Our last meeting for 2017 was well utilised to pass Bro James Picton to the 2nd degree. James (who performed admirably during his test questions) did, however, forget to return his 1st degree booklet. Luckily, this went relatively unnoticed since his proposer (who had forgotten to take a photograph of him in the Lodge room) had also totally forgotten that he was James’s proposer and, therefore, had to do the relevant toast on the fly. The night ended with Bro Picton having his photo taken in front of the flags that adorn the wall in the South. Although this is meant to impart a somewhat patriotic feel to the image, it mostly makes him look like he has a couple of huge antennae sticking out of his head.

  No, he hasn’t been given the sack but he does need to know where to stand. Last Tuesday, our trusty and well beloved DC (it must be true, they put it on the certificate) was presented with his certificate for being appointed Grand Tyler. Interestingly, the use of the word ”and” on the certificate implies that he not only has the job for the next 12 months but that he is also required to do it “until a successor is appointed in his stead”. This means that, if no one else wants the job, he is required to do it ad infinitum.

Last Tuesday night was an evening of firsts. It was the first time that Des was passed to the 2nd degree. It was the first time I’ve managed to get a photo of him being initiated and it was the first initiation that our new WM has performed (and he did a sterling job). We are all looking forward to his 3rd degree. Oh yes… Des… we are SO looking forward to seeing you get the 3rd degree.

I was doing a little reading today when I came across two contradictory pieces of information regarding Freemasonry. It reminded me of how difficult it can be to discover truth when it can be surrounded by exaggerations, well-meaning inaccuracies or even straight out malicious disinformation. This has always been a problem when trying to ascertain the truth in Freemasonry and I would like to give a few pointers to those people who may be interested in studying our craft. Firstly, there is the fact that, if people want something to be true then they will often believe it to be true whether it is or not. The potential psychological pain of being disappointed will often prevent them from looking too hard into a subject if it may result in a negative finding. This belief often provides them with great comfort and so, while you should respect their desire to believe it, you should be wary of the tendency within yourself. Secondly, we should consider what qualifies the person to speak on the subject. This is especially the case if the information being imparted is expositional or runs contrary to the generally acknowledged facts. Certainly, everyone can have an opinion but when unusual information is presented as fact then we would do well to check the credentials of the professor. Obviously, people who make it easy to verify their identity, by doing such things as listing the Lodge and country to which they belong(ed) are a more trustworthy source than those who are more evasive. This is especially the case when they claim to have grandiose titles such as Grand Master or 33rd Degree Mason because such titles imply depth of knowledge and make a product more saleable. Most dubious of all are documents that are entirely unattributed. For example, I have a document called The Masonic Order of Chivalry known as the Knights Templar that exposes the signs and ceremonies of the Knights Templar. It is, however, unattributed and so (as far as I know) it could have been written by a guy who knew a guy that he met in a pub. The writer claims that the document was published by the “Order of the Grand Conclave of the Royal Exalted Religious and Military order of Masonic Knights Templar in England and Wales and dated the 6th Day of August 1812” and so, if I truly want to check its authenticity, I at least have a starting point. I also have a document entitled Ancient and Modern Initiation that is, at least, attributed to a gentleman named Max Heindel. A quick Google search shows that such a person did exist and that they were a part of an organisation that actually would have a degree of knowledge about the subject (even if that knowledge was subjective). Of course, it’s easy for anyone to simply write something and then attribute it to some well-respected (and thus believable) figure and so a more careful person would have to dig deeper if they wanted to be truly certain about the documents authenticity. As you can imagine, most people can’t be bothered (and it’s usually not necessary) to go to these extremes. The best guide as to the trustworthiness of any information is, of course, how far away from the primary source are you. If your information comes from your own personal experience, then it would be almost 100% accurate. You are the primary source. The next level of fidelity would be the personal experience of other people whom you believe to be trustworthy. You are then only one-step away from the primary source. Luckily, with Truth being so highly valued by Freemasons, the word of any Freemason should make him a trusted source when it comes to personal experience. There are some who may disagree with me on this point 🙂 Basically, the further you get from the primary source, the more untrustworthy the information becomes. This isn’t to say that it’s likely to be inaccurate, just that it could be and we should be aware of that before we use it as a foundation to build upon.

A major policy shift has led to an exciting change for those Craft Masons who have not yet taken the next step on their journey. It promises to greatly expand their appreciation of Freemasonry. Grand Lodge has done a deal with Grand Chapter that will allow Craft Freemasons to get a ‘teaser’ of what Chapter is like without having to meet the full financial and time costs associated with Chapter membership. The degree of Mark Master Mason is the 4th step in Freemasonry (and the first one in Chapter) and will now be available to all Master Masons. In the past, a Master Mason had to wait a full year before being permitted to apply for membership to Chapter. That waiting period has now been removed and any Master Mason can apply for chapter membership as soon as he has been raised. Chapter freemasonry is more theatrical than Craft and is less obsessed with rote memorisation. These two factors alone make it extremely popular with all those who take that next step. There are a few other advantages as well. Grand Chapter have agreed to waive their capitation fees for a period of TWO YEARS for those masons who choose to be Mark Master Masons but prefer not to do any of the other degrees available to full Chapter members. Mark Master Masons are welcome to attend all of the Chapter business meetings as well as any ceremony where the lodge is open in that degree. You are permitted to be an Office Bearer in the Mark Degree (with the exception of the posts of Worshipful Mark Master and the Senior or Junior Wardens). Mark Master Masons are permitted to wear their breast jewels in Craft lodges. In closing, let me recommend SWAN CHAPTER. They meet at the same lodge rooms as we do (on the 3rd Wednesday of the month) and you’ll see a lot of familiar faces there. Our DC (the handsome one in the purple robe) as also the 2IC of ALL the Chapter freemasons in WA so we’ve got a man on the inside at the highest levels.

Our Senior Warden took a big step forward in his Masonic career recently. As many of you know, the Guildford Bassendean Lodge is a gateway through which you can progress to Royal Arch Freemasonry and all the mysteries thereon. Some years ago, Mark jumped that gate and has now attained the position of 3rd principle (how, is one of those mysteries). He invites you all to join him (after you’ve been a Master Mason for a year).

  It’s not at all unusual for a mason, when giving a long and complicated charge, to get things a bit wrong. It is, however, far more rare for a candidate to make a mistake during their part of the ceremony. Kevin’s error was SO extreme that, instead of turning up to the lodge for his 3rd degree, he developed pancreatitis and spent a week in hospital. This error was considered to be so extreme that we simply called the whole ceremony off and rescheduled it. Last night he had another go and, thankfully, managed to get through the whole thing without making a mistake. Well done mate.  

I was sent this image from Kev who asked (jokingly) if I was a time traveler. It’s no doppelganger but I have to admit that it’s a pretty good likeness. I’ll have to be careful. If the public find out that Time Travel is one of the perks of being Senior Warden, we’ll have more candidates than we can cope with 🙂

Mark snuck along to the Open Day held recently at the Victoria Park lodge room and did his best to blend in. Ok, so he stuck out like a peacock in a penguin enclosure but last year he got three candidates out of it so it seems to work. After a while, he noticed that whilst it’s not advertised as such, the purpose of the Open Day is to attract candidates to the lodges that meet at that lodge room. Pity really, as there were about 20 members of the public in attendance (including one from Morley). He then discovered that a great many other lodges have held (or are slated to hold) similar events. Obviously, this is something that those lodges that meet around the Midland area should consider doing. If the Membership Officers from those lodges would like to email me at GBLodge@outlook.com, we could give it due consideration.

On the 1st of August our ranks swelled once more with the addition of James and Daniel as new Entered Apprentices. It was the first time that a double initiation had been performed in our lodge and a good time was had by all. Some of us desperately tried – mid-sentence — to convert singular words to plurals and others were half way through the salute before turning it into a stylistic Sign of Fidelity. The Junior Deacon accidently called Daniel “James” throughout the ceremony and so Daniel declared that he would tease him about it for the rest of his masonic career. It’s good to see that he’s already treating him like a true brother.