My Masonic Journey started at a local fete back in 2018 when I noticed from the opposite side of the field, a splendid Masonic flag with the square and compasses flapping away above a marquee. I knew what the symbol was, as I had heard about the Freemasons a few years before, and from what I understood, you had to know someone to get invited in, as I didn’t know anyone who was a member, I didn’t think I had any chance of joining, so at that time I didn’t really pursue it. But my curiosity kicked in and I headed straight over to see why there was a Masonic flag.
On approaching the friendly man behind the desk, he asked me if I was interested in Freemasonry and possibly becoming a member. I don’t think I could have said yes, any faster as it shot out of my mouth. We chatted for a while and then I filled in a little card with my details. A few months had gone by when I got a call from someone from my local Centre, and was invited to come down for a walk around to see the Temple and for him to get an idea of what Lodge I would best fit into.
The next step was a more formal style interview with a few of the members of the Lodge that was to become my Craft Mother Lodge for life. I was asked the usual get-to-know-you questions about family, work, and hobbies, but most importantly, why I wanted to join and did I believe in a higher form of power.
There are many different reasons why people become Freemasons, some join for the social aspect of meeting many new friends/Brothers for life, that you can enjoy the company of at the Festive board following the ceremonies. They consist of a lovely three-course meal and drinks, or, by attending one of the many white table events that non-Masonic friends and family can come along to as well, further increasing your social circle. Some join to help with the many Charitable events that happen throughout the year, along with helping their own Lodge raise money at the Regular meetings. Some people join to better themselves, as one of the saying goes, “We make good men great” A more self-improvement side to Freemasonry to help you become a better citizen and a more complete man. And then there is the extensive Historical side of Masonry, which is rather vast once you start looking into it. All those great men in history who did great things that you never knew were Masons, to know that you are walking the same path as them is quite inspiring.
My reason, like most, is a mixture of all of them to some degree, maybe some more than others. For me, the self improvement aspect mostly drew me towards joining so I could better myself, as I was not the person I wanted to be.
I really enjoy putting on my suit for the evening, wearing the regalia and participating in the ceremonies in anyway I can. I work on a construction site as the site manager, so most of my time is not spent looking all prim and proper. So it is really nice that six times a year in my Craft Lodge, I get to make myself look and feel smart for the evening and enjoy time with like-minded friends and Brothers.
I believe that I owe my progression within my career to being a Mason. It has given me the tools and confidence to achieve the goals I set out for myself of becoming a site manager, and building beautiful expensive homes for people.
Getting Started
The first thing I had to think about was getting a suit. I did not own one, not for any particular reason, I was just not a suit kind of guy at the time. Due to the unfortunate situation of being made redundant, I also did not have much money. Many people think you need loads of money to be a Mason, and while there is a yearly fee, you don’t have to go splashing out on costly things. My first black jacket cost me £4 from a second-hand store and I paid £12 for the arms to be shortened slightly. Coupled with a pair of black trousers and black shoes that I already owned, I was nearly set. All that was left was to pick up a cheap plain black tie and a pair of white gloves, which again cost very little. After joining you come to realize that in the Lodge, A man is not assessed of his worldly possessions, for there in all are equal and I never felt like I was looked down on for the little amount of money I could afford to spend on my appearance at that time. I would like to think that it all worked well together and that I looked ok. After five years though, I have recently treated myself to a three-piece suit and new shoes, and a couple of other little bits.
After my initiation, I went straight onto Steward’s bench with three other Brothers ahead of me, so I had a bit of spare time before getting on the ladder. Looking at the order in which I have done things, I feel that I used my time on the Stewards bench wisely. The sections that I have been presenting most recently, I must say, will definitely make my time in the Chair easier, not necessarily the WM sections, but they have helped me to understand those sections better and it has also gave me time to refine my best way of how to learn. It is quite an undertaking to be WM, and I hope I do the position justice in my year, which now, does not seem too far away. It is still over four years from now, but time seems to be getting quicker and quicker recently, so it will be here before I know it.
Being a Steward straightaway also helped me to come out of my shell. which I am also grateful for, as to start with, it helped me to become familiar with everyone’s names, not just the members of my own lodge, but also the names of any visitors that came along to watch the ceremony. as part of the stuards duty is by helping to set up the tables with name cards to the seating plan, and at that time we also took the payments for the dining out in the bar following the ceremony, ticking off a list as they paid. Being a Steward means you also get up during the meal to run the raffle. First by going around all of the tables to sell tickets, but also then presenting the raffle by commanding the attention of the room. I must confess, I do miss helping with that now that I am no longer a Steward, but I do still help out whenever there is a lack of Stewards on the night for whatever reason.
I am currently IG, so I have a little bit to do now within each ceremony, there are certain sections of the book that are on my list to learn that I would like to present, aside from my IG duties. Over the coming months and years hopefully, I will be going through with you what I am working on and how I’m getting on with it. In a future post, I will share my strategy on how I break down and learn a certain section of the book, as I feel that they have worked out quite well for me, sometimes in quite a short time. We all learn things differently so I like to use many different strategies to help me remember the Ritual by memory, Some of them may not work for you as well as it does for me. But I look forward to sharing them with you and hopefully getting some feedback from you guys on how they worked out for you.
Before I joined my Lodge, I was a shy person, I had never stood up in front of anyone and said a few words. All eyes on me scared the crap out of me, I would go red, start sweating, and I would find it hard to talk and breathe properly, trying to say too much in one breath. Looking back, if you had told me then that I would have the confidence to be standing in the middle of the Temple reciting pages and pages of the book by memory in front of everyone, I would not have believed you. But only a few years into being a Freemason, I can already see the positive effect it has had on me and my life, and my family life. I encourage you to also give it a go if you have not already. There is no pressure whatsoever to take part within the cremonies or do massive sections straight away, you can just start small, and as time goes on take on bigger pieces.
I really wanted to decline when I was first asked if I would like to learn a piece, the working tools for an upcoming ceremony. After all, it had only been a couple of meetings since I was initiated, but I don’t know what came over me, I found it hard to say no thank you, and while my mind was thinking of a reason to not do it, my mouth said yeah sure. I am glad that I did though, as it started me on this path. And now, I can’t get enough.
After settling In
The last two years my involvement in the ceremonies have increased so much, to the point that I like to volunteer to learn new sections for each of them. I enjoy helping to put on a great ceremony, whether it be for a new candidate being initiated into the Lodge, A Brother being passed to the second degree or even being raised to the degree of a Master Mason.
It really does show the level of commitment that the Lodge has to all of its members to put in the time and effort to learn the Ritual, attend weekly practices and present it by memory on the night. Every one of my ceremonies conducted for me, from my initiation, passing and raising, from what I can remember were perfect, and looking back now, I realize the effort that all my Brothers put in for me.
I hope you will join me for my next post where I will talk more about how I learn new sections, prepare for a ceremony, and my current progression and plans for the future.