Knowing as a strapping teen that my parents could barely afford to send me to high school, I began to carry golf clubs at a golf course. We were paid $2.50 to carry a single bag of clubs for 18 holes, and $5.00 to carry two bags. Usually, unless we were atrocious caddies, we got a few bucks tip. Brand new to the caddy circle, I worked for at least a week or more before one of the established caddies told me all newcomers had to be initiated.
Up to this time, I had worked on my own in two different stores as a stock boy and/or salesperson. Naturally I encountered no such primal initial rite. When I asked why, the reply was that initiation was a secret. What is it like? Again, I was told, If you don’t get initiated you can’t work here. At first I thought this was a joke for the greenhorn, me, but as I asked around, initiation had been going on for years, many years!
To keep my job and help my parents financially, I agreed to initiation rites. It consisted of stripping naked in the woods in front of a host of laughing caddies who then threw my clothing over tree limbs or into prickly bushes. Thank God the weeds were not poison ivy. However silly, my bizarre naked initiation ceremony, into the caddy group with its long forgotten history reminded me of the Masons who also have secret rites, history, symbols.
While giving a short talk at a Masonic lodge here in Pittsburgh, I noticed many Masonic symbols; the same secret signs that have fascinated masons and non-masons down through the ages. After a bit of research, I’ve concluded that the very reason for secrecy is that 1) any given Masonic symbol might have a general basic meaning or 2) it can have whatever meaning Masons give it.
Medieval stone masons wore waist aprons in which they kept their squares, plumb lines, and levels, used to create the magnificent cathedrals and monuments, many of which still stand. This gave rise to many of the symbols inscribed on their apron pockets.
The tools of these masons came to have a deeper meaning. A plumb with its cord symbolized that the stone mason should walk proud and upright before the eyes of his fellowman and the all-seeing eye of God. The L-shaped square with its ninety degree angle meant that a mason would “square his actions” by demonstrating solid virtue and morality before both God and man. The mason’s level symbolized that all men are equal in nature, balanced—side by side so to speak.
Even today, many of these symbols can be seen on aprons worn by Masons today during ritualistic events in their temples. The picture shown here is George Washington addressing a Masonic lodge adorned with his apron. Masonic symbols are far too numerous to count. Yet, one can look at almost any one symbol and give it a meaning where truth, honor, justice, and a proper way of life are concerned.
On one side of a U.S. dollar bill, one can see a pyramid above thirteen stacked layers, probably of stone. Atop it sits a piercing all-seeing eye of God. The bill also reads Novus Ordo Seclorum: A New Order for the Ages. Is this to be interpreted that our founding fathers thought the newly formed United States to be a “New Order?” Or could it simply mean that Freemasonry should be the “New Order” for the ages? In reality, both of these meanings blend together to make good sense.
What about the secret rites and rituals of Masonic gatherings? Once again, my research showed that these often grandiose activities are probably kept secret because they are very mundane, somewhat uninteresting, and in my opinion a lot of rubric celebration over nothing.
1) For example, the ritual for becoming a mason requires the initiate to wear special clothing. He must knock three times on the secret inner chamber door, and then once admitted, he is lead around the room blindfolded while tethered to another member. Is this done to instill fear in the initiate?
2) Next, he is questioned, sometimes repeatedly, for answers to questions about Masonry’s past history which varies considerably in Masonic libraries. In many cases, the candidate must give rote answers from what I could call a mental catechism. It is more like a secret unwritten work than anything definitely factual.
3) Finally, the initiate must swear on his bible to uphold the truths and righteous living standards of all Masons everywhere.
Historically, Masonry traces itself back to two main sources: 1) guilds of stonemasons and 2) the Knights Templar of much earlier times. In order to protect their skills and wisdom, medieval stone masons joined together in loosely formed pacts to protect the secrets of their trade. I used the word "wisdom" because many of the structures built by these remarkable stone masons still stand today. Lodge minutes dating back to 1599 have been uncovered in the British Isles of Scotland.
One can only imagine the innate engineering skill a stonemason had in order to make two towering Gothic columns meet in a central arch far above an aisle, apse, sanctuary, or main body of a church. Of course, they learned by their mistakes. After several structures collapsed, these masons developed the idea of buttresses and flying buttresses to send the outward force of high archways to the outside perimeter of the building and safely into the ground.
The other highly speculative source for Masonry places it on Temple Mount, the alleged site of the original Temple of King Solomon. Some even claim that Masons actually built the King’s temple. To this day, many structures built by Freemasons for their ritualistic activities, are modeled on a minor scale to represent Solomon’s vast temple network.
Most interesting is this: Freemasonry is not a religion. It does not attempt to indoctrinate a candidate with a particular brand of belief or faith. So what is its critical attribute? After reading The Masonic Myth I would have to answer: Freemasonry is an order of people historically united in spirit by a natural impulse to improve their world.
What has kept it alive down through the ages is its quest for self-knowledge and self-discipline. During the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, mankind began to turn away from a strictly religious interpretation of life. People began to endorse a more scientific outlook, searching to know about the world--what made it tick--and about their own physical and mental make-up. Fear of religious reprisal or interference was waning.
There is no reason to fear Masonry. The rituals of the Freemasons are symbols of personal integrity and an inner spiritual search to build a better world. Their symbols are a constant inner and outer reminder of this noble quest.
