Dedicated And Consecrated
Our Masonic Temples
A wee bit of woo for your contemplation today…
The great Masonic building boom wound down about a century ago, so I never had the opportunity to dedicate and consecrate a new Masonic Temple.
Here in Washington, the ritualistic work for doing so is published by our Grand Lodge in a section of our work called ‘Ancient Ceremonies.’ And it is quite clear in the ritual that after the Grand Master and the other Grand Lodge officers have completed the ritual they have “dedicated and consecrated” the new building.
And I think that is quite appropriate.
In the past I’ve written about the creation of egregores when we do Masonic work, and the importance of those egregores to the success of our Lodge.
Energies, thought forms, that are created and grow or are even attracted as we collectively engage with our sacred rituals over the course of years, decades, even centuries.
Over and over we Open and then Close sacred spaces within the mundane world. All of that energy creates something powerful, over time.
And by consecrating our Masonic Temples, we seek to have that which is created and grows be a positive force, a force that we nurture and that nurtures us in turn.
Sometimes you might walk into a place, perhaps a beautiful old church, and you just feel suddenly amazing. Sometimes Lodge rooms are like that. That’s egregore at work.
Sometimes though you might walk into a place, and feel that something is off, just not quite right. That’s a negative egregore at work.
We certainly hope for positive egregores in our Temples, and our Craft, so we consecrate our Temples.
But heck, we don’t do this very often.
Indeed we only do it once. In my hometown Lodge it was done 102 years ago. That’s a mighty long time.
That begs the question, should we do something to occasionally purge out bad energies that might enter our Temples, and most particularly our Lodge Rooms?
Like some people occasionally burn sage in their homes as a way of energetically cleansing them?
As a church may burn incense for sanctification and purification?
Because let’s be honest, as much as we hate the idea of it happening, some people are just going to bring bad energies into our Lodge Room.
Maybe it’s a member of the public on a tour or something.
Maybe it’s two Masons who have slipped and allowed their passions to boil over into anger.
Maybe it is a bad man whom we didn’t catch at the West Gate. (Any quick look at suspensions and expulsions shows that this does happen.)
Do we want that energy in the location where we regularly gather to perform sacred work?
If not, do we take steps to remove it?
These concepts, and questions are to my mind extremely worthy of our contemplation.
Gospel!!! I think this should be done by the Tyler and the Chaplain before each lodge meeting, the Guardian of the Outer Gates if you like and the Guardian of the Inner Gates. Both purging and cleansing in their fashion, incense, white light, mental visualisations (clean fire burning negative emotions and occult rubbish away, ) whatever helps the Mason clean the Temple. Then they report to the WM who formally thanks them for their service, and this creates a nice tradition in its own accord. Peace and Harmony ever prevailing in our sacred spaces, not mere imitations but the actual feelings of true peace and harmony with our brothers.
MW Brother Bailey, I think this is an excellent topic for consideration. One that isn’t often given enough thought. That the energy we permit in our spaces becomes part of us. The acceptance of that energy enabling it to weave itself into our practice, persons, and spaces.
I think a reconsecration of spaces is a great idea. Many religions do just that with each ceremony or at periods of energetic purpose. Seeking to align themselves, their temples, and their body of members with the work they perform within their sacred halls.
I think it could be an interesting consideration to do provided that our members sensibilities are considered with what types of herbs or oils may be used. Avoiding overly strong aromas or those that have a high probability of inducing allergic responses.
Perhaps an annual, or quarterly smudging could benefit the space, and mask/eliminate some of the natural odors a building is like to accumulate…
Count me in for the fun!