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I joined cold, too. As an amateur historian of 18th Century America  I wanted a stronger connection with the era.
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Jul 14, 2013 11:21
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:Send them an e-mail, don't be an atheist, and do have a penis or male gender identity. Also don't be a dick. That's pretty much it? When I was interviewing this came as well: "Don't mind ritual work." But questioning ritual work before or after joining would fit in "don't be a dick". Some decades ago, when apparently my lodge had a long winded discussion about a candidate and his background, our now WM got up and shouted: "Is he a free man of good name and does he know how to eat using a knife and fork? Yes? Good, that is all we need to know!" The discussion was closed and to this day these are the questions we ask ourselves when voting for a candidate.
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Jul 15, 2013 13:33
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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Jul/09/shriners-camp-destroyes-chariot-fire/ I'm campaigning to rebuild. It was built by volunteers, and should be rebuilt by them. This time, I say build it out of stone.
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Jul 16, 2013 09:50
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Brothers, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me identify these two items. My great grandmother was involved in the Eastern Star and my great grandfather was a mason. My dad just brought me a bag full of various masonic jewelry to give me since he's not a mason and I need some help with these two things. Obviously, the first one is a eastern star, but I'm not sure if the gavel at the top means anything. The second one I'm not even sure is masonic. I can't tell if it's a level at the top or the triple interwoven rectangle symbol I've seen in the York Rite. Any help would be greatly appreciated!  (QPZIL, thanks for the help with the image size) imac1984 fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Jul 19, 2013 |
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Jul 19, 2013 01:31
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Put an "l" at the end of the filename to make it smaller  i.e. UVeveHPl.jpg instead of UVeveHP.jpgThe top one I believe is a Worthy Matron jewel, which is the female head of the OES lodge. The bottom one, I'm not sure if it has specific significance. The top part (inside the rectangle) looks like a Masonic level (see below) with a square below it. Each of those is the jewel of a specific Masonic office (Senior Warden and Worshipful Master). 
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Jul 19, 2013 01:49
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The top is a Past Matron/Patron traveling pin. I found the same design here: http://www.annettewintters.com/jewelry.html The bottom, I would say, is a pin for a sitting Worshipful Master, as the Past Master's design is typically different. Can't imagine why it would have more than one working tool though.
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Jul 20, 2013 00:33
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7thBatallion posted:Give me a few days to look up obscure laws, and I'll get back to you. Basically it is lawful but not just. If a law is not just, I will only break it if it goes against my core beliefs, whereas a lawful and just law I would never break. And something that is unlawful and unjust I will actively fight against. I'm curious about this. The one thing stopping me from going out and enquiring at a Lodge is the rule about not breaking the law. I feel that unjust laws are meaningless and can, in some cases should, be disobeyed. For example, here in the UK we have laws that disallow certain types of protest without authorisation from the local authority. This gives councils a great deal of power to silence certain political groups in the name of public safety. In particularly egregious examples, far-right nationalists have been allowed to march but antifascist groups have been prevented from forming counter-protests. If a Mason were part of an unlawful protest, would this lead to disciplinary action from their Lodge? What is the rationale behind obeying the law at all times, and how flexible is it?
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Aug 6, 2013 13:00
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Purple Prince posted:I'm curious about this. The one thing stopping me from going out and enquiring at a Lodge is the rule about not breaking the law. I feel that unjust laws are meaningless and can, in some cases should, be disobeyed. For example, here in the UK we have laws that disallow certain types of protest without authorisation from the local authority. This gives councils a great deal of power to silence certain political groups in the name of public safety. In particularly egregious examples, far-right nationalists have been allowed to march but antifascist groups have been prevented from forming counter-protests. If a Mason were part of an unlawful protest, would this lead to disciplinary action from their Lodge? You're in the UK so I don't know how well this will go over, but in the US my argument has always been that many of the Founders (e.g., almost all of the Sons of Liberty, 9 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 12 of the signers of the US Constitution, &c.) were Masons, and they were definitely breaking laws.
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Aug 6, 2013 13:41
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1. Follow your own moral compass 2. Don't get caught
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Aug 6, 2013 17:35
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Nobody's perfect. I personally love to jaywalk, and rarely wear a seatbelt when driving. These are laws.
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Aug 6, 2013 17:48
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Solvent posted:Nobody's perfect. I personally love to jaywalk, and rarely wear a seatbelt when driving. These are laws. Only one of those is a law in my state.  But basically, yes.
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Aug 6, 2013 18:00
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In my opinion, policies, by-laws and such on law-breaking are there to allow an expedient means of removing a brother who is convicted of a great wrongdoing conveniently without having to hold a trial twice so to speak. For example, a brother who is convicted of a felony in Ohio will be automatically expelled from Grand Lodge of Ohio upon their conviction. Until they are convicted, they are a brother Mason in good standing. Being accused of a crime is not sufficient, and being convicted only if it's a felony, and only so as to prevent having to go through a whole song and dance about whether or not a crime is moral an so on. For me, in my Lodge, I would not even propose a Mason convicted of a crime of civil unrest be investigated, let alone tried. The option is removed, though, for felonies, I think to prevent ill-will from forming based on such discussions. I do suspect someone brought up on Masonic charges for being charged with a civil unrest could happen in the US due to our lodges' tendencies toward patriotism, however I think one could easily make the argument that if one's actions were moral, based on sound moral principles and justifiable (such as, for example, if one were arrested for IDK protesting the establishment of a surveillance state or the unjust killing of citizens or something) they could make the argument that despite breaking a law, they were acting morally. Such a person may not be expelled, unless bylaws make it impossible to avoid it (such as with a felony conviction).
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Aug 6, 2013 19:04
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Treason against The Crown was certainly felonious in 1776.
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Aug 6, 2013 19:08
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Colonial Air Force posted:Treason against The Crown was certainly felonious in 1776. Yeah but that was before Grand Lodge of Ohio so, I don't know their rules. 
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Aug 6, 2013 19:12
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I don't think I mentioned it, but I was invited to and finally joined my local Allied Masonic Degrees council (Triad Council #286 in Greensboro, NC), and received the Royal Ark Mariner degree the same night. It's a pretty neat degree, and puts a spin on an ancient story that I never really thought of before. And not to mention, the regalia of the degree is faaaabuloussss   (I am none of the above old men.)
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Aug 6, 2013 21:43
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Colonial Air Force posted:Treason against The Crown was certainly felonious in 1776. Luckily there weren't a lot of trials for treason. Otherwise some brethren might have been lost when found guilty.
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Aug 7, 2013 07:16
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I have a quick question in regards to disclosing yourself as a Mason to close friends. I was initiated back in March of 2013 (this is my first post as a Mason on the forums) and have not told anyone about it other than my sister, my GF and my room mate (he always asked what I was doing getting dressed up once a month for dinners). My room mate and I both work from home for the same company and have been friends for over 4 years. There is one other guy in the company in our Canadian region that works with us and frequently comes over to our house (aka office). We are all great friends now, work together exceptionally well and hang out after work with each other's families. This morning, the three of us were eating breakfast in the office and "the other guy" mentioned something about the Freemason secret handshake and I felt like telling him that I recently joined but alas I did not. I am still an EA (our lodge wants everyone to be an EA and FC for a full year before becoming a MM) so I don't know some modes of recognition. So here's my question: Is it okay to bring up the fact that I was initiated a while back?
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Aug 7, 2013 16:19
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I don't see a reason why you couldn't mention it to friends, family or co-workers. You just need to understand that you are an EA and that you don't know much and the people you are talking to know even less.
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Aug 7, 2013 16:26
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ex posted:So here's my question: Is it okay to bring up the fact that I was initiated a while back? Absolutely.
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Aug 7, 2013 17:07
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ex posted:So here's my question: Is it okay to bring up the fact that I was initiated a while back? If you're shy then maybe you can put a masonic bumper sticker on your car. Maybe one of those "Ask one to become one" stickers. On the other hand, if you actually taught the hand shake to your non-mason friend then we'd have to drive you to the beach and leave you there or something.
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Aug 7, 2013 19:43
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patentmagus posted:If you're shy then maybe you can put a masonic bumper sticker on your car. Maybe one of those "Ask one to become one" stickers. Thanks to everyone for the answers. I'm not shy at all, just have never experienced anyone telling me that they are a Freemason in my 28 years of life. I suppose that is where the cautiousness arises from. There are no beaches around here so I'll save everyone some time and money by living up to what I said I would do.
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Aug 7, 2013 20:06
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As was explained, the punishments are metaphorical not literal. So if we can't find a beach close by, I'm sure a lake or rock quarry will make do.
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Aug 7, 2013 20:25
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"On the other hand, if you actually taught the hand shake to your non-mason friend then we'd have to drive you to the beach and leave you there or something." I love masonry because of stuff like this. It always puts a little grin on my face. edit: god, I'm amazing at the most basic of computer functions like pressing "quote." I can't figure out what I did, so I'm just going to use quotation marks instead imac1984 fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Aug 7, 2013 |
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Aug 7, 2013 23:21
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Ritual school tonight!  I'm going to get tripped up in the differences between where I was raised and where I live now for ever, aren't I?
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Aug 9, 2013 02:01
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I got a call yesterday saying the local lodge wants to do the family interview. Wish me luck!
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Aug 9, 2013 05:12
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Colton posted:I got a call yesterday saying the local lodge wants to do the family interview. Wish me luck! Just on this, in general how are families factored in with respect to prospective candidates from where you're from? When I joined I was single, but I know that if you are thinking about going through lodge officer positions then your home life and family are big factors in deciding if you should.
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Aug 9, 2013 08:12
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jrgnsn_tjf posted:Just on this, in general how are families factored in with respect to prospective candidates from where you're from? From what they tell me, if my wife is ok with me hanging out with old men two mornings a month then i'm in
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Aug 9, 2013 16:10
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Your family should be on board, because Masonry is not just for you, but can involve them - charitable and social events mainly, but also the young-people orders and things like the OES for the ladies. It also makes things easier if your partner / significant other / parents / whatever or whomever you live with are on board, because it means you're less likely to have problems (i.e "Is that you going out AGAIN?" or some other similar variant)
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Aug 9, 2013 16:30
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I guess i should have mentioned that my wife and i have attended a few mason events and they got to know us a little. My wife isn't against it, which is a ringing endorsement from her
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Aug 9, 2013 16:33
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I expected more goats, to be honest, but here I am. Now to sit in mystery for a while longer.
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Aug 12, 2013 14:55
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Loomer posted:I expected more goats, to be honest, but here I am. Now to sit in mystery for a while longer. You don't need more goats -- you just need one really good one. We Masons are about "quality over quantity," you know.
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Aug 12, 2013 16:19
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Had my interview tonight. Questions were asked, my wife asked questions, my son ran around shaking masons' hands. When they left, i was told they'd vote yes for me. Just waiting to hear when my initiation is i guess
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Aug 13, 2013 05:29
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I just got raised Saturday, and I feel like I should read a million things now. Are there any good places to start to get a better understanding of things, or am I going to have to do it all mouth to ear?
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Aug 27, 2013 20:34
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Emron posted:I just got raised Saturday, and I feel like I should read a million things now. Are there any good places to start to get a better understanding of things, or am I going to have to do it all mouth to ear? The Craft and Its Symbols is a great intro book, as is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry. There's a lot of free stuff online too. The Symbolism of Freemasonry is a good historical primer. Albert Mackey is one of the big names in Masonic writing. Symbolical Freemasonry is another good primer to the Craft, and does a good job of explaining a lot of the symbolism of not only the degrees, but the lead-up to the degrees (i.e. the petitioning, the balloting, etc.) AND FINALLY, the big daddy of them all. If you're feeling ambitious and philosophical enough, you can take a crack at Albert Pike's Morals & Dogma, or at least the first three chapters of it. The rest of the chapters deal with the 4°-32° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It's... it's out there. But if you want to know what every little symbol of every little thing means, and how it relates to every system of philosophy or religion since the dawn of time... well, it's a good book for that.
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Aug 27, 2013 20:45
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Thanks, that was fast and awesome. My dad is a 33rd, so I'm probably going to petition for SR since a lot of family friends are in it.
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Aug 27, 2013 20:47
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For example, some M&D craziness, regarding the origin of the name "Hiram".quote:The word Khairum or Khurum is a compound one. Gesenius renders Khurum by the word noble or free-born: Khur meaning white, noble. It also means the opening of a window, the socket of the eye. Khri also means white, or an opening; and Khris, the orb of the Sun, in Job viii. 13 and x. 7. Krishna is the Hindu Sun-God. Khur, the Parsi word, is the literal name of the Sun.  And it goes on for a few more pages. You gotta give it to Albert Pike, the dude was brilliant when it came to philosophical and religious history. edit-- on that note, I'm joining the SR on October 2...4th? 24th I think. It feels like forever away but it'll be here soon I know. I'm looking forward to having 29 more degrees to study and analyze and spend the rest of my life thinking about.
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Aug 27, 2013 20:58
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Emron posted:I just got raised Saturday, and I feel like I should read a million things now. Are there any good places to start to get a better understanding of things, or am I going to have to do it all mouth to ear? Don't knock this. Learning "mouth to ear" is a great experience. It's a brotherhood, not a curriculum.
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Aug 27, 2013 22:32
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patentmagus posted:Don't knock this. Learning "mouth to ear" is a great experience. It's a brotherhood, not a curriculum. Oh no, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a lot. I meant some of the less rote things, like discussion on the meaning of some of the elements of the rituals, etc. I have a tendency to try to connect things, so I already have a billion ideas, and I just didn't know how frowned upon drawing your own conclusions from it is. Edit: my mouth to ear experience was going over the work with my dad while chipping golf balls in the backyard. It was really great.
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Aug 27, 2013 22:55
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In the local area a law is being pushed to make it so organizations cannot deny entry based on sex. Its pretty big so far, and as this is a progressive community it has been constantly getting pre-polling 70% or so. I am not sure the extent of the law, but I am rather certain it applies to every group including sports teams and college frats/soros. In the county. If such a law a truly passed (unlikely to actually happen, as the only reason it seems to be so supported is that most lazy rednecks in the area aren't actively going against it) what would the response of the Masons be? Or to take it a step farther, if at some point this is put into effect in a whole state, or perhaps all of the United States, what would be the implications. Edit: I ask mostly because I do see a future where sexism and gender based 'clubs' will not be allowed, if not soon then at some point, and I wonder if this is a thing that is discussed. KittyEmpress fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Aug 28, 2013 |
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Aug 27, 2013 23:53
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KittyEmpress posted:In the local area a law is being pushed to make it so organizations cannot deny entry based on sex. Its pretty big so far, and as this is a progressive community it has been constantly getting pre-polling 70% or so. Strictly speaking that County/State would fall out of regulation with the rest of the grand lodges and become clandestine, assuming they cooperated with the law. quote:Edit: I ask mostly because I do see a future where sexism and gender based 'clubs' will not be allowed, if not soon then at some point, and I wonder if this is a thing that is discussed. As a Mason who would be quite ok with Masonry as a whole going Co-Ed, that sounds like a terrible law and a terrible future. Nor is it being discussed anywhere, as far as I can tell that kind of law would be unconstitutional would it not? As long as you're not a business you can pretty much discriminate however you want. Aureus fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Aug 28, 2013 |
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Aug 28, 2013 05:09
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