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Saint Vincent Lodge No. 1404 in the Province of Bristol |
| WHAT IS A FREEMASON? | |
 A Personal View
by one member of The St. Vincent Lodge On the face of it, this is a simple question that should have a very simple answer: "a freemason may be defined as a member of a lodge of freemasons." Inside the lodge, however, there are often several different kinds of mason. Firstly, at one level, there is the so-called “knife and fork mason,” the clubbable man whose need is for friends and a convivial “night out with the boys” - a meal in congenial company. For such a mason, the masonic ceremonies are a form of entertainment before the main event of the social meal. Secondly, there is the moral mason who believes that all Masonry is for is: “to make good men better.” The ceremonies for him represent moral lessons. It is certainly true to say that the First Degree inculcates a basic system of morality and encourages the practice of Charity. The emphasis of the Second Degree is perhaps less on morality and charity and more on education. It is very difficult though to see an inculcation of morality as the prime purpose of the Third Degree. A third, and perhaps quite small, category of masons sees the whole masonic system from a mystical point of view and in my view it is this small number of men who are freemasons in the true sense of the name. Many masons, of course, fall into more than one of these categories; the best and most complete of masons encompass all three. Many kinds of men become masons and they have many reasons for doing so – apart from what they may or may not gain from the ceremonies. Unfortunately these reasons include many misconceptions of what Masonry is for and what it is all about. Many join a hierarchical system hoping for promotion within it. They may be successful but it is a hollow kind of success and has no significance in the rest of their lives. Some men join what they see as a mutual benefit society - “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” This may work to some extent but no better than in a golf club, for instance. Some join, hoping for business advantages - perhaps just simple networking. These men are rapidly disappointed, and usually leave, unless that is, they first find something deeper, something that they were not looking for and were not expecting. These reasons for joining come under the headings of Brotherly Love and Relief but the three concerns of Masonry are said to be: Brotherly Love; Relief; and Truth – so what of Truth? In Ernst and Falk, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, the father of German literature, has the young enquiring Ernst ask whether Falk is a freemason. After some preamble, the older and experienced Falk says: “I believe I am” and he goes on to explain: “I believe I am a freemason, not so much because I was accepted by older masons in a lawful lodge, but because I see and know what and why Masonry is …” The true mason is trying to improve himself, and if possible to perfect himself. He is looking for a path through life along which he can achieve these aims. He tries to interpret and understand the masonic ceremonies and apply the lessons he learns to his daily life. In this way he attempts to make a real “daily advancement in masonic knowledge.” A man is first prepared to be made a mason in his heart. The true mason is a seeker, one who feels a sense of something missing, one who has come to realise that he is not complete and so is on a quest, searching for “that which was lost.” There are of course many men and women who feel such a sense and try to find fulfilment via a wide range of different systems including religion, meditation and even martial arts. The mason however, is trying to redress his loss, to perfect himself, by following the way of the Craft. Many would argue that this is the same way as that of the Ancient Mystery systems – “Know Thyself.” J.S.M. Ward, one of the great masonic teachers of the 1920’s, looked upon Masonry as a spiritual or mystical quest and wrote: “Man, being finite, cannot comprehend the Infinite, yet, because of the Divine Spark within him he is always sensible of a feeling of separation and loss, and to repair that loss he starts on the Quest.” There are several requirements necessary in one who wishes to follow this path. The first, as all masons know, is a belief in a Supreme Being, the masonic title of whom is: “The Great Architect of the Universe.” This title surely implies a conscious Being with a creative Will, though not necessarily a personal God who is interested in every hair on one’s head. To follow the masonic path a man needs some sort of belief in his own immortality and that a judgement of some kind will be made on his conduct through life. Of course, implicit in any belief in post-mortem judgement, there must be a belief in survival after death, at least until the moment of judgement. So we may conclude that Masonry requires a belief in a Creator God and teaches a belief in the immortality of what we might call the “soul.” A true freemason, therefore, is a member of a masonic lodge who is following a spiritual journey, a mystical path. His nationality, his colour, his culture, his profession and his religion are no bar to him following this path. It does not require him to renounce any of his current beliefs or to contravene any moral law. The true mason is engaged on a journey of self discovery and self improvement. His is a journey through ritual and symbol, through the three Masonic Craft Degrees, which equate to the three stages of the Ancient Mysteries: Purification, Education, and finally Union with his Creator and the whole of creation. AR Baker August 2009 |
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