial Masons. That stuff is just too much for me.
Kinney’s book seems lucidly informative. He is a Mason, but avoids defensiveness and proselytizing.
The history of Freemasonry is just plain murky. There were many antecedents to the current organization. These antecedents were sometimes at odds with each other. This causes confusion and inconsistency. The various wings of the organizations have settled under a single aegis. To look at all that as a singular vision of conspiracy is to be ridiculous. I have been a Mason for five months, and actively participated in not one conspiracy. Darn.
I learned prior to reading the book, but Kinney expatiated on the point, that too much is made of the 33 degrees of Masonry. I believe the 33rd degree itself is honorific, but of the others, one only witnesses the ritual of a handful. You get a Cliff Notes version of all the rituals. It takes a few weekend intensives to reach the upper strata of degrees. And to do so does not make you more of a Mason. So there you are. No, you do it because it interests you.
Tomorrow is the regular communication, and a barbecue. No communications during the summer. I think early in the fall we vote on new officers.
I missed the last two Lodges of Instruction but at least I got to the May breakfast. I got there when Andy did, about 5:45. I immediately began performing expert potato dicing procedures.
The breakfast was slow to begin. I think that’s a product of the season. The Unitarian church next door also ran a breakfast. I do not suppose that people stand outside wondering which one to attend. Ours was a dollar cheaper, if it came to that.
I helped set up the dining room, served for a while, then switched to the essential role of toastmaster. I prepared the toast. Meat and potato dishes are prepared beforehand. Someone does pancakes on the griddle, someone else prepares scrambled eggs, other eggs are under someone else’s command, and someone plates the orders. The pace is hectic.
I did not expect that making toast would be pressure-packed, but when the crowd started growing, and push came to shove, I felt rushed. The toast is a promodel, with a conveyor drawing the bread between the heating elements. Two slices go in side by side and this can be maintained continuously. Yes, if you are agile.
I had to load the bread into the toaster, paint the finished toast with melted butter, plate the toast on paper plates, and cut the slices. That, friends, is multi-tasking. I helped clean up then left around 11:00.
It is a good feeling to contribute in this way. It is not charitable in the sense of CHIPS or the blood drive, but it is still helping. The breakfast makes some money for the Lodge, and, more importantly, fosters camaraderie. Plus I get a breakfast out of it, and I drank a lot of coffee.
Last Tuesday was a regular Lodge meeting. Four candidates were passed to Second Degree. I wanted to go to their first Cipher Training (Cipher Training is open to any brother), but could not manage it. But I was anxious to watch the ritual again.
Entering the Lodge Room, I chose to sit in the Northeast Corner, because I wanted a different view. I normally sit by the door. Attendance was less than other nights, so I sat there alone. I was not segregating myself there, between Dick our treasurer, whose desk is at that corner, and the Joe the organist.
Our Senior Warden did not attend and was replaced by a Past Master. There was a replacement for Jim our Senior Steward. He arrived in time but let the replacement remain.
The ritual was somewhat abbreviated because the District Deputy was making a another visit. That’s the third visit to our Lodge since I’ve been a member. The District Deputy belongs to the Lodge in Tewksbury, but when that Lodge was being built they used Thomas Talbot, so the DD was raised at TT. Got that?
Midway through the ritual, someone came over from across the way. He was a Past Master who now lives in Florida. He introduced himself. It concerned him that a brother sat alone. I explained why I did so, but he remained. That was an incredibly nice gesture. Later, after the Lodge closed, I was speaking with Jim, the Senior Steward. He said join him if I find myself alone. I explained to him, as well, why I sat where I did. This is camaraderie.
The District Deputy’s entrance happens with sufficient pomp. The Worshipful Master calls out all Past Masters to greet the DD. They stand in parallel lines and the DD passes through. I have no problem with a little pomp. The District Deputy is not pompous, just to be clear. He is a warm speaker.
I will try to attend Cipher training tomorrow.
It was off to Lowell for Lodge of Instruction last week. Unfortunately, I had the date wrong. The only people I saw were dressed in what I believe is the Scottish Rites uniform (it looks like what my grandfather wore in the picture I have). A Brother from Thomas Talbot confirmed that I had the wrong night. I might have consulted the Lodge’s online calendar but my Internet service was down. It was a lovely evening, at least.
Back home, my wife and I were watching one of the history channels and what should come on but a show about Freemasonry. I would not mind learning more about the history of the organization. I know that many Founding Fathers were Masons but have yet to do much reading on the subject.
It turns out that this show was not a lot of help in elucidating the history of Freemasonry in America. Some factual information was were relayed but holy cow what a lot of obvious malarkey was mixed in with those tidbits. Lots of supposition. Lurid supposition.
The show centered on Ben Franklin, a remarkable and larger than life figure, as we all know. Things rapidly took a salacious turn as leering reference to Franklin’s sexual proclivities was made. Okay, he liked the ladies. Let it go.
It is hardly substantiated, but Franklin may have been a member of another organization, the Hellfire Club. This seems to have been a club for sexual escapades. Even if Franklin did belong to this club, how does that relate to Freemasons? Well, it doesn’t. That did not prevent the producers of this show from going into depth about what members of this club did, or were supposed to do.
We repeatedly saw a Franklin impersonator giving the wink to ladies while suppositions were presented as damning facts. Many of the experts—and some of them were university professors—extrapolated to an unseemly degree. My wife and I love history, but this show was a travesty.
Midway through the show, as if things weren’t bad enough, a goofy occult segment was introduced. Some ghost hunters were shown using their ‘scientific’ equipment to discover Franklin’s spirit in some house that Franklin stayed at in London. That pretty much finished the show for me. The ghost hunters came up with lame ‘proof positive’ that Franklin’s spirit was present, and I went to bed.
I hope to make it to Lodge of Instruction this week.
A regular meeting on Monday. I have wondered if I might exhaust the reader’s interest in goings on, but it strikes me, if not the reader, that the activities and ceremonies that I write about remain intriguing. So I carry on.
This was a regular meeting, as I said. However, when I arrived, it was clear that something was up. A number of brothers who I did not know milled about, and there was a reserved parking space for the District Deputy. I entered thru the kitchen, which was busy, and went upstairs. I was earlier than usual.
I had not witnessed the opening of the Lodge before, but it seemed like there was more activity than usual. Also, more people wore their Jewels, which are pins that represent honors that they have earned. I saw Mike, a Past Master who I have seen at most of the functions that I have attended. He said, Oh,you’re here. I got shook that this was somehow a private affair, and I asked, Is this a regular meeting? He said that it was.
I introduced myself to a stranger, who is from a Lodge in Western Massachusetts. He said that he was moving to town and planning to join the Lodge. I eventually wandered into the Lodge Room and took a seat. Things bustled then the meeting began.
The Worshipful Master mentioned at the card night that he might wear a hat at meetings. The Grand Lodge had suggested that hats be part of the ritual. There he was, then, in a jaunty top hat. He opened the Lodge.
I am glad that I finally witnessed this, it was illuminating. The ritual basically explained the various offices. That was helpful. I really like watching the ritual unfold.
A Masonic meeting must be tiled. That means closed and secured. I donot know where the term comes from.Tiling entails the Senior Warden literally checking the doors to ensure that no one is listening in on secrets. The Tyler sits outside the door to make sure of the same thing. Surely this was more essential in an earlier day, now it is strictly ritual. Masonic secrecy is no longer so dire as it used to be. The secrets are still to be kept, but it is definitely not a life-threatening situation.
This part of the meeting was sparsely attended, and no business beyond the ritual occurred. We then repaired to the dining room. A lot of people were there. We dined and talked until 7:00, when the meeting resumed.
Three candidates were to be entered as Entered Apprentices. I was happy to see the ritual again. The point of ritual, I think, is in the repetition. One sees more each time. The risk of course is that the ritual becomes thoughtless. If it all becomes rote, it has lost its meaning. I am far from letting that happen.
Because there were fewer than five Candidates, each one got to go through the ritual: there was no Exemplar. This stretched out the ceremony some, but we got to see the different ways each Candidate responded. One Candidate replied to the question of whether he had anything to offer the Lodge (the expected answer is No) with: I have one shoe. Whee!
Eight prospective Candidates were voted on. This entailed the Secretary, Terry, reading their request, which just gives their name, address, employment, and sponsor. I do not know the extent of due diligence applied to new Candidates. I know that a committee investigates each Candidate, but they never discovered that I am actually a SECRET AGENT from an Eastern European country bent on destroying the fabric of American ways and making our wrestling champion the champion of WWE, so I don’t know. I met one of the Candidates at the open house. As far as voting goes, it is super unlikely that I would vote against someone.
This was my first vote, because only Master Masons can vote. The Senior and Junior Deacons, AKA Chris and Andy, brought out the voting boxes. We lined up and, when our turn came, reached into a box and felt for either the white ball (yea), or black cube (nay). Or was it white cube and black ball…? Well whatever, I voted yea as did everyone else.
After a short recess, the District Deputy and his Suite were invited in. I wondered what the murmur outside the Lodge Room was about. The District Deputy had come for an official visit. The visit went like this:
The Worshipful Master and all the attending Past Masters gathered in a gauntlet at the door. Our District Ambassador then strode jauntily in announcing the District Deputy. In came the District Deputy and an entourage of maybe as many as 20. I do not know how people get into that suite. The people in the suite were Past Masters and Officers from various Lodges.
The District Deputy, with appropriate flourish, named each person in his suite, then they sat down. The District Deputy is the same fellow I have seen at Lodge of Instruction, and he was at Table Lodge. He congratulated the Candidates and spoke elsewise, as well.
In what proved to be a surprise, the District Deputy asked Tom, the Sentinel, to come forward. Tom was presented with the Rookie Award. The Rookie Award is a way to inspire participation in Masonic activities. It is for those who have been Masons for one year or less. I was surprised to learn that Tom only became a Mason in September.
To earn the Rookie Award, one must go to Lodge of Instruction (as a Master Mason) a certain number of times, attend a Masonic funeral, etc etc. Tom was completely surprised to receive the award from the District Deputy’s hand.
Keith, an Associate Steward, was involved in the night’s ritual. I learned the next day on FACEBOOK, that Jim, the Senior Steward (and the person who I worked with at the health fair), was hospitalized. Two Brothers were brought forth as new Associate Stewards.
The meeting ended sometime after 9:00. I will probably attend Cypher Training on Sunday. It is not required but I both enjoy doing this stuff and I need help with the cipher.
This morning I participated in the Billerica Health and Wellness Fair. The Masons participate by running the Child Identification Program. Other organizations and businesses did other things, most of which, to be frank, was simply commercial. It was, at least, a lively event, though I did not peruse too carefully.
I arrived at 9:00. Things generally were just starting to be set up. I saw no familiar faces until, after a few minutes, a few Masons arrived. Set up required bringing in a few boxes and figuring out the logistics of utilizing the limited available space.
The CHIPS Program provides parents with identification records for their children, in case something should happen. A dental group took DNA samples and tooth impressions. The Masons used three computer set ups to record fingerprints, movie, and photo of each child, the results of which were burned to CD. I was going to train on the machines last week but then work looked to preclude my participation in this event. As it turned out, I did not work today, which is why I showed up. I missed the Breakfast last week for the same reason.
I assisted Jim (Senior Steward). He entered the personal information into the computer while I explained things a bit and helped with the fingerprints. I also interviewed the children so that we could get a recording of their voices. I asked what I thought was a surefire question: what is your favorite television show, and many of the children said they didn’t watch television. What has become of this young generation?
Miss Massachusetts Teenager had her information saved. I think she was involved with another booth and came by to check things out. She wore her official sash and was very poised, as I guess one might expect. Other celebrities might have attended.
A 6 month old boy was put through the ringer. He had a ball. He grinned at me the whole time. His mother helped apply his finger to the scanner, which proved to be a challenge. He was having fun with everything, plus his fingers were tiny. Never did get his smaller fingers.
I appreciate the opportunity to do something like this. The point of Freemasons is to gather as friends and brothers. They do $3 million a day in charitable work in North America, which is a bonus to the brotherhood. I think the Blood Drive is today, but I do not think I can do it today. Tuesday is the next regular meeting.