The Lost "Dirty" Word of Freemasonry

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners

As the Area Education Officer for the Eastern Area of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, I have the distinct pleasure to serve on the Committee for Masonic Education for the Grand Lodge.  In order to better serve the membership and also to hopefully give perspective to the Grand Lodge line, I came up with a Masonic Education Survey.  I limited the result set to 1000 respondents, which I didn't think we'd come close to reaching.  I am pleased to say that I was wrong.  

We were able to reach that number, and the results bore out one main thing to me.  When asked: "Of the below topics, select the one that you would be most interested in learning more about:

The History of Freemasonry

The History of Our Ritual

American Masonic History

Self-Improvement (Learning non-Masonic skills to improve our Member's lives)

Contemplative Masonry (Basic Applications of Mindfulness and Meditation guided by Masonic Ritual)

The History of the Grand Lodge of Illinois

The Deeper Meaning behind our Symbols and Ritual"  

The Deeper Meaning behind our Symbols and Ritual garnered 510 responses out of 968 responses (32 responders did not respond to the question). 

Personally, when I think about learning the deeper meanings behind our symbols and ritual, one word comes to mind.  That word is Esoteric.  In and of itself, the definition of Esoteric is: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.  I pulled this definition directly from Google for anyone who wants to check it.  

In his work: Defining Esotericism from a Masonic Perspective, WB Shawn Eyer states that: 

"Freemasons have historically used the term in three ways, denoting: 

1. Any of the elements of the Masonic ritual or lectures which are considered secret (i.e., matters reserved for the confines of a tiled lodge, or material that is not “monitorial,” as American Masons might say). 

2. Any of the meanings which seem to be implicit, more by design than accident, within the Masonic symbolism, ritual and lectures. 

3. Any of the subjects generally included under the rubric of “Western Esotericism,” including kabbalah, alchemy, hermeticism and other mystical pursuits which gained in popularity during the Renaissance period."   

However, I have to wonder if I had used Esoteric or Esoteric Studies in the survey if the results would have been similar.  I believe that probably would not be the case.  In certain Masonic circles, Esoteric or any derivative of the word causes heads to spin faster then Linda Blair's character:Regan MacNeil in the movie: "The Exorcist".  It might also cause a reaction like Regan's when she vomits a vile green substance all over poor Father Damien Karras. In any case, I think you get the picture.  

The human species seems to generally fear the unknown.  The psychological term for this is "Xenophobia".  This is the tendency to be afraid of something you have no information about on any level.  In some people, this fear can make them intensely upset or anxious when they encounter an unknown or unfamiliar situation.  When this occurs, you are said to have developed a state of mind called "Intolerance of Uncertainity".  When such fears are not managed, they can be manifested into racist, homophobic, or xenophobic (fear or hatred of foreigners) beliefs.  It should come then as no surprise that in context with Freemasonry, when the word Esoteric is mentioned, it can cause strong emotions to come forward. 

I've heard concepts that seem innocuous to me like the Chamber of Reflection (as illustrated above under my name) labelled as "Satanic" by other brethren.  The outcry which is normally being put forward is that such ideas have no place in a Masonic Lodge, even though the whole second section of the Third Degree serves the same purpose as the Chamber of Reflection as it is intended to inculcate similar ideas regarding one's mortality and immortality upon the mind of the candidate.  Nevermind that. Many of the same brethren who gnash their teeth, hit their breasts, and tear their hair out over this concept had no problem using one as part of the Knight's Templar degrees. You know, that Masonic appendant organization that requires an oath to protect and defend the Christian faith of it's membership.  I'd ask those brethren why if it's "Satanic" in the Blue Lodge, it is okay in the "Christian" Knight's Templar?  One can only imagine what labels these brethren would give the subjects of kabbalah, alchemy, hermeticism, rosicrucianism, etc. all.  Could we see their heads explode like Darryl Revok's head in the movie: "Scanners"? 

I'm being facetious of course.  The point I'm belaboring is that based upon a limited sample size, over half of the brethren of Illinois that replied to the survey seem to have interest in learning Esoteric concepts as it relates to the second of WB Eyer's definition of Estoteric above.  I can only speak for myself, but when I joined Freemasonry and advanced through the degrees, I wanted to know why things were done.  I know I was given explanations but they were to me unsatisfactory. I have always wanted to know the unknown.  Instead of fearing it, I wanted to embrace it.   I wanted to believe desperately that there was something, some knowledge, or some purpose behind what I just experienced.  Thus, my journey into Esoteric studies began. 

I have always believed, and the survey bears this out, that there are a lot of brethren that have the same yearning that I had and still have.  Many of us want to believe that there is some deeper meaning behind our symbolism, ritual and lectures. I understand that this area of study isn't for everyone, that there are some brethren that are fine with going through the motions and not questioning why they're doing what they're doing and saying what they are saying.  There are some that could care less.  This is the tight rope over the great abyss that the rest of us walk when we express our desire to learn about esoterics.  This is especially true when those that don't understand why we have this desire to learn hold positions within our Grand Lodge lines.          

While esoteric or any derivative of the word might be a dirty word to some, it's also a lost word to many.  Much like King Solomon is forced to introduce a substitute word when the Master's word was lost, those that have a desire to learn about the esoteric have had to accept a substitute for their Masonic education in the lodge room. The topics of Masonic History, American Masonic History, Grand Lodge History and the like have been substituted for learning about the Masonic Philosophy behind our Symbols, Rituals and Lectures.  While there is nothing wrong with this, those of us that are in charge of Masonic Education understand that it is our job as educators to make sure that everyone is educated with topics that they find interesting. In doing so, We find those that find esoteric study interesting are ignored due to the prevailing attitudes I listed above.  The irony of this being that the reason for which Hiram Abiff was murdered was his refusal to give up the Secrets and Word of a Master Mason.  It was that esoteric knowledge he possessed which was given only to a select few that drove the ruffians to their murderous desire.  My have times changed.

It is my hope that armed with the survey data, we (the Masonic Education Committee for the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M.) can legitimize esoteric study by introducing a program in Illinois, much like WB Ben Wallace was able to do with the Middle Chamber Masonic Education program in North Carolina.  He's even left everyone a blueprint to follow with his book, A Path to Providence: The Creation of the Middle Chamber Program. (https://www.amazon.com/Path-Providence-Creation-Chamber-Program/dp/173262142X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZYJE14165HLE&keywords=ben+wallace+middle+chamber&qid=1651756797&sprefix=ben+wallace+middle+chamber%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1 )  Many of us also have the privilege of knowing Ben and have the ability to reach out to him personally for advice along the way.  

It is obvious that this program will not be for everyone.  It is also quite possible that the only ones that care about Esoteric studies in the Grand Lodge of Illinois are the members that answered that they were interested in learning more about the deeper meaning behind our symbols and ritual.  I don't believe that is true. As I stated earlier in this article, I believe that there are many members that have the same desire that I possess.  These members, like myself, believe that there is some deeper meaning behind our symbolism, ritual and lectures.  I see no harm in giving our membership what the desire.  If our purpose as stated is to take Good Men and make them Better, then the way to do that is through Masonic Education.  If there is a subset that wants this education to be "Esoteric", I see nothing wrong with that.  I can only hope that we can convince those members in our Grand Lodge line of the same thing.  My hope is that with the survey data, that we can show that there is a place at the table for Esoteric education. 

~DL

WB Darin A. Lahners is our Co-Managing Editor. He is a host and producer of the "Meet, Act and Part" podcast. He is currently serving the Grand Lodge of Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons as the Area Education Officer for the Eastern Masonic Area. He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s also a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282, Salt Fork Shrine Club under the Ansar Shrine, and a grade one (Zelator) in the S.C.R.I.F. Prairieland College in Illinois. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.           

"Oh Brother where art thou?"

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin Lahners

The first article I wrote for the Midnight Freemasons was about my trepidation on becoming Worshipful Master of my Lodge. I wrote out my mission statement and emphasized how I wanted to make the lodge a place where brothers and their families wanted to spend time. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to arrange some events for the brethren to get together socially. My last two attempts have had attendance from myself and one other member (and Midnight Freemason). Our November stated meeting barely had enough members for a quorum to open lodge. Granted, I knew that we had a few members that had other obligations due to their familial obligations, but I still wonder, is there something I’m doing wrong?

The writing has been on the wall for some time. We have seen declining interest in events such as Worker’s Club. My Junior Warden has received a wonderful opportunity to continue his education, the downside being that his class meets on Thursdays, which means he’s been missing some of our stated meetings. My Senior Warden has a job which requires a lot of travel, so I’m lucky that he can make the stated meetings, but he doesn’t have much time to make other events. On top of this, we just won 2nd place for Lodges under 80 members in the State of Illinois for our Grand Masters Award of Excellence. All this adds pressure to try to make sure we do equally as well next year. But still it makes me wonder, why aren’t many of my other brethren as concerned about keeping the high level of excellence we’ve set?

Worshipful Bro. Scott Dueball just wrote a really interesting article regarding this: Read it HERE.

He challenged the incoming leadership of his lodge as outgoing Master regarding creating a membership-centric plan for their lodge. His main points were eloquently summarized as:

1. Identify where the lodge has gaps in what needs to get done.
2. Identify brothers with those talents.
3. Identify ways to attract the interests of those brothers.

In my home lodge, we are particularly lucky to have 3 members that work in the kitchen of a local restaurant. Our food when we have degrees is spectacular. I’m not taking advantage of this as Master. We should have food before our meetings at the lodge, instead of me meeting a few brothers for dinner prior. Masons like to eat right? But this only really applies to brethren that want to be active in the lodge.

The question remains for me: “How do I attract inactive members to come to lodge?” I came up with a short survey. As I just sent it out. I have no idea how it will be received. I have no idea if anyone will reply to me. I’ll share the results in a future article. However, the survey is below:

1. If you are not currently regularly attending the stated meetings, what is keeping you from coming?

• Personal reasons. (Work, Family, Etc.)
• Lodge is boring.
• I've forgotten the passwords and I don't want to embarrass myself/I feel awkward attending by myself.
• I have better things to do with my time.

2. What would make our lodge more attractive to you?

• More family events like dinners, picnics, etc.
• More Educational programs.
• More fellowship activities (going bowling or other group activities, dining together, socializing as brethren).
• Focusing on doing community service/charitable works in our community.

3. What would attract you to come to a stated meeting?

• A nice dinner prior to the meeting in our dining room at the lodge.
• Guest Speakers (Notable Masonic scholars and the like).
• A short meeting followed by fellowship off of lodge property at an establishment that serves Adult Beverages.
• Nothing, I'm fine just paying dues.

My struggles led me to think about how we select members. There seem to be two fundamental philosophies regarding prospective members at play within Freemasonry. The first philosophy is based upon a fear that we are dying as an organization, and we need membership. If a man meets the basic criteria for joining the lodge and petitions for membership, assuming he meets this criteria, he should be allowed to join. We need bodies to pay dues and to pay per capita, and as long as they are doing this, it’s fine if they don’t engage in the lodge.

At least once a year I hear one brother in lodge talk about how electing a candidate to receive the degrees of Freemasonry should be a mere formality. The same brother thinks that we should never throw a black ball (black cube in Illinois), because by the time a candidate has his petition balloted on, that he has been thoroughly vetted by at least six other brothers. The 3 brothers that have signed the petition as well as the 3 or more members that have served on the investigation committee all have essentially vouched for the petitioner. So the petitioner’s election at this point should be a given and anyone who has an issue with the candidate should have addressed it to the lodge prior to the vote.

However, I think we all might have a regret of not throwing a cube at some point during your Masonic journey. I personally have two candidates that I thought long and hard about black balling. I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it because their top line signer was and still is a personal friend and a masonic mentor. But I often wonder, should I have? The two candidates in question now are absent from lodge and we are chronically chasing after them to pay their dues. I regret, not doing it in retrospect. But what does that make me? I feel complicit in the situation.

The other fundamental philosophy is that we need to make Masonry somewhat elitist. This idea is based upon a thought that we should only admit men that have a desire to improve themselves and dedicate themselves to the craft. It also argues that we are not maintaining our historical identity by letting every man of good character join. It believes that we are essentially causing the status quo to be lowered because we should only allow men that are going to act towards being morally and intellectually superior. If we institute some form of entrance prerequisite, we will separate the wheat from the chaff. We must Guard the West Gate against men who do not share these ideals.

This idea has come up again in discussion recently due to this recent post by Illus. Brother Chris Hodapp. If you’ve not read it, I suggest you do so (click)-> HERE:

While I caution against elitism, I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad thing to re-examine ourselves as a Fraternity. Sometimes a good hard look in the mirror reveals flaws that we’ve been ignoring for far too long. Yes, we need to attract a certain type of member, but I wonder if the West Gate had been strongly guarded when I joined, would I have made the cut? Would you have? But then again, had it been guarded more strongly after I was a member, would I have the same issues with lodge participation that I have today?

I guess these are questions that can’t be answered because the past is set in stone. We can only decide for ourselves at our local lodge level, what we want to be going forward into the future. Each individual lodge is different. Each member is different. I can only state for myself that I have become a better person due to the lessons of my degrees. I can only say that I feel blessed for the friends and mentors that I have made along the way. I can only state that Freemasonry has unlocked a desire to write and to create that lie asleep in me. I would hate to take that opportunity away from another man who is just as qualified as I was for Freemasonry. However, I also believe that I need to be protective of the craft. So I will end with this, we are given the power of the ballot as a Master Mason for a reason. Don’t be afraid to use it to protect Masonry if you feel a man is unworthy or will prove himself to be so. Just be sure to use it responsibly.

-DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

How to Solve the Membership Problem

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson, PM

Not too long ago, I published the partial results of a few surveys I completed about certain topics within Freemasonry. The first was when I tried to ascertain if the AASR (Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite) brothers knew what the "Royal Secret" was. You can read those results HERE. The second time around I though perhaps I would ask what people thought Freemasonry is in relation to the question I proposed. Find those results HERE. And the last time I ran it, I tried to ascertain just what would make our fraternity better. So, I created the "Let's Make Freemasonry Better" survey. Those results have never been released...until NOW.

Shortly after I released some data, I was contacted by Bro. Greg Stewart, Masonic author, Blogger etc. He talked to me about a survey he ran back in the 1990s. I was amazed at the results which he shared with me. Now, another survey is underway. Brother Jon Ruark, PM is undergoing the most comprehensive data analysis that has ever been done. While many of the questions he asks are similar to what we have asked before, it's how you're able to filter those results when it's complete that matters. This can give us some really intriguing views into what our strengths, weaknesses are and any other trends that may be present. Please take the time to watch the video presentation Bro. Ruark made at the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge. Skip to the 17 minute mark, as annotated in the video to get right to the presentation.

Now, I will invite you to take the new survey, and again it is imperative that you do. Remember, you can skip questions but honesty will give us answers. Follow the link below and then, read on.

www.tinyurl.com/masonicsurvey

So, what now? I am finally ready to release all my data. For the first time ever...take a look at the charted data below and enjoy. Over 1000 masons from Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets were surveyed.

Freemasonry Is...

Survey Says? Part II

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB. Robert. H. Johnson

Not long ago, I published the first in a series of articles I planned on writing involving Masonic data. I asked a simple question about the Scottish Rite and you can read about it and see the crazy results of that survey here.

This time around, I wanted to gauge whether or not we as a fraternity really understand what and who we are, that is--Do we know that we are a fraternity of men who are a total mix of different religions and whats more, that we are not tied to any one faith?

We had over 300 responses to the initial open-ended question:

So without bias, and for your edification, here are the results.

67.9% said there was no particular background.

13% said that Masonry is a Christian fraternity who accepts others.

19.1% said that Masonry was a Deist order who accepts others. 

The results are what I expected. An overwhelming number of respondents believe what I do, and that is we are indeed, "The Brotherhood of man, under the Fatherhood of God." The other results are somewhat concerning to me. nearly 33% feel that there is some kind of religious category we fit into. 

I'll leave you all with these results and to do with them as you will. Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to make those changes or to whisper some council in an erring brother's ear. Overwhelmingly, this boils down to a tolerance issue. And as far as tolerance is concerned, if you look it up in a dictionary, there should be a picture of the Square and Compasses. 

~RHJ

Bro. Robert Johnson, 32° is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the First North-East District of Illinois. He is the Master of Waukegan Lodge No. 78 and Education officer for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He is also a member of the York Rite bodies Royal Arch, Cryptic Council, Knights Templar, AMD, The Illinois Lodge of Research and a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago as well as a charter member of the Society of King Solomon, a charity organization run by the Grand Lodge of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focus on topics relating to Freemasonry. In addition, he produces video shorts focusing on driving interest in the Fraternity and writes original Masonic papers from time to time. He is also a cohost of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of three. He works full time in the safety industry and is also a photographer on the side as well as an avid home brewer. He is currently working on a book of Masonic essays.