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A Basic Historico-Chronological Model of the
Western
Hermetic Tradition
Some European
Initiations Today
PART VII
Today the same intellectual approach is
demonstrated in three rites which are widespread in
Europe:
- the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite
(33 Degrees);
- the Rectified Scottish Rite (6 Degrees)
and
- the Scandinavian Rite (10
Degrees).
A Candidate’s advancement through any of
these three systems is slow, sometimes occupying him in
decades of sustained effort to understand and explain the
symbols and doctrines of each successive Degree. Moreover, the
Candidates have to prove to the other, more senior members of
their Lodges their proficiency and understanding of the symbols
before they are allowed to make further progress.
In all English-speaking Constitutions, the
first three Degrees of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite
(AASR) are not worked because the ordinary three Craft Degrees are
regarded by convention in those constitutions as being their
equivalent. Besides, only sovereign Craft bodies in the
English-speaking world are allowed historically to initiate
newcomers. In fact, in terms of their symbolism the Craft Degrees
and the first three of the AASR are far from similar. The same
sort of ‘shortening’ applies to the Rectified Scottish Rite (RER).
However, all of the 10 Degrees in the Scandinavian Rite are worked
in those countries where it has been adopted. In Europe, in the
AASR, the 4th-33rd Degrees are worked fully.
In Scotland and Ireland, however, the
4th-13th Degrees and the
19th-28th Degrees are simply conferred on
appropriate Candidates by name. The
14th-18th Degrees and the
29th-33rd Degrees are worked in
extensio. In America the whole of the series
4th-33rd Degrees can be gone through in a
single weekend by Candidates who are properly qualified
residentially. In England, the 4th-17th
Degrees are conferred by name, the 18th Degree is
worked completely. Thereafter, the 19th-29th
degrees are also conferred by name for the few appropriately
qualified Candidates who are elected to the
30th-33rd Degrees in ever-more exclusive
groups. No formal proofs of competence or of doctrinal
understanding are ever exacted at any stage. The English-speaking
Constitutions tend not to take the proving of a Candidate’s
competence very seriously. Generally, they have no way of knowing
his Hermetic preparedness for further enlightenment.
This lack of intellectualising and lack of
intensity in spirituality in the English-speaking masonic world
can be seen even more markedly in the admission ceremonies and
procedures as practised on the Continent. The Hermetic themes of
the European rites can be illustrated by referring in some detail
to current French and Dutch rituals for their First Degrees. The
Scandinavian system, superimposed on the basic Craft ritual, is
controlled rigorously. It is entirely Christian in symbolism and
much more complex but it is almost impossible for ‘outsiders’ to
be accorded the privilege of examining those rituals even for the
purposes of academic study.
There are at least seven varieties of
masonic Initiation practised in France in the three major
Obediences: the Grand Orient de France, the Grand Loge
de France and the (regular) Grand Loge Nationale de France
(the GNLF:
- a 18th century Russian
ritual;
- a Ukrainian ritual;
- two varieties of an 18th
century northern French ritual;
- the Rectified Scottish Rite, referred to
generally as the RER (Rite Ecossais Rectifie), which has
nothing to do with Scotland I assure you but which can be worked
by any Lodge who wish to use it;
- the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
(AASR, the first three Degrees are worked in those Lodges which
so chose) and
- a reasonably new French ritual which
differs only slightly from the previous two ceremonies.
The situation is further complicated by the
fact that most Lodges in the three Obediences are empowered by the
terms of their Charters to work the first three Degrees in any or
all of the RER, the AASR or the new standard French rite. So a
particular Lodge may decide to work say a First Degree from the
RER at one of its public meetings, and the Brother who is thus
initiated must wait until the next open meeting at which a Second
Degree in the same series is being worked. Meanwhile, the Lodge
may have decided to work a different Degree in one of the other
Rites. It sounds complicated and it certainly lends plenty of
variety.
Some of the crucial differences between
English speculative Freemasonry and the main Continental varieties
that are current, especially comparing the different qualities of
the ‘lived-through’ Hermetic experience which they provide, might
be best understood by using the metaphor of taking a train
journey. A freemason who has completed the basic three Degrees may
want to make further progress in developing his understanding. In
England, to achieve this extra ‘insight’ he will have to join 14
separate Orders, each with its Grand Master and hierarchy,
its administration, headquarters, rituals, traditions, doctrines
and ‘secrets’. It is as if he were taking a long train journey and
he would not only has to change trains but even change lines and
directions. On the Continent, however, there are no such ‘branch
lines’. It is one continuous journey and if he were to get off at
one station, to rest up before continuing, then he can wait
around. The next train will come along eventually travelling along
the same line and, climbing on board, he can proceed further
towards his destination at his own rate. Generally speaking, there
are no separate Orders and so, within his Lodge, there are
opportunities to develop his spiritual quest in a sequence that is
more or less continuous. It is this very continuity that assists
the practice of Hermetic exploration in European Lodges whereas
the disjointed systems in England, which arose largely because of
historical decisions taken in 1813, militate against that
continuous ‘adventure’.
When a Candidate, known as a ‘profane’ [=
‘uninitiated’], is to be considered by a French Lodge for
Initiation his Proposer and Seconder have to speak separately to
the members, at one of the private [= ‘closed’ or business]
meetings, explaining
- why they think that he would make a good
freemason and
- why they would like him to be initiated
in that particular Lodge.
They can, and usually are, questioned
closely by the members about their Candidate’s qualities. If
everything seems to be in order, the Master appoints two other
members of the Lodge (who do not know the Candidate already and
who are usually Past Masters of the Lodge) to interview him
separately in his own home in order to
- question him as to the reasons why
he wants to be made a freemason (note not to just join the
particular Lodge);
- make certain that he has the total
support of his wife and the rest of his family in that
intention.
The two commissioned Brethren report back to
the Lodge at the next ‘closed’ meeting and they can be, and again
they often are, questioned closely by the Brethren about their two
interviews. It is only then, when the reports are deemed
satisfactory by the Lodge, that a vote is taken as to whether ‘Mr
A. B.’ shall be ‘heard under the hoodwink’. If that vote is
favourable, the Secretary is asked by the Master to write
officially to the Candidate inviting him to attend on the evening
of the next ‘closed’ meeting of the Lodge.
On that occasion, the Candidate is kept in a
completely bare room where he can have no contact with freemasons
or sight of anything masonic. In due course, the Master of
Ceremonies comes to him, blindfolds him and leads him into the
Temple where he is seated on a chair in the centre of the room.
The Brethren and the officers are seated in the respective places
around him. The Master then asks him any questions he wishes
(there is no set pattern) regarding his desire to be made a
freemason and then invites any member of the Lodge who wishes to
do so to question him. Often there are such unscripted questions
put to the Candidates who are expected to answer as fully and as
sincerely as possible. When everyone is satisfied, the Master of
Ceremonies is commanded by the Master to lead the Candidate out of
the Temple, back to the adjacent waiting room, where he removes
the hoodwink, thanks him for attending and tells him that in due
course he will hear from the Lodge. He is told then that he can
leave the building. After the Candidate has left and the Master of
Ceremonies has returned to report his leaving, a vote is taken as
to whether ‘Mr A. B.’ should be initiated. If the vote is
favourable, he is made a freemason at the next available ‘open’
meeting of the Lodge.
When an approved Candidate arrives for his
Initiation he is left alone, seated in the small adjacent waiting
room. It is dimly lit and is known now as the Chamber of
Reflection. It is devoid of any decoration and of any furniture
apart from a chair and a small table that is covered completely
with a black cloth. On the table are placed a skull and cross
bones (the traditional ‘emblems of mortality’), two sheets of
paper and a pen. On one sheet he has been instructed by the Master
of Ceremonies to write and date his answers to the four questions
that are printed thereon. The questions are intended to stimulate
and clarify - for him and for others - the state of his current
spiritual preparedness for Initiation. They are quite revealing
pieces of evidence of the Hermetic process taken to
underlie the whole procedure and its ideational thrust:
- What is Man’s duty to his Creator?
- What is Man’s duty to himself?
- What is a man’s duty to his fellow
mortals?
- What is a man’s duty to his ‘Mother
Country’?
On the other blank sheet which is blank he
has been instructed to write legibly and date his Testament in
which he must emphasise the spiritual and philosophical aspects of
his life to date.
After a suitable interval, someone collects
the two sheets, takes all money and other metals from him (metals
are thought to be spiritual pollutants and perhaps they hinder or
deflect his further progress). He is told to wait there. The two
sheets are presented formally to the Master who reads what the
Candidate has written aloud to the assembled Brethren. A
discussion as to their merits follows and if the Brethren are
satisfied the ceremony can continue. I have known of Candidates
being rejected at this stage because their present state of
spiritual preparedness for Initiation was considered by the Lodges
to be lacking.
The Candidate is prepared physically in the
usual masonic manner in the Chamber of Reflection by of the Master
of Ceremonies. He is blindfolded and a long cord is tied around
his waist in such a way that it hangs down in front. He learns
later that this is a symbol of the umbilical cord that is the last
tie with the profane world of darkness that he is about to leave
forever. In other words, he has been figuratively entombed in a
chamber deep underground and is about to die to the outside world
and be reborn into a new life. This theme of rebirth is one of the
most crucial in this Degree but it follows a Candidate throughout
his masonic career in various guises. Therefore, he must be
purified by the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. When he
is led into the Temple, he is made to bend almost double as he has
supposedly just passed through the Earth on his pilgrimage from
the underground Chamber of Reflection. In other words,
symbolically he emerges from a hole in the ground and this is the
first purification: that by earth.
The Candidate is led to stand in the west of
the Temple between the Wardens and facing east. After a prayer to
‘The Great Architect of the Universe’, the Master tells the
Candidate those duties that will be demanded of him as a
freemason:
- the maintenance of complete silence about
anything which he may hear or discern in the Lodge;
- the vanquishing of all of those passions
which dishonour the man who succumbs to them;
- the obedience to the rules, regulations
and constitutions of the Order.
Before he can proceed any further, the
Master tells the Candidate that he must take a solemn oath to
fulfil these duties using a sacred chalice. If he is sincere, he
may drink from it without fear. If he is insincere or unsure,
however, then he should put the chalice aside. Not to put it aside
at that stage and to continue will have disastrous results for him
later. He fears not and so drinks the pure water contained
therein. He takes the oath administered by the Master phrase by
phrase and then, at the Master’s command, he drinks from the
chalice again. This time, however, the liquid is bitter because
unknown to the Candidate the Master of Ceremonies standing nearby
has quietly added strong vinegar. The Master explains to
him:
the bitter taste that the contents of
the cup may have left on your lips proves that in all human
intentions, however pure they may be, there is always a
particle of curiosity and
egoism.
The cup is put aside by the Master of
Ceremonies and at a single knock from the Master he is led
clockwise around the Temple on the first of three symbolic
journeys during which he is purified by the remaining three
elements.
The first of his journeys is accompanied
throughout by loud stamping of feet and the clashing of swords by
the Brethren seated in the north and south Columns. This tumult is
a symbol of the inherent discord that prevails constantly in the
profane world that he is about to leave. He is led over a large
wooden board placed flat on the floor. This board has irregularly
sized blocks of wood stuck on it at irregular intervals. These
will cause him to stumble, thus signifying to him the hard road
that he has to travel through the rest of his mortal existence.
Further round the Temple, he is led up a sloping wooden board. He
falls off the upper end on to the floor thus bringing him to the
earth through the air in a rush. This symbolises his purification
by air.
When the Candidate arrives to stand in his
place between the Wardens in the west, the Master explains to him
that his first journey is emblematic of
- the life of Man generally;
- the conflict of opposing endeavours
and
- the difficulty of overcoming the many
obstacles that are placed (often deliberately) in his path by
enemies.
The Candidate’s second journey is
accompanied by the clash of the Brethren’s swords (as before). On
reaching the pedestal of the Senior Warden, his right hand is
grabbed by one of the Deacons and plunged three times into a large
metal bowl of water held by the Master of Ceremonies. This is
meant to represent to him the purification by water. The bowl is
removed and he is positioned to face the east again. The Master
then explains to him that the second journey presented much less
difficulty as there were no hidden obstacles being placed in front
of him and then he tells him:
It is thus in life; the obstacles
disappear little by little under the steps of him who
perseveres in the path of
virtue.
Nevertheless, he is not yet totally
delivered from the battle that he is obliged to fight in order to
triumph over his passions and those of his fellow mortals. Those
conflicts were symbolised by the clashing of the
swords.
The third journey is accomplished in
complete silence. The Candidate has now quitted the profane world
and he is about to penetrate into that realm that only true
initiates are allowed to enter. As he is led round the Temple, he
passes once again in front of the Junior Warden’s pedestal and
suddenly a naked flame of fire is shot quickly across his face.
That symbolises his final purification, by fire.
When the Candidate is repositioned between
the Wardens, the Master expresses admiration for the courage he
has shown. He tells him, however, that his trials are not yet
ended for the day may come when he could even be called upon to
shed his blood in defence of the Order to which he seeks
admission. The Master demands:
Are you prepared to make such a
sacrifice and have you the necessary courage to give us proof
of this other than by words? If so, you must seal your oath
with your own blood shed before us. Brother Surgeon, do your
duty!
One of the Brethren, equipped with a carving
knife and a butcher’s sharpening steel, comes to stand close to
the Candidate and proceeds to sharpen the knife. The rest of the
Brethren cry out in unison:
Mercy, Venerable Master! The blood of a man
is too precious to be wasted!
The Master responds:
So be it, if the Brethren desire. But
remember that if you are called upon to shed your blood, let
it be for a just and sacred
cause.
The Master then informs the Candidate that a
painful and indispensable operation must be performed,
nevertheless: that of being branded with the red hot seal of the
Order burnt into his flesh. When the Candidate gives his consent,
his bare left arm is grabbed and held tightly and to it the ice
cold seal of the Order is applied quickly and forcibly. It has
been brought forward solemnly by the Master of Ceremonies on a
cushion from its place below the Master’s pedestal or Altar at the
precise moment.
The seal and cushion are put aside and the
Master of Ceremonies instructs the Candidate soto voce how
to approach the Altar in the east by taking three slow equal
strides forward. On reaching the dais, he is told soto voce
to kneel on both knees, to support in both hands an open copy
of the VSL (it is always opened at the first chapter of the Gospel
according to St John). In that position he repeats the Obligation
phrase by phrase following the Master’s careful annunciation.
After that and still blindfolded, he is raised and led back to
stand between the Wardens in the west facing east again. There is
his instructed to keel again on both knees. Meanwhile, one of the
Brethren has left his seat on one of the Columns, taken off his
sword and regalia, lies down on the steps to the dais and is
covered by a ‘blood’-stained cloth by the Master of Ceremonies.
Two other Brethren then leave their seats and come to stand at the
head and feet of the ‘body’ pointing their swords at it.
Meanwhile, the Master of Ceremonies has lit two candles, placed
one at the head and the other at the feet while the general
lighting in the Temple is lowered to almost complete darkness. The
rest of the Brethren have also left their seats quietly and have
come to stand near to the Candidate and to point their swords
directly at him. The hoodwink is removed quickly from the
Candidate so that he can now see the corpse in the east and also
the surrounding circle of sharp Swords pointing directly at him.
From somewhere in the surrounding gloom he now hears a solemn
voice exclaiming:
Woe to him who violates his word! Woe to
him who seeks to enter where he has not right to go! Woe to
him who is unworthy of the confidence placed in
him!
The Master then stands behind the Altar
facing west and the Candidate whom he addresses thus:
These pale funereal lights are sombre
fires emphasising the retribution that waits each miserable
purjurer. These swords, pointed towards your breast, indicate
the number of irreconcilable enemies ever ready to pierce your
heart should you ever violate your solemn Obligation. In
whatever corner of the Earth you may hide yourself, seeking
safety, however important a position you may occupy in the
outside world, never will you find shelter. The whole world
over, the news of your criminal perjury and of your
renouncement will forestall you, spreading like lightning and
wherever you may be, the hand of vengeance will reach you and
right fearful will be your
punishment!
At a discrete signal from the Master of
Ceremonies the Brethren replace their swords and stand aside.
There is an even more dramatic variation of this used in Greece
where the Brethren, at the appropriate point in the ceremony, have
quickly attached balls of cotton wool soaked in methylated spirits
to the points of their swords and then ignited them. When his
blindfold is taken off the poor Candidate is confronted suddenly
with a most disconcerting circle of flaming swords pointing at
him!
The Candidate is told quietly to stand. The
Master of Ceremonies extinguishes the two candles on the steps to
the dais, puts them aside and the general lighting in the Temple
is raised. The Master the commands that the Candidate can now
withdraw in order to regain his personal comforts. He is led out
into the Chamber of Reflection where he adjusts his clothing. Once
again, however, he is blindfolded and led back into the
Temple.
Meanwhile, the ‘body’ on the steps to the
dais has been removed and the Brethren (including the Master and
the Wardens) have formed a large circle on the floor of the Temple
holding hands but with their arms crossed and facing inwards. A
space has been left for the Candidate and he is brought to stand
in his now ‘usual’ place in the west. The Master then addresses
the Candidate thus:
I ask you one last question. You have
known many men and perhaps have enemies. If you should find
any in this Lodge, or amongst other freemasons, would you be
willing to extend the hand of friendship and forget the
past?
If and only if the Candidate replies in the
affirmative without any prompting, the blindfold is removed. The
Master then says to him:
It is not only face to face that you
meet the enemies that are mostly to be feared. Look behind
you!
The Candidate turns as he is bidden and
there he sees his own Proposer and his Seconder have been
approaching him silently from behind coming from out of the
shadows. They each greet him with the customary fraternal embrace
of three kisses and then tell him to join the Chain of Union with
them as a Brother, holding hands with crossed arms.
That done, the Master addresses him
thus:
Our hands unite you to us and to the
altar of Truth. The hand-clasps confirm that we shall not
forsake you as long as you maintain as sacred Truth, Justice,
Discretion and Brotherly Love. Brethren, break the
Chain!
The Brethren do so and all retake their
seats leaving the Candidate standing in the west. He is led to the
east where he is told by them to kneel on both knees. The Master
leaves his throne and comes forward to stand over the kneeling
Candidate, bringing his sword in his left hand and his gavel in
his right. He holds the sword at an angle over the Candidate’s
head while he says:
To the Glory of TGAOTU and in the name
and under the auspices of the … Grand Lodge, I hereby make
[taps the Candidate’s right shoulder once with the blade of
his sword], create [taps his left shoulder with the sword as
before] and constitute you [taps his head as before] an
Entered Apprentice in the First Degree of the … Rite and as a
member of this Worshipful and Worthy Lodge, regularly
constituted in the Province of … under the number … and named
…
Then still touching the Candidate’s head
with the flat blade of his sword, he gives the blade three sharp
blows in the rhythm of the First Degree using his gavel, thus:
xxx, xxx, xxx. The Master retakes his seat taking his sword and
gavel with him. The new-made Brother is raised to his feet and
placed in the north-east corner of the Temple where they leave him
(to retake their seats in the north and south Columns
respectively, their work being done now) and where the Master of
Ceremonies awaits him to teach him soto voce how to make
the Sign, give the Grip or Token and exchange the Word of the
First Degree. The new Brother is made to practice these several
times until the Master of Ceremonies, aware that everyone else is
watching him tutor his new charge, is satisfied with his
performance.
There are several features that are
different to English practices and they merit some
explanation.
- By this stage in the ceremony, there has
been a more subtle emphasis than in the English basic masonic
ceremonies on the fact that the Hermetic exploration starts and
ends in the heart of the individual. This has been done
systematically using sense impressions thereby stressing a
candidate’s individuality and the ardour and strength that will
be required in pursuing that exploration. This is accomplished
by
- seating him in isolation in the Chamber
of Reflection and obliging him to write his own
philosophy of life;
- ‘abusing’ his five senses thus – his
sight (by blindfolding him); his hearing (with the clashing of
the swords; his touch (by having him stumble during one of the
perambulations and later to feel the impress of the seal on his
skin); his taste (by having his drink water than vinegar) and
then his sense of smell (by passing a naked flame near to his
nostrils)
- making the Working Tools which he has to
carry during his perambulations quite large and therefore very
heavy to carry in one hand.
- Another clearly Hermetic feature is the
emphasis on the perambulations. This serves to reinforce the
concept to the Candidate that, by becoming a freemason, he is
starting out on a journey, a pilgrimage, one that requires
patience, tenacity, courage, self-reliance and trust.
- Even though the Sign is the same as in
England, the Word is that of the English Second Degree. The
reason for this is simple. France acquired its Freemasonry from
English immigrants in the very early 1730s at a time when the
Premier Grand Lodge in London felt itself driven (by certain
circumstances that were largely beyond its control) to reverse
the Words of the First and Second Degrees. France merely copied
what was then the current English practice. However, England
later relented and then changed the Words back to their original
order. European Lodges, however, did not make the sudden change
back. This means that they are now ‘out of step’ with the
current English practice, though it ought to be remembered that
for a time in the mid-18th century in England the
present Second Degree Word was adopted temporarily as the First
Degree Word and visa versa.
- In France, and indeed in most of the rest
of Europe, the Words of the Degrees are never given at
length, are always lettered and are never spoken
aloud. The new Brother is instructed by the Master of Ceremonies
that whenever he may be asked for the word of a Degree, he must
respond to the inquirer:
I can neither read nor write. Give me
the first letter and I will give you the
second.
And he must wait for that first letter
before going any further in the exchange.
- The Grip or Token is given more or less
as is done now in England except that the thumb is used to give
a pressure in the rhythm of the knocks of the Degree.
The detailed instruction complete, the
Master of Ceremonies conducts the new Brother to a seat that has
been reserved for him at the west end of the south Column near to
the Junior Warden. You will have noted that there is no
investiture of an apron at this stage. The newly created freemason
simply has to purchase his own Apprentice apron from the Secretary
of the Lodge in time for the next meeting which he is entitled to
attend.
There is one final intriguing piece of
ritual which completes the ceremony of Initiation. The Master then
calls on the Lodge Orator, usually a distinguished Past Master, to
address the Lodge and particularly the newly created Brother on
the symbols and their meaning. The Orator is regarded as the
custodian of the teaching of the Rite. His speech is termed ‘un
morceau d’architecture’ [‘a little piece of architecture or
stonework’] and it relates to the interpretation of the symbolism
of the Degree that has been worked. The content and length vary
considerably. The depth of their understanding displayed therein
is often profound. They are not learned nor recited. They are
delivered extempore and so are a real test of the Orator’s
skill and understanding. In the 18th and
19th centuries the French Lodges laid great emphasis on
these orations and collections of the better ones were printed and
sold to raise funds for the Lodges. Fortunately, there is one
published edition of these orations which is more easily
accessible than most. It is preserved in the Morison Collection
(item no. 520) and is a 1807 collection which had been prepared by
the members of the Loge des Chevaliers de la Croix de St Jean
in the early 1800s. These texts are sometimes quite long and
involved, but they make fascinating reading for they show not only
how those freemasons conceived of their Freemasonry but also how
their interpretations of the symbology developed over the
years.
That is not the end of the new freemason’s
ordeals. Before he can be accepted by the whole Lodge for
promotion into the Second Degree, he has to learn an extended
catechism by heart and write and read aloud to the Lodge members a
paper of his own compilation in which he outlines two
features:
- what the Initiation ceremony has meant to
him, particularly what has he learned about its symbols
and
- what differences in his everyday life, in
the profane world outside, being a freemason has made to
him.
The Brethren will sit in judgement on the
manner in which he responds to the set questions. Once again, he
can and will be questioned about this essay and I have known some
Brethren how have been rejected by their Lodges as not having made
sufficient progress in their understand. I knew one member who
waited four years before he felt he had acquired sufficient
understand to present himself for ‘higher wages’.
The new standard Dutch Initiation ceremony
is broadly similar. There are, however, no swords for the Brethren
(though the Master and Wardens retain theirs). There is the heavy
emphasis placed on the spirituality of the Candidate’s progression
from profane darkness into enlightenment. There are the three same
journeys though they are given slightly different interpretations.
The first journey round the Temple is meant to teach to the
Candidate about the stumbling blocks that lie in himself, that a
Brother will invariably protect him and so give him wisdom.
The second journey, which terminates with the hand-washing, is
meant to teach him about the battle of life and the need for a
determined application of strength and that the cleansing
of himself is essential if he is to pursue his way towards the
light. In the third journey he symbolically attains beauty
but without the assistance of anyone else. He is able to
achieve that because he already has acquired both wisdom and
strength during the previous journeys.
There is also the Chain of Union and the
method using the sword and the gavel by the Master to actually
create the new Brother. In Dutch Craft Lodges, however, it is the
Master himself who teaches the new member about the sign, token
and word. There is also an investiture of an apron and a
presentation of two pairs of white gloves: one for himself and the
other for she who stands highest in his estimation.
At the end of the ceremony and at the
Master’s command, the new member is taken by the Junior Warden to
perform his allotted tasks on the Rough Ashlar, a huge rough hewn
stone placed near to the Junior Warden in the south west corner of
the Temple.
- He has to learn and give the knocks of
the First Degree on the Rough Ashlar using in turn the Maul, the
Chisel and the Measuring Rule. All of these Working Tools are
very large and quite heavy to handle. The knocks have to be done
thus: xxx, xxx, xxx each time. Thus the new member is taught how
to knock 27 times in all on the Rough Ashlar which is a symbol
of his own soul – strong, dependable but as yet unfitted for
lining up with the Smooth Ashlars (the other Brethren who have
progressed before him) to form part of the wall of a spiritual
Temple. Hence, symbolically he is at work already on his own
personality. The significance of the number of those knocks is
explained only later to the new Brother thus: 27 = 2 + 7 = 9 = 3
x 3, a triple trinity!
- measuring of the exposed length, breadth
and height of the Rough Ashlar using the Square, the Compasses
and the Ruler. These implements are also huge and, purposely,
are quite difficult to handle. That difficulty itself is
intended to be instructional. Thus the new Brother is taught how
to measure the Rough Ashlar in three directions using each of
the three Working Tools. This makes 27 different measurements so
the significant number 27 makes yet another appearance.
The last interesting feature of the Dutch
ritual is its extended catechism. At the end of his Initiation,
the newly made freemason is handed a card on which is printed a
catechism of no less than 48 questions and answers! It shows the
range and complexity of the symbolism which each new member is
expected to cope with in his initial stages. The new Brother is
really tested on them all at a ‘closed’ meeting of the Lodge. He
is brought to a chair placed in the centre of the Temple near to a
‘Broken Column’, a particularly potent symbol in most Continental
Freemasonry which refers to the destruction of King Solomon’s
Temple in antiquity and hence to the urgency and continuing nature
of the freemason’s task in this world. Surrounded by the silent
figures of the listening members of his Lodge, the Entered
Apprentice has to give his answers to the Master’s questions:
confidently, without stumbling and (above all) with sincerity.
Then he is asked to leave and the discussion about his merits as a
Candidate for the Second Degree are discussed. If everyone is
satisfied with the evident progress that he has made, then a vote
is taken and if that is favourable he is invited in writing to
present himself at the next available ‘open’ meeting when a Second
Degree is to be performed. A similar exhaustive ‘testing’ has to
be completed successfully before he will be allowed to proceed to
his Third Degree.
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