Random Masonic Thoughts 7/13/07

I keep finding new Blogs. This one is called Masonic Minute and this Post ("What The hell Do you guys do?") is worth a read.



Obviously we don't work in building as the one picture shows. - One wag (me) has claimed that we put long and distinguished titles on each other. (Case in point - I am Most Excellent Companion, Jay Cole Simser Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the State of Iowa. Jheesh!) But we do much more than that. Read his post for his take on what we do.



Another thing we do is use archaic words in our ritual. Hele (pronounced hail) is one of them. You can find a lengthy discussion of the word here.

I would bet that most Masons have never given a thought to that word. Even some Past Grand Masters and Ritualists do not have a clue. They think that it means to call out to someone to attract attention. (By the way if you don't know it you click on the highlighted word and it will take you to the link showing the discussion)

Another word is "palliate" In the charge for the second degree the candidate is told not to "palliate or aggravate the offenses of your brethren." Now that word is easier to find, It means to "disguise the seriousness or gravity of the offense."  So unless the candidate is curious it goes right over his head. I would venture a guess that most people (even the ones giving the charge) never think about what the word means.

I never used to think much about the meanings behind the ritual. We tell a candidate that he is "placed in the northeast corner of the Lodge" because the first stone of a building was placed in that spot. Then somewhere I read that the northeast corner was symbolically the dividing line between the East (place of Light) and the North (place of darkness) and that it meant that he had a choice to choose the "LIGHT" or the darkness. See, meaning upon meaning.

Sometimes I hear things in the ritual that aggravate me. While not a part of the ritual there is a line in the midnight soliloquy where the speaker mentions that he is on the banks of the Euphrates. Well let me tell you folks, as an old geography teacher I know where the Euphrates is and it is not near King Solomon's Temple and he would not have been in that place He would more likely have been on the banks of the Jordan River. But the guys like the lecture and it is left in without much thought as to what it says. I guess it doesn't really matter.

Another thing I became aware of recently is the idea of one line which says "where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours" Folks there are no tides in the Mediterranean Sea where the drama was supposed to take place.

This is all leading up to a wild (irreverent) thought I had last night during the Fellowcraft degree. At one point the candidate is told that there were 80,000 Fellow craft masons who labored for 6 days and on the seventh repaired to the apartment of King Solomon to receive their wages. They first had to go up a flight of winding stairs and then pass two gates and give passwords and grips. Last night I began to think of the logistics of that. 80,00 men lined up going up a flight of narrow, winding stairs through two gates - giving a password and grip at two different stops and then the King himself hands out their wages - to 80,000 men. Boggles the mind. Especially a warped one like mine.

Of course, I understand that we are not supposed to take these things literally - they are allogorical, but as I said you are dealing with a warped mind here.

On another note, I have mentioned previously my involvement in the Red Cross of Constantine. This is the highest honor that can be given to a York Rite Mason. There are two Conclaves in the state of Iowa and our membership is limited to 50 Masons in each. (We can also have 15 Emeritus members) so that makes 100 Masons (plus 30) so honored among all of the Masons in Iowa. I felt more honored to have been proposed and accepted into this Order than to have been elected Grand High Priest.

Last Saturday St. Bartholomew Conclave elected new members. A man is not supposed to know that he is even being considered as a member of the Conclave. He is then extended an invitation to join. We elected new members last Saturday and I got to meet with one of them to tell him about the honor. Actually there were three of us who met with him. We had a really nice visit and to say he was surprised and pleased was an understatement. It was one of the greatest things lately in my life to see the pleasure and humility exhibited by this worthy Mason. He will be installed into the Conclave in October.

Then on another note. Through the wonders of the Internet and through a conversation initiated by the Knight Masons group I was visiting with the head of the Red Cross for our United Grand Imperial Council Fred Kleyn who is the Most Illustrious Grand Sovereign. One thing led to another and he was invited and accepted to attend our meeting in October. It will be the first time in my memory that a Grand Sovereign has agreed to come to St. Bartholomew Conclave. (Perhaps the others weren't invited) I've been a member since 1981 and Recorder since 1985 (except for 1993 when I was Sovereign) - I enjoy this group, as I have said, more than any other Masonic group except for the Lodge itself. There are no axes to grind and the social fellowship is the keystone in the organization.

So, besides having some really great Masons at new members we will have the Grand Sovereign with us. something to look forward to.