What do you think of when you hear the date, the 4th of July? That’s right! That’s the date that Des joined the ranks of the Freemasons. I’m afraid that I’ve lost the photo of him standing there in his pretty plain apron but, on the Social page, you’ll see him playing Superman in the wind tunnel. Go Des!
Our newer brethren would have noticed that there are hand movements that accompany this short ode. Some brothers choose to move their hand from side to side (once per line) but, traditionally, the movement should be in the form of a triangle. Why? Because! That’s why 🙂 On the placemats at the Combined Services Lodge, is an explanation for the hand movements. I’ll pass a little bit of it on but, for the full story, I suggest you visit the aforementioned lodge. In 1966, Bro Henry Carr wrote an article claiming that the original movements where taken from the military. When having a drink, the commands would be: Present Arms (grab the drink) Aim (raise the drink to the top of the triangle) Fire (down to the left corner) Grand Fire (across to the right and then drink) This has evolved (as all things do) and now we have the following: On the first line, the index finger of the right hand points to the apex of the triangle. On the second, it moves to the lower left corner. On the third, it moves across to the right hand side. On the last, it briefly returns to the apex before the clap. Please remember to put your drink down before doing the movements 🙂
For those of us without photographic memories, memorising a charge can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. But, fear not, there is a trick to it and I’ll share it with you now. We remember things in four ways. They are Watching, Reading, Doing and Hearing. The trick to memorising charges is in combining the whole four into a single performance. Firstly, when the ceremony is performed in the lodge, watch it carefully. Don’t worry about the words at this stage. You just want to build up a picture of how it looks so that you can recall it later. Did the person move to any particular place in the lodge? Did they use any gestures or props? Secondly, read the words slowly and carefully; one sentence at a time. You should try to create some kind of visualisation that will help you to remember what the actual words are. For example, in a recent charge, I was visualising an open book in a person’s skull. Then the person is shoved over onto the lodge wall (which is covered in Velcro) and they can’t move. They are stuck in the form a crucifix and then… well… the word I was trying to remember is “discharge”. All of these images work as hints to the actual words that I’m remembering. Thirdly, if the charge requires doing something (such as using props or moving around the lodge) then do it. Get your own props (or approximations of them) and walk around a room as if it were the lodge room. Do what you will be doing when you are giving the charge so that the muscle memory also reinforces the visualisation and the words. Read from the book if you have to. Fourthly, record the charge onto MP3 and play it in your car (or wherever). Split the files up into short parts so that you can replay a small section over and over if you want. At the same time, have the visualisations running through your mind (if it won’t affect your driving). In no time at all, you’ll be able to run through the whole charge smoothly. If you need any help with the charges, then just contact your mentor. They are there to help you enjoy your time as a Freemason.
This ANZAC day (2017) I had the honour to lay a wreath, on behalf of our lodge, at both the Guildford and Bassendean Memorials. We had received dispensation from Grand Lodge to wear Regalia to the occasion; but I thought about how strange I would look, all on my own in my shiny apron, surrounded by people in military uniform and others dressed for the solemnity of the occasion and decided not to. At the Bassendean memorial, they had a parade. I always thought that the parades were for past and present defence personal but it seems that I was wrong. Certainly, the soldiers came first, but they were then followed by other uniformed groups. The Boy Scouts I didn’t mind because they did play a part in the training of the soldiers and civil defence. However, I was astounded when I saw other groups (such as the local footy club and the after school play group) strolling along as well. Well, if they’ll let them in then perhaps it’s time that we used that platform to increase the visibility and reputation of Freemasonry in the local area. After all, many of our brethren went to war and some of our current members are ex-military. I hope that, next ANZAC day, I’m uploading photographs of local Freemasons marching behind their lodge banners.
No, hang on, that’s not right. Anyway, the gist of the matter is that Bro McLean has now become Worshipful Bro McLean! Yay! Whoo-whoo! Beers all round. This means that, as well as sitting in the big chair at the end of the room, he now gets to rule the lodge for a year, or two, or three. He gets to learn many new charges and spend heaps of time visiting other Lodges and chair meetings and give loads of speeches and… Neil?… Neil? Has anyone seen Neil?
Kevin has reached the half-way point (sorta kinda… It’s complicated) in his masonic journey. That means he gets to wear a different apron and gets to look down on all of the entered apprentices. Unfortunately, for him, we don’t have any of them at the moment. Soon we will have though and THEN he can look down on them. As the saying goes, “The only time a Freemason would look down on someone, is when he’s giving them a hand up”.
We weren’t sure so Mark volunteered (by dint of everyone else taking one step back) to find out. Just to be sure that it wasn’t due to him being full of hot air, we threw in a few candidates as well. Much to our relief, it seems that throwing a Freemason in front of a bloody big fan results in them drifting free like a leaf in the breeze (assuming the breeze is blowing at almost 200 kph and the leaf weights about 70 kg) One note of caution though. That strong a wind can do rather distressing things to your face (see the social page) and so, if you’re going to send a picture to your prospective girlfriend, make sure to Photoshop it first. Mind you, most of us do that anyway. Right?
Ever wondered what the inside of a Masonic building looks like? Ever wondered what we get up to inside them? The Open Day went off without a hitch (with the possible exception of parking). It was so popular that all of the seating in the lodge room was taken up and extra chairs had to be brought in from outside. If you missed out, keep an eye on this blog page and I’ll tell you when the next one is on.
Those who attended the Dream Big expo would have seen our stand. Ashley (not in photo), Francis and I passed the stringent criteria for manning the booth (we were willing to give up our weekend) and a good time was had by all. I was ready to nab anyone who even lived remotely close to Midland (to hell with passing them on to Grand Lodge) but, for some reason, they never lived closer than Joondalup. Francis and I made a great team. Francis (having decades of experience) spoke with understated elegance about how Freemasonry has made him a better person and a more spiritual being. I spoke about why I joined what I thought was a ‘secret society’ and why I’m still in it after having found out that it’s not so secret. Probably the greatest thing I learned was that “Hey mate. I’d really like to see you in an apron” isn’t a good opening line.
If Kevin (2nd from the left) or Dirk — his mentor — (right) looks familiar, then you’ve probably seen them throwing someone out of a nightclub. What do bouncers do in their spare time? They get dressed up, put on aprons (in Kevin’s case, a pretty little plain lambskin one — aww he looked soooo cute), and engage in strange and mysterious ceremonies. No doubt Kevin will remember his initiation into the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry for the rest of his life. This picture was taken at a meeting of the First Tuesday of the Month Lodge. As it turns out, this was the first ‘live’ ceremony the lodge had ever done. It’s a nice reflection on the popularity of the Guildford Bassendean lodge that we occasionally have to farm out some of our ceremonial work to other lodges. So, welcome Kevin. The ‘big’ chair awaits.