A Peculiar System of Morality.....
What is Freemasonry?
When asked “What is Freemasonry” many Masons will respond with either “it’s different for everyone” or “you’ll find out when you join”. Ironically the actual answer is given to them in the First Degree:
A peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols
But when they were an apprentice and gave this exact answer, the eyes of the person who asked them glazed over as if they had just spoken a foreign language.
This happens because our ceremonies are written in old language that made sense hundreds of years ago, except in today’s modern era and even 50 years ago they don’t.
Therefore really need to breakdown this phrase into simple and modern language that’s understandable. Doing so means we can dive deeper into it’s meaning. I have often said that the words in our ceremonies are the tip of the iceberg and only by exploring their meaning and history of their meaning can we truly understand the principles and lessons they will teach:
Freemasonry is:
A unique Education on life principles & lessons taught through stories & images
This isn’t to say this is the definitive answer, because you can play around with the different elements of the original text to come up with multiple variations that give the same answer. But as you can see, bringing the old text into modern language helps us better understand things.
You may be thinking, why don’t we translate the old language into modern language?
I argue that we should not, that it’s important to leave the text in its original language.
If you take the Bible, we still use the King James Edition in Masonry. But there are multiple translations. The New International Version, The New Living Translation, English Standard Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible just to name the most popular. Each translation loses and alters the meaning of the word and over time the true meaning is lost because through the change in language we change the meaning.
So what exactly is this “peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols” anyway. It’s such a concise and deep explanation. Let’s break it down.
How Freemasonry teaches the principles and lessons is unique to Freemasonry.
While you can find stories and symbols throughout both ancient and modern times that teaches you how to live a better life, but the way we do it is specific to the Craft. Different methodologies will have some or multiple elements, but only Freemasonry encompasses these all:
The Degree Ceremonies, as a Candidate:
These are stories but also plays where as a Candidate, you are the hero and main character. Except, you don’t know any of the lines, and everyone else does. It’s just like the TV Show, Thank God You’re Here. These are experiences which you can only understand and appreciate by going through them, it is the journey, not the result that what makes these special.The Degree Ceremonies, as an Officer or Presenter
Taking on the role of being part of the performance of a degree puts enormous emphasis on having to learn the lines in the “play”. This is in turn, forcing you to learn and understand the lessons and principles of the degree, continually reinforcing them to you so that over time as you learn your part, it sinks in and you can then apply it.
There is also the fundamental element that by learning to perform the different roles in the ceremonies, and gradually taking on larger parts, you are developing your ability to learn new things with abstract meaning. You are gradually building your self-confidence by having to do something in a live environment in front of an audience. Also its important to learn how to deal with setbacks when you ‘stumble’. Needing a prompt or making mistakes are part of life and being able to pick yourself up (with the help of your brethren) is important to anything in life.The Degree Ceremonies, as an Observer
We call them rituals because its how the values of the morality, the principles and lessons of the craft are taught. By continually reinforcing them to you every time you see the degree performed, a lecture or discussion in lodge about these lessons. Freemasonry defines your moral and ethical code and reinforces it constantly to you through the ceremonies and the routines of coming to lodge - these make it transformative.Degree Advancement
Advancing through each degree isn’t easy nor it should be easy either.
The value of Degree advancement is because it’s difficult. To achieve this it requires discipline and it’s designed to change your self-identification to be someone who can stick with difficult tasks for the greater good (improving your life). Making daily progress in masonic knowledge to be able to demonstrate proficiency in your current degree to qualify for advancement demonstrates to yourself that you are someone who can take on new things, stick with them over a period of time in order to achieve something. This value is lost today in the “next day delivery for online shopping” environment.
Each of the Degrees are also giving you all the theoretical lessons you need in life, but you still need to learn to apply them. You can do this through points 2 and 3 above as well as point 5 below.Progressive Office as Leadership
Going through your lodges progressive office is a leadership program which teaches you how to lead, project manage, meet customer expectations and work in a team environment. You also have to do this with people of all kinds of demographics, skill and knowledge levels. The hardest part about leading in a lodge environment is you are leading a difficult team. Unlike at work, where you can fire an employee who doesn’t perform their duties well, you can’t fire your Brother! You are expected to support them, help them and love them regardless.
This is also a key part of the discipline, values and planning aspects of life.Community & Environment.
While you can absolutely get the previous 5 elements from all different areas and activities. You can read books, watch youtube videos, go to seminars, take courses and join clubs. There is no where else you can be part of a supportive community, participate in a supportive environment that encompasses them all of these elements into a structured program designed for entire lifetime on this earth.
Freemasonry provides the entire ecosystem to build a deep and meaningful life that constantly transforms you through continuous development and growth. While using simpler and modern words may make it easier to comprehend, there is no more concise way of explaining what Freemasonry is except for A peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
However, I say comprehend for a reason. No explanation how simple, modern or concise can give anyone an understanding of what Freemasonry is. You can only understand it once you start living it. But, in order to convince good men to take the step to understanding Masonry by living it, we need to explain it in simple terms like A unique Education on life principles & lessons taught through stories & images.
-So Mote It Be