Freemason’s Secrets: (eBook)

So you want to be a Mason? Now what? You should first become aware of the minimum requirements that must be met. The actual age requirement to become a Freemason varies slightly from country to country, but the standard age today is eighteen years old. You must have a belief in a supreme being or God, and be of good character. This means no drugs, no alcohol problems, and NO felonies! At one time in Britain, the minimum age requirement for membership was twenty-five, but eighteen to twenty-one is the average age at the time of this writing.

The old charges of Masonry prevent anyone who is mentally deficient from being accepted. This is a necessity due to the excessive amount of memorization and rhetoric that is involved in Masonic learning. Once you have become a Master Mason, you are given a ritual book. A brother of the Craft that can memorize a part of or an entire ritual is highly looked upon and needed for Masonic work.

This type of person is often asked by other neighboring Lodges to come and perform parts of the degrees that they have memorized. Reading from the ritual book itself is not looked highly upon. You‘re always encouraged to learn as much as you can, and memorize the rituals.

An interesting part of the requirements to become a Mason, is that membership will be denied to any man if he is not in full possession of the use of his limbs. This might seem like a very unusual requirement for a fraternal organization, but it was a standard rule in the religious crusading Orders like the Knights Templar, The Teutonic Knights, and the Knights Hospitallers.

Every Masonic degree is a big event. They usually begin with a large dinner and will often have visiting guests from other neighboring Lodges. On some occasions, Grand Officers of that state or province will also be in attendance.

Most of the older lodges were in two or three story buildings with the temple room on the top floor and the dining room on the bottom. Modern Masonic buildings are usually a single story with just a dining room and a Temple room.

After dinner, the Masons will adjourn to the temple room and the candidate will wait behind in the dining room. One brother Master Mason will usually stay behind with the candidate to keep him company and talk with him while the other Lodge members are being seated and prepare for the degree.

Knights Templar Flag (Beausant)

The initiation takes place in the Temple room. Within the Temple room is the altar, candlesticks, chairs, the various lodge officers, the two pillars and a black and white checkered floor. Interesting how the floor of the Temple room also looks like the flag of the Knights Templar which is called the Beauseant.

For the Templars, the black upper half represented fear and terror to their enemies, while the white lower half represented fairness and truth to their brothers and friends. The black and white esoteric meaning cannot go unnoticed or without mentioning. As is above, so is below. The yin and the yang.

The officers of the Lodge are as follows:

1) The Worshipful Master - who is the commanding officer of the Lodge.

2) The Senior Warden

3) The Junior Warden

4) The Secretary

5) The Treasurer

6) The Senior Deacon

7) The Junior Deacon

8) The Chaplain

9) The Marshal

10) And finally, the Tyler

Also, there are usually four Stewards of the Lodge. Two of them sit on either side of the Senior Warden and the other two sit on either side of the Junior Warden. The Worshipful Master sits in the East. The Senior Warden sits in the west and the Junior Warden sits in the south. The guest will sit along the north and south walls. In the center of the Temple room is the altar and candlesticks. The candlesticks are referred to as the three lesser lights. On top of the altar rests the Holy Bible, the square and the compass. Being a Christian is not a prerequisite of becoming a Freemason, you just need to have a belief in a supreme being. The Bible can be substituted for any holy book of the candidate’s faith.

Three lesser lights

When all the brethren are seated and ready, the Tyler will let the candidate and his accompanying Master know that it’s time to proceed. The Tyler is a guard that stands outside of the Temple room with a drawn sword during every meeting of the Lodge. He is to ward off anyone who tries to spy or eavesdrop on the meeting. It can be said that the Tyler gets his name from the definition: To tile is to cover in; hence, the Tyler is the one who covers or conceals what is going on in the Lodge. His title has been of great interest in Masonic research by various authors.

Just inside the door of the Lodge sits the Junior Deacon. The Junior Deacon guards the inner door with a spear. Sitting in the east is the Marshal. He sits to the left of the Worshipful Master. The Marshal can [and does] have many different responsibilities. He can be in charge of all Masonic ceremonies inside the Temple room. He can also see to the introduction of visiting Grand Officers as well as carry out any order from the Worshipful Master. He also ensures that during the meetings or degrees, that all men present are Freemasons. He also ensures that all members conduct themselves in a Masonic and professional manner during the meeting or degrees.

Many American Freemasons try to proclaim that the office of the Marshall is more or less indigenous to America. This belief is completely false. The Marshall is present in other countries other than America,

such as Scotland. Although his duties may vary, he is not just indigenous in the United States. Whatever his duties may be, he does just what his title states and that is, that he marshals.

An interesting note is that the Knights Templar also had an officer with the title of Marshall. He was the chief military officer on the battlefield. Or anything to do with war itself.

The Knights Templar also had guarded, secret meetings. These secretive meetings were extremely unpopular with the Monarchies and the Clergy of their time. But the Knights Templar were only answerable to the Pope himself, so nothing could be done about their secret meetings.

It's also important to note that during the Templar's ceremonies, there were three sentinels; one inside the door, one outside the door, and one on the roof [or tiles], who could see if anyone was approaching the building.

The old Templar Churches were round so that a man perched on top of the roof was able to see in every direction. Perhaps this person was known as the Tyler?

As mentioned earlier, the Tyler will let the accompanying Master and the candidate know that it's time to proceed with the ceremony. They will then join the Tyler outside of the Temple room. The candidate is then asked to remove all metals and similar items before he takes the degree. Next, he will be asked to put on a white loose-fitting outfit that will leave his chest exposed and will don pants that are too short.

He will then be asked to leave one sock on or be given a slipper to wear. A blindfold will be put on him - this is known as being hoodwinked. After the candidate has been 'hoodwinked', a hangman's noose is put around his neck with the rope trailing down his back. This is referred to as the cable tow.

The soon-to-be Entered Apprentice now finds himself in the same state that a medieval heretic would have found himself in before making a confession in front of the Catholic Inquisition. He is then brought into the Temple room where the degree will take place.

The Entered Apprentice degree consists of moral and ethical lessons. It should also be known that all three of the basic degrees are supposed to be about King Solomon's Temple. King Solomon was the King of Israel and the son of King David. He was responsible for building the first Temple of Israel. Within this temple was the Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, among other sacred artifacts of the Jewish people.

The entire focus of the first part of the Entered Apprentice degree is that the candidate is free born, of good reputation and character. Also that the Lodge is dedicated to God and the Holy Saints John. In fact, the dedication to God and the Holy Saints John is mentioned five or more times in the first section alone. What is truly unusual about the first part of the degree, is that King Solomon and the Temple are not mentioned. It’s not until the seconded part of the degree [which is really just a lecture] that King Solomon and the Temple are mentioned.

Temple of Solomon

Depending on where you are in the world, the number of times that God and the Holy Saints John are mentioned may vary slightly, but five seems to be the average amount in most rituals. The Holy Saints John refers to John the Baptist, and John the Evangelist. An important part of the first half of the degree, is when the new Apprentice is instructed in how to stand as an Entered Apprentice. He is told to place his feet by making a right angle...