Dear Unknown Friend,
Ten Master Masons, happy, doing fine;
One listened to a rumour, then there were nine.
Nine Master Masons, faithful, never late;
One didn’t like the “Master,” then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, on their way to heaven;
One joined to many clubs, then there were seven.
Seven Master Masons, life dealt some hard licks;
One grew discouraged, then there were six.
Six Master Masons, all very much alive;
One lost his interest, then there were five.
Five Master Masons, wishing there were more;
Got into a great dispute, then there were four.
Four Master Masons, busy as could be;
One didn’t like the programs, then there were three.
Three Master Masons, was one of them you?
One grew tired of all the work, then there were
two.
Two Master Masons with so much to be done;
One said “What’s the use,” then there was one.
One Master Mason, found a brother — true!
Brought him to the Lodge, then there were two.
Two Master Masons didn’t find work a bore;
Each brought another, then there were four.
Four Master Masons saved their Lodges fate;
By showing others kindness, then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, loving their Lodges bright sheen;
Talked so much about it, they soon counted sixteen.
Sixteen Master Masons, to their obligations true;
Were pleased when their number went to thirty-two.
So we can’t put our troubles at the Lodges door;
It’s our fault for harming the Lodge we adore.
Don’t fuss about the programs or the “Master” in the East;
Keep your obligation by serving even the very least.
No insulted intended to Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts, all are equal instruments for positive (or negative change).
PotS
J.
May 20, 2008
Dear Unknown Friend,
Ten Master Masons, happy, doing fine;
One listened to a rumour, then there were nine.
Nine Master Masons, faithful, never late;
One didn’t like the “Master,” then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, on their way to heaven;
One joined to many clubs, then there were seven.
Seven Master Masons, life dealt some hard licks;
One grew discouraged, then there were six.
Six Master Masons, all very much alive;
One lost his interest, then there were five.
Five Master Masons, wishing there were more;
Got into a great dispute, then there were four.
Four Master Masons, busy as could be;
One didn’t like the programs, then there were three.
Three Master Masons, was one of them you?
One grew tired of all the work, then there were
two.
Two Master Masons with so much to be done;
One said “What’s the use,” then there was one.
One Master Mason, found a brother — true!
Brought him to the Lodge, then there were two.
Two Master Masons didn’t find work a bore;
Each brought another, then there were four.
Four Master Masons saved their Lodges fate;
By showing others kindness, then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, loving their Lodges bright sheen;
Talked so much about it, they soon counted sixteen.
Sixteen Master Masons, to their obligations true;
Were pleased when their number went to thirty-two.
So we can’t put our troubles at the Lodges door;
It’s our fault for harming the Lodge we adore.
Don’t fuss about the programs or the “Master” in the East;
Keep your obligation by serving even the very least.
No insulted intended to Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts, all are equal instruments for positive (or negative change).
PotS
J.
May 14, 2008
Dear Unknown Friend
In the context of our ancient art, the obligation is one of, if the not the most powerful works wrought by a Freemason. It is the expression of one’s will, adamant and inviolable, made before all Brothers, sworn before Deity, and symbolically sealed with penalty; and once made can never be un-made, even if one should try.
As we progress from Entered Apprentice to Master Mason, each obligation more explicitly binds not only the Candidate to us, but we to him, and all of us to society as a whole. It is a fabric, each candidate a strand of thread, and each obligation a weave joining us together as a complete whole.
No Brother stands alone, for if he did, there would be no Brotherhood. Freemasonry is therefore a community effort; that is to say, it requires several Brothers to be done. Brothers certainly come, and regrettable they go. We acknowledge that someone can leave our circle of fellowship, but the point is, by their obligation to us, are ours to them, they are still a fellow; they are still part of the fabric, even if the stand is never revisited in the weave.
When a Brother demits, he demits as a Master Mason in good standing. And even if the nature of the demit is such that the Brother is now antagonistic or hostile towards the Lodge or Freemasonry in general, they are, as far we Masons are concerned, still a Master Mason. Ergo, a Brother they remain, albeit one at a great distance. As such demitted Brothers are to be extended the kind care, love, and protection afforded any other Brother.
I want to be very clear on this, so I say it again: Demitted Brethren are to be extended the same kind care, love, and protection afforded any other Brother.
Treating a demitted Brother as anything other than a Master Mason is a failure to satisfy your obligations: your obligations to them, to all Brothers, and to the world. Failing to satisfy your obligations prompts one to ask did you mean them? Did you understand them? Did you appreciate the nature of what it is you have done, and what you have sworn to do?
PoTS
J.
April 7, 2008
Dear Unknown Friend,
During the last Lodge of Instruction for Wasatch Lodge No.1 I made the following comments, which a dear Brother suggested be written down for posterity. Apparently, in all the nonsense I normally spew forth, this is considered worthwhile.
These comments were addressed to those Brothers vying for the role of Senior Deacon at an Entered Apprentice Degree.
I come from the school that Freemasonry is first, and foremost, an Initiatic Tradition. As such, the efficacy of the experience to promote change in the candidate should be our singular goal. Nothing can be allowed to compromise the experience of Initiation. Our ritual provides a great deal of information between the lines on how our Initiation works.
As you will all be deaconing, I would like to speak on the topic of the Deacon. In the not-too-distant-past, the symbol for the Senior Deacon was not an emblazed sun, but Hermes. Hermes is the Olympian God of boundaries, and the travelers who cross them. But more directly to our Masonic interest is the aspect of Hermes as a syncretism of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. The meanings behind that association I leave you to explore, but there is one that I want to elaborate upon. Starting with the Hermetic maxim: as above, so below, we understand - hermetically - that we are composed of three natures: our base nature, our higher nature, and our mediating nature, or our aspiration to balance/reconcile the two. In the Initiation, the Candidate represents his own base nature, the Worshipful Master represents his higher nature, and the Senior Deacon represents the mediator. In short, the Deacon is Hermes, escorting the Candidate from the exoteric border (Mundane World/Masonic World), and the esoteric (Base/Higher) border of themselves. The labyrinthine circumambulation through which the Deacon/Hermes guides the candidate, culminates at the center of Lodge/inner place, where all three meet, wisdom is imparted, and a new identity (Brother) is forged. The journey is emblematic of the process through which we may guide ourselves to the place where we may reconcile thesis (higher nature), and anti-thesis (base nature), through synthesis (Initiation).
Regardless of your belief, or disbelief, in this school of thought, the matter remains a simple fact – if you take all this as your guiding attitude when conducting candidates, you ensure the profundity of their experience meaning; which is ultimately our goal.
Again, a few Brothers of my Lodge found this information worthwhile, and asked that I share it publicly. So there you have it.
PotS
J.
March 20, 2008
Dear Unknown Friend,
Some thoughts, as I poke around a copy of the Register House Manuscript (1696) - documents from the 17th and 18th century clearly establish that many Speculative (perhaps even Accepted) Masons in Scotland (and the UK), believed a connection between Masonry with Rosicrucianism.
Rosicrucianism is a peculiarly protestant (and German) vein of hermeticism, itself being an amalgam of Olympic/alchemical/enochian/kabbalistic practices/philosophies, holding a particular reverence for alchemy. Alchemy has as its chief - and as of yet unattainable - aim the crafting of a stone, which possesses the power to transmute metals.
We as Masons, style ourselves workers in stone, having placed as the chief Craftsman of all time (note the participation in a Trinity), a mythic character whose work, was not primarily stone, but in alloys (transmuted metals): homogeneous mixtures of two elements, resulting in a substance with different properties from those of its components. Not unlike the rebis (two of one things).
The parallels are intriguing, if nothing else.
Recommend Reading:
PoTS
J.
March 17, 2008
Dear Unknown Friend,
Of late, I have been mired in world of illusions. Interestingly, the illusions center on what is, or is not political. What moves are made for political gain, the perception of moves made for political gain, and associating perceived evils with individuals who are perceived to be politically motivated.
Most would refuse to see it, but I am in fact on the crux of this perception, constantly pulled one way or the other depending on the conversation. This struggle is centered on a Masonic Lodge, and because of my middle position, I can see the very fabric of this Lodge tearing over the tremendous weight of the matter.
The simple truth - the Lodge is too large. I normally don’t take absolute positions Masonically, but a Lodge larger than about 35 people is only manageable through compromise, and excellence cannot exist within a compromise. Hence mediocrity. Hence disappointment and illusion.
Compromise and relations of large, impersonal organisms reminds much of my day job in information technology. Unlike most of my colleagues - if such a thing exists in American business - I do not think technology solves anything, or improves the human condition. Far too often we marvel at our own inventions, and neglect the moral purpose of our condition. Hence our current situation.
For some time I took comfort in not being alone in my profession. Although no one agreed with me in my personal interaction, I took some comfort in knowing that Joseph Weizenbaum was a kindred spirit. His seminal work, Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, put forth the premise that computing as a social force, established/formed/supported bureaucracies, and limits understanding of the world in purely reductionist frameworks, resulting in restricted potention for human interaction/relationships. He is centuries ahead of the rest of the artificial intelligence community.
He just passed away.
As I mourn a fellow, and fell alone professionally, I feel alone and cut off Masonically, and I think of this Lodge, too large, too massive, and wholly supported by bureaucracies all of which undermine the fundamental tenet of Brotherly Love. There is a current struggle in this Lodge to review operating expenses, budgets, etc… Lamentably, the natural and correct solution: split into a new Lodge is not part of this discussion. Both sides of the argument are so convinced of their supremacy, and both sides are so entrenched in their own illusion, that they fail to see the multiplicity of options before them. Blinded by their own Light I suppose.
Instead, even those who operate under the illusion that they hate politics will constrain themselves to the limitations of their own delusion, and drive to a purely political answer (compromise of income, reduced operational expensed, increased clerical efficiency, etc…).
Prisoners of our creation. Tortured to support an invention that consumes more than it can output.
Personally, I am frustrated, torn, and exhausted by this particular issue. I have little energy left for it. I mention all this not to discuss this particular Lodge however - even though it is tearing itself apart, and demits are already coming in.
I mention this as a cautionary tale to other Lodges.
Brotherhood requires that individuals, not organizations, be the atomic level of interaction. We have far too long labored under the well-meaning, but ill conceived idea that organizations (lodges, grand lodges) form the chain of our union. When Lodges get so large that people become anonymous, and policy/procedure not human relationships define our interactions, it is time to split into a smaller, more intimate Lodge.
Recommended Reading
Picture Credit: Artist unknown as I am away from my book, taken from the Book of Nod. Caine in darkness and liminality.
PotS
J.
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