The Tao of Masonry

A few years ago, RW Gary made up a cool little device that mimics the “Oooh, I’ve got the answer” gadgets that light up on popular TV game shows; when a contestant presses the hand-held button, his lamp lights up, and prevents the other lamps from burning. We combine that with randomly drawn questions on cards that contain queries both easy enough for a new Entered Apprentice, and those that will stump old Past Masters (and yes, even a District Lecturer). I think that the questions are from a British “Masonic Trivia” game, to which we have added various questions pertaining to exciting things in Connecticut – our rules and regulations, for example.

Last night, the brothers from Wyllys-St. John’s Lodge No. 4 in West Hartford came down to Friendship in order to challenge us on our grasp of Masonic trivia. Since it was their own meeting night, they got dispensation to move their charter, and held a meeting concurrent with ours. We’ve moved our own meeting in order to show off have a Master Mason degree in another lodge; as far as I know this is the first time that another lodge has come to visit us.

This was no idle challenge, by the way; at stake was a $100 donation to the charity of the winner’s choice. The players on both sides did fairly well, but we all seemed to miss more questions that we answered. Despite the efforts of one of our own Past Masters who not only failed to answer a single question, but who, in fact, managed to caused us penalty points – not once, not twice, but three times – Friendship pulled ahead near the end after a squeakingly close contest. Worshipful Brother Craig can be proud of the efforts of his officers, especially his Junior Warden who responded with a little dance of irrational exuberance every time he got an answer correct.

All in all, it was a fun evening and a great chance to get to know brothers from outside our district. In fact, we enjoyed their company so much, that we decided to make them honorary members of the 5th District. We’re all looking forward to visiting their lodge in the fall.

When I was a new Mason, I remember being disappointed to find that most of the lodges closed for the summer. “Close? What? C’mon, man, I’m just getting fired up!”

By the time I was the Worshipful Master of Friendship Lodge, though, I was thrilled to have that summer break. I guess it’s a matter of perspective, huh?

In the last few months, I have seen or participated in almost a dozen degrees, gone to another dozen meetings of various groups, have attended several dinners, awards nights, and other events. June has been particularly eventful, and in the last three weeks I have visited seven out of the eight lodges in my slice of the state. An early heat wave coincided with my need to visit a number of lodges, none of which were air conditioned – an occupational hazard here in New England where many lodges are really just old buildings. Personally, I’ll be glad when the end of June comes because I could use a break. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy what I’ve been doing, and I’m happy to be invited to these events, and I’ve been pleased that nobody boos, hisses or curses when I enter the room. I’m just looking forward to a little time to recharge the mental batteries.

I’ve been to some very nice degrees in my little slice of the Nutmeg State. I’ve seen several lodges with low turnout, where the officers have done particularly nice work. I’ve also been to a few lodges in which I’ve seen new officers who have spent some time learning the work and while it may not have been perfect, it was obvious that they did their best to perform it well for the candidates. From such workmen will the best ashlars be made, and I salute them.

During my travels, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to meet another half a dozen new Masons who came up to me after a degree to mention that they’ve read this blog. Not only does this increase my readership by almost 50%, it indicates that more and more men – mainly the under-40 group – are using the internet to discover more about our fraternity. It also suggests that they are not being frightened off by some of the contentiousness that can be found on blogs and web forums, to the contrary of those who have decried the use of this medium. Being one of those who used the internet heavily in his own research before joining, I still maintain that those people who are so easily swayed in their opinion of the fraternity by the antics of a handful of anti-Masons Masonophobes – or by a few disgruntled Masons – are probably not the best candidates in the first place.

Speaking of teh internetz, It’s too bad that a large number of the Connecticut lodges do not keep their websites updated. The GL gives each lodge a website with their own domain name (for example, Friendship Lodge in Southington has www.friendship33.org), and each lodge site is hosted on the GL server, complete with templates and just about everything that they need. Yet most lodges barely mention the officers, let alone post contact information or – unbelievably – update their event calendars.

I know that a few of the lodges in my district will have some things going on over the summer – several are already planning degree work to accommodate the influx of candidates, and there are usually picnics and other get-togethers. But it will be nice to be able to go home after a day at work and just relax on the deck with a cool drink and some munchies, and recharge my batteries before the busy season starts again in the autumn.

This past weekend we had a party for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. It turned into a family reunion as the hordes of out-of-town relatives descended on the small town of Woodbury, Connecticut and took over an inn for the weekend. I made a few notes on it elsewhere, so I don’t need to repeat it here.

But I did want to mention that on Saturday morning, while some people were nursing hangovers and others were antique shopping or visiting the local flea market, I took the opportunity to get a little quiet time to myself. Having been on a fitness kick since early summer, I had brought my road bike with me, and took a nice spin up and down historic Rte 67 from Southbury up through the center of Woodbury and headed out toward Watertown. 67 and US 6 run together at these points, and people not familiar with New England may not realize that US 6 is an old pre-Revolutionary War highway. Frankly, after seeing how many famous “Founding Fathers” and other early patriots slept along the route, it’s a wonder that we managed to rouse the troops at all, let alone win our independence.

That said, as I rode through Woodbury, just near the center of town I saw a huge 2-story high rock cliff with a rickety stairway bolted and supported along the side of the rock itself. A glance at the top of the stairway showed a plain white building with the familiar square and compasses. Without even seeing the sign I knew I was in front of the legendary King Solomon’s Lodge No. 7. The “lodge with the stairs” as it’s sometimes called by people in the Northeast corner of the state, and while I’d passed by it dozens of times, that was before I was a Mason, and so never really noticed it.

Lodge Photos

I’d heard stories about these stairs which are decidedly not to the local handicapped access building codes. In fact, a closer view of the stairway made me wonder how in the world a bunch of seventy-year old brothers could even manage this in the dark when I was hesitant to get close to them in broad daylight. The stairs are blocked off with boards and a Private – No Trespassing sign, but my guess is that the sight of thin boards and skinny metal pipes braced against the rocks would deter all but the most stout-hearted of interlopers.

Not realizing that the foliage and other scenery would be so pleasant during my 20-odd mile ride through the area, I didn’t pack my regular digital camera. These pictures were only taken with my phone camera, which really doesn’t do justice to either the building or the beautiful autumn scenery along the road. But I’m glad that I managed to at least get a glimpse of Masonic history over the weekend.

King Solomon No. 7 is one of the oldest lodge buildings in the state, and there is a fascinating history behind the stairway which can be read on their website here.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

On Thursday, November 16th, the brothers from Connecticut’s newest lodge, Universal Fraternity No. 149 treated their brothers of Sequin-Level No. 140 to dinner and a play.

The “play” of course, was a well-performed Master Mason degree, in which the officers of Universal-Fraternity assumed the chairs for the evening. Done in Connecticut form, the brothers added several small touches of Haitian influence, giving the onlookers a new and different perspective on the drama of Hiram. Fascinating as the degree was to watch, the event was even more impressive when one considers that in the last year, our new brothers not only had to learn ritual in Connecticut form, but also to give the degrees in English instead of the French customarily spoken in Haitian lodges.

Haitian Degree
Click on the picture to see the online photo album

Preceding the dinner was a short flag presentation at which the Haitian flag was presented and displayed with the collection of other flags at Sequin-Level. Afterwards, the brothers joined in singing the Haitian National Anthem.

A degree without dinner is like a day without orange juice, and not content with showing off their ritual skills, several of the officers of Universal Fraternity showed up at Sequin-Level early in the afternoon to show off their culinary skills. They prepared several traditional Haitian dishes, and steaming pans of seasoned rice and beans accompanied various trays of chicken, pork and seafood; more than enough to serve the 90 brothers in attendance for the ceremonies.

The evening ended with RWB James McWain Grand Jr. Deacon and MWPGM George Greytak congratulating the members on their degree work. Certainly, it was a fantastic example of how Freemasonry crosses the borders of language and culture.

For those that do not know the backstory, Universal Fraternity Lodge was charted “UD”, or Under Dispensation back in 2005. The brothers were already well-versed in Haitian-style degree work, but in order to be fully chartered by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, they had to re-learn their degree work in Connecticut form, and in English. The brothers worked hard at this, and at the 2006 Grand Lodge Annual Communication, they were awarded the charter with the lodge number of 149.

I happened to be there – literally at the door – when our Haitian brothers arrived during the 2005 Annual Communication, and also happened to be available on the evening before the 2006 meeting. Actually, it was more like 2 a.m., when several of the nervous brothers popped into the room with an entourage of brothers from other lodges. They had vowed not to sleep until they knew for certain that they would be granted a charter, and had wandered the hotel looking for other Masonic night owls. Several of my officers were still up, so we shared fellowship and hospitality, and compared the differences between Haitian ritual and our own.

Several of the officers of Friendship Lodge came to see the degree work at Sequin-Level, and once again I happened to be in the wrong place at the right time; after assisting to see the four candidates were duly prepared, I was asked to escort one of them during the degree itself (I am an affiliate member of Sequin-Level). Although I was barely able to move after the fantastic dinner, somehow I managed to walk around the lodge room, following their Sr. Deacon (who did a fantastic job during the evening). I should also mention that the Master, WB Daniel did his best to make the degree a particularly memorable evening.

I was pleased to see a large number of brothers staying for the entire degree, and counted several purple aprons in the number of onlookers, including at least one from the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge. The brothers from Universal have been getting a lot of publicity lately, and personally I think that it is well-deserved. Every time I run into them – an easy thing to do, since they seem to travel all over the state – they are always cheerfully spreading harmony and good fellowship. And when one considers that many lodges in the state – indeed, around the US – are closing their doors, we should celebrate those who so amply demonstrate their dedication and perseverance.

That reminds me: I really need to get the recipe for that paella-like dish; it was delicious!

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Inasmuch that once made a Mason, one can never really separate all of the other aspects of one’s life from the Masonic, it seems fair to say that pretty much everything in my life is fair game for this blog.

That, and the fact that I just got back from vacation and wanted to brag about it.

A week an a half ago, my wife and I left for the Napa Valley wine country on the first child-free vacation we’ve had in over 15 years. That means that we left the 95ºF temps in southern New England for the 110º+ temps in central California. We landed at Oakland airport (92º), got the rental car (96º), and headed north where the temperature slowly but steadily climbed: 98º, 102º, 106º… until at some point I thought that the thermometer on the car must be broken. We pulled into the hotel at Calistoga, in the north end of the Napa Valley and just east across the mountains from the Sonoma Valley, at late afternoon and the gauge read 115º! Opening the door of the car we were greeted with what smelled like slow-roasting wood, the kind of aroma one associates with a sauna.

But that’s okay – it’s a dry heat, right?

Calistoga is a small town with a main drag about a half mile long and looking as it it belongs in a Western film… if you ignore the fantastic upscale restaurants, the delis, the angled parking spaces, and the several people on Segways scooting back and forth from the various businesses. The name of the town supposedly comes from one of the early local entrepreneurs who became enamored of the hot springs and geysers and wanted to turn the area into a resort town like the ones he knew in upstate New York. According to legend, Mr. Brannan was a bit in his cups when he declared his intention to make it “the Saratoga of California,” and so it came out as “the Calistoga of Sarafornia.”

I have not checked the veracity of that tale, but it’s one of those items that if it’s not true, well, then it should be.

My wife had us booked into a spa hotel so we could take advantage of the “couples” spa treatments that are becoming all the rage. One can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a hot mineral spring or a day spa, and we found ourselves registered in a pleasant, rustic old spa on the outskirts of town; “rustic” in this case meaning “no phones or internet access.” Since this was supposed to be a vacation, the white-knuckled feelings that normally accomany my lack of internet access only lasted a couple of days, and we attributed the other symptoms (sweatiness, listlessness, incoherent mumbling, and fainting spells) the the heat wave.

And I can’t speak highly enough about the trips to the little wineries that we made. On the way up in the car we passed not merely acres, but entire square miles of plantings. We stopped at the small wineries, the ones with labels we would never see back East. Whereas the major labels like Kenwood or Ravenswood might sell upwards of 500,000 or 600,000 cases a year, we checked out the places that were maybe 5,000 or 1,500 cases.

And while I’m sure that the locals were laughing with me and not at me, take my advice and learn that they are called “vineyards” and not “grape orchards, and that the plantings are called “root stock” and not “wine trees.”

We found that it was impossible to get a bad glass of wine anywhere in Napa Valley, and believe me, we tried. Not that we tried to get a bad glass, but one would think that just the statistical probability of it happening based on how many we sampled would have found at least one. Naturally I am not condoning turning the period of refreshment into one of intemperance and excess; however one of the precepts of Taoism is “moderation in all things… including moderation. For those so inclined, however, there are limousined tours if nobody in your party wants to be a designated driver.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of the “couples spa treatment” except to say that the mud bath is really some kind of potting soil mixed with peat moss and heated with the natural hot mineral spring water. Twenty minutes of that, then you get to hose each other down and jump into a warm hot tub, after which you are treated to about a half hour of a warm herbal wrap, followed by a professional massage. Only a cynic would point out that one is planted, watered and then treated like the ingredients of a pita wrap sandwich.

I’m not really big on general sight-seeing, but I do enjoy having something interesting to explore on a trip, and I’d come back to Calistoga again. I enjoyed staying in the rustic town more than I would have enjoyed staying in the busier small city of Napa itself. We took a few side trips, notably to visit a local “Old Faithful” geyser (not as impressive as the one in Yellowstone National Park, but a nice way to kill an hour or so).

We also visited the Petrified Forest, where we learned that a volcanic eruption 3.4 million years ago blasted most of the local redwood trees into toothpicks, leaving some scattered trunks under the ashes, where time and nature leached the organic compounds, replacing them with minerals.

We only had a few days there before we had to leave for parts south of San Francisco. Not having a phone book in the room, I didn’t get to look for the local Masonic lodge (something that I do wherever I go), so I was surprised to see on our last night there a familiar symbol on the roofline of one of the buildings on the main street. The building was being remodeled, so we didn’t get an opportunity to check it out before we left. We did, though, get a chance to check out the Grand Lodge of California building in San Francisco later on in the week. But that’s a story for another day.

Freemasonry | Masonry | Calistoga | Napa Valley | Wine | Vacation

(From Wikipedia.org: An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea and within which seawater mixes with fresh water. The key feature of an estuary is that it is a mixing place for sea water and a stream or river to supply fresh water.)

First, let me start off by saying that I really, really enjoy degree work. There’s nothing more enjoyable for me than knowing that we are giving the candidate an unforgettable experience, something that they will not only always remember, but will learn to appreciate even more over time. Over the last few years, our lodge has had a lot of feedback on the quality of our degree work, and it’s my opinion that it’s in some small part due to the fact that most of the officers have a little bit of “ham” in them that makes them want to do more in their parts than just a rote recitation of words in a book.

We enjoy it, is what I’m trying to say.

Anyway, in one of those examples of how no good deed (or in this case, a good idea) goes unpunished, we – the officers of Friendship Lodge – took our jewels, aprons, charter, and a candidate to another lodge in order to confer a Master Mason degree, and to show a sister lodge how we do things halfway across the state.

So a few months ago, our Grand Marshal (an active member of Friendship) was talking to the Grand Senior Steward during a table lodge, who mentioned that he really enjoyed seeing the MM degree in our lodge a few months previous, and wished that his own lodge could see it as well. We – as do some other lodges – add a section that’s not in the “official” Conn ritual, but it’s a section that gives the candidates something interesting to contemplate. Probably not all lodges do this because you need over a dozen extra guys to act the parts, and lodges that have trouble getting 9 officers are obviously not going to be able to pull this off.

Anyway, as a result of the fellowship at the table lodge, we all thought it would be a great idea to have our lodge do the MM degree at the Grand SS’s lodge. In fact, we thought it would be even better to involve a particular third lodge which has a “craftsmen team” dedicated to doing this drama. After much nodding and shaking of hands, it was a “go!”

Now, anyone who’s ever had to coordinate a lodge for degree work understands how difficult it is to get everyone together. Suddenly, I realized that I had to coordinate 3, or possibly 4 lodges. The first thing I did was to start making the phone calls. The second thing was to head to the local warehouse store and buy a huge bottle of antacid pills and a large container of headache medicine. Conn does not have a DC – Director of Ceremonies; all degree work is coordinated by the WM, although some lodges do have degree teams that make the job easier. I won’t bore anyone with the report of the dozens of phone calls and idea sessions – anyone who’s done this will already understand I think I used the expression “herding cats” at some point.

I tried to have this scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, because the host lodge was almost an hour away and I didn’t want to inconvenience too many people. As it happened, that was not to be, and as their lodge met on the same night as our own, we got a dispensation to open both lodges concurrently – a very nice touch, since that meant that our lodge – Friendship – would be able to do the entire meeting, with the other lodge only needing to watch and enjoy. Our plans to open early, so as to not have our guys drive home too late just didn’t work out, either, but the host lodge made a great dinner for us, and provided whatever support they could. It was to be a great night, too, because this would be the last meeting before we closed for the summer, and we all wanted to do something special.

A side note: the host lodge was formed from 3 other lodges that had closed last year, and the building was the home lodge of the father of the master of the lodge that was helping me. When I learned that, I asked him if he would like to take the South chair, and of course he was very happy to do so. Later on, I thought it would be nice if I could give him something even more meaningful, and asked if he’s like to do the working tool lecture. Again, he was very happy to do so.

Okay, now cue up the Twilight Zone music.

When I got there early to practice, their Senior Warden chatted with me for a few minutes, telling me about the history of the lodge, and how he, in fact, had remembered the father of the WM who was helping. He mentioned that it was sad that they never had the opportunity to sit in his, the host lodge, together. Then he looked up and said, “You know, tonight is the first day of summer, and it was exactly 2 years ago tonight that he died, don’t you?” I was floored; I had no idea. For a few moments I even began to wonder if, somewhere in the Grand Architect’s designs, there had been a higher reason that I couldn’t get all of us organized for a Saturday degree.

A few minutes later, my counterpart arrived, bearing a picture of his father, which he placed at the foot of the Junior Warden’s chair. When his time came to do the lecture, he prefaced it by thanking me for the opportunity, and then told us that when he was raised, his own father was called upon to do the same working tool lecture for him. You could almost see the gasps of astonishment as everyone suddenly noted all of the coincidences of the evening.

Overall, it was a great time for everyone. We had a couple of rough moments where we had some confusion – as it happens, the way that our lodge handles the extra material is slightly different than the lodge helping us. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do a joint rehearsal at which we might have worked it out. But even those couple of moments did not detract because it added to the apparent confusion in the temple, and the candidates had no idea that anything was amiss.

During the second half, we wear costumes for the drama, so I spent a good portion of the night in a heavy purple velvet robe with a crown 2 sizes too small for my head. The two little window air conditioners weren’t enough to cool a small room with 45 or 50 guys, and since neither one was pointed at my chair, the robe became a heat trap. Of course, I’m sure that none of my discomfort was due to nervousness, right? I mean, I’d hate to think that doing degree work in a strange lodge, in front of Grand Lodge officers, Past Grand Masters, and assorted other purple aprons was affecting my Zen. Too much, anyway.

The Estuary Degree

Anyway, the guys from our neighboring lodge did a fantastic job for the tragedy act – they have some passages that are almost choreographed. In fact, it didn’t dawn on me what they were doing until I had seen them in action a few times: at various points they form themselves in lines representing various Masonic tools. Very, very cool. I should add that this lodge is in the next town and has a bunch of
younger, active guys like my own. They’re a fantastic bunch, and their degree work is sharp. I’m certainly indebted to them for their help.

And of course, the officers of Friendship did an excellent job. Several people from the host lodge praised our “professionalism” in the degree work itself, which was as nice a compliment as I could imagine. I tell anyone that will listen how lucky I am to have such a fantastic group of officers behind me.

This, BTW, was my first time in the East for that degree, and because our lodge will have a Past Master degree in the fall, I may have the distinction of being the only Master to give the degree in lodge, but not in the building.

I’d also like to say that my own work was flawless… I’d like to say that, but unfortunately, by the end of the night I found myself getting overheated and got stuck on a word in one of my lectures after the raising. But, as I reminded someone later, it’s not so much being perfect, as it is the effort to continually work on ourselves to attain to that state.