1st Degree Catechism
Content
New York Standard Works Catechisms Expounded
By. Brother Daniel J. Di Natale Harmonie Lodge No. 699
Basic History
• Most of what we know about early Ritual is from exposures or accidents.
– Edinburgh Registry House Manuscript (ERHM) of 1696
• Earliest extant ritual. • Uses “words” as methods of recognition explicitly. • Signs and Signals.
Basic History
– Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected (1730)
• First time Degrees are clearly organized (1-3). • Organized catechismal forms.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• William Preston (1742-1818)
– Illustrations of Masonry of 1772
• First major work on Masonic ritual. • It gives no specifics in form or execution.
– The Prestonian Lectures were adapted into the Modern ritual pretty much world wide.
• It makes only passing remarks of a 3rd degree, while the 2nd degree is substantially longer in its lecture.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• Thomas Smith Webb (17711819)
– Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry of 1797
• Significantly impacted the formation of Continental (American) Masonry. • So proud of the Masonic Order he published his book to the world. • “Barrowed” heavily from Preston.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• Jeremy L. Cross (1783-1891)
– The True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor of 1819
• “Barrowed” heavily from Webb, whom he was a student. • Popularized Webb’s ritual system, thus forming it as the core of American ritual systems. • First to use pictorial “aids” for memory with the work.
Cross’s Chart
Different Types of Ritual
• Standardized Works and Lectures
– A phenomena of Continental Masonry.
• Rarely found outside the US.
– A standardized frame on which all ritual is used, without deviation.
Different Types of Ritual
• Non-standardized or Proprietary Works
– Found the world over. – Work follows basic “landmarks”. – Written by the Lodge the performs the work.
Who Controls The Ritual Anyway?
• The Grand Master is the end all be all. • The Master of a Lodge. • The Custodians of the Work. (§ 334)
– A committee of 5 appointed by the Grand Master for 3 year terms. – Only body able to recommend changes to the Standard Work.
Who Controls The Ritual Anyway?
• The Grand Lecturer
– Appointed by the Grand Master for a 1 year term. (§138) – Must show mastery of the whole Works before the Custodians allow appointment. (§295) – Responsible for checking the skill of a Lodge under dispensation. (§299)
• Assistant Grand Lecturers help with needs across the districts as apposed the whole jurisdiction.
Secrets
• The Work in a cipher is an aid to memory.
– mnemonic device. (Cross used method of loci)
• The majority of Standardized Ritual ,when first printed, was not put into complicated codes.
– Often Ritual ciphers were sold with another book(s), the key to the code.
• The only true secrets is that which is not written.
– Modes of recognition.
The Catechisms of the Standard Works and Lectures of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York
Details of the forms and meanings up to the Obligation
The Lodge of the Holy Saint John of Jerusalem
• WE ARE NOT TEMPLARS!!!!
– Added in the 18th Century to create a non-historical connection to the Knights Hospitallers & Templars. (Mackey)
• It is meant to bring a Crusader attachment to the Temple of Solomon or “The Lodging of the Poor Knights of St. John”. (Mackey) • “Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem…”
• What you are really saying is:
– “From that of King Solomon's Temple where the first Lodge was formed.” (symbolically)
• Also eludes to the change in dedication from Solomon to the Saints John. (First found in 1598, Roberts)
– Also to the astrological constant of the solstices dates in which the Saint Johns’ (the Baptist & the Evangelist) have their feast days and a deep relation to the monad as expressed Masonically.
The Tropics and Path of the Sun
The Ground Floor
• Esoterically, it references scared geometry found on the floor of the Temple. (Bromwell) • Elusion to the materiality of the Degree.
– Foundation.
• Masonic Law– Dispensation allows a Lodge to function but must meet requirements before being granted a full Charter that recognize its sovereignty as a Masonic Lodge.
• Lodges been known to use the Gothic Constitutions as their Charter.
The Ground Floor or Mosaic Pavement
Modes of Recognition
• These forms have roots in the deepest history of Masonic Ritual. • Due-Guard- a word adopted into English, theorized to be of French origin.
– To be on guard – Found in the older Ritual of 1750s but as it what is now called the sign.
• The passwords of the 1st and 2nd are the oldest in the Craft. (See ERHM)
In My Heart
• The deep esoteric mysteries of the Craft will expound upon this statement. • Your membership is no accident. • You already hold all the secrets to Masonry.
– You were born with them.
Perpetration
• You were not prepped in the Lodge but outside of it, you entered ready. • The removal of metal is used in many ancient traditions, as metal is seen as a contaminating force…
– It is also represents equality, submission and “blind” trust.
Trial and Knocking
• At the door you are questioned. • Knocking (gavel or otherwise) is also a common feature in all ritual.
– The use of “3” follows this tradition closely.
• “Of my own free will…”
– Seems easy enough but is not contextual simple.
• Free will implies “freedom”, the old charges make distinctions that no slave or serf could be a Mason. • It also becomes contextual blurry after the completion of the three degrees.
Deity Without Name or Limit
• According to our oldest documents a belief in deity was needed to become a Mason.
– Early Masonry (operative) undoubtedly needed that belief to be Catholic.
• A common feature in any trade guild of the 1300s and onward. • Masonic Guild were nothing special having this belief.
– Speculative adapted and changed that to encompass all faiths. Thus the religious tolerance and acceptance we know today.
The Rite of Circumambulation
• The name given by archeologist to the procession of of ancient initiations around a sacred alter. (Mackey)
– Freemasonry practice the same tradition with all context intact.
• Ties tightly with the secession of the sun and the monad.
Duncan's Diagram of Circumambulation 1866
Traveling East
• The East has been seen in many Western esoteric traditions as the place of enlightenment and always sacred.
– Tied again with the rising of the sun.
• The Greeks were said to be from the schools of the East.
– Supported with Hermes and traditions tied to Osiris. – The Prestonian System asks:
• Q- What induces you to leave the West and travel East?
– A- In search of a Master, and from him to gain instruction.
Due From; Due and Ancient Form
• The use of the step and signs finds mention in our earliest rituals. (see ERHM) • The term “Due Form” finds its origin in the French language.
– Du or Devoir- “To owe” or “Ought” – What is being said is “The candidate is the proper form that which owed and must be done.”
• Thus or Lodges are acting in the prescribed way from time immortal. • It also has a deeper esoteric message. (look to J.S.M Ward EA Book)
The Obligation
The History
• The Obligation is one of oldest section of the ritual. • Some early ritual documents have a very short opening and an obligation.
– The ERHM is mostly short forms with a long obligation and explanations of signs.
The Form
• Preamble • Obligation Charges • Penalty
Preamble
• Agreement of nondisclosure.
– Very operative in its design, nothing having to do with morality in a sense but trade secrets.
• Only time used “…hidden Mysteries of Ancient Freemasonry….”
– Mystery
• Derived from Greek. • Not meaning unknown or hidden as we know it. • Originally secrets of the operative craft.
Obligation Charges
• Easily distinguished by the use of “Further more…”
– By far the most confusing of the Charges in any of the degrees.
• Limited content.
– It becomes apparent later that the “true secrets” are impossible to record.
• Operative roots. • Illusion to the esoteric vain found deep in the ritual, at least for those that want to look, know and understand.
Penalty
• Found in almost every Ritual system.
– Note- In 1986 the Emulation School of Improvement (UGLE) removed the penalty from their obligation totally. – The use of the word “symbolic” is a much later addition to our work.
• Most Ritual sets, not finding their roots in the US, excluded the word “symbolic”.
– There are many “colorful” penalties found over the historical record.
• The one used in the NY 1st degree is a sound overview to those found in the earliest work.
The Catechisms of the Standard Works and Lectures of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York
Details of the forms and meanings after the Obligation
“Light’
• The use of “Light” is a common to Masonic ideology.
– “Light” is a common expression of enlightenment thought.
• It is not just “Truth and Knowledge” but a more penetrative and persuasive force. • It is the first symbol and neophyte sees and experiences in Masonic ritual.
– It is not just the material light of the 1st degree but a deeper more esoteric symbol.
The Three Great Lights
• The Square and Compasses are neatly explained in the Historical Lecture, the Bible leaves room for conjecture. The first mention is in Colne No. 1 MS of 1685
– …One of the eldest taking the Bible shall hould it forth that he or the(y) which are to bee maid Masones, may Impoase and lay thear Right hand upon it…
•
•
The use of the Bible as a “Light” is not found until after 1750s. Preston makes it “Furniture” in 1760. Codifying it 43 years after the Grand Lodge.
The Three Great Lights
• In the majority of the True Old Charges no mention of a Sacred Book(s) just “faith of which men agree.” • The use of a “Book” to obligate is mentioned but never the type of book.
– It is just as likely it was the Book of Constitutions of the Guild doing the initiation. – It was more common to initiate members on a sacred relics.
• (see, The Whole Institution of Freemasons Opened of 1725)
The Three Great Lights
• Historical Developments
– In 1813 the then feuding Moderns and Ancients formed the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) in which all Masonic bodies lineage from.
• They formed the Lodge of Reconciliation (1813-1816) tasked with the construction of a standardized framework of ritual.
– They can be credited with removing sectarian messages that had worked their way into the Craft. – Their work ended and the Emulation Lodge of Improvement formed, thus taking from the whole of that being practiced in England, they list a V.S.L and no further mention is made of the name of any Sacred Volume.
The Three Great Lights
• American Freemasonry progressed without the modernizations of 1813.
– The War of 1812 spurred much in the way of anti English sentiment.
• Ancient Craft Masonry appeared to have a stronger foot hold in the US.
– V.S.L never completely work into the the whole of standardized ritual.
• Although it is found in NY.
– (Officer Instillation, NY Monitor, Book Six and the Investiture Ceremony)
The Three Great Lights
• Many American Ritual writers pulled information from one another and took much out of context from those sources.
– Many liberties were taken by authors. (See Cross)
• NY Ritual adds an explanation of the Bible which I can find no other source for.
– From pages 45-47 this explanation is added seeming in the 20th century. As it is not found in Lester’s “Look to the East” or “More Light” in which the ritual lectures are partial based. (Both printed in the early 1800s)
The Three Great Lights
• Mackey speaks as to what the Bible should say to each Mason,
– “The Bible is used amongst Masons as a symbol of the will of God, however it may be expressed. And, therefore, whatever to any people expresses that will may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a Masonic Lodge…. {The V.S.L} it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea- that of the symbolism of the Divine Will revealed to man.” (Mackey pg.104)
The Three Lesser Lights
• The Lodge is symbolically the world. More deeply the Universe, the mind and creation.
– The Sun is the provider of the material light but also gives us due regulation of the hours on Earth and the function of gravity on the solar system. – The Moon- Provides the dichotomy needed for due regulation of the Earth (the tide for instances, etc.) – The Master of the Lodge- Symbolically the Master of the Universe, that force which binds the two forces into a perfect harmony.
• Three forces (passive, aggressive and regulatory) • Their placement (E,W,S) is also very important.
The Apprentices’ Investiture
• The Master moves from the East and invests the material secrets of the Craft after the obligation.
– You’re not a Brother Mason until after the obligation. – Hele
• Roots in Anglo Saxon English, meaning to “hide or keep secret”
– This wording sees form in almost ever ritual set, exposure or MS (even in the Cooke!). Leading some to believe it could be a unknown third party source.
• Evidence supports the word made have been used for rhyming scheme
– A felowe that can wel concel And Kepe thy counsel and wel hele. » (Romaunt of the Rose, c. 1360s).
The White Apron
• The very Icon of the Masonic Order.
– Strange as no recorded of the apron existed until 1723 with the portrait of the first Grand Master.
The Manner Worn
• The explanation of the bands of workmen is a legend. No historical evidences supports that assumption.
– The style of Aprons ,ours being an oblong square, others a perfect square, others a bib etc. Would further bifurcate that point. – So why? The answers is found in the folds…
Apron Proportions
The Working Tools
• The use of tools to moralize is one of our oldest traditions.
Baal’s Bridge Square (1507)
The Working Tool
• Their use and type have changed over the years. • Not every jurisdiction uses the same tool(s).
– Emulation uses the chisel and mallet in the 1st degree.
A New Name
• The changing of names at initiation is a common feature of initiatory rites.
– Masonry changes yours to caution to reminded of the serious nature of our institution.
Lecture of Reasons
History
• Originally part of a much longer Q & A.
– Definitely a product of the early 1800s. – A combination of epic histories from the Old Charges.
• To further elaborate the length of the original Q & As, the historical lecture has a catechism as well!
– That’s around 25 full pages of Q & A in the 1st degree alone, much longer then any of the full ritual today.
The Metal in the Temple
• Deeply metaphorical.
– The Temple was the house of God and should be a place of peace and harmony. – Each stone (that’s you) should be perfected before entrances into that structure.
Details of Preparation
• Cable-Tow– Early ritual sees it as “cable rope”, no matter what it is a Masonic word. – German “Kabeltau” which it probably found roots to English as a lone word. – In the 1st degree it is a tool of restraint and ejection.
Details of Preparation
• Hoodwink– “A symbol of the secrecy, silence and darkness in which the mysteries of our art should be preserved from the unhallowed gaze of the profane.” (Mackey)
• Illusions to St. John’s Gospel
– “And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended in not.” John 1:4-6 (KJV) » That is one the same St. John we dedicate our Craft to.
• The Corpus Hermeticum
– “Seek one that may lead you by the hand, and conduct you to the door of Truth and Knowledge, where the clear Light is that is pure from Darkness, where there is not one drunken, but all are sober and in their heart look up to him, whose pleasure it is to be seen.” (Hermes, 8th Book, 5th Verse)
Details of Preparation
• Rite of Discalceation
– The removing of shoes is a common practice when entering a sacred space.
• JSM Ward speculated it in a relation to contact with the Earth and the Tau cross of the step.
– Pythagoras instructs,
• “Offer sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off.”
Obstructions
• The lodge is emblematical of the world.
– Each station a point in life.
• Each representative of those struggles life brings.
– Each challenged overcome until we meet with the “Master” and our due reward earned.
Fides
• Often misunderstood and called faith.
– Another Roman deity called Fidius who would preside over oaths and contracts.
• He was represented by two human figures holding one another.
– Thus the sign of Fidelity.
Rite of Destitution
• How else would you learn this lesson?
– Have you ever known real destitution?
• Always remember the human family and what it means to be a Brother Mason.
The North East Corner
• You are the foundation.
– Each in your class was the foundation of a new Masonic edifice.
• Each generation dies to be replaced by the next.
– We build our foundations the stronger we will be stronger and the Craft will prosper.
The End
Our thanks from Harmonie Lodge No. 699
By. Brother Daniel J. Di Natale Harmonie Lodge No. 699
Basic History
• Most of what we know about early Ritual is from exposures or accidents.
– Edinburgh Registry House Manuscript (ERHM) of 1696
• Earliest extant ritual. • Uses “words” as methods of recognition explicitly. • Signs and Signals.
Basic History
– Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected (1730)
• First time Degrees are clearly organized (1-3). • Organized catechismal forms.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• William Preston (1742-1818)
– Illustrations of Masonry of 1772
• First major work on Masonic ritual. • It gives no specifics in form or execution.
– The Prestonian Lectures were adapted into the Modern ritual pretty much world wide.
• It makes only passing remarks of a 3rd degree, while the 2nd degree is substantially longer in its lecture.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• Thomas Smith Webb (17711819)
– Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry of 1797
• Significantly impacted the formation of Continental (American) Masonry. • So proud of the Masonic Order he published his book to the world. • “Barrowed” heavily from Preston.
The Men Who Formed The Ritual
• Jeremy L. Cross (1783-1891)
– The True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor of 1819
• “Barrowed” heavily from Webb, whom he was a student. • Popularized Webb’s ritual system, thus forming it as the core of American ritual systems. • First to use pictorial “aids” for memory with the work.
Cross’s Chart
Different Types of Ritual
• Standardized Works and Lectures
– A phenomena of Continental Masonry.
• Rarely found outside the US.
– A standardized frame on which all ritual is used, without deviation.
Different Types of Ritual
• Non-standardized or Proprietary Works
– Found the world over. – Work follows basic “landmarks”. – Written by the Lodge the performs the work.
Who Controls The Ritual Anyway?
• The Grand Master is the end all be all. • The Master of a Lodge. • The Custodians of the Work. (§ 334)
– A committee of 5 appointed by the Grand Master for 3 year terms. – Only body able to recommend changes to the Standard Work.
Who Controls The Ritual Anyway?
• The Grand Lecturer
– Appointed by the Grand Master for a 1 year term. (§138) – Must show mastery of the whole Works before the Custodians allow appointment. (§295) – Responsible for checking the skill of a Lodge under dispensation. (§299)
• Assistant Grand Lecturers help with needs across the districts as apposed the whole jurisdiction.
Secrets
• The Work in a cipher is an aid to memory.
– mnemonic device. (Cross used method of loci)
• The majority of Standardized Ritual ,when first printed, was not put into complicated codes.
– Often Ritual ciphers were sold with another book(s), the key to the code.
• The only true secrets is that which is not written.
– Modes of recognition.
The Catechisms of the Standard Works and Lectures of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York
Details of the forms and meanings up to the Obligation
The Lodge of the Holy Saint John of Jerusalem
• WE ARE NOT TEMPLARS!!!!
– Added in the 18th Century to create a non-historical connection to the Knights Hospitallers & Templars. (Mackey)
• It is meant to bring a Crusader attachment to the Temple of Solomon or “The Lodging of the Poor Knights of St. John”. (Mackey) • “Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem…”
• What you are really saying is:
– “From that of King Solomon's Temple where the first Lodge was formed.” (symbolically)
• Also eludes to the change in dedication from Solomon to the Saints John. (First found in 1598, Roberts)
– Also to the astrological constant of the solstices dates in which the Saint Johns’ (the Baptist & the Evangelist) have their feast days and a deep relation to the monad as expressed Masonically.
The Tropics and Path of the Sun
The Ground Floor
• Esoterically, it references scared geometry found on the floor of the Temple. (Bromwell) • Elusion to the materiality of the Degree.
– Foundation.
• Masonic Law– Dispensation allows a Lodge to function but must meet requirements before being granted a full Charter that recognize its sovereignty as a Masonic Lodge.
• Lodges been known to use the Gothic Constitutions as their Charter.
The Ground Floor or Mosaic Pavement
Modes of Recognition
• These forms have roots in the deepest history of Masonic Ritual. • Due-Guard- a word adopted into English, theorized to be of French origin.
– To be on guard – Found in the older Ritual of 1750s but as it what is now called the sign.
• The passwords of the 1st and 2nd are the oldest in the Craft. (See ERHM)
In My Heart
• The deep esoteric mysteries of the Craft will expound upon this statement. • Your membership is no accident. • You already hold all the secrets to Masonry.
– You were born with them.
Perpetration
• You were not prepped in the Lodge but outside of it, you entered ready. • The removal of metal is used in many ancient traditions, as metal is seen as a contaminating force…
– It is also represents equality, submission and “blind” trust.
Trial and Knocking
• At the door you are questioned. • Knocking (gavel or otherwise) is also a common feature in all ritual.
– The use of “3” follows this tradition closely.
• “Of my own free will…”
– Seems easy enough but is not contextual simple.
• Free will implies “freedom”, the old charges make distinctions that no slave or serf could be a Mason. • It also becomes contextual blurry after the completion of the three degrees.
Deity Without Name or Limit
• According to our oldest documents a belief in deity was needed to become a Mason.
– Early Masonry (operative) undoubtedly needed that belief to be Catholic.
• A common feature in any trade guild of the 1300s and onward. • Masonic Guild were nothing special having this belief.
– Speculative adapted and changed that to encompass all faiths. Thus the religious tolerance and acceptance we know today.
The Rite of Circumambulation
• The name given by archeologist to the procession of of ancient initiations around a sacred alter. (Mackey)
– Freemasonry practice the same tradition with all context intact.
• Ties tightly with the secession of the sun and the monad.
Duncan's Diagram of Circumambulation 1866
Traveling East
• The East has been seen in many Western esoteric traditions as the place of enlightenment and always sacred.
– Tied again with the rising of the sun.
• The Greeks were said to be from the schools of the East.
– Supported with Hermes and traditions tied to Osiris. – The Prestonian System asks:
• Q- What induces you to leave the West and travel East?
– A- In search of a Master, and from him to gain instruction.
Due From; Due and Ancient Form
• The use of the step and signs finds mention in our earliest rituals. (see ERHM) • The term “Due Form” finds its origin in the French language.
– Du or Devoir- “To owe” or “Ought” – What is being said is “The candidate is the proper form that which owed and must be done.”
• Thus or Lodges are acting in the prescribed way from time immortal. • It also has a deeper esoteric message. (look to J.S.M Ward EA Book)
The Obligation
The History
• The Obligation is one of oldest section of the ritual. • Some early ritual documents have a very short opening and an obligation.
– The ERHM is mostly short forms with a long obligation and explanations of signs.
The Form
• Preamble • Obligation Charges • Penalty
Preamble
• Agreement of nondisclosure.
– Very operative in its design, nothing having to do with morality in a sense but trade secrets.
• Only time used “…hidden Mysteries of Ancient Freemasonry….”
– Mystery
• Derived from Greek. • Not meaning unknown or hidden as we know it. • Originally secrets of the operative craft.
Obligation Charges
• Easily distinguished by the use of “Further more…”
– By far the most confusing of the Charges in any of the degrees.
• Limited content.
– It becomes apparent later that the “true secrets” are impossible to record.
• Operative roots. • Illusion to the esoteric vain found deep in the ritual, at least for those that want to look, know and understand.
Penalty
• Found in almost every Ritual system.
– Note- In 1986 the Emulation School of Improvement (UGLE) removed the penalty from their obligation totally. – The use of the word “symbolic” is a much later addition to our work.
• Most Ritual sets, not finding their roots in the US, excluded the word “symbolic”.
– There are many “colorful” penalties found over the historical record.
• The one used in the NY 1st degree is a sound overview to those found in the earliest work.
The Catechisms of the Standard Works and Lectures of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York
Details of the forms and meanings after the Obligation
“Light’
• The use of “Light” is a common to Masonic ideology.
– “Light” is a common expression of enlightenment thought.
• It is not just “Truth and Knowledge” but a more penetrative and persuasive force. • It is the first symbol and neophyte sees and experiences in Masonic ritual.
– It is not just the material light of the 1st degree but a deeper more esoteric symbol.
The Three Great Lights
• The Square and Compasses are neatly explained in the Historical Lecture, the Bible leaves room for conjecture. The first mention is in Colne No. 1 MS of 1685
– …One of the eldest taking the Bible shall hould it forth that he or the(y) which are to bee maid Masones, may Impoase and lay thear Right hand upon it…
•
•
The use of the Bible as a “Light” is not found until after 1750s. Preston makes it “Furniture” in 1760. Codifying it 43 years after the Grand Lodge.
The Three Great Lights
• In the majority of the True Old Charges no mention of a Sacred Book(s) just “faith of which men agree.” • The use of a “Book” to obligate is mentioned but never the type of book.
– It is just as likely it was the Book of Constitutions of the Guild doing the initiation. – It was more common to initiate members on a sacred relics.
• (see, The Whole Institution of Freemasons Opened of 1725)
The Three Great Lights
• Historical Developments
– In 1813 the then feuding Moderns and Ancients formed the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) in which all Masonic bodies lineage from.
• They formed the Lodge of Reconciliation (1813-1816) tasked with the construction of a standardized framework of ritual.
– They can be credited with removing sectarian messages that had worked their way into the Craft. – Their work ended and the Emulation Lodge of Improvement formed, thus taking from the whole of that being practiced in England, they list a V.S.L and no further mention is made of the name of any Sacred Volume.
The Three Great Lights
• American Freemasonry progressed without the modernizations of 1813.
– The War of 1812 spurred much in the way of anti English sentiment.
• Ancient Craft Masonry appeared to have a stronger foot hold in the US.
– V.S.L never completely work into the the whole of standardized ritual.
• Although it is found in NY.
– (Officer Instillation, NY Monitor, Book Six and the Investiture Ceremony)
The Three Great Lights
• Many American Ritual writers pulled information from one another and took much out of context from those sources.
– Many liberties were taken by authors. (See Cross)
• NY Ritual adds an explanation of the Bible which I can find no other source for.
– From pages 45-47 this explanation is added seeming in the 20th century. As it is not found in Lester’s “Look to the East” or “More Light” in which the ritual lectures are partial based. (Both printed in the early 1800s)
The Three Great Lights
• Mackey speaks as to what the Bible should say to each Mason,
– “The Bible is used amongst Masons as a symbol of the will of God, however it may be expressed. And, therefore, whatever to any people expresses that will may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a Masonic Lodge…. {The V.S.L} it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea- that of the symbolism of the Divine Will revealed to man.” (Mackey pg.104)
The Three Lesser Lights
• The Lodge is symbolically the world. More deeply the Universe, the mind and creation.
– The Sun is the provider of the material light but also gives us due regulation of the hours on Earth and the function of gravity on the solar system. – The Moon- Provides the dichotomy needed for due regulation of the Earth (the tide for instances, etc.) – The Master of the Lodge- Symbolically the Master of the Universe, that force which binds the two forces into a perfect harmony.
• Three forces (passive, aggressive and regulatory) • Their placement (E,W,S) is also very important.
The Apprentices’ Investiture
• The Master moves from the East and invests the material secrets of the Craft after the obligation.
– You’re not a Brother Mason until after the obligation. – Hele
• Roots in Anglo Saxon English, meaning to “hide or keep secret”
– This wording sees form in almost ever ritual set, exposure or MS (even in the Cooke!). Leading some to believe it could be a unknown third party source.
• Evidence supports the word made have been used for rhyming scheme
– A felowe that can wel concel And Kepe thy counsel and wel hele. » (Romaunt of the Rose, c. 1360s).
The White Apron
• The very Icon of the Masonic Order.
– Strange as no recorded of the apron existed until 1723 with the portrait of the first Grand Master.
The Manner Worn
• The explanation of the bands of workmen is a legend. No historical evidences supports that assumption.
– The style of Aprons ,ours being an oblong square, others a perfect square, others a bib etc. Would further bifurcate that point. – So why? The answers is found in the folds…
Apron Proportions
The Working Tools
• The use of tools to moralize is one of our oldest traditions.
Baal’s Bridge Square (1507)
The Working Tool
• Their use and type have changed over the years. • Not every jurisdiction uses the same tool(s).
– Emulation uses the chisel and mallet in the 1st degree.
A New Name
• The changing of names at initiation is a common feature of initiatory rites.
– Masonry changes yours to caution to reminded of the serious nature of our institution.
Lecture of Reasons
History
• Originally part of a much longer Q & A.
– Definitely a product of the early 1800s. – A combination of epic histories from the Old Charges.
• To further elaborate the length of the original Q & As, the historical lecture has a catechism as well!
– That’s around 25 full pages of Q & A in the 1st degree alone, much longer then any of the full ritual today.
The Metal in the Temple
• Deeply metaphorical.
– The Temple was the house of God and should be a place of peace and harmony. – Each stone (that’s you) should be perfected before entrances into that structure.
Details of Preparation
• Cable-Tow– Early ritual sees it as “cable rope”, no matter what it is a Masonic word. – German “Kabeltau” which it probably found roots to English as a lone word. – In the 1st degree it is a tool of restraint and ejection.
Details of Preparation
• Hoodwink– “A symbol of the secrecy, silence and darkness in which the mysteries of our art should be preserved from the unhallowed gaze of the profane.” (Mackey)
• Illusions to St. John’s Gospel
– “And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended in not.” John 1:4-6 (KJV) » That is one the same St. John we dedicate our Craft to.
• The Corpus Hermeticum
– “Seek one that may lead you by the hand, and conduct you to the door of Truth and Knowledge, where the clear Light is that is pure from Darkness, where there is not one drunken, but all are sober and in their heart look up to him, whose pleasure it is to be seen.” (Hermes, 8th Book, 5th Verse)
Details of Preparation
• Rite of Discalceation
– The removing of shoes is a common practice when entering a sacred space.
• JSM Ward speculated it in a relation to contact with the Earth and the Tau cross of the step.
– Pythagoras instructs,
• “Offer sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off.”
Obstructions
• The lodge is emblematical of the world.
– Each station a point in life.
• Each representative of those struggles life brings.
– Each challenged overcome until we meet with the “Master” and our due reward earned.
Fides
• Often misunderstood and called faith.
– Another Roman deity called Fidius who would preside over oaths and contracts.
• He was represented by two human figures holding one another.
– Thus the sign of Fidelity.
Rite of Destitution
• How else would you learn this lesson?
– Have you ever known real destitution?
• Always remember the human family and what it means to be a Brother Mason.
The North East Corner
• You are the foundation.
– Each in your class was the foundation of a new Masonic edifice.
• Each generation dies to be replaced by the next.
– We build our foundations the stronger we will be stronger and the Craft will prosper.
The End
Our thanks from Harmonie Lodge No. 699
