Our Lodge buildings are properly styled Masonic Temples, and in most cases our Lodge Rooms are constructed and decorated in such a way as to reflect a Masonic purpose and solemnity.
But, generally, any nod towards sacredness ends there. They are usually brightly lit, even around our altars with our special ‘Masonic Light-Bulbs.’ There is little to add a feeling or presence of sacredness.
We can easily change this of course.
We can use real candles around our altars. We can turn off the lights and light the entire room with three candles in the South, five in the West, and seven in the East, in addition to the three at the altar. We can add incense, not the kind beloved by hippies in the 70’s, but the real stuff as used by churches. We can add very soft background music. In Lodge rooms that are far too large for the number of men in the Lodge, we can pull everyone in towards the altar, creating an intimate group in the center of the room. These are just a few examples.
Should we, in planning our meetings, do so with a goal of creating a sacred space?
Should we ditch the fluorescent bulbs and use candles instead?
What about incense or background music?
How would the feel of a Lodge room be different if it were set in that way instead of in the usual fashion? Would it be improved?
Would this make our Lodge meetings better?
What about our Degrees? Would doing these things improve the Candidate’s Degree experience?
Freemasonry tries to make a bright line distinction between the Lodge and the profane world. Would creating space like this help that distinction be made in our Mason’s minds and souls? Would it improve their estimation of our Ancient Craft?
As in past weeks, on Thursday, in addition to our regular discussion topic, we will also have a Live Open Thread for those with a paid subscription to Emeth. These have proven to be quite popular, and seem to have a different feel about them, a more intimate feel perhaps.
I’ll open the thread at 8:00 AM Pacific, and will remain on it until 6:00 PM Pacific. I’ll be able and eager to join each comment in real time as appropriate.
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When I was master, we blocked off all the light coming into the lodge and created a moment of reflection before opening. Only did it once and I'm not too sure how it was received but I thought that a little time with no distraction on our roles in Masonry would be good. For many years my lodge in Ilwaco used candles at the alter. Enjoyed the little bit of extra time watching them get lit, instead of "click" there they are!
I've also always thought that degrees should be done in costume. Especially the 3rd. Feel it would add to the experience for the brother being brought to light.
While I would love to go back to real candles, we are but renters. There was something to having to light the real deal.
And not just "flicking a Bic" to light them. Use a taper and extinguish them with snuffer.
Using incense during the 3rd Degree drama would add even more when costumes are worn. Bringing the candidate even more into the time period of the drama.
Yes to all. I hate the electric candles. I don't mind electric lighting for the room in general, but the three great lights should be natural. Dimmable spot lights for the altar and wardens stations would be okay. Illumination for the entire lodge should only be for cleaning purposes. Of course, the lodge I am trying to create will not have a permanent location except a small study for intimate gatherings and reflections and a place to store our equipment. Outdoor lodges with torches will be common. We can also rent spaces from churches other fraternities and restaurants. Bringing the atmosphere with us to these spaces may be the hardest part of a nomadic lodge.
Every Master Mason should know and remember how Exodus 3:5 (KJV)
"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." applies to the 3rd Degree.
This is also referred to in Acts 7:33
"Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground."
Every Master Mason after learning this lesson can wear shoes as the Lodge remains or at least should remain Holy Ground in his heart.
When I was Master of Centralia Lodge we reduced the size of the Lodge by moving the SW station and JD place to the center of the Lodge and the JW station halfway up the south wall. Not only did it create a more personal interaction among the Brothers but made it easier to hear each other.
When I was installed in Tenino Lodge it was by electronic candlelight. Everyone enjoyed it except for the Photographer LOL It was not the easiest Photography challenge. Never did get any pictures from her.
When we had Phil Rice come down for his talk as Ben Franklin, I talked to the pastor of a church I was going to the time and he let me have all the candles left over from the Christmas eve candlelight service and we heard Ben Franklin with everyone holding a candle. It was a night few will ever forget.
I believe that anything we can do to create a 'liminal space' would be a good thing. Our everyday world too often creeps into the Lodge room, and things like candles and incense, and soothing music can shift our brain states and allow emotional space for more spiritual thoughts and experiences. I have often thought that we could start the ritual with the harsh neon lights on, and then as the ritual progresses change the lighting to be dominated by candles, so that our senses experience a change in our ritual space that is coordinated with the ritual. Make the opening ritual an active transition, from ordinary space to spiritual space, and then reverse the process in the closing ritual, so that when the ritual is over we are back in "normal space".
I’m going to start by dumping rain on the parade, but hear me out, I’ll bring out a LOT of sunshine afterwards.
From experience, unfortunately I’ve found that candles and ceiling fans are a bad combination, and on certain days in the summer, those ceiling fans sure are nice! So there might have to be a compromise in that case, if your Lodge has ceiling fans or other forced-air climate control that might make the candles burn down too fast. As for the incense, again unfortunately, we have several Brothers who have COPD that have bad reactions to incense. It was another item that we tried and had to abandon; our Brother’s health is very important. Many of our Lodge rooms are more like large conference rooms than a place to hold a “sacred Retreat of Friendship and Virtue,” which could present a challenge to create the ambient lighting to give a good degree justice. And sadly, one of the worst bouts of rain I douse on this parade is the resistance I’ve received from the older Brethren that grumble about the diminished lighting, goofy costumes, Lectures that are given by more than one person, and other innovations that differ from what they’ve seen over the last few decades. You know the drill. “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
Now, for the sunshine.
Not all Lodges have the ceiling fans; they might have heat pumps, or you can arrange your fans to save the candles. You might be able to give due notice about the use of incense, or open more windows to bring in fresh air along with the incense. Sure, many Lodges meet in bland boxes for rooms, but there are at least a few (including a Lodge that a frequent contributor to Emeth is an member) that have taken their “bland boxes” and turned them in to excellent Lodge rooms. Centralia Lodge is fortunate that it is one of the most “Masonic” Lodge rooms in the Jurisdiction, featuring many references to our ritual in its furnishings. But it shows that your Lodge can take the initiative and make a difference in your Lodge’s atmosphere. And it can be a team effort as well!
Lastly, about those old curmudgeons. That’s okay. Find out who else is interested in doing the candlelight ceremonies, the costume degrees, and similar ideas. Form a team. Put it together and DO a costume degree with those who are on board with your idea. Practice, and give an truly impressive performance. Then at the Festive Board, ask the candidate of his impressions of the degree that he just experienced. Trust me, NOBODY is going to grumble about it again. It might take a few degrees to do it, but I know first hand that not only those curmudgeons will change their outlook on the situation, but they’ll then see that as the “tradition.” One time we were doing a Fellowcraft degree, and I “forgot” on purpose to grab the costumes for the Middle Chamber Lecture, just to see what response I’d get, if any. I was pleased to hear from not only the younger Masons, but also many of the older members: “Hey, Very Worshipful! Where’s the costumes? I thought we were going to do this in Costume!!!” And they’d go to the closet and get them out on their own! I was very pleased. We have now also added different lighting for the Middle Chamber Lecture, which is an adaptation of the atmosphere of an outdoor Torchlight degree, only indoors. It also was very well received, and will likely become the norm in Centralia lodge.
Before I conclude, I must give due, and proper, recognition to the use of a Lodge Musician. WB Baxter Harwood had been the Musician for several Lodges in District 17 for roughly two decades. His health downturn at the end of 2019, and his passing last year, will bring a silence in our Lodges in the District that hasn’t been experienced in a LONG time. We will have to address this when we open our Lodges back up. Some use “canned” music and run the volume up and down as per the ritual. I’ve done that myself, and while I think we can do better, the “canned” music idea is better than none at all.
We have a clean slate when we re-open our Lodges. There’s a LOT of ideas here in this thread. I strongly encourage the Lodges to print this thread, ALL of these ideas and discuss it in their Lodge meetings.
During this past year or so, we’ve been actively remodeling our temple. One of the items is to create a Chamber of Reflection. As I’ve shared previously, I don’t know a lot about the COR other than it’s a sacred place where initiates and candidates can contemplate and pray before receiving the degree. Pre-pandemic, we started making some changes to our degree presentations. We used real candles and turned the lights off. We would then turn the lights on when the Master called for Masonic Light and the initiate’s hoodwink was removed. It was one of the few times I used the “Will and Pleasure of the Master” card and went against the “norm”. I was glad I did. Anytime a sacred space can be created to move us closer to a spiritual experience in lodge, we should do our best to accomplish that.
When I was master, we blocked off all the light coming into the lodge and created a moment of reflection before opening. Only did it once and I'm not too sure how it was received but I thought that a little time with no distraction on our roles in Masonry would be good. For many years my lodge in Ilwaco used candles at the alter. Enjoyed the little bit of extra time watching them get lit, instead of "click" there they are!
I've also always thought that degrees should be done in costume. Especially the 3rd. Feel it would add to the experience for the brother being brought to light.
While I would love to go back to real candles, we are but renters. There was something to having to light the real deal.
And not just "flicking a Bic" to light them. Use a taper and extinguish them with snuffer.
Using incense during the 3rd Degree drama would add even more when costumes are worn. Bringing the candidate even more into the time period of the drama.
Yes to all. I hate the electric candles. I don't mind electric lighting for the room in general, but the three great lights should be natural. Dimmable spot lights for the altar and wardens stations would be okay. Illumination for the entire lodge should only be for cleaning purposes. Of course, the lodge I am trying to create will not have a permanent location except a small study for intimate gatherings and reflections and a place to store our equipment. Outdoor lodges with torches will be common. We can also rent spaces from churches other fraternities and restaurants. Bringing the atmosphere with us to these spaces may be the hardest part of a nomadic lodge.
Every Master Mason should know and remember how Exodus 3:5 (KJV)
"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." applies to the 3rd Degree.
This is also referred to in Acts 7:33
"Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground."
Every Master Mason after learning this lesson can wear shoes as the Lodge remains or at least should remain Holy Ground in his heart.
When I was Master of Centralia Lodge we reduced the size of the Lodge by moving the SW station and JD place to the center of the Lodge and the JW station halfway up the south wall. Not only did it create a more personal interaction among the Brothers but made it easier to hear each other.
When I was installed in Tenino Lodge it was by electronic candlelight. Everyone enjoyed it except for the Photographer LOL It was not the easiest Photography challenge. Never did get any pictures from her.
When we had Phil Rice come down for his talk as Ben Franklin, I talked to the pastor of a church I was going to the time and he let me have all the candles left over from the Christmas eve candlelight service and we heard Ben Franklin with everyone holding a candle. It was a night few will ever forget.
I believe that anything we can do to create a 'liminal space' would be a good thing. Our everyday world too often creeps into the Lodge room, and things like candles and incense, and soothing music can shift our brain states and allow emotional space for more spiritual thoughts and experiences. I have often thought that we could start the ritual with the harsh neon lights on, and then as the ritual progresses change the lighting to be dominated by candles, so that our senses experience a change in our ritual space that is coordinated with the ritual. Make the opening ritual an active transition, from ordinary space to spiritual space, and then reverse the process in the closing ritual, so that when the ritual is over we are back in "normal space".
I’m going to start by dumping rain on the parade, but hear me out, I’ll bring out a LOT of sunshine afterwards.
From experience, unfortunately I’ve found that candles and ceiling fans are a bad combination, and on certain days in the summer, those ceiling fans sure are nice! So there might have to be a compromise in that case, if your Lodge has ceiling fans or other forced-air climate control that might make the candles burn down too fast. As for the incense, again unfortunately, we have several Brothers who have COPD that have bad reactions to incense. It was another item that we tried and had to abandon; our Brother’s health is very important. Many of our Lodge rooms are more like large conference rooms than a place to hold a “sacred Retreat of Friendship and Virtue,” which could present a challenge to create the ambient lighting to give a good degree justice. And sadly, one of the worst bouts of rain I douse on this parade is the resistance I’ve received from the older Brethren that grumble about the diminished lighting, goofy costumes, Lectures that are given by more than one person, and other innovations that differ from what they’ve seen over the last few decades. You know the drill. “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
Now, for the sunshine.
Not all Lodges have the ceiling fans; they might have heat pumps, or you can arrange your fans to save the candles. You might be able to give due notice about the use of incense, or open more windows to bring in fresh air along with the incense. Sure, many Lodges meet in bland boxes for rooms, but there are at least a few (including a Lodge that a frequent contributor to Emeth is an member) that have taken their “bland boxes” and turned them in to excellent Lodge rooms. Centralia Lodge is fortunate that it is one of the most “Masonic” Lodge rooms in the Jurisdiction, featuring many references to our ritual in its furnishings. But it shows that your Lodge can take the initiative and make a difference in your Lodge’s atmosphere. And it can be a team effort as well!
Lastly, about those old curmudgeons. That’s okay. Find out who else is interested in doing the candlelight ceremonies, the costume degrees, and similar ideas. Form a team. Put it together and DO a costume degree with those who are on board with your idea. Practice, and give an truly impressive performance. Then at the Festive Board, ask the candidate of his impressions of the degree that he just experienced. Trust me, NOBODY is going to grumble about it again. It might take a few degrees to do it, but I know first hand that not only those curmudgeons will change their outlook on the situation, but they’ll then see that as the “tradition.” One time we were doing a Fellowcraft degree, and I “forgot” on purpose to grab the costumes for the Middle Chamber Lecture, just to see what response I’d get, if any. I was pleased to hear from not only the younger Masons, but also many of the older members: “Hey, Very Worshipful! Where’s the costumes? I thought we were going to do this in Costume!!!” And they’d go to the closet and get them out on their own! I was very pleased. We have now also added different lighting for the Middle Chamber Lecture, which is an adaptation of the atmosphere of an outdoor Torchlight degree, only indoors. It also was very well received, and will likely become the norm in Centralia lodge.
Before I conclude, I must give due, and proper, recognition to the use of a Lodge Musician. WB Baxter Harwood had been the Musician for several Lodges in District 17 for roughly two decades. His health downturn at the end of 2019, and his passing last year, will bring a silence in our Lodges in the District that hasn’t been experienced in a LONG time. We will have to address this when we open our Lodges back up. Some use “canned” music and run the volume up and down as per the ritual. I’ve done that myself, and while I think we can do better, the “canned” music idea is better than none at all.
We have a clean slate when we re-open our Lodges. There’s a LOT of ideas here in this thread. I strongly encourage the Lodges to print this thread, ALL of these ideas and discuss it in their Lodge meetings.
During this past year or so, we’ve been actively remodeling our temple. One of the items is to create a Chamber of Reflection. As I’ve shared previously, I don’t know a lot about the COR other than it’s a sacred place where initiates and candidates can contemplate and pray before receiving the degree. Pre-pandemic, we started making some changes to our degree presentations. We used real candles and turned the lights off. We would then turn the lights on when the Master called for Masonic Light and the initiate’s hoodwink was removed. It was one of the few times I used the “Will and Pleasure of the Master” card and went against the “norm”. I was glad I did. Anytime a sacred space can be created to move us closer to a spiritual experience in lodge, we should do our best to accomplish that.