I don't have a lot of time perusing other blogs and substacks, I barely have time to take care of my own. For the last poll questions, I voted no, because I'd rather those discussions happen here, instead of yet another substack to subscribe to.
Thank you for this feedback, it is really valuable to me.
Frankly, I have really struggled with the decision to either have everything in one place, or separated out by topic.
I did ultimately decide to separate things, because I figure that a lot of Masons won't be interested in what I have to write about our broader society, or Tarot. My friends who work in and around politics probably aren't interested in Freemasonry or Tarot, and most of my Tarot friends probably find Masonry problematic, and don't share my views on society.
Ultimately, by separating things, I'm trying to avoid overwhelming anyone's inbox, by making it really easy to opt out of my writing that is of no interest to them.
But, I have absolutely no idea if that was a good decision or a bad decision.
For that reason, this feedback from you is extremely helpful.
“Since we tell him that, in such a solemn manner during such an important event, we must provide it.”
This may be an example of how we get in our own way.
In many places, the line “Freemasonry consists of a course of moral and philosophical instruction” is finished with “illustrated by hieroglyphics, and taught, according to ancient usage, by types, emblems, and allegorical figures.” Meaning that moral and philosophical instruction is the ritual itself.
Another example is found in the installation of officers, when the new WM is charged to provide a lecture for each meeting. We today envision a monologue on some enlightening and improving subject, but when that charge was made ritual, a “lecture” was a Q&A interaction between the WM and each brother and consisted of the elements of a degree. It was a recap of the ritual, and it was necessary because there were no (official) ritual books.
I would bet a hundred bucks that the “moral and philosophical instruction” too was the ritual that was about to be revealed to the candidate.
Nothing wrong with also providing extracurricular instruction that fits and complements the tenets of Freemasonry, of course, but there’s no need for us to feel deficient for not knowing how to teach philosophy.
I can buy the argument that the 'moral and philosophical' instruction was intended to be the ritual. But only to a point.
And I guess that point, to me, is that it is not satisfying too far too many of our Initiates.
I believe that there is great value in our ritual. I've seen it work in my own life, thence proving that it can and does. But far too many Masons feel it's nothing but empty words. And I would argue that in a lot of ways it is. Here's what I mean by that...
The ritual, delivered in a monotone, by someone who has done it dozens and dozens of times through the years doesn't sink in. Too many candidates don't hear it, they are just wandering around, going through the motions.
I think it was intended to be something quite different. Not called a drama, but a drama nevertheless.
The example I'm thinking of is my own Fellowcraft Degree. I didn't know it at the time of course, but my FC Degree staircase lecture was delivered to me by a fellow quite famous through our Jurisdiction for his ritual work. And while it was happening, I didn't realize it was the Lecture.
I remembered my EA lecture. Change clothes, come back to the Lodge, sit in a chair while looking at a chart and listen to it. It was a well done lecture, but that's what it was, as it is for virtually all new Masons (here at least.)
But my FC lecture was nothing like that. It was so well done that I didn't realize the fellow was repeating memorized lines. I thought that we were just wandering around the Lodge Room and he was showing me interesting things while we waited for whatever was to come next. We were half way through the thing before I realized that it was ritualistic.
Something like that is I think satisfying, and heard.
I also think that the old 'call and response' you mention is really effective. My Lodge did that once, on a camping trip, and it actually held everyone's interest for quite some time.
But, the droning ritual doesn't sink in.
And I don't imagine that it ever has. That's got to be one of the reasons that our York and Scottish Rites were so successful over time. Because Masons were looking for more. More to learn and know.
But, I don't think we have to teach philosophy. I think that there are plenty of philosophical books out there, across the ages of human history. All we need to do is find an interesting assertion and discuss it together.
Worshipful Brother. Having the opportunity to get together and discuss lifes experiences in the context of philosophical discussion is one of my favorite parts of fellowship, Lodge, and Masonry. Various media platforms headlining philosophical and solutions based discussions are garnering significant interest from the public, and I think we could learn something from it.
The attention these topics bring could help to revitalize the craft, bringing those desiring personal improvement and good company. It could be as simple as a book club, a podcast, or a youtube channel discussing various works relevant to the task of making good men better.
>>>Various media platforms headlining philosophical and solutions based discussions are >>>garnering significant interest from the public, and I think we could learn something from >>>it.
I have noticed this as well. The number of people just exploring Stoicism online is huge, and that's just a small current of philosophy as a whole. Clearly there are a lot of people interested in this today.
>>>The attention these topics bring could help to revitalize the craft, bringing those desiring >>>personal improvement and good company.
Agreed. At least some people will want to move from an online exploration to in person explorations, and our Lodges could be well poised to be the mechanism for just that.
>>>It could be as simple as a book club, a podcast, or a youtube channel discussing various >>>works relevant to the task of making good men better.
Exactly. And a great project for a Lodge or a subset of a Lodge.
I don't have a lot of time perusing other blogs and substacks, I barely have time to take care of my own. For the last poll questions, I voted no, because I'd rather those discussions happen here, instead of yet another substack to subscribe to.
Thank you for this feedback, it is really valuable to me.
Frankly, I have really struggled with the decision to either have everything in one place, or separated out by topic.
I did ultimately decide to separate things, because I figure that a lot of Masons won't be interested in what I have to write about our broader society, or Tarot. My friends who work in and around politics probably aren't interested in Freemasonry or Tarot, and most of my Tarot friends probably find Masonry problematic, and don't share my views on society.
Ultimately, by separating things, I'm trying to avoid overwhelming anyone's inbox, by making it really easy to opt out of my writing that is of no interest to them.
But, I have absolutely no idea if that was a good decision or a bad decision.
For that reason, this feedback from you is extremely helpful.
“Since we tell him that, in such a solemn manner during such an important event, we must provide it.”
This may be an example of how we get in our own way.
In many places, the line “Freemasonry consists of a course of moral and philosophical instruction” is finished with “illustrated by hieroglyphics, and taught, according to ancient usage, by types, emblems, and allegorical figures.” Meaning that moral and philosophical instruction is the ritual itself.
Another example is found in the installation of officers, when the new WM is charged to provide a lecture for each meeting. We today envision a monologue on some enlightening and improving subject, but when that charge was made ritual, a “lecture” was a Q&A interaction between the WM and each brother and consisted of the elements of a degree. It was a recap of the ritual, and it was necessary because there were no (official) ritual books.
I would bet a hundred bucks that the “moral and philosophical instruction” too was the ritual that was about to be revealed to the candidate.
Nothing wrong with also providing extracurricular instruction that fits and complements the tenets of Freemasonry, of course, but there’s no need for us to feel deficient for not knowing how to teach philosophy.
Jay
I can buy the argument that the 'moral and philosophical' instruction was intended to be the ritual. But only to a point.
And I guess that point, to me, is that it is not satisfying too far too many of our Initiates.
I believe that there is great value in our ritual. I've seen it work in my own life, thence proving that it can and does. But far too many Masons feel it's nothing but empty words. And I would argue that in a lot of ways it is. Here's what I mean by that...
The ritual, delivered in a monotone, by someone who has done it dozens and dozens of times through the years doesn't sink in. Too many candidates don't hear it, they are just wandering around, going through the motions.
I think it was intended to be something quite different. Not called a drama, but a drama nevertheless.
The example I'm thinking of is my own Fellowcraft Degree. I didn't know it at the time of course, but my FC Degree staircase lecture was delivered to me by a fellow quite famous through our Jurisdiction for his ritual work. And while it was happening, I didn't realize it was the Lecture.
I remembered my EA lecture. Change clothes, come back to the Lodge, sit in a chair while looking at a chart and listen to it. It was a well done lecture, but that's what it was, as it is for virtually all new Masons (here at least.)
But my FC lecture was nothing like that. It was so well done that I didn't realize the fellow was repeating memorized lines. I thought that we were just wandering around the Lodge Room and he was showing me interesting things while we waited for whatever was to come next. We were half way through the thing before I realized that it was ritualistic.
Something like that is I think satisfying, and heard.
I also think that the old 'call and response' you mention is really effective. My Lodge did that once, on a camping trip, and it actually held everyone's interest for quite some time.
But, the droning ritual doesn't sink in.
And I don't imagine that it ever has. That's got to be one of the reasons that our York and Scottish Rites were so successful over time. Because Masons were looking for more. More to learn and know.
But, I don't think we have to teach philosophy. I think that there are plenty of philosophical books out there, across the ages of human history. All we need to do is find an interesting assertion and discuss it together.
Worshipful Brother. Having the opportunity to get together and discuss lifes experiences in the context of philosophical discussion is one of my favorite parts of fellowship, Lodge, and Masonry. Various media platforms headlining philosophical and solutions based discussions are garnering significant interest from the public, and I think we could learn something from it.
The attention these topics bring could help to revitalize the craft, bringing those desiring personal improvement and good company. It could be as simple as a book club, a podcast, or a youtube channel discussing various works relevant to the task of making good men better.
>>>Various media platforms headlining philosophical and solutions based discussions are >>>garnering significant interest from the public, and I think we could learn something from >>>it.
I have noticed this as well. The number of people just exploring Stoicism online is huge, and that's just a small current of philosophy as a whole. Clearly there are a lot of people interested in this today.
>>>The attention these topics bring could help to revitalize the craft, bringing those desiring >>>personal improvement and good company.
Agreed. At least some people will want to move from an online exploration to in person explorations, and our Lodges could be well poised to be the mechanism for just that.
>>>It could be as simple as a book club, a podcast, or a youtube channel discussing various >>>works relevant to the task of making good men better.
Exactly. And a great project for a Lodge or a subset of a Lodge.