"Masonry is a secret society. We take obligations of secrecy.
Yet books are printed about Masonry, and even part of the
ritual is in print in the Monitor. How am I to know what I can
tell and what I cannot?"
Many a newly-made Mason has asked, and not always is the
answer intelligent.
Masonry is not "a secret society" but "a society with secrets."
A secret society is one in which the membership, aims and
ideals are unknown. There is no secret about who is, and
who is not, a Freemason. Lodges publish their rosters. Many
Grand Lodges publish the names of their members in annual
Proceedings. The world at large knows that the aims and
ideals of Freemasonry are religious, charitable, friendly,
fraternal.
What is secret in Freemasonry is well phrased in the ninth
Landmark as adopted by the Grand Lodge of New Jersey:
"The legend of the third degree; the means of recognition;
the methods of conferring degrees; the obligations of those
degrees and the ballot of every brother are, and must
continue to be, inviolably secret."
In general, do not talk Masonry except with Masons. But do
not get the idea that an intelligent question from a non-
Mason may, not receive an intelligent answer, except it be
on the matters above expressed. That a Masonic Lodge has
an Altar, that its Master wears a hat, that brethren wear
aprons, that a tiler stands at the door, are not "secrets" in
any sense of the word. The "esoteric work" (non-printed
portions of the ritual) is secret, inasmuch as it is a part of the
"methods of conferring degrees." Common sense and a
decent reserve will guide any Mason in what he should and
should not say regarding the Order.
"Our tiler stands at the door to keep off 1cowans and
evesdroppers.' What is a cowan? And what possible chance
has any 'evesdropper' of 'evesdropping' at the tiler's door?"
"Cowan" is an old Scotch word, meaning an ignorant Mason
who put stones together without mortar, or piled rough
stones from the field into a wall without working them square
and true. He is a Mason without the Word; the Apprentice
who tries to masquerade as a Master. The evesdropper in
ancient times was that would-be thief of secrets who listened
under the eves of houses (the walls and roofs did not always
meet, in order to provide ventilation). Because to hear he
had to get close to the wall under the eves, he received the
droppings from the roof, if it rained-hence, evesdropper. In
modern times the evesdropper is that bold man who forges a
good standing card, or finds one and masquerades as its
owner; the man who has read a so-called "expose" of
Masonry and tries to get into a Lodge, in order to ask for
charity or help. He is very rare, and few tilers have ever met
him! The cowan, however - the Fellowcraft or Entered
Apprentice stopped for cause, the onetime member in good
standing who is now dropped for one cause or another -
these not infrequently try to pass the tiler.
Certain words and phrases are so peculiarly Masonic and so
well understood by older brethren, that surprise follows a
request for a definition from a newly-made brother. Yet "Free
and Accepted," "Due Form," "Ample Form," "just and legally
(or lawfully) constituted," "Entered Apprentice," "Jurisdiction,"
"Legal (or lawful) Masonic information" are not in themselves
self explanatory.
"Why are we called 'Free and Accepted" Masons?" may be
answered at some length; briefly, the word goes back at
least to early Rome, when workmen formed associations or
guilds, called collegia. Many of these became so politically
powerful that the attempt was made to restrict them. An
exception was made of the college of builders, since. Rome
could not exist or expand without this Craft. These, then,
were "free" of the restrictive laws which constrained other
collegia.
In the middle ages, and during the rise of Gothic
architecture, there were two distinct varieties of Masons - the
Guild Masons, who, like the Guild Carpenters, or the Guild
Weavers, were local in character and strictly regulated by
law, and the Masons who traveled "in foreign countries" and
from city to city, there to erect the magnificent cathedrals of
Europe. These were "free" - from local laws and from the
Guild laws. It is from these operative Masons that modern
Freemasonry came - hence we are Freemasons, not just
Masons.
As the operative Freemasons grew in power and prestige,
they became more than builders; they were artists,
scientists, mathematicians, poets, leaders. In ages when
education was difficult to get and educated men few and far
between, it was natural that those who were studious should
like to consort with their kind. Many wanted to become
Freemasons, but not to be builders in stone.. Hence the
practice grew of taking in non-operatives - men who were
"accepted" into the Order. As modern Freemasons are not
now operative Masons, the Order adopted this word, too,
and so we are "Free and Accepted Masons" almost
universally.
'What is the distinction between due form and ample form?"
A Lodge is opened and closed-by its Master "in due form,"
meaning according to the ancient usages and customs, the
laws and ritual, of its Grand Lodge. When the Grand Master
opens and closes a Grand Lodge (or a particular Lodge) he
is said to do so in "ample form." In some jurisdictions the
Grand Master will shorten the common ritual, to save time,
but his power and authority are "ample" to accomplish his
purpose, regardless of the manner in which he does it.
In some jurisdictions the phrase "due examination" is used in
referring to one of the methods of obtaining legal or lawful
Masonic information. "Due examination" specifies the
manner of such an examination; that it be conducted with
due caution, and according to all the regulations of the
Grand Lodge.
"What is 'just and legally (or lawfully) constituted'? Are any
Lodges not 'just and legally (or lawfully) constituted'?"
A Lodge is " just" - meaning complete, properly organized,
legally entitled to conduct Masonic business-when the
statutory number of brethren are present, when it has the
proper furniture (the Great Lights), when its Charter is
present, and when it has been opened by the Master, or in
his absence, the proper Warden. A Lodge is "legally
constituted" when it has been "constituted, consecrated and
dedicated" by a recognized and Masonically legal Grand
Lodge; also, when it has been opened after notice to the
brethren, if a Special, and according to the by-laws, if a
Stated, meeting.
Some Lodges occasionally are neither just nor legally
constituted. Opening without the lawful number of brethren
present, opening without a Charter in the room, or with the
Great Lights absent, makes a Lodge other than "just."
Clandestine Lodges are never legally constituted. That which
has no real existence cannot give real existence to its
offspring. Any group of men may assemble, call themselves
a Grand Lodge, proceed to issue documents which they call
Charters to other bodies of men which they call Lodges. But
the act does not make the result a fact. Any man may call
himself a doctor, or a lawyer, or a minister of the Gospel, but
the act does not make the claim a fact. Hence, spurious and
clandestine Grand Lodges, which purport to create Lodges,
do not, in f act, do so, and their groups, no matter how much
they may claim to be Masonic Lodges, are not, actually,
"legally constituted."
"What is the meaning of the word 'entered' when we speak
of an 'Entered Apprentice'? Is there an Apprentice who is not
'entered'?"
The word goes back to operative days. The Freemasons of
the middle ages were a select group; they were the highest
class artisans of their time. It required good health, moral
character, high intelligence, to be a good operative
Freemason and be permitted to work on the great Houses of
God which were the Freemasons' work. They were proud of
their abilities and of their reputation and strict in their rules to
foster character, probity and ability in their ranks.
To become a Freemason a young lad was required to serve
a seven-year apprenticeship, before he might ask to be
permitted to make and submit to his superiors his "Master's
Piece," and be admitted as a "Fellow of the Craft." Before he
could serve his time he had to prove himself; therefore he
served a period of time as an Apprentice. If at the end of that
period he had shown himself possessed of the necessary
qualifications of industry, character, decency and probity, he
was "entered" on the books of the Craft and became an
"Entered Apprentice."
In modern times we have no "Apprentices" without the title
"Entered," unless a petitioner, before ballot and initiation, be
considered as an Apprentice.
"I meet the word 'Jurisdiction' often in Masonic work and
publication, and it seems to have many meanings; what are
they?"
The question is right-the word has too many meanings to be
plain to the newly-raised Masons.
1. Refers to the State. The Jurisdiction of Massachusetts -
the Jurisdiction of Oregon - mean the Grand Lodges and all
the individual Lodges of those States.
2. Refers to the power of the Grand Master. He has
jurisdiction over all the Masons in his State whether they be
members of his Lodges or sojourning Masons from other
Grand Lodges.
3. Refers, in "territorial jurisdiction," to the territory over
which a Lodge has control as far as applications are
concerned. In rural districts, jurisdictional lines are tightly
drawn, that no Lodge accepts applications from men who
live within the territorial jursidiction of another Lodge. In
cities, "concurrent jurisdiction" is usual, any man being free
to apply to any Lodge within the city limits. The District of
Columbia has only concurrent jurisdiction, there being no
Lodge which has any exclusive territory.
4. Refers to the power a Lodge has over its rejected
candidates; the right to give, or withhold, permission for
'rejected material to apply, elsewhere. "Penal jurisdiction," as
this is sometimes called, varies in different Grand Lodges. In
some, it is perpetual, in others, it lapses after a certain length
of time.
"What is legal (or lawful) Masonic information?"
A question which should be explained to every new brother,
immediately on his becoming a member of a Lodge.
Legal or lawful Masonic information can be obtained in three
ways; you have "legal Masonic Information" that A. is a
Mason when you sit in a Lodge with him: When he is
vouched for to you by some one with whom you have sat in
Lodge: When he passes in your presence all examination
before a Committee appointed by the Master (or the Grand
Master).
There is no other way in which lawful Masonic information
may be obtained. A letter from your dearest friend
introducing "Brother A" as a Mason is not legal Masonic
information. The real Brother A may have lost the letter and
it be presented by a stranger. You are not at liberty to accept
an avouchment that a man is a Mason by talking over the
telephone with one who knows him to be a Mason. Unless in
his presence, and that of the man vouched for, you cannot
know that the Mr. A spoken of over the telephone is the Mr.
A you have in mind.
Nor can you legally consider your moral certainty of a man's
being a Mason as "legal Masonic information." You may
have seen him enter a Lodge. You may have seen his dues
card, his certificate, his name in Lodge records. But unless
you have sat in Lodge with him, had him vouched for by one
with whom you have sat in Lodge, or assisted yourself in a
legal examination, you cannot have "legal Masonic
information" that he is a Mason. Only by strict adherence to
these principles can Masons be sure that no cowan or
evesdropper sits in their Lodges.
"The ritual speaks of the Holy Bible as the Great Light in
Masonry. Yet I hear of the V. S. L. (Volume of Sacred Law)
and the Book of the Law. Is any other book ever on the Altar
of a Masonic Lodge beside the Bible?"
In Christian lands the holy book of the prevailing faith is the
Great Light. In American and English Lodges that book is the
Holy Bible. A Masonic Lodge cannot exist without the V. S.
L., the Book of the Law. But in lands where there are other
religions, the sacred book of those religions becomes their
Great Light. What is important is that some volume
containing divine revelation be a part of the furniture of the
Lodge. Inasmuch as Freemasonry is not concerned with
doctrine or dogma or sect or denomination, but only in "that
natural religion in which all men agree (Old Charges) it is
only necessary that the V.S.L. be sacred to the members of
the Lodge. The Bible on American Altars is not to he
considered only as a Christian or a Jewish sacred book; it is
a symbol of the revealed will and teachings of the Great
Architect of the Universe-a name under which any
Freemason can worship that Deity in Whom he puts his faith
and trust.
