Taking Your First Step
A talk by Bro. Matthew Davison
Worshipful Master, Distinguished brethren, Brethren all,
This morning we have had the pleasure and honour of initiating and welcoming two new Brothers into the Craft. Being initiated is, for the majority of brethren, an important and enjoyable experience which leaves a lasting impression.
As an addition to the ceremony, many Masters will congratulate candidates on taking their first regular step into Freemasonry, and it is this idea of taking that first step which forms the central theme of this paper. However before launching into the body of my talk I will spend a few moments defining my terms.
When I talk of Freemasonry, I do not refer to the social phenomenon which raises millions of pounds in charity for worthy causes every year. Neither do I talk of the enjoyable time that we spend as a lodge at our regular meetings. When I refer to Freemasonry I am using that term to describe a system of personal and spiritual development leading to a more complete understanding of the self and the nature of the divine.
Our system, or at least the way it is operated in this country, sees the progression of the brother through the three degrees as one dependent on the lodge performing work and providing a supply of Master Masons to go through the offices. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and I for one have benefited from this system by ascending to the chair in a very short amount of time. However by choosing this way of working the progression of the brother personally lags behind his progression externally. I am the first to admit that although externally I wear the rank of an Installed Master, internally I have only very recently taken the first regular step in Freemasonry.
So, what I propose to do in this talk is to describe a few observations I have made when looking at the meaning of the first degree which may hopefully inspire some of you to take your first step in Freemasonry as I have defined it above.
Free
Throughout the ceremony of initiation the requirement of being ‘free’ is mentioned many times. The explanation given in the Emulation Lecture is based on the forbidding of Ishmael (the son of a bond woman), from playing with Isaac the son of Abraham, for fear that Isaac might imbibe some of Ishmael’s slavish principles. It further goes on to state:
“…it being a general remark in those days, as well as the present, that the minds of slaves are more vitiated and less enlightened than those of the free-born…but in the present day, slavery being generally abolished, it has therefore been considered under our Constitution, that if a man be free, although he may not have been free-born, he is eligible to be made a Mason.”
From this we can take a number of points:
- The freedom and slavery which is referred to is not physical but mental;
- Those people who are mentally enslaved are unsuitable to commence the internal work involved in Freemasonry.
The embarkation upon a system of spiritual improvement is one which requires a free mind able to receive the teachings. This requirement of mental rather than physical freedom is evident from the final passage of the above text which asserts that a person with a free mind is eligible, regardless of his birth into bondage. But how in modern times is a person enslaved? Firstly we are enslaved by the pressures and constraints of modern life. We must work to provide for our physical needs, as well as those things which we are told we need by society.
Secondly we are enslaved by the preconceptions and prejudices we hold, which are developed while we grow as, among other things, defence mechanisms to our fragile sense of self. The ego also plays a large part in enslaving our minds and actions by causing us to act impulsively, or in a manner which looks only to short term fulfillment. In this sense no action is free, as it does not really involve a rational choice.
With reference to this last passage it is useful to briefly discuss the thoughts of Bro W. Kirk McNulty. He posits that the physical structure of the lodge is a symbolic representation of the psyche, and that the individual officers represent different parts of that psyche. Being the first officer inside the lodge the Inner Guard represents the interface between the internal and the external world. In this way he represents the Ego, which as discussed above leads us to act not in a free way, but impulsively. The solution to this problem is alluded to in the opening of the Lodge where we are informed that the Inner Guard is to obey the commands of the Junior Warden. In McNulty’s model of Freemasonry the Junior Warden represents the self or spirit, the inner self which is blocked out by the desires of the ego. By working on this command relationship we are able to subdue the ego and free our minds in preparation for the more advanced internal work.
Birth and the Feminine Aspect
As a second observation let me ask you to look around the temple and think about what we all have in common. The answer to this question is that we are all men. Freemasonry under the United Grand Lodge of England is a male only fraternity. This is not a bad thing, far from it. It does however give a certain emphasis to some of the aspects of our craft while neglecting others.
Only a small amount of thought by those who have been initiated today, or a recollection of the wording of the retrospect of the three degrees given in the third degree, will reveal that the ceremony of initiation is a symbolic representation of birth. We go from the darkness into the light. We are divested of worldly possessions and symbolically naked. We are reminded of the danger of birth, in particular the danger of strangling by the umbilical cord represented by the cable tow.
So in a ceremony which is concerned with birth, where is the feminine aspect of the degree? They are in fact placed in plain sight, but as in all societies of ancient wisdom they are hidden to those who are not party to them. The beautiful floor upon which a Freemason walks in the temple is a representation opposites; light and dark, good and evil, joy and sadness, justice and mercy, male and female. We also have the moon, a traditionally feminine celestial body, represented by the Senior Warden as one of the lesser lights. Further still we take our obligation on our left knee, the left side being considered the weaker or feminine side of man. As the left side of the body is controlled by the opposite side of the brain this also links with the attributes ascribed to the right side of the brain such as creativity, imagination, emotional intelligence, and empathy, all attributes most commonly linked to femininity.
Perhaps the most surprising representation of femininity within our ceremonies is the symbol most associated with Freemasonry. Many of us will have it depicted on a ring, and it is the first thing that an initiate sees after being restored to blessing of material light. The unity of the square and compasses serves to form another symbol hidden within. It is the vesica piscis, an ancient symbol of the goddess, and serves to symbolise birth and creation. This when linked with the other great light, the Volume of Sacred Law, serves to show that all things are created by the writer of that divine volume, and it is only through following the teachings of that book that we shall be spiritually re-born.
So what conclusions should we take from this examination of the feminine aspect within our lodges? You of course may come to your own conclusions but I would suggest that the chequered pavement is the key. One should not subdue the other, as both elements are necessary for our full development. Rather they should be seen as two halves of the same whole, and that a due balance should be struck between both in our internal development. By avoiding fear on the one hand and rashness on the other we will steadily persevere in our developmental journey to take the next regular step in Freemasonry.
Conclusion
Knowing our Director of Ceremonies as I do this has probably been more than enough ‘pyramid hugging’ for one day, and I am in danger of finding out the other uses of his wand if I carry on for much longer. I hope that the brief discussions above about some of the more symbolic and spiritual elements of our system will have sparked the interest of the brethren here today, and encourage you to start your own investigations. It may even encourage you to start thinking about taking your own first regular step into Freemasonry as defined above. Whether this type of Freemasonry is of interest to the individual is their choice entirely and each choice is equally valid. I hope that you have enjoyed this paper and thank you for listening.
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Comments
A great introductory talk
A great introductory talk Matthew, with some important starting points for new brethren interested in the more esoteric side of Freemasonry - glad to have you on board here at 21CF!