Have you ever had the opportunity to visit a Lodge in a foreign Jurisdiction? *
If so, did you learn anything from their practices that you felt could be brought back to your own Lodge either temporally or permanently?
Likewise has your Lodge had a foreign visitor that it was able to learn something interesting from?
As long as we will be discussing visiting foreign Lodges, I think I should remind everyone that the Grand Lodge of Washington will be visiting Puerto Vallarta Lodge #34, of the MW York Grand Lodge of Mexico, on the evening of Thursday, December 16, 2021. If you would like to attend, we would love to have you! Contact me if you need further details.
Just in case you missed it, last Sunday’s version of the newsletter:
Although I have not had the pleasure of visiting a foreign lodge, I have had the opportunities to visit the GL of Scotland and Solomon #1 in Savannah, GA. Although neither were in session the visits were extraordinary. Both were steeped in history, the Oriental Chair in Solomon #1 having been first crafted and the donated by George Washington. I was in awe of the GL of Scotland’s history, hundreds of years of heritage and memories. What I saw and experienced in both lodges was the same as when I walked into my home Lodge for the first time and when visiting Lodges in the jurisdiction. We all have our histories, whether they’re relatively short or, hundreds of years. Visiting these lodges and meeting the brothers, what I learned and tried to bring back to my lodge was the warm feelings of Brotherly Love and Friendship I’ve experienced in my travels. I’ve learned things don’t make us Masons. Getting up everyday and being better than you were the day before and adhering to our obligations, that’s what makes us Masons.
I've never been able to visit an extremely old Lodge building like you mention, but I've always found my own Masonic travels to be very rewarding.
With the exception of a very small handful of Lodges, all Lodges in the United States practice the York Rite version of the Craft (EA, FC, MM) Degrees. In some other countries this is reversed. I've not sat through a Lodge that practices the Scottish Rite version of the first three Degrees, but I have visited the Lodge room of one. Things there are different, for example, the Perfect Ashlar is shaped differently. (That SR shape, and what it signifies is outlined in quite a few books I've encountered.) There were many such small changes to the 'decorations' of the Lodge that we are used to.
I feel that I also learned a great deal about providing Masonic education during Stated Meetings from visiting Lodges within Mexico. And I did bring all of that home to my own Lodge when I served as its Master.
While certainly not the same as visiting a foreign Lodge, I've also found tremendous opportunity to meet extremely diverse Freemasons, through the chance I've had to attend the Conference of Grand Masters. For example, one fellow I've followed on Facebook for years rose to GM of a very large and powerful Jurisdiction. For reasons I don't know, the MWGL of Washington doesn't recognize his Jurisdiction, but many other North American GL's do. So, he was in attendance and it was great having the chance to meet someone I'd never have an opportunity to meet otherwise. For that reason, I was very saddened when the Conference in Seattle had to be postponed, as through hosting it so many of our members will have similar opportunities. I'd encourage everyone to attend in 2024.
A few years ago I attended the leadership retreat, and the keynote speaker on Saturday night was the WM Owen Shieh of Honolulu Lodge on Oahu. I actually was planning on visiting my daughter who was stationed on Oahu at the time, so I made sure my visit coincided with their meeting night.
Their opening and closing ritual was vastly different than ours. I haven't visited other jurisdictions before, I knew there would be differences, but boy, I was surprised how much. I learned their charter actually was through Queensland Australia, not the states, which accounted for much of it I expect. While the verbiage was similar, the floor work was a lot different.
At closing, WM Owen talked about how he had visited a lodge in Tennessee(?) and had been smitten with one part of the ritual, their closing charge. It seems the GL of Hawaii doesn't include a closing charge in their work. WM Owen then read the Closing charge from a piece of paper, and wouldn't you know it, what he read was basically word for word of our own closing charge.
This really reinforced with me two things - first that yes, people do things differently in other parts of the world, and second, the ritual hasn't changed all that much in our line of charters. Since our historical lineage goes back to that part of the country, it's interesting to see at least some of the ritual work is unchanged over all these years.
In our lodge "library", there are some old ritual books from the early 1900s, written in the same cipher we're using today and quite readable to modern masons. You can see how much the ritual itself has morphed over the years. While the majority of it is the same, there are obvious tweaks made.
I too was surprised when I learned that the Closing Charge isn't given everywhere. It is my favorite part of our Closing, and I think that something that is both uplifting and important is a great way to end a formal meeting.
There is a listing of who uses it and who doesn't, plus variations of it, at:
I've not read any old ritual books, but we have a good library at Centralia Lodge. I'll have to see what we have. Thanks for that tip! It should prove interesting.
I had to opportunity in visiting Italian And Canadian Lodges and one thing that captured my attention is that the Immediate Past Master continues to have a huge role as the mentor of the Master of the Lodge still sitting on the East behind and at the side of the Master. In Italy, the Immediate Past Master also has a distinct apron identifying him as such. In Italy, the Master presides the Lodge for a minimum two years. U.S. Lodges and other U.S. influenced Lodges normally has the immediate Past Master appointed as Tyler greatly diminishing to the role too fast with the least amount of responsibilities.
The Immediate Past Master continuing to have a large leadership role, and sitting in the East is interesting, and something that I've not seen. I can see where that could be of assistance, especially when a Master is quite new in the job.
We do, here, have the Immediate Past Grand Master sitting with the Grand Master in the East during our Annual Communications, perhaps we get that tradition from a European source such as you saw.
I can very easily see the benefits of two year instead of single year terms. It seems like that could give a Master more time to accomplish all that he wants to do. Although, I've often wondered...
Is the fact that the WM sits for only a year, properly without the ability of re-election, symbolic? Symbolic of human life, in that life as well is over much sooner than we hope, or in most cases expect. Does it try to communicate to us that we must work fast to do what we need to do in Lodge, and in life, for both will be over very soon?
I have attended Lodge in four Lodges in New York State. They had just allowed for the Lodge to be opened on the EA and FC Degree and do business on those Degrees. They had to create the ritual for those two Degrees and it had a lot more verbiage than I was used to. One of the Lodges were so challenged by the new ritual that instead of closing the Lodge in the usual manner they simply went to refreshment until the next meeting. I found that a little amusing.
While in New York I visited two of my three brothers and stayed at my sister's house. On my first night at my sister's house i did a search on my phone for Masonic Lodges nearby her house. She generously offered to drive me to Lodge and asked me to call her when the Lodge was over and she came and picked me up. Interestingly, they were on three consecutive nights.
I got to one Lodge a little early and got to talk to one of the brothers and he told me that the Grand Master had allowed one or more brothers to conceal carry a firearm in Lodge due to an increase in threats that were occurring.
The fourth Lodge I attended was on a separate trip to visit my mother and I was staying at my sister in law's house. It was a Lodge in the town where my wife grew up and the WM remembered me many year before when I played in a rock and roll band.
What struck me was being welcomed in all those Lodges as if I was a member. Brotherly Love seems to be a universal concept as it should be.
I knew that there was a time when most if not all United States Grand Lodges only allowed business to take place on the Master Mason Degree, due to the Morgan Affair, but in Washington we returned to prior practices of allowing business on any Degree long ago, and I guess that I had just assumed that all the other Grand Lodges had done so as well.
Can I ask, if they were without ritual for opening and closing on the First and Second Degrees, earlier do you know if they had to then confer the EA and FC Degrees while open on the Third, or did they have some ritualistic way of calling down for the Degrees to be performed?
It is awesome for visitors when Lodges do like those around your Sister's home and meet on consecutive nights. We do have one area in Washington where one can spend a few days and visit all the area Lodges, one right after the other. It was one of the first things I did after being elected JGW.
I too have experienced tremendous hospitality from Lodges when traveling, it is truly a tremendous benefit that Freemasonry offers to us all.
I am assuming that they opened the Lodge on the Third and called down only when necessary. To me that seemed strange but "when in Rome...." listen.
I personally, feel that every Lodge should be opened on the First Degree unless there is a reason not to. I know some Lodges open on the Third degree unless there is an EA or FC present or an EA or FC Degree is being done .
It is my opinion that the Ritual of opening on the First Degree is Allegorical Masonic education. The words "duty or duties" appears 6 times and some parts imply a duty. This wording is in my opinion allegorical instructions that can be applied to ones improving oneself in Masonry. In other words duties that are "frequently inculcated" and "forcefully .recommended" by 6.01 of the WMC.
I was saddened when I attended a Lodge in the WA Jurisdiction to witness a sitting WM who could not open the Lodge on the First Degree because his Lodge was accustomed to never have EA's or FC's present. He was at a loss of the ritual to do so and had the Secretary open and close the Lodge as PT WM.
I also heard of an instance where a MM took an EA to visit a Lodge and the ritual was so poorly done that the EA asked the MM, "If they don't have to memorize the ritual, why should I?" It was a valid question.
I have sat in lodges in CA, NV, TN, ..... Work is a bit different and no Closing Charge......which I was able to give. Travel and have experiences with our beethren
I've always appreciated being able to see other work in our Lodges, snippets or otherwise, most often from Canadian Jurisdictions. I imagine that likewise our Charge was greatly appreciated in your visits.
When we visit Puerto Vallarta #34 later this year, the work will be remarkably similar to our own, but the decorations, look, and feel of the Lodge will be radically different.
Although I have not had the pleasure of visiting a foreign lodge, I have had the opportunities to visit the GL of Scotland and Solomon #1 in Savannah, GA. Although neither were in session the visits were extraordinary. Both were steeped in history, the Oriental Chair in Solomon #1 having been first crafted and the donated by George Washington. I was in awe of the GL of Scotland’s history, hundreds of years of heritage and memories. What I saw and experienced in both lodges was the same as when I walked into my home Lodge for the first time and when visiting Lodges in the jurisdiction. We all have our histories, whether they’re relatively short or, hundreds of years. Visiting these lodges and meeting the brothers, what I learned and tried to bring back to my lodge was the warm feelings of Brotherly Love and Friendship I’ve experienced in my travels. I’ve learned things don’t make us Masons. Getting up everyday and being better than you were the day before and adhering to our obligations, that’s what makes us Masons.
I've never been able to visit an extremely old Lodge building like you mention, but I've always found my own Masonic travels to be very rewarding.
With the exception of a very small handful of Lodges, all Lodges in the United States practice the York Rite version of the Craft (EA, FC, MM) Degrees. In some other countries this is reversed. I've not sat through a Lodge that practices the Scottish Rite version of the first three Degrees, but I have visited the Lodge room of one. Things there are different, for example, the Perfect Ashlar is shaped differently. (That SR shape, and what it signifies is outlined in quite a few books I've encountered.) There were many such small changes to the 'decorations' of the Lodge that we are used to.
I feel that I also learned a great deal about providing Masonic education during Stated Meetings from visiting Lodges within Mexico. And I did bring all of that home to my own Lodge when I served as its Master.
While certainly not the same as visiting a foreign Lodge, I've also found tremendous opportunity to meet extremely diverse Freemasons, through the chance I've had to attend the Conference of Grand Masters. For example, one fellow I've followed on Facebook for years rose to GM of a very large and powerful Jurisdiction. For reasons I don't know, the MWGL of Washington doesn't recognize his Jurisdiction, but many other North American GL's do. So, he was in attendance and it was great having the chance to meet someone I'd never have an opportunity to meet otherwise. For that reason, I was very saddened when the Conference in Seattle had to be postponed, as through hosting it so many of our members will have similar opportunities. I'd encourage everyone to attend in 2024.
A few years ago I attended the leadership retreat, and the keynote speaker on Saturday night was the WM Owen Shieh of Honolulu Lodge on Oahu. I actually was planning on visiting my daughter who was stationed on Oahu at the time, so I made sure my visit coincided with their meeting night.
Their opening and closing ritual was vastly different than ours. I haven't visited other jurisdictions before, I knew there would be differences, but boy, I was surprised how much. I learned their charter actually was through Queensland Australia, not the states, which accounted for much of it I expect. While the verbiage was similar, the floor work was a lot different.
At closing, WM Owen talked about how he had visited a lodge in Tennessee(?) and had been smitten with one part of the ritual, their closing charge. It seems the GL of Hawaii doesn't include a closing charge in their work. WM Owen then read the Closing charge from a piece of paper, and wouldn't you know it, what he read was basically word for word of our own closing charge.
This really reinforced with me two things - first that yes, people do things differently in other parts of the world, and second, the ritual hasn't changed all that much in our line of charters. Since our historical lineage goes back to that part of the country, it's interesting to see at least some of the ritual work is unchanged over all these years.
In our lodge "library", there are some old ritual books from the early 1900s, written in the same cipher we're using today and quite readable to modern masons. You can see how much the ritual itself has morphed over the years. While the majority of it is the same, there are obvious tweaks made.
I too was surprised when I learned that the Closing Charge isn't given everywhere. It is my favorite part of our Closing, and I think that something that is both uplifting and important is a great way to end a formal meeting.
There is a listing of who uses it and who doesn't, plus variations of it, at:
http://bessel.org/charge.htm
I've not read any old ritual books, but we have a good library at Centralia Lodge. I'll have to see what we have. Thanks for that tip! It should prove interesting.
I had to opportunity in visiting Italian And Canadian Lodges and one thing that captured my attention is that the Immediate Past Master continues to have a huge role as the mentor of the Master of the Lodge still sitting on the East behind and at the side of the Master. In Italy, the Immediate Past Master also has a distinct apron identifying him as such. In Italy, the Master presides the Lodge for a minimum two years. U.S. Lodges and other U.S. influenced Lodges normally has the immediate Past Master appointed as Tyler greatly diminishing to the role too fast with the least amount of responsibilities.
The Immediate Past Master continuing to have a large leadership role, and sitting in the East is interesting, and something that I've not seen. I can see where that could be of assistance, especially when a Master is quite new in the job.
We do, here, have the Immediate Past Grand Master sitting with the Grand Master in the East during our Annual Communications, perhaps we get that tradition from a European source such as you saw.
I can very easily see the benefits of two year instead of single year terms. It seems like that could give a Master more time to accomplish all that he wants to do. Although, I've often wondered...
Is the fact that the WM sits for only a year, properly without the ability of re-election, symbolic? Symbolic of human life, in that life as well is over much sooner than we hope, or in most cases expect. Does it try to communicate to us that we must work fast to do what we need to do in Lodge, and in life, for both will be over very soon?
I have attended Lodge in four Lodges in New York State. They had just allowed for the Lodge to be opened on the EA and FC Degree and do business on those Degrees. They had to create the ritual for those two Degrees and it had a lot more verbiage than I was used to. One of the Lodges were so challenged by the new ritual that instead of closing the Lodge in the usual manner they simply went to refreshment until the next meeting. I found that a little amusing.
While in New York I visited two of my three brothers and stayed at my sister's house. On my first night at my sister's house i did a search on my phone for Masonic Lodges nearby her house. She generously offered to drive me to Lodge and asked me to call her when the Lodge was over and she came and picked me up. Interestingly, they were on three consecutive nights.
I got to one Lodge a little early and got to talk to one of the brothers and he told me that the Grand Master had allowed one or more brothers to conceal carry a firearm in Lodge due to an increase in threats that were occurring.
The fourth Lodge I attended was on a separate trip to visit my mother and I was staying at my sister in law's house. It was a Lodge in the town where my wife grew up and the WM remembered me many year before when I played in a rock and roll band.
What struck me was being welcomed in all those Lodges as if I was a member. Brotherly Love seems to be a universal concept as it should be.
I knew that there was a time when most if not all United States Grand Lodges only allowed business to take place on the Master Mason Degree, due to the Morgan Affair, but in Washington we returned to prior practices of allowing business on any Degree long ago, and I guess that I had just assumed that all the other Grand Lodges had done so as well.
Can I ask, if they were without ritual for opening and closing on the First and Second Degrees, earlier do you know if they had to then confer the EA and FC Degrees while open on the Third, or did they have some ritualistic way of calling down for the Degrees to be performed?
It is awesome for visitors when Lodges do like those around your Sister's home and meet on consecutive nights. We do have one area in Washington where one can spend a few days and visit all the area Lodges, one right after the other. It was one of the first things I did after being elected JGW.
I too have experienced tremendous hospitality from Lodges when traveling, it is truly a tremendous benefit that Freemasonry offers to us all.
I am assuming that they opened the Lodge on the Third and called down only when necessary. To me that seemed strange but "when in Rome...." listen.
I personally, feel that every Lodge should be opened on the First Degree unless there is a reason not to. I know some Lodges open on the Third degree unless there is an EA or FC present or an EA or FC Degree is being done .
It is my opinion that the Ritual of opening on the First Degree is Allegorical Masonic education. The words "duty or duties" appears 6 times and some parts imply a duty. This wording is in my opinion allegorical instructions that can be applied to ones improving oneself in Masonry. In other words duties that are "frequently inculcated" and "forcefully .recommended" by 6.01 of the WMC.
I was saddened when I attended a Lodge in the WA Jurisdiction to witness a sitting WM who could not open the Lodge on the First Degree because his Lodge was accustomed to never have EA's or FC's present. He was at a loss of the ritual to do so and had the Secretary open and close the Lodge as PT WM.
I also heard of an instance where a MM took an EA to visit a Lodge and the ritual was so poorly done that the EA asked the MM, "If they don't have to memorize the ritual, why should I?" It was a valid question.
I have sat in lodges in CA, NV, TN, ..... Work is a bit different and no Closing Charge......which I was able to give. Travel and have experiences with our beethren
I've always appreciated being able to see other work in our Lodges, snippets or otherwise, most often from Canadian Jurisdictions. I imagine that likewise our Charge was greatly appreciated in your visits.
When we visit Puerto Vallarta #34 later this year, the work will be remarkably similar to our own, but the decorations, look, and feel of the Lodge will be radically different.