Do you have your own personal Chamber of Reflection? Perhaps altar? Or specific place to meditate or otherwise contemplate the big questions of life? Maybe for you, this is a library?
I don’t have such a personal space. I’ve always wanted one, but I suppose I’ve been too lax to ever get off my duff and build one.
Now, thanks to the Masons of District 8, F&AM of Washington, I have no excuse. This past weekend they gifted me a truly wonderful centerpiece for just such a space. When I return home from my current tour of Lodges, I’m going to have to get busy creating a new space.
My skull in my room at the Best Western. Hope it doesn’t terrorize the maid.
Please tell us if you have such a space for contemplation, and if you do, any detail that you can share…
There’s no need to create a new designated place for reflection. You already have a place where you’re alone with your thoughts; the trouble is writing them down…The shower
During the pandemic I build a small Masonic altar, in front of which (as scheduling allows) upon rising i recite why WM is in the East, at noon, why the JW is in the south, and in the evening why the SW is in the west. I also give the sign and duegard in order of (morning) MM, (noon) EA, (evening) FC. Finally i recite the charge before bed. On the days my Lodge meets I light a candle on that altar and burn incense. In this set up i do not have a specific COR, but i do have a replica scull as a momento mori, and it is part of my meditations.
That's always been my situation, an office plus. As you say, not ideal. The new house has a great place for a dedicated space, now I just have to do it.
May 11, 2022·edited May 11, 2022Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
(Bear with me, this is my first post on eMeth.) I have a small COR/Altar I set-up at home as part of my daily "spiritual hygiene", which honestly I practice only 5 or 6 days a week. I set before me on a hassock in front of my easy chair, a velveteen altar cover, several items I might want to use in contemplative meditation including a 3d model of the kabalistic tree of life, burn some incense, and say a short opening prayer. I then write in my daily journal 3 things for which I am grateful for, as I find it sets my chin in a different attitude as I head out the door to work. (Cicero said, "Gratitude is not the greatest of virtues, it is the parent of them all.") I then read at least a couple of pages from one of several Volumes of Sacred Law, (now in volume 13 of the Zohar - sigh), and then meditate for between 5 and 30 minutes. Before closing my altar with prayer, I typically read at least a chapter from a piece of Masonic literature - currently Br. Chuck Dunning's book on "Contemplative Masonry". We recently built a COR in the new Downtown Spokane Masonic Center using great on-line guindance from Br. Mark Stavish. Hidden in a basement corner of the building behind a huge iron door with a skull and crossbones padlock, one enters a room with raw basalt walls, a small table with a candle, skull and crossbones, three dishes containing sulpher, salt and sand, an hourglass, a quill pen and ink well with parchment, a cup for water and a small plate for bread. On parchment are instructions for the lodges which desire to use the COR with the strong admonishment that it is not to be used for "hazing" but for setting the tember of the initiatic process for new Masons and for contemplative meditation for Masters. For new initiates there is a "shock and awe moment" when after a period of time, a hidden switch is flipped on the outside and previously unseen words and elemental symbols painted in black light paint appear on the walls, including V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
May 11, 2022·edited May 11, 2022Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
I have a set of documents for candidate use for each degree in the COR that I had edited slightly from work I had obtained from WB Ken lane. We had used them in my former lodge for several years in the COR I had set up in a small room next to the preparation room. It was well received by the brothers who had experienced it and I was informed that it definitely placed the candidates in the proper state of mind before the degree.
Unfortunately I was informed that the current WM wanted to dismantle the COR and turn it back into a closet. It hasn't been used since. It sits with a pile of junk stacked up in it. From what I understand, this is all too common amongst lodges that institute a COR. Eventually someone gets put in charge that doesn't "get it" and sees it as devil worship and wants nothing to do with it, or they think it belongs with the Scottish Rite, or some such nonsense. Such ignorance is hard to fight against, especially with the older members.
the COR I had built had a scythe, hourglass, brass candelabras, a plate with bread and a glass of water, a skull, hourglass, a mirror, a vials of sulfur and salt. Pretty basic stuff. After the candidate goes through their degrees, I take the papers in the COR, put them in an envelope, seal it (wax seal) and give them to the secretary to store in their records in the archives of the lodge. The idea was in five years to give them back so the brother can look back and see how his life had changed and to remind him of his journey to where he was now. Alas, that won't be happening anymore.
I have a personal chamber with a piece of cubical pyrite single crystal, a wooden cube with a star and a black pyramid. I also burn incenses. And the instruments of my personal lodge are the cube and the compass.
There’s no need to create a new designated place for reflection. You already have a place where you’re alone with your thoughts; the trouble is writing them down…The shower
Aqua Notes Water Proof Note Pad
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AS5I0ZS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P18EXCFJ5FCJ2VNQ4G0F
That's sn awesome piece! Let me know if they sell those
They are made and sold by Bro. Zane Wylie:
https://realhumanskull.com/home
Right on. Appreciate ya
During the pandemic I build a small Masonic altar, in front of which (as scheduling allows) upon rising i recite why WM is in the East, at noon, why the JW is in the south, and in the evening why the SW is in the west. I also give the sign and duegard in order of (morning) MM, (noon) EA, (evening) FC. Finally i recite the charge before bed. On the days my Lodge meets I light a candle on that altar and burn incense. In this set up i do not have a specific COR, but i do have a replica scull as a momento mori, and it is part of my meditations.
I've always wanted to have a library. But currently it would have to double as an office, which is not ideal in my opinion.
That's always been my situation, an office plus. As you say, not ideal. The new house has a great place for a dedicated space, now I just have to do it.
(Bear with me, this is my first post on eMeth.) I have a small COR/Altar I set-up at home as part of my daily "spiritual hygiene", which honestly I practice only 5 or 6 days a week. I set before me on a hassock in front of my easy chair, a velveteen altar cover, several items I might want to use in contemplative meditation including a 3d model of the kabalistic tree of life, burn some incense, and say a short opening prayer. I then write in my daily journal 3 things for which I am grateful for, as I find it sets my chin in a different attitude as I head out the door to work. (Cicero said, "Gratitude is not the greatest of virtues, it is the parent of them all.") I then read at least a couple of pages from one of several Volumes of Sacred Law, (now in volume 13 of the Zohar - sigh), and then meditate for between 5 and 30 minutes. Before closing my altar with prayer, I typically read at least a chapter from a piece of Masonic literature - currently Br. Chuck Dunning's book on "Contemplative Masonry". We recently built a COR in the new Downtown Spokane Masonic Center using great on-line guindance from Br. Mark Stavish. Hidden in a basement corner of the building behind a huge iron door with a skull and crossbones padlock, one enters a room with raw basalt walls, a small table with a candle, skull and crossbones, three dishes containing sulpher, salt and sand, an hourglass, a quill pen and ink well with parchment, a cup for water and a small plate for bread. On parchment are instructions for the lodges which desire to use the COR with the strong admonishment that it is not to be used for "hazing" but for setting the tember of the initiatic process for new Masons and for contemplative meditation for Masters. For new initiates there is a "shock and awe moment" when after a period of time, a hidden switch is flipped on the outside and previously unseen words and elemental symbols painted in black light paint appear on the walls, including V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
I have a set of documents for candidate use for each degree in the COR that I had edited slightly from work I had obtained from WB Ken lane. We had used them in my former lodge for several years in the COR I had set up in a small room next to the preparation room. It was well received by the brothers who had experienced it and I was informed that it definitely placed the candidates in the proper state of mind before the degree.
Unfortunately I was informed that the current WM wanted to dismantle the COR and turn it back into a closet. It hasn't been used since. It sits with a pile of junk stacked up in it. From what I understand, this is all too common amongst lodges that institute a COR. Eventually someone gets put in charge that doesn't "get it" and sees it as devil worship and wants nothing to do with it, or they think it belongs with the Scottish Rite, or some such nonsense. Such ignorance is hard to fight against, especially with the older members.
the COR I had built had a scythe, hourglass, brass candelabras, a plate with bread and a glass of water, a skull, hourglass, a mirror, a vials of sulfur and salt. Pretty basic stuff. After the candidate goes through their degrees, I take the papers in the COR, put them in an envelope, seal it (wax seal) and give them to the secretary to store in their records in the archives of the lodge. The idea was in five years to give them back so the brother can look back and see how his life had changed and to remind him of his journey to where he was now. Alas, that won't be happening anymore.
I wish this site allowed pictures.
Tragic to see these traditions either fall by the wayside out of neglect, or naivity.
I have a personal chamber with a piece of cubical pyrite single crystal, a wooden cube with a star and a black pyramid. I also burn incenses. And the instruments of my personal lodge are the cube and the compass.