Masonic ritual – Is The Tiler Required?

Masonic ritual – Is The Tiler Required?

May 2, 2023 | Masonic Etiquette, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

Is The Tiler Required

 

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Is the Tiler Among The Officers Required To Open A Lodge?

Yes.

From the standpoint to the Ritual, a Tiler is required to open a Lodge. Indeed, every officer to whom a portion of the Work has been allocated is required to perform the Rituals of Opening. In the most dire of emergencies there are a few possibilities for “doubling up” roles, but the Tiler is not among them. Understandably, a Lodge that is not able to retain a professional Tiler or appoint one from whiting the membership may have difficulty finding a Brother willing to sit outside the outer door for the entirety of a meeting, thus missing all the programming. In such a circumstance some Masters instruct the Tiler to “tile through the open door”—meaning that the Junior Deacon leaves the outer door partly open during moments when no Ritual is being performed so the Tiler can view the work of the evening, and if anyone approaches, the Tiler can quickly shut the door to perform his duties. This is not an ideal solution and should by no means become a permanent one, but as Past Grand Lecturer Cal Bond was fond of saying, sometimes you have to “use common sense.”

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Masonic ritual – Attending at the Altar

Masonic ritual – Attending at the Altar

Apr 25, 2023 | Masonic Etiquette, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

Attending at the Altar

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Is the Senior Deacon the only Brother allowed to touch the Square and Compasses?

“Attending at the Altar” is not among the enumerated duties of the Senior Deacon. Rather, our Ritual assigns this work to the Senior Deacon because he is conveniently close to both the Altar and the Worshipful Master. This is no basis to assert that the Senior Deacon has exclusive provenance over the Altar, however, and it is a prerogative of the Worshipful Master to direct or authorize any Brother to perform any work in the Lodge.

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Masonic Ritual – The Master’s Carpet

Masonic Ritual – The Master’s Carpet

Apr 18, 2023 | Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

The “Master’s Carpet”

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Why is it called the “Master’s Carpet”?

The short answer is that the space between the Altar and the East should not be called the Master’s Carpet. The medium answer would direct your attention to the Glossary entry in the Ritual book.

The long answer begins with the observation that the words are drawn from “the three steps usually delineated upon the Master’s Carpet” referenced in the Third Degree lecture. But to provide the proper context, we have to journey a bit further back in Masonic history.

In the early days of Speculative Masonry, the “making” portion of the Rituals would often be performed in the back room of a tavern where the symbols of the Degree were drawn on the clay tiled floor using chalk and charcoal, then washed away at the end of the evening. As time wore on, Masons opted for a more durable medium and began to display the symbolic designs on a reusable painted board set up on a pair of trestles. This tradition, in turn, gradually evolved into the use of reusable floorcloths—also known as carpets—displaying the Degree symbols. There were different floorcloths for different Degrees, and in this case the “Master’s Carpet” refers to a floorcloth illustrated with the symbols of Master Mason. This is evidenced by the word “delineated,” which means “represented with drawn or painted lines.”

We don’t have a drawing of three steps on the floors of our Lodge rooms, but illustrations dating to the time this language was added to the lecture do include a depiction of three steps. Our Masonic tradition has evolved away from illustrated floorcloths—just as it has evolved away from chalk and charcoal drawings and illustrated trestleboards—but the history continues to be preserved in our Ritual as an “Easter egg” for those who seek it out. Meanwhile, the proper Masonic term for the space between the Altar and the East is . . . “the space between the Altar and the East.”

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Masonic ritual – Communicating the Password

Masonic ritual – Communicating the Password

Apr 11, 2023 | Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

Communicating the Password

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Why do the Deacons come to the Sign of Fidelity before communicating the word/password to the Master?

Although the Deacons are acting under direction of the Senior Warden, they still need the Master’s permission to ascend his station in the East. It is therefore necessary that they pause and come to the Sign of Fidelity because they are addressing an officer of superior rank. Even though these communications between the Master and the Deacons are silent, they still occur.

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Masonic Etiquette – Saluting the Altar

Masonic Etiquette – Saluting the Altar

Apr 4, 2023 | Masonic Etiquette, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

Saluting the AltAr

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Why don’t candidates salute at the altar when re-entering for the Middle Chamber Lecture and Raising?

The physical rooms in which we hold our meetings represent various things for Masons. Most often they represent the “Symbolic Lodge” that is invoked when we perform the Ritual of Opening, and we are taught to salute the Master on entering or retiring from that Symbolic Lodge. But sometimes those same rooms represent something else for us. For the Middle Chamber Lecture and the Raising the room represents the grounds of King Solomon’s Temple rather than a Symbolic Lodge, and as a result the candidates do not salute when they enter.

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.