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Angry Birds Suicide posted:gently caress Im immensely happy about what happened tonight. Congrats, and like everyone else has said, just try to absorb everything. Is your state a mouth-to-ear proficiency or do you get a booklet? The degrees only get better from here, enjoy them as the candidate, then go back to watch others when you can. I'm planning on doing all three degrees in order as a spectator, to get that side of the experience.
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Apr 17, 2014 05:07
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My cousin's a Mason but I never thought to ask him, what exactly do you do most of the time? I mean "secret rituals" is a legitimate answer and all but is that what you spend most of your meetings doing? I don't mean great details that'd be against your rules, but just a broad idea.
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Apr 17, 2014 05:22
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Arguing about what to eat next meeting.
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Apr 17, 2014 05:29
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Talking poo poo about college football teams, voting on budgets, talking more poo poo, eating, dealing with petitions for the degrees, making UW/WSU jokes, setting initiations and degree dates, eating, and badmouthing the Steelers.
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Apr 17, 2014 06:08
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In addition to conducting routine lodge business we usually have a few lectures, often by guests from other lodges. My favorites are the ones about the esoteric side of freemasonry, but there's some great historical lectures too. There's always some fun poo poo talking at each other's expense thrown in here and there, but no sports talk that I can recall. There's a good amount of laughs to be had but the meetings are fairly formal I suppose. We have a table lodge after every meeting, so that's where more of the casual stuff goes down.
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Apr 17, 2014 06:42
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:Cut me some slack man that took almost 4 hours and I'm exhausted okay Welcome, Brother! Anatharon posted:My cousin's a Mason but I never thought to ask him, what exactly do you do most of the time? Where I am from, we have a lecture nearly every lodge meeting and after the break we discuss it in lodge. Outside of this, we talk about family, career, football, drinks and food and about that one guy who broke up with his girlfriend for the fourth time. Keetron fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 10:48
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Mr. Maltose posted:Arguing about what to eat next meeting. 7thBatallion posted:Talking poo poo about college football teams, voting on budgets, talking more poo poo, eating, dealing with petitions for the degrees, making UW/WSU jokes, setting initiations and degree dates, eating, and badmouthing the Steelers. It may seem like it, but these are honestly not joke answers. It's the same stuff that happens when you get a bunch of friends in the same room; we gently caress around. And also secret rituals.
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Apr 17, 2014 17:31
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How the hell does Scottish and York rite masonry work? I'm trying not to get ahead of myself and all but lol Most Excellent Zerubabbel
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Apr 17, 2014 21:49
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Can i get thpage where the Thelma issue was discussed? What do you do with applicants who cheated and already know more than they should? Do you do what kabbalists do and make sure they have the proper grounding in certain tenants, or do you go all out scientology and censor them lest they go infiltrators and leak more ritual to the internet? Do you still disappear blabbermouths from NY? (Either that urban legend is a perversion of Hiram abide, an act of dickery that is bound to happen at least once in every fraternity, or a mix of both) pps. You guys ever hear of the cicada 3301 people? Are they antimasons? (Secret group of code monkey nerds who opine for a super nigredo and renunciatory self godhood) Sithsaber fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 22:43
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Sithsaber posted:Can i get thpage where the Thelma issue was discussed? I'm not going to lie here and admit that before I decided to take the step of petitioning I did a lot of reading including the supposed "expose" sites and while I admit some elements were similar to what I was expecting not a single thing I read got it 100 percent correct.
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Apr 17, 2014 22:52
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Innerguard posted:Such a shame that over here in Scotland, these degrees are so seldomly taken. Especially considering they are my favorites by far of any of the blue lodge, YR or Scottish Rite degrees.
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Apr 17, 2014 22:52
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lone77wulf posted:Congrats, and like everyone else has said, just try to absorb everything. Is your state a mouth-to-ear proficiency or do you get a booklet? As it so happens some entered apprentices were giving their catechism tonight after I helped out in the kitchen for the first time. I had a blast! I still don't fully understand everything but one of the brothers guided me through everything. I had a lot of fun just talking to people and a lot of brothers just came up to me congratulating me on making it in. Was a very good experience.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:20
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Sithsaber posted:Can i get thpage where the Thelma issue was discussed? 1) It's like 5 pages back. If you search posts for either me or Sub Rosa I think you'll find it. 2) Nothing we could do would be worse than the damage they've already done, namely spoiling the initiatic experience. If they went digging up things "above their level" that would also be on their own conscience. Nobody is getting killed over Googling*. 3) *Except when they are. But seriously nobody is killing anyone over this stuff anymore. In the past it might have happened, but I'm pretty sure that particular event was mostly Anti-Masonic hype. 4) No idea what that is.
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Apr 18, 2014 02:12
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Paramemetic posted:But seriously nobody is killing anyone over this stuff anymore. In the past it might have happened, but I'm pretty sure that particular event was mostly Anti-Masonic hype. Well there was that time in 2004 too, but that was more of a tragic and really really stupid mistake: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/masonic-lodge-is-suspended-after-shooting.html
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Apr 18, 2014 02:30
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Snowy posted:Well there was that time in 2004 too, but that was more of a tragic and really really stupid mistake: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/masonic-lodge-is-suspended-after-shooting.html I do remember that but yeah, that was more of a tragic and stupid mistake, and also not an "official" ritual.
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Apr 18, 2014 02:35
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:How the hell does Scottish and York rite masonry work? Think of Blue Lodge as a university. As long as you're a member of the University, you can join various clubs and study groups and stuff. I'm not going to keep going with that analogy, but after you're a master Mason, you can join one or both of those rites. York Rite is more concretely religious, the earlier degrees focusing on Judaic stories, and the last degree requiring a Christian faith**. There are 9 degrees broken into three groups - four degrees in the Royal Arch Chapter, two degrees in the Cryptic Council, and three chivalric orders (not called degrees) in the Commandery of Knights Templar. Some jurisdictions actually have separate meetings for each body, but here in NC all 3 bodies meet on the same night as "the York Rite Bodies". (** I would struggle to call myself Christian per se, but here the wording is that the candidate must "vow to defend the Christian faith". That's a different thing in my eyes. But, that's a whole other post.) Scottish Rite is much more esoteric and not as concretely rooted in any one religion. There are degrees that teach Judaic lessons, some that teach Christian lessons, one that teaches Muslim lessons... Subjects such as kabbalah and gematria and astrology and sacred geometry are explored. There are 32 degrees plus an honorary 33rd degree that you very well may never see in your lifetime. The degrees are more like plays that you watch, more so than the Blue degrees. Degrees 1-14 make up the Lodge of Perfection, 15-18 the Chapter of Rose Croix, 19-30 the Council of Kadosh, and 31-32 the Consistory. There is a Southern Jurisdiction based out of DC, and a Northern Jurisdiction that I know little about. As the names of the bodies within each Rite should tell you, the two rites are similar but still very different. I'm a Masonry addict so I'm involved with both  Or, if either of those don't tickle your fancy, after you're a master Mason, you can join Order of the Eastern Star, the Shrine, the Grotto, Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Shrine of the Amaranth, or any other Masonic body... Becoming a Master Mason opens up a whooole new world of organizations
Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Apr 18, 2014 |
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Apr 18, 2014 02:54
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:It may seem like it, but these are honestly not joke answers. It's the same stuff that happens when you get a bunch of friends in the same room; we gently caress around. And running multiple local bikes for books programs, doing street cleanups, giving a poo poo ton of cash to charity, helping out with our kids programs, and planning local events. We pretty much run the local music in the park, and are the lead float in the local 4th of July parade.
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Apr 18, 2014 04:43
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Here we talk finance, groan about Grand Lodge's demands (they want us to give them allour historic things now. We said no, and if they want to press it we're going to send them copies and keep the originals.), and try and address the rampant decline of Freemasonry in our region.
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Apr 18, 2014 04:47
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The grand lodge thing I hate in my district is this DVD we have to use in lectures, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE PHYSICAL VISUAL AIDS RIGHT THERE AND IT WOULD BE SO MUCH COOLER gently caress
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Apr 18, 2014 15:34
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http://braden168.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/why-you-shouldnt-become-a-freemason/ This should be in the OP.
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Apr 18, 2014 16:40
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I am really eager to start my degree work. I go in Tuesday at 6:30 and mentoring on Thursday at 7:30. I am told most of the actual "busywork" is memorization, which I excel at. I observed 4 brothers giving their catechism last evening and it seems fairly simple enough. I want to avoid the temptation to simply pass through the degrees as fast as I can and really absorb each degree however.
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Apr 18, 2014 22:07
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:I want to avoid the temptation to simply pass through the degrees as fast as I can and really absorb each degree however. I really think that's the way to go. You've got the rest of your life to be master mason, you might as well spend a while in the first two degrees rather than just learn about them later. My lodge opens on the third and lowers to the first, so everyone can participate in the bulk of the meeting. There might be more incentive to rush if a lodge doesn't do that, but I don't know what the norm is in that regard.
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Apr 18, 2014 22:20
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Snowy posted:I really think that's the way to go. You've got the rest of your life to be master mason, you might as well spend a while in the first two degrees rather than just learn about them later. We just open on whatever degree our lowest degree brother present is.
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Apr 19, 2014 17:33
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Emron posted:The grand lodge thing I hate in my district is this DVD we have to use in lectures Two things: you guys have to use a dvd during your lectures?! I don't even understand necessarily how that would work. We have slides that we can choose to use if we want. secondly, you guys always open in MM and then call off to whatever degree is lowest to allow everyone to participate? That seems like an unnecessary addition of work, especially if no degree work is being done in the higher degrees. Is that a requirement for your jurisdiction? (should I assume you're in the great land of 'bama?)
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Apr 21, 2014 18:51
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imac1984 posted:Two things: you guys have to use a dvd during your lectures?! I don't even understand necessarily how that would work. We have slides that we can choose to use if we want. 1) It's essentially slides that you can't control the tempo of, just placed on a DVD. The tempo is really slow. I would prefer physical aides to draw in the initiate further. 2) No. We straight up just open and close in FC, for example. No refreshment period or whatever. That way newer brethren can participate and see the opening. I like the MM opening, so I'm torn on this. I don't know if it's a district thing or just within my lodge. It's really helped us maintain ties to some guys that just went through EA, though. Also, I'm in ohio. Went to Bama for school, moved up here after a couple years for work.
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Apr 21, 2014 19:10
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Any brothers currently members of a lodge in Austin TX? Looking to get some info...
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Apr 21, 2014 19:44
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lord1234 posted:Any brothers currently members of a lodge in Austin TX? Looking to get some info... I was for years. Short answer is you want Hill City #456, Austin #12 is older and more prestigious but I've had my issues with some of the regulars there and if you're younger/more enlightened you might burn out on them, they're very much the unfunny old boy's club of the city. Both are on the corner of 18th and Lavaca at the Scottish Rite building and as far as I remember 456 does either weekly or biweekly meetings which are less formal and have dinner beforehand (which means they're easier to visit, just e-mail them before hand or call an hour or so before one of their meetings). I'll tell you that Austin is super focused around Scottish Rite and to a lesser extent the Shrine and York Rite. I'd normally advise new Masons to stay out of appendant bodies until later in their Masonic career but in Austin you'd probably want to jump into one anyways because of how much of the Masonic life in Austin revolves around them. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
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Apr 21, 2014 20:04
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Do any of you go to a lodge that is not in English? I go to a lodge in Spanish and I find it very interesting to see all the English terms here. Makes me wonder if I would be able to follow it.
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Apr 21, 2014 20:12
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:I was for years. Short answer is you want Hill City #456, Austin #12 is older and more prestigious but I've had my issues with some of the regulars there and if you're younger/more enlightened you might burn out on them, they're very much the unfunny old boy's club of the city. Both are on the corner of 18th and Lavaca at the Scottish Rite building and as far as I remember 456 does either weekly or biweekly meetings which are less formal and have dinner beforehand (which means they're easier to visit, just e-mail them before hand or call an hour or so before one of their meetings). Have some non-forum contact method so we can chat more instantaneous like?
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Apr 21, 2014 20:12
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lord1234 posted:Have some non-forum contact method so we can chat more instantaneous like? FoWaffelhound on AIM. Chernabog posted:Do any of you go to a lodge that is not in English? I go to a lodge in Spanish and I find it very interesting to see all the English terms here. Makes me wonder if I would be able to follow it. I've sat through a first degree in Sweden?
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Apr 21, 2014 21:26
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DVDs are not a requirement in Ohio, maybe just in your region? In my mother lodge, No. 91, a brother does the first lecture in a wonderful live action style, using props, walking the initiate around the lodge, and so on. It's really good, and I was learning it that way until I moved to MD, where we are required to do it using slides. It's just so much less engaging that way. =[
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Apr 21, 2014 22:41
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Paramemetic posted:DVDs are not a requirement in Ohio, maybe just in your region? In my mother lodge, No. 91, a brother does the first lecture in a wonderful live action style, using props, walking the initiate around the lodge, and so on. It's really good, and I was learning it that way until I moved to MD, where we are required to do it using slides. It's just so much less engaging that way. =[ When I get to the east, I'm having the craft team be live visual aides for the MM lecture and anyone who gets mad I don't use the DVD can suck it.
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Apr 21, 2014 22:43
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Unless there has been some GL ruling for Ohio I don't think the DVDs are a requirement. I've actually only ever seen them used during a one day class where the lecture was being given to 40-50 people.
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Apr 21, 2014 22:46
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:FoWaffelhound on AIM. Was it different at all? Or pretty much the same?
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Apr 21, 2014 22:50
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Chernabog posted:Was it different at all? Or pretty much the same? Very very different, Masonry operates on a different system in Scandinavia.
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Apr 22, 2014 01:43
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Straithate posted:Unless there has been some GL ruling for Ohio I don't think the DVDs are a requirement. I've actually only ever seen them used during a one day class where the lecture was being given to 40-50 people. Asked about this at my meeting tonight. They are not required, but we use them in our lodge to score brownie points with the inspection crew. I'm going to start to push hard for physical aides on all lectures I give.
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Apr 22, 2014 01:55
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It's all physical here. No slides or DVDs, just real physical objects and the accompanying explanatory speeches of which I'm certain we're all familiar with. This is probably for the best - half the old fellows don't have computers and half those who do aren't very good with them, though they're making an effort to learn. Plus, I just can't see the lectures I've received being anywhere near so engaging without the presentation of actual things to act as symbolic anchorpoints. They engage the spatial part of the brain in a way a screen can't, and that helps things sink in further. And it has to be said. I'm willing to bet a lot of us became brothers in part for the tie to traditions and to history that freemasonry offers. We aren't just brothers engaging in self-improvement, charity, and esoteric learning - we're brothers engaging in what is almost a form of living history now. Replacing the physical objects would, to me, lose that quality and in the doing lessen the sense of connection I feel to those who've come before me, which to me has become a prime element of what it is to be a freemason. For an example. I'm currently restoring a MM apron and case, which belonged to a long-dead brother and were given back to the lodge. It was given to me by the lodge at the end of my FC ceremony (which is apparently quite unusual) with the expectation that I would wear it. There were many apologies for giving me an old, musty apron; it has yellowed and has a few agemarks, the silver has tarnished, and in all it needs some loving restoration. But there isn't a need for those apologies - I am much happier to wear the apron of a departed brother who came before me than a shining new one, because it becomes not 'just' an apron (and all it stands for), but also a very totemic link to the history and heritage of my lodge and my town, just as the portraits of our past masters are. Discarding the old in favour of the new - be it physical objects for the lectures or aprons that are still fundamentally wearable, but in need of a little love - without due cause destroys that link. Lot more words came out on this than I expected.
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Apr 22, 2014 07:53
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No, I fully agree. It's exactly how I feel. The more you draw the brother into the ritual through things like physical visual aides, the better.
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Apr 22, 2014 14:06
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So my idea for a sticker on my car worked out pretty well. I drive a black car, and I wanted something low key with a little secret meaning. I ordered a S&C in black reflective, so it would give light when someone had their lights on behind me. In the dark:  Hit with light in the dark:  In ambient daylight  If anyone wants one, carstickers.com is where I got it. This is the simpler one, they also have one with scroll work, and will make anything you can send them in vector format.
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Apr 23, 2014 05:10
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I always had the suspicion that people did that to try to get out of tickets. I'm a city-living pedestrian though, so no idea if that's true.
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Apr 23, 2014 23:21
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