Freemasonry has often been described as “a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.” Not all Freemasons may agree with this description – which is attributed to Dr. Samuel Hemming, c. 1820—and it may not tell the whole story, but it’s as good a place as any to start. The volume of Masonic Ritual and lecture that has accumulated and evolved over the centuries has offered us an almost inexhaustible source of material to teach the lessons of Masonry and learn the lessons of life. However, while our Rituals, symbols and allegories are among our great treasures, our method is not without its challenges for the Mason seeking enlightenment and knowledge. In fact, a central challenge arises from the very strength of the symbolic method: An emblem may symbolize one thing, but it may also symbolize many other things. It has even been said that the most powerful emblems are those to which many different meanings can be ascribed.

The emblems of Freemasonry are powerful indeed, and as a result they have given rise to a vast profusion of written work exploring and interpreting the higher meanings of our Rituals and emblems. These works have approached Masonry using perspectives as diverse as Kabballah, sacred geometry, Hermeticism, Christianity, Alchemy, legendary history, Eastern philosophy, mythology, Rosicrucianism, ceremonial magic and highly eclectic personal beliefs, to name but a few. The question therefore naturally arises as to which one is right and true, and the answer is as unsatisfying as it is brief: It depends.

I like to remind young Brothers that it’s incorrect to say “there are no wrong answers” or “all interpretation are equal” when interpreting Masonic Rituals, emblems and allegories. There are plenty of wrong answers and bad interpretations. Wrong answers and bad interpretations are those that are not grounded in a thorough knowledge of that which is answered or interpreted.

For example, if someone proclaims some “truth” about Masonry predicated on the assumption that the Masonic Altar is always situated in the middle of the Lodge room, this would be a “wrong answer” because it does not acknowledge that one of the largest Masonic traditions in the world does not use a centrally-located Altar, nor does it account for the fact that our own tradition only started using a centrally-located Altar sometime in the mid-1800s.

The good news is that there is an almost infinite number of “right answers” that can be built upon a solid basis of knowledge. Freemasonry can also be described as a journey of spiritual, intellectual and moral growth, so we should eagerly embrace opportunities to enrich our Masonic experience through the acquisition of knowledge. Just remember to be skeptical! If it seems too tidy to be true, it probably isn’t. Two starting places I recommend are David Stevenson’s The Origins of Freemasonry : Scotland’s Century”, which is more grounded in good scholarship than any other book on this subject, and Robert L.T. Cooper’s The Rosslyn Hoax”, which contains many of the most foundational texts with relevance to Freemasonry and also sets forth a good way of discerning an academic approach from a popular approach (hint: you want to read things written by those who adopt the former approach).

Is there more than one way to Exemplify the Catechism Lectures?

Brothers visiting another Lodge on a Degree night for the first time are sometimes surprised to see the catechism lectures exemplified in a way that’s quite different from how the Work may be performed in their Mother/Home Lodge/Jurisdiction.

Students of Masonic Ritual inevitably note that the early manuscripts and exposures always present the Work in catechism form—which is to say, in a series of questions and answers. This was how the symbolic content of the Degrees as well as descriptions and explanations of Masonic practices were communicated to the Brethren at that time, and it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the catechisms began to be combined and expanded into what we know today as the long narrative Degree lectures. The answers to the old catechism lectures might be provided by one Brother, but especially during the era in which Lodges met in taverns and similar accommodations, the questions were more commonly posed “around the table” while the Brethren took refreshment during the second section of the Degree.

Our Ritual today contains traces of this old tradition in the few catechism lectures that remain in our Standard Work and Lectures: the Lectures of Forms and Ceremonies in each of the three Degrees and the Lecture of Reasons in the Entered Apprentice Degree. Nowadays, these catechism lectures are usually performed by two Brothers exchanging rapid-fire questions and answers in an effort to get through what can often be the least interesting part of a Degree conferral as quickly as possible.

But a return to the older tradition of group exemplification offers the possibility of a different way to perform these lectures that is at once more entertaining and educational. When the answers are given by a larger number of Brothers, the different voices and styles of delivery provide novelty and variety that help refresh the mind and refocus attention at the end of a long Degree night. Meanwhile, the simple act of expanding participation in the catechism lectures draws more Brothers into the Lodge’s Ritual traditions and educates them in some of the most basic and yet frequently neglected or forgotten elements of Masonic knowledge. It’s also a great way for Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts to demonstrate their proficiency to the Lodge at large.

It remains for each Lodge to determine the method and format of exemplification that works best, giving due consideration to its resources, personnel and constraints. At my Lodge, Mariners Lodge No. 67, we have enjoyed a return to the old ways not only in group exemplifications of the catechism lectures, but in our “Tavern Style” Degree conferrals. This is part of our Lodge’s ethos to be “ancient but not old.”

Is it only after the whole Degree is performed? What happens if there is a hurricane and the First Degree has to be called off after the First Section? Is the candidate an Entered Apprentice Mason or not?

In the Grand Lodge of New York,

I recently was asked an interesting question by a Brother who wanted to know when in the Rituals we become Masons, Entered Apprentices, Fellowcrafts, Master Masons. Is it only after the whole Degree is performed? What happens if there is a hurricane and the First Degree has to be called off after the First Section? Is the candidate an Entered Apprentice Mason or not?

The answer is fairly simple and straightforward, but it does raise some interesting points for contemplation. If a Degree is conferred upon us but for whatever reason the lectures and other distinctive elements that contain the majority of the emblems and allegories of each Degree are omitted, are we really Entered Apprentices or Fellowcrafts or Master Masons? There certainly is an argument to be made that a Brother who hasn’t journeyed into the Middle Chamber is not really a Fellowcraft. Certainly a Brother who had missed out on important elements such as these would have been deprived of the beauty and lessons of the Degree, and in a sense could be considered “not as much” an Entered Apprentice or Fellowcraft or Master Mason as one who had received this Masonic Light.

These are interesting things to think about, but in the final analysis we find the answer provided by the Ritual itself: When the Entered Apprentice catechisms ask, “What makes you a Mason?” the answer is, “My obligation.” Once an obligation has been taken the candidate becomes an Entered Apprentice or Fellowcraft or Master Mason, as the case may be. This gives rise to one of my favorite parts in the First Degree: After the candidates have taken the Entered Apprentice obligation and the cable-tow has been removed, the Master leans forward to ask what he most desires and begins with, “my Brother.” This is the first time he has been called a Brother, and the moment the obligation has been completed therefore marks the dividing line between a profane and a Mason.