Rough Ashlar

Women and Freemasonry

Following on from my last post, I thought that I would blog a bit about the status of women with regards to Freemasonry.

In 1999, the United Grand Lodge of England issued the following statement:

"There exist in England and Wales at least two Grand Lodges solely for women. Except that these bodies admit women, they are, so far as can be ascertained, otherwise regular in their practice. There is also one which admits both men and women to membership. They are not recognised by this Grand Lodge and intervisitation may not take place. There are, however, discussions from time to time with the women's Grand Lodges on matters of mutual concern. Brethren are therefore free to explain to non-Masons, if asked, that Freemasonry is not confined to men(even though this Grand Lodge does not itself admit women). Further information about these bodies may be obtained by writing to the Grand Secretary."

Indeed, there are now two bodies that admit both men and women, following a schism in the original.

The status of women within English Freemasonry is basically "regular, but not recognised" - there can never be intervisitation between the two, and all parties are happy with that.

Step across to the other side of the pond, and the situation is somewhat different. In the US, the idea of women's Freemasonry is somewhat frowned apon (in my experience). The more popular system is to have female-orientated appendant bodies, such as the Order of the Eastern Star. These bodies require at least one Master Mason to be present in order to open, although they are mostly made up of women.

However, these bodies are considered irregular by the United Grand Lodge of England, and members under the English Constitution are proscribed from having any involvement in such orders.

At the end of the day, the relationship between women and Freemasonry works very differently in various parts of the recognised Masonic world, and I doubt that there'll ever be any form of consolidation. It certainly provokes some strong feelings in some, with some violently opposed, whilst others strongly believing that all Masonic orders should admit women. I think that the current system in England works quite well, to be honest...

Rudeness, immaturity and bad behaviour

As some of the people who read this blog will know, I am one of the administrators of a Masonic group on the social networking site Facebook. Through this, I've built up some friendships - both online, and "real world".

One such friend I've made is an American girl (of my age). She's very friendly, and very sweet-natured. She was in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls (an American Masonic youth organisation) for a number of years, and still is to some extent.

Back when the group started, she expressed some curiosity in female Masonry (although not a desire to join). In England, there are two Grand Lodges exclusively for women, and two that are classed as "co-Masonry", admitting both men and women. So, she was directed towards some information on the subject, and she was very happy with having made a small advancement in knowledge.

Fast-forward almost two years, and she gets a message out of the blue from an English Mason older than myself or my two other admins. Although I don't have it word for word, it said something along the lines of "I see you were asking about female Masonry, and I think you've been asking the wrong crowd. The chaps involved in this group are very young, and don't know much about Freemasonry in general. I know some Lady Masons, and would be pleased to put you in touch with them, if you're interested in joining."

And so my friend was, understandably, a little upset by this. She'd had this e-mail out of the blue, from someone (who I'd previously met in person, and sat in lodge with) who was essentially insulting friends that she'd developed friendships with in the last two years. She got in contact with me, and told me what he said - suffice to say that I was absolutely horrified!

My friend sent him a message back, saying something along the lines of "thank you for your offer, but I'm not really interested, as I don't believe that women can be Freemasons [her opinion, not mine, I must add!]. Further, I think that you've been VERY rude, and I don't think that insulting your brothers behind their backs is rather un-Masonic".

When she told me what she had said, I thought that that would be the end of that. However, she got a message back, saying that he thought that she was the one being rude, and that he'd be contacting one of the other admins about what she'd said. Indeed, he did - and the admin he contacted enquired into the situation, and said something along the lines of "look, you're being completely unreasonable - you insulted me behind my back to a friend, and now you're expecting me to stick up for you. Apologise to her, and let it drop".

Yet, this chap refused to let it drop, sent a message back to my colleague and told him that he was through with the group, and that we could expect a "mass exodus" of people from it when he spread the word of how "badly" that we'd treated him (something that never came to pass).

I know that a lot of people can behave badly and immaturely, but this is the only incident which has truly made me ashamed to call someone "brother". I think that at the end of the day, I was just disappointed with someone who I could have considered a friend.

A valiant effort....

There are two viruses that are affecting the UK at the moment - a strain of influenza, and the norovirus (often known as the "vomiting bug" - charming). Up until last night, I didn't know anyone who had really been affected by either.

Which brings me neatly onto the point that I'm going to make. Last night, I had the honour of once again visiting Kingswood School Lodge. I arrived, and twenty minutes before hand, it was revealed that almost all the line officers had come down with one or the other of these two viruses, with the exception of the Senior Warden.

So, the majority of the offices had to be filled with around twenty minutes notice. The lodge was doing a second degree, so brethren had to be found to explain the working tools of the degree, and the tracing board.

This was all topped off by a candidate who hadn't read the summons for several months, and had no clue that he was being passed that evening.

Yet, despite all of this bad luck, the ceremony actually went very well - the candidate had to be prompted for most of the questions and answers, but I've seen candidates who've known for months that they'll have to give such answers do exactly the same. The officers did admirably - a valiant effort for a difficult meeting. In my opinion, they gave a top-class passing to a candidate, with very little notice or preparation.

The explanation of the tracing board went very well, with a few factual additions being made. For example, in the English constitution, we are told that the two pillars described were made from brass. However, brass had not been invented at the time, and thus, the two pillars cannot have been made from that particular alloy, and would probably have been made from bronze instead. There were a few more such instances in the explanation.

What really made it a delight was that this was a lodge, pulling together at very short notice to do their best for a candidate. This, coupled with some extremely fine company made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. My thanks to all concerned in the lodge!

Celebrating one year of Masonic blogging...

One year ago today saw the birth of my first purely Masonic blog, Middle Chamber. Around seven months later, Middle Chamber changed its name to Rough Ashlar, as there was already another Masonic blog around called The Middle Chamber (which is very well written by Bro. Silence Dogood).

Anyway, as a brief celebration, I thought that I would mention what I consider to be some of the "best" postings that I've made in the last year or so. So here goes, in no particular order:

1) Gavel and Staff Consecration (from December 2007) - my account of the one and only lodge consecration ceremony that I've attended, and how very exciting it all was.

2) Secrecy or Openness? (from January 2008) - my views on whether English Freemasonry should be more open, and whether it is taking a step in the right direction - the answer to both was an overwhelming yes!

3) Freemasonry: An FAQ (from January 2008) - as it says on the tin, really.

4) At last, some good press... (from March 2008) - I muse over the presentation of Freemasonry in the newspapers and other forms of the press, with the realisation that it's not always bad press!

5) Leopold Mark and my Mark (from April 2008) - I enthuse about my entry into the Mark degree, why it was so enjoyable, and show off my Mark!

6) Lodge Rescue! (from April 2008) - the beginning of a very exciting process for me personally: the rescue of Tetragon Lodge.

7) Conspiracy Theorists (from June 2008) - musings on the inaccuracies of the false accusations made agains Freemasonry by conspiracy theorists.

8) Phille-Brook Chapter and the Royal Arch (from June 2008) - like my previous posting about the Mark, this one is me enthusing about my entry into the Royal Arch.

9) Middle Chamber becomes Rough Ashlar (from July 2008) - the blog's name-change and the reasons for the change. One of the landmarks of this blog.

10) A lost virtue...? (from July 2008) - I mourn the loss of one of the most important virtues in society - patience, and look at how Freemasonry can restore that in some young men.

11) The Distinguishing Characteristic (from July 2008) - musings on the importance of charity, and giving within one's own means.

12) The Craft, the Mark and the Arch (from July 2008) - I take a look at how all three degrees fit together, and why I believe that every brother should go into both the Mark and the Royal Arch.

13) Religion and Freemasonry (from July 2008) - examining the relationship between the two, and ridiculing the suggestion that Freemasonry is a religion.

14) Is Freemasonry relevant in the 21st Century? (from August 2008) - as it says on the tin, really!

15) What is too fast? (from October 2008) - an examination of whether some brothers are being pushed towards the East faster than they are ready for, and the motivations behind lodges that do so.

16) What a week! (from November 2008) - my account of the Installation ceremonies of Tetragon Lodge and Grey Friars Lodge, in which I was invested as Junior Warden and Junior Deacon respectively.

17) Breaking News: Recognition in North Carolina (from December 2008) - I (somewhat belatedly) announce the news of the recognition of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in NC, and make my first major gaffe, claiming that MS was the first US Grand Lodge to afford Prince Hall recognition (whoops!)

18) The End of an Era (from December 2008) - a very brief retrospective of Lord Northampton's time as Pro Grand Master, following his final time presiding over the Quarterly Communications of the United Grand Lodge of England

19) The Start of Something Beautiful (from December 2008) - I talk, for the first time, about the events leading up to my initiation into Freemasonry, and about that event in particular.

Those nineteen posts are the ones that I consider to be the best that I've posted. Thank you to all my readers for reading this blog over the last year - please do stay tuned!

The Start of Something Beautiful

I was recently looking through some of my old postings to this blog, and I came to realise that I've never actually talked about my own initiation, or how I came into Freemasonry.

In England, the "official" rules are that one has to be 21 in order to be initiated into Freemasonry. However, as I've alluded to in the past, Provincial/District/Metropolitan Grand Masters can grant special dispensation to initiate between the ages of 18 and 21.

Anyway, I first contemplated Freemasonry at the age of 16. Up until that point, I held no interest. However, one day, my Dad and I were up in London together, and had an hour or so to kill, so we went on the tour of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry and Freemasons' Hall (the HQ of the United Grand Lodge of England). From that moment, my interested had been grabbed - I knew I wanted to become a Freemason.

Skip forward two years, and my father had joined my school's old boys Lodge. I was just turning 18, and he invited a Past Master of the lodge to lunch with us one Sunday. This particular PM served as secretary of the lodge for many years, and by this point had become an Assistant Provincial Grand Master. After talking to me for a while over lunch, he agreed to be my seconder into Freemasonry, and wrote a letter to the Provincial Grand Master to ask for special dispensation for me to be initiated at the age of 18.

By the following June, still aged 18, the day of my initiation had come - the 9th June. I had been interviewed by the lodge committee, who thought that I would be a suitable candidate for initiation. I had no idea what was about to happen before I entered that room. Unlike some candidates, I hadn't been wound up - my Dad had reassured me that everyone in that room had been through what I was about to go through. The ceremony itself was painless and very enjoyable. There was a tremendous atmosphere of support from everyone in that room - some of whom I'd only met once (at the lodge's previous ladies' night - more on that later), or even never before.

Following the meeting, there was the traditional festive board, and I was sat between the Worshipful Master, and the Official Visitor of the lodge, appointed by the Province. It was going so well - until my father told me that I'd have to reply to a toast, 10 minutes beforehand! So, after 10 minutes of panic, I stood up and made my speech. In retrospect, making a speech to 40 or 50 people, most of whom were slightly tipsy, was hardly the hardest thing I'd ever done!

I had a fantastic evening, and it really was the start of something beautiful - my journey through Freemasonry, which I've thoroughly enjoyed ever since.

The Mentoring Scheme

There has been a lot of buzz in English Freemasonry of late about a new scheme - that of the mentoring scheme.

In recent times, Lodges in England have been encouraged to appoint a lodge mentor. His job is to provide every new candidate in a lodge with a mentor, who will be there to answer questions and encourage the new member to visit other lodges, and to attain his daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

Generally, mentors are Past Masters of the lodge - but they do not have to be. Whilst Past Masters are generally considered to have enough knowledge and time in Freemasonry to guide new members well, there are other brethren who have not been through King Solomon's Chair, who are also qualified. I'm very pleased that Grey Friars Lodge has the confidence in me to give me a mentee, who I took along to Tetragon Lodge, and have been quite happy to field questions from.

In my opinion, this, coupled with the Orator Scheme, can only be a good thing. It encourages Masonic education, and a deeper understanding of our institution - both the day-to-day workings, as well as an understanding of the meanings of our ceremonies.

I've heard that in the past, many members took a "holier-than-thou" approach to Freemasonry, and that new brethren were often told "you'll find out when you need to know", when asking a question. That is not how it should be - brethren should be able to get answers when a question is fielded, and that is what these two schemes are geared at.

However, even such a good idea has its downsides. For example, some lodges may appoint a brother who doesn't know the candidate at all. As a way to combat this, in my opinion, lodges should attempt to appoint the candidate's proposer as his mentor, if possible. Granted, sometimes his proposer may be a relatively new Freemason himself, and not have the required knowledge. In cases where a lodge has appointed a mentor not suited to the candidate, the candidate will often gravitate towards another brother with whom he has developed a natural bond. This is by no means a bad thing - in my opinion, one of the great things about Freemasonry is making bonds and building friendships.

This is part of English Freemasonry's attempt to make its new members more knowledgeable, and to make them feel a part of our institution from their first steps into it. The scheme's results are yet to be fully seen - but I can only imagine that the scheme will be beneficial to the Craft.

Pyramid Hugging (or: Esoteric Freemasonry)

A while back, I was sitting in a car with two other brothers, on our way to a Lodge meeting outside of London. As we were driving along, the other two brethren started joking and laughing about "Pyramid huggers". At first, I had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Obviously, I soon asked, and was told: "a Pyramid hugger is an esoterically inclined Freemason"

Whilst the two other brothers continued their jokes, I was left pondering two questions: "could I be considered a Pyramid hugger? If so, is this really a bad thing?". The first thing to consider is what esotericism is. The definition of esoteric as given in the Oxford English Dictionary is: "intended for or understood by only a small number of people with a specialised knowledge". Thinking slightly deeper, the conclusion that I quickly came to was that I do consider myself esoterically inclined, and that it is not necessarily a bad thing.

I have little doubt that when Freemasonry first started to boom, during the Enlightenment, it was an envirnoment where men swapped ideas about life, the universe and everything - particularly the deeper meanings of such. Indeed, a society that could boast such men as Voltaire, Elias Ashmole and Sir Robert Moray must have undoubtedly had some discussions of science and nature. Indeed, many early prominent members of Freemasonry were also prominent members of the Royal Society. Indeed, these men would have had such a specialised knowledge that comes about in the definition of "esotericism".

So, how does this translate to modern Freemasonry? Unfortunately, most Craft lodges seem to have lost their esoteric Enlightenment roots - ceremonies are performed, with many members not knowing the deeper meanings behind them. Indeed, I believe that esotericism in Freemasonry now is not necessarily to do with new and innovative thoughts in science, but the process of inner thought - deeper understanding of our ceremonies. This is what I strive for, and this is what I consider esoteric Freemasonry.

However, there is a limit for what can be done in the Craft Lodge, and those interested in esotericism must spread their wings further, and go into other orders, such as the Royal Arch, the Ancient and Accepted Rite, or into the Rosicrucian Societies. These orders, amongst others, all have a very strong spiritual inclination (from what I've heard), and the SRIA (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia - a Rosicrucian society open only to Master Masons), are all heavily esoterically inclined, particularly the SRIA, which (I'm told), has a focus on research and spiritualism.

There are only a very small number of us who are esoterically inclined, but that's no problem. As I've said before, Freemasonry is many different things, to many different people. Those of us who are "Pyramid huggers" seem to have a tendancy to band together, and have informal discussions about the esoteric side of Freemasonry - long may it continue!

The end of an era

On Wednesday afternoon, the M.W. Pro Grand Master, the Marquis of Northampton, presided over the Quarterly Communications of the United Grand Lodge of England, for the last time. It was announced that he would be stepping down, back in September. The contents of his speech can be read here.

Since becoming Pro Grand Master over seven years ago, Lord Northampton has changed the face of English Freemasonry. It has been through his actions that we have become more open, that the Freemasonry in the Community project has been implemented, and he oversaw the re-organisation of London, and thus the consecration of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London.

His tenure has seen the introduction of new offices within Grand Lodge, such as Grand Chancellor, Grand Orator and soon, Grand Mentor. His aims have been those of recruitment and retention - something which every Freemason should endeavour to do.

He has overseen many, many changes - most of which have been for the better, in my opinion. It would seem to me that the last seven years have been something of a turning point in English Freemasonry. Whilst lodges still continue to surrender their warrants or amalgamate, more men are coming into Freemasonry now, than there were seven years ago. I have little doubt that this is due to many of the innovations introduced by Lord Northampton.

I have a feeling that we are in very safe hands with his successor, R.W.Bro. Lowndes, and that he will continue the absolutely stirling work that Lord Northampton has put in over the last seven years.

Success!

On Wednesday evening, the first meeting of Grey Friars since Installation was held - the new team of officers were performing a ceremony for the first time.

Yet, this was an exceptionally important meeting. Why? Well, we were initiating a candidate. Whilst all initiations are important, we were initiating the son of one of our Past Masters. Our candidate was around 40 years of age, having held no interest in Freemasonry for many years - until about six months ago. So naturally, we wanted to get it right, and have a good start to the year!

Suffice to say, it all went very well. As Junior Deacon, I was guiding our candidate around the room, and he was a brilliant candidate - very responsive and totally relaxed.

The Master did an admirable job, especially since it was his first time performing a ceremony, and has had problems with nerves in the past, although he now seems to have beaten them for good! The Senior Deacon gave the Charge to the Initiate, which went very well indeed, and the candidate's father presented him with the working tools of the degree, which was a nice, and very touching, moment.

As readers of Ben's blog, The Chequered Carpet, will already know, English Freemasonry is very big on dining after the meeting. Being our last meeting before Christmas, we had Christmas dinner - turkey, with all the trimmings, mince pies and christmas pudding! Wonderful! I had the pleasure of proposing the toast to the visitors, which was very well received, and very well responded to by a Past Master of another lodge.

All in all, a lovely evening, with a wonderful atmosphere.

A promotion in the Royal Arch!

On Saturday evening, my Royal Arch Chapter held its final convocation of 2008. We had no candidate, and the only items on the agenda were to present me with my certificate from Supreme Grand Chapter, and the ordinary business of the Chapter.

Only eight of us showed up, two of whom were visitors. I quickly found myself acting as Principal Sojourner. Without a candidate to exalt, I hardly had much work to do!

At the end of the meeting, the senior PZ and the Secretary of the Chapter came up to me and asked me if I would be willing to take on the role of Principal Sojourner for the ensuing year. Although I know that there is a fair amount of work involved with the role, I had absolutely no hesitation in agreeing to take it on. For the benefit of those not in the Royal Arch (or for those who are in constitutions where it works differently), Principal Sojourner is an office that is a combination of Senior Deacon and Senior Warden. He guides the candidate around the Chapter in the same way that the Deacons do in the Craft. Like the Senior Warden does in a Craft lodge, he closes the Chapter. As a rough guide, the work of the PS is roughly the same length as the Charge to the Initiate in the Craft.

So if I know that the office is a lot of work, why did I agree to take on the role? Well, in my opinion, it is an absolutely lovely office. The dialogue between the PS and the three Principals of the Chapter is just beautiful in places. It will be a challenge, yet one that I will relish!

An apology!

A error has been pointed out to me from my previous posting.

The MW Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was not the first jurisdiction to extend recognition to it's Prince Hall counterpart, but it was in fact, the MW Grand Lodge of Connecticut five years previously, in 1989. Evidently, the website where I sourced my information on PH recognition was wrong! Indeed, it would seem that between 1989 and 1994, nine other "mainstream" US Grand Lodges had recognised their Prince Hall counterparts.

My sincere apologies for this honest mistake.

My thanks to V.W.Bro. Charles Tirrell and to Revenant Builder for pointing out this error.

Breaking News: Recognition in North Carolina

I was extremely pleased this morning when I opened up my e-mail inbox to see that someone had sent me a link to an article that was published over a week and a half ago in the Charlotte Observer, with regards to recognition between the two main Grand Lodges in Carolina.

I posted many months ago about the issues of recognition within regular Freemasonry. The issues are even more complex in the US, where most states have two Grand Lodges - the "standard" Grand Lodge, and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge. "What's the difference!?" I hear some of my English readers cry! Well, the Prince Hall Grand Lodges are made up of predominantly black men, whilst the "standard" ones are not. Why haven't they recognised each other before? Well, some states have been doing so for quite a while, but many have not. It all dates back to days where racism was prevalent, with segregation in place through much of the US.

However, that's all changing now - Grand Lodges started recognising Prince Hall GLs in the mid 1990s (1994, to be precise), when the United Grand Lodge of England restored recognition to the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Within a week, the "mainstream" Grand Lodge of Massachusetts had extended similar recognition. This has had a wonderful domino effect, and now 80% (41 states) of Grand Lodges in the US recognise their Prince Hall counterparts.

Which brings me quite nicely back to where I started this post. It would turn out that the Grand Lodge of North Carolina has recognised the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina, which is of course, wonderful news! The MWPHGLoNC extended the same recognition to the GLoNC back in 2004. Reading the article, it seems that there are a few practical issues to work out (dress code etc.), but it's good news all round.

It is nice to see North Carolina becoming the 41st state to afford recognition to their Prince Hall counterpart, and I eagerly await to see what effect this will have on the remaining 10 states.

Masonic Tomes

I woke up this morning to find that I had been invited to become a contributor to the Masonic Tomes blog, which, as far as I can tell, is an online Masonic book club, where brethren post reviews of books that they have read recently, and people can comment and discuss them. Anyway, on realising this, I set about writing my first review for the site - Masonically Speaking, by Yasha Beresiner. For the benefit of my regular readers, I have copied the review below:

I recently received this excellent book for my birthday, a week or so ago. Before I go into the book itself, I will first talk a bit about the author.

W.Bro. Yasha Beresiner is an extremely accomplished Freemason. He was initiated into the Craft in 1975. He is a Past Master of four Craft lodges, and is a Past Grand Standard Bearer of the UGLE, a Past Senior Grand Warden of the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy and a Past Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel. His accomplishments don't end there - he is a member of the Holy Royal Arch, the Mark, the Royal Ark Mariners, Royal and Select Masters, the Order of the Secret Monitor, the Operatives, the August Order of Light, and the Ancient and Accepted Rite (the latter being in Belgium).

So, one would imagine that when it comes to Masonic speaking, W.Bro. Beresiner knows a thing or two! The book itself is full of great tips about how to give a good speach, lecture or a reply to a toast, with an obvious focus on the setting. Beresiner's wit makes it a thoroughly easy read, and at 125 pages, the book is not a slog, by any means. Beresiner also provides a large number of witty anecdotes and jokes that one can add into his speech or response, some of which are well known, whilst others are not.

An added bonus (albeit a very useful one) are the appendices. These list the modes of addressing people (and not just Masons - people like the Queen and the Duchess of York) are included, as well as a comprehensive list of what Masonic titles are afforded, and to whom (basically, when a Brother goes from being Bro. to W.Bro. or even to V.W.Bro, R.W.Bro and M.W.Bro!). Finally, there is a UGLE toast list. Whilst this is available in numerous other publications, and on the internet, it's always useful to have another copy.

All in all, this is a superb book, and well worth the £9.99 RRP.

What a week!

You may be looking at the title of this post, and thinking "week!?!? But it's only Wednesday!".

Well, you'd be right in that sense. However, the last few days have been some of the most important in the Masonic year for me. Indeed, I have no more Masonic business this week. Yet, two of my lodges have held installations this week.

The first of these was Tetragon Lodge, of which I became Junior Warden of on Monday night. Those of you who read this blog on a regular, or even a semi-regular basis will be aware that ten of us joined Tetragon Lodge back in April to prevent them from handing back their warrant. What a turn-around it has been for the lodge since then! Monday night saw a Past Master of Apollo University Lodge installed into the Master's Chair in the presence of the RW Assistant Grand Master, David Williamson. There were over fifty brethren in attendance, which I'm told is the largest number to have attended Tetragon in over twenty years. They came from far and wide - from Berkshire to Essex, from Hampshire to Cambridgeshire. The atmosphere was positively electric.

The second was tonight - the installation of Grey Friars. Grey Friars has recently been officially accepted into the Universities Scheme, and holds responsibility for Reading. I consider it a great privilege that I was invested with the office of Junior Deacon for the coming year - a job that I hold to be a very important one, guiding candidates round the lodge on their initiation. It will be an exciting year, particularly as the next meeting is an initation. Like Monday, tonight's meeting had an absolutely brilliant atmosphere.

Suffice to say that I think that both lodges have very promising years up ahead - plenty of new members coming into both, and both lodges entering new eras. I'm very proud to be a part of both of them.

What is too fast?

Are our brethren being rushed through the offices in some lodges because said lodges are having numbers problems?

It would seem that this is indeed the case in some lodges. A good friend of mine was initiated just over a year and a half ago, and raised earlier this year. It was his lodge's installation meeting a couple of weeks ago, and he was invested as Junior Deacon and Assistant Secretary.

Whilst this is fair enough in itself (although he never did a year as a Steward or as Inner Guard), what nearly made my eyes pop out of my head is that the Secretary of the lodge wants to retire, and is keen to push this young brother through as soon as possible, and suggested that he could be Junior Warden next year, and then Worshipful Master the year after. This really is progression at light-speed!

However, this brother does not want to do this - he has a young family to look after, as well as some problems with work, and he just does not have the time to learn all the work for the chair in such a short period of time. He said that he had trouble learning just two paragraphs from the Second Degree tracing board recently, just because of the pressures at home and at work. He has told me, and has said that he'll be telling his lodge, that he'd much rather go on the conventional route (Junior Deacon, Senior Deacon, Junior Warden, Senior Warden and THEN Worshipful Master), so that he'll be able to do the best job he can when he finally goes in the big chair. Good on him, is what I say to that! I'm sure that in this case, another Past Master can be found to fill in the Secretary's position for a couple of years, whilst this brother goes through all the chairs.

I'm absolutely sure that this isn't the only case in which this happens - I'm sure that it happens in lodges all over the country. Whilst some brethren may be both willing and able to do it, others may not be. The danger of this is that with the latter category, the brethren in question may feel pressured into it, be unable to cope, and then be lost to their lodge in particular and the craft in general.

However, as I said - some brethren may feel able, and indeed be able, to do this, and this should not put lodges off offering "fast-tracking", in my opinion. It is, however, their responsibility to make it clear to such brethren that this is not the only option available, and that they'd be quite happy for them to go through the chairs at the normal pace, too.

What I'm saying is let's think of what would be best for our brethren, rather than what's necessarily best for the lodge. Indeed, they may often be the same thing - better to let a brother go through at his own pace and to have to recycle Past Masters for a few years, than to lose a brother who's been pushed into something that he doesn't particularly want to do.

Missing, presumed in... erm, academia!?!?

I know that I have time and time again taken leaves of absence from writing this blog, for one reason or another.

It seems slightly ironic to me that one of my most prolific periods of posting in recent times was during the summer recess! However, as the Masonic season has begun again, I find myself rather busy.

Yet, not really with Masonic things (meetings, LOIs, committee meetings) etc., but with the other part of my life - my degree. Whilst I've been to a few meetings this year, I'm going to be cutting down quite severely. I'm now in my forth week back at university, and in my third and final year of my BA.

Over the next year, I have essays, I have a long dissertation to write, and I have finals to prepare for. In addition, I'm applying for postgrad (indeed, the first application went in last week).

So whilst I will post the occasional blog, and still go the meetings of my own Masonic lodges/chapter, my visiting will be severely cut-down - only the odd visit here and there, to keep in touch with good friends. I'll still read all the other blogs that I do (see the list to the right!), and I am contactable via e-mail, should anyone wish to do so.

The next blog-post from me will undoubtably be after the next Tetragon meeting (10th Nov).

Another retirement announced!

This one seems to have slipped mostly under the radar, so I believe I may have a blog-sphere first on this one...

It has been announced that on 26th February 2009, R.W.Bro. The Rt Hon Lord Millett will be stepping down as both Metropolitan Grand Master and Metropolitan Grand Superintendant. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Grand Master has chosen to succeed him R.W.Bro. Russell Race PJGW, who has been Deputy Metropolitan Grand Master and Deputy Metropolitan Grand Superintendant for the last six years, since the inauguration of Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter.

R.W.Bro. Lord Millett has done a fantastic job at getting both the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London and the Metropolitan Grand Chapter up and running over the last six years, and he has been very ably aided by R.W.Bro. Race.

I asked the question a few days ago about Lord Northampton's successor - will much change? And I give the same answer with regards to the change of leadership in London: probably not. R.W.Bro. Race has been involved in the running of London from day one, and has doubtlessly been a source of advice to Lord Millett during his tenure as Metropolitan Grand Master. There is a reason why the Grand Master has chosen him as Lord Millet's replacement. Further, there is little doubt that R.W.Bro. Race will be a dynamic and foreward thinking MetGM and MetGSupt, and that MetGL and MetGChap will continue to evolve under his leadership.

Qutie frankly, it's an exciting time to be a London Mason, and I wish Lord Millett all the best for the future, and I wish the best of luck to R.W.Bro. Race.

The wonders of the internet

The internet is a strange and wonderful thing.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting South Africa Lodge, meeting at Freemasons' Hall, London. I had been invited by a brother whom I had originally met over the internet.

Anyway, prior to the meeting, myself and a couple of friends were sitting in the pub across the road. It was the day of Quarterly Communications, and there were a LOT of Masons in the pub with us. The three of us were sitting at the table, and a man comes up and asks if he can join us, explaining that we're the group closest to his own age! Anyway, we get talking and it turns out that he's a member of a lodge in North Wales, who was down to London on business. He'd hoped to go on the tour of the Grand Temple, but the tour wasn't operating, due to the meeting of Grand Lodge.

However, we invited him to join us at the meeting - one of us lent him a pair of gloves, another a black tie, and one of us even had a spare apron! He came along, and thoroughly enjoyed himself, I hope. Of course, he didn't stay for the festive board - but neither did I.

We had another drink afterwards, and it turns out that he is a reader of this blog! How small the world is. Anyway, the main point of this entire post is to say - if you're reading this, get in touch! :)

Lord Northampton to retire!

Okay, yes I know, the news of this broke weeks ago!

However, there are still things left to be said, in my opinion. At the last Quarterly Communications of the United Grand Lodge of England, the Marquess of Northampton announced his intention to retire as Pro Grand Master of the UGLE, with effect from next year's annual investiture. He will be replaced by the Deputy Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Peter Lowndes, who will be replaced in turn by the current Grand Director of Ceremonies, R.W.Bro. Jonathan Spence.

Looking around the internet (in particular on some forums), one would think that this was heralding the end of the world! Some brethren have even asked "is there anything that we can do to persuade him to stay on for a bit?". Personally, I believe that Lord Northampton has been a very capable leader of the UGLE for the past seven years (eight by the time he retires), and has made huge strides in changing the way that Freemasonry is thought of by the general public. His leadership has been a good thing for Freemasonry in general, and of course it's something to be celebrated.

However, to ask if there's anything that we can do "to persuade him to stay on" is to somewhat denigrate his successor-designate. R.W.Bro Lowndes has been chosen by the Grand Master to be his Pro, because he is the person most suitable for the job. I sincerely doubt that he will take the UGLE back to where it was fourty years ago. Although he has some big shoes to fill, he will be backed up by a very strong team of rulers (including the new DepGM, the AGM and all the ProvGMs) who will give him an incredible level of support.

There are exciting times ahead!

I'm Back!

After a prolonged absence that involved my old laptop breaking (in more ways than one), and a heavy workload with my job, I am back for now! I will be posting a few things over the next couple of days that I've completely missed the boat on, but that I still feel are of interest.

Stay Tuned! :)