What is Your Jewel?

By: Ian B. Tuten

As anyone reading this blog would guess, my “Masonic Jewel” would be Truth. But what about others? Surely not every Mason is (or even should be!) a student of the esoteric, or of comparative religion, or of ancient language, etc. That sort of homogeneous fraternity would either crash and burn, or would flounder and get nothing accomplished. So, what of the other two Principal Tenets of Freemasonry? And what of those who desire them? How do these fit together? Those are questions I would like to explore.

Botticelli’s Three Graces (pictured Below) represents, to us as Masons: Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Though these three are termed “Principal Tenets” of Freemasonry, I would like to refer to them in this post as “jewels”. Whatever aspect or tenet of Masonry that you represent with your life, it should be something that is cherished, displayed, and greatly valued – just as any jewel should be.

In my experience with Masonry, most men are drawn to the craft by one of these three aspects. For that matter, some men change which tenet is important to them after some years. But what can also be said, is that if that aspect that the candidate is searching for with his very being is not fulfilled, then he will leave the lodge and have no desire to return.

Some men, like myself, desire the light of Truth. The lessons of Freemasonry contain deep-seated human truths, displayed in symbols, allegory, and obscure wording. Entire lives can (and have) been spent studying the degrees, the rituals, the words, the symbols, the lessons, etc. But why is this important? Because, much as any triangle is incomplete without one of its sides, the Masonic lodge cannot be complete without education. Our moral lessons separate us from any other given fraternity in the world. Our degrees are ancient and invaluable to us. Any brother who has been through any degree – from 1st to 3rd and through the high degrees – can affirm that. The light of Truth, given by Deity but absorbed through hard work and study, is a lamp to our feet and a light upon our paths; it is the torch of Heraclitus and the lamp of Trismegistus.

Others desire to shed the light of Relief. One of the most common things attributed to Freemasonry (truly one of the few truthful ones!) is that we are a charitable organization. We are charged, by the penalties of our obligations, to help our Brothers, their widows, and orphans. But that’s not all! We don’t solely help our own. All Masonic bodies around the world contribute untold sums of money to charities, and go so far as to start their own organizations. To name only a few, there is the Scottish Rite’s Rite Care, the Royal Arch Research Assistance, the Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, the many children’s hospitals run by Shrine bodies, and the list goes on and on. The light of Relief is a warm reminder that the world is not a cruel place, that there is goodness inherent in our species, and exists to drive away the darknesses of life, even if momentarily.

Finally, nearly all of the brethren desire the light of Brotherly Love. Everything we do, both in and out of the lodge, inculcates this value. Whether it’s a BBQ cook-out on a Saturday morning, or a simple meal before Lodge on a weeknight, we all deeply value the time we get to spend together. To once again borrow an old axiom, “it takes a village to raise a child.” While I’m certainly not using this to refer to a literal child, it does in this case refer to the fact that it takes a group of like-minded and well-intentioned men, to improve one another. “Steel tempers steel,” just as the moral and just man improves his brother. The light of Brotherly Love increases the radius of our light exponentially – it is the light of inspiration, of motivation, and of the greatest of all of these: love.

So, my Brothers, you will see that some Masons may be more interested in ham suppers, or perhaps breakfasts at the Masonic Home, and may not be interested in reading philosophy or history – their pursuit is no less noble, for they are receiving the light that they need in their lives. Some Masons may be primarily interested in fundraisers to promote charities – they are providing our Masonic light to the world. And, of course, some Masons may be primarily interested in the study of the Divine, or of philosophy, or of history – they too are providing light, to the rest of the Craft that they may spread it to the world.

Brothers, it has been long contested and hotly argued that some of our lodges may not provide sufficient educational programs, or may not provide adequate charitable contributions, or may not be welcoming and loving enough of new Brethren. My charge to you, today, is to recognize your own strengths, and decide which Jewel it is that you possess, and let it shine in your own community in whatever way you know how. Every man in the Craft, perhaps every man in the world, has a unique gift. Use that gift; do not let it languish.

Our Fraternity cannot stand without its three legs – Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Which of these is YOUR jewel? Which of these can YOU use to help your own community?

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Thank you for reading The Laudable Pursuit!

If you enjoyed this piece, please feel free to share it on social media sites and with your Lodge.

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The Meaning Behind the Myth of Hiram

By: Robert G. Davis, 33*, Grand Cross

Most Grand Jurisdictions have adopted what we as Masons know as the “Fundamental Principles” of Freemasonry. These have been republished many times, and represent what we often think of as the “Ancient Masonic Usages,” or foundational rules of our Fraternity.

One of these principles is that Freemasonry must be organized into symbolic degrees, and these degrees must encompass a legend of a temple tragedy. This is a curious statement because it immediately informs us of two things about our Order: (1) that its ritual ceremonies are intended to communicate something to us which was never meant to be real; and, (2) this something is overtly aimed at a tragedy, which implies we are engaged in a dark side of the human experience.
We all know there is nothing factual about the central legend of our degrees—the story of Hiram. It is a myth. The events which unfold in our drama never actually happened.

But without further explanation, this can represent a problem for 21st century men because we live in a world of information. If something is not real, then it has little value to us. And if something we thought was real turns out not to be that way, then it has even less value because we not only no longer believe in it, we also no longer trust it. This is one of the central paradoxes of politics and religion in our time.

Then, in Masonic ritual, we compound this problem of what is not real by adding a tragedy to it. On the surface, one might argue that most men see enough of the shadow side of things in their own life experience. Why should we expect a man to embrace an organization which not only focuses on that which is not real, but then brazenly delivers to him yet another tragedy of life in his experience as a Mason? The answer is that the original authors of Masonic ritual assumed every initiate already knew what a myth was and what it was designed to teach before he was initiated. This means that today, when we become Freemasons, we, too, are already to have a certain adeptship with the world of myth when we enter the fraternity. But most of us don’t. Thus, it wouldn’t hurt if the Masonic educators in our own time would spend a little time helping our new men make this 400 year leap in context while they are experiencing our ritual settings for the first time.

Here’s what we need to know about ritual and myth.

The function of ritual is to give form to human life in a way that transcends all generations and all time. The role of ritual is to imprint into each man’s psyche the same imprintings of the society in which he grows up. Whether experienced in church, a synagogue, a mosque; a legislative hall, or judicial chamber; or even in the rituals played out in a family, the purpose is always the same. The rituals are the means of such imprinting.

Ritualized procedures also depersonalize the protagonists in our life; lift them out of themselves so that their conduct now is not their own but of the species, the society, the caste, or the profession. Hence, for example, the rituals of the investiture of judges, or of officers of state; those so installed are to function in their roles, not as private individuals but as agents of collective principles and laws. Without ritualized rules which reconcile confrontation, no society could exist. The mere shattering of the ritual form is, for humans, a disaster. Ritual is the structuring form of all civilization. We all need to know the rules of the game. This is the justification for the use of ritual in Freemasonry.

Likewise, the myths of our tradition are the mental supports of our Rite; our Rite is the physical enactment of the myth.

Now, the interesting thing about myths is that the teachers in them change over time but the message remains the same. In the earliest period, man’s teachers were the animals and plants illustrating the powers and patterns of nature. Later on, they became the seven heavenly spheres, where the cosmic order became the model of a good society on earth. Of course, we have long since de-mythologized these through our sciences.

The center of mystery is now man himself. It is a curious characteristic of our species that we live and model our lives through acts of make-believe. In fact, we have lived in a man’s world since the Greek tragedies. And this is where the Hiramic legend comes in. In the ritual myths of Freemasonry, the two great tragic emotions of the Greeks--pity and terror--is laid out. With pity, we unite whatever is grave and constant in human suffering with the sufferer. With terror, we unite whatever is grave and constant in human suffering with the secret cause.
And the secret cause of all suffering is, of course, mortality itself. It is the pre-condition of life. It cannot be denied if life is to be affirmed. Yet, along with the affirmation of this precondition, there is pity for the human sufferer, who is actually a counterpart of oneself. Our myth empowers us to reconcile our own mortality so that we may overcome ourselves and the fear of our own end.

The story of H.A. and the three Ruffians plays out the great mythic image of pity and terror as expressed by the Greek Tragedies. The human sufferer is wiped out by our ceremonies, yet everything is done to point out the value of the sufferer. The terrorists who cause the suffering also suffer the same grave and constant reality of life.

This is the secret. In the process, the virtues and vices, the ignorance and knowledge, the darkness and the light of all humanity is rediscovered within each man, and these characteristics collectively emerge as the essential character of the latent hero in all of us. It is the Lost Word, that is, it is all the potentialities of life, found; but revealed only to the initiate who understands the form and substance of the journey he makes for himself.
 

Thank you for reading The Laudable Pursuit!

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The Entered Apprentice- The Masonic Fool: A Reflection

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By: Jason E. Marshall

(The Fool card in the Tarot represents unlimited potential, youth, and enthusiasm, yet it is bound in a raw and unrefined state, which is also the classical representation of the Entered Apprentice in Masonic symbolism.)

Each Mason begins his journey as a Fool.

As a candidate we are a Fool that is full of energy, enthusiasm, and a desire to start our Masonic journey, yet we lack knowledge, experience, and direction.

Unhindered by fear, we reach the door of the preparation room full of unlimited potential, promise and hope.  Our true potential is locked within us, carefully wrapped up within the baggage of our psyche, but in short order it shall be revealed. But first, as a Fool, we must take an unknown step into the abyss; however, our faith being in God, our faith is well-founded, so over the ledge we must go.

Upon our entrance into the Lodge, we blindly traverse the checkered pavement, which is fitting because prior to that moment we have blindly resided in the world, ignorant of the duality of the world and the duality within ourselves. With each step what had previously been mere potential begins to manifest into reality.

After our oath on the solemn book, we receive the first rays of Masonic Light, which sheds light upon the great and timeless mysteries that had previously been unexplored, or simply overlooked.

Bound by the mystic tie we receive the working tools of an Entered Apprentice, the 24 inch gauge and common gavel, and with these tools we begin to labor and continue our travels.

Through our labors what had been mere potential as an Apprentice will continue to manifest itself throughout the building of that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, and the future tools will guide us and our Fellow Fools, in our lifelong journeys towards that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.

And when at last as weary Masters we lay down the working tools of life, may our well-lived life and our bonds of brotherly love and affection build a well-crafted pathway for the Fools that follow in our footsteps.

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Thank you for reading The Laudable Pursuit!

If you enjoyed this piece, please feel free to share it on social media sites and with your Lodge.

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