We see it far too often. Two weak Lodges merge together. Looking at them on paper, the merger seems like it will be a great thing, the newly merged Lodge will have more members, with more available time, lowered costs due to an absence of expense duplication, and higher income. Surely a strong Lodge will result.
But very rarely does that happen.
What most often happens is a single weak Lodge results from the merger of two weak Lodges.
I think that in a lot of cases, this is because of the egregores of the Lodges in question. I won’t attempt to define egregore in this essay because different Freemasons may well view the concept in different ways, other than to say that it is a force within a Lodge, created by the collective thoughts and actions of Lodge members, that has a powerful influence on the group as a whole.
Certainly Freemasonry as a whole has an egregore, as does each of its subdivisions, Grand Lodges and Lodges. Millions of men have been sustaining these egregores for centuries through energy and ritual. One way to think of them is as the collective spirit that has driven our Craft to the performance of world changing deeds.
When we enter a Lodge and we feel good just by being there, on those occasions, we are experiencing, feeling, the egregore of the Lodge. Almost always when we feel a Masonic egregore, we experience that as good and pleasurable, for most all Lodges have a positive spirit formed by the men who compose them.
This is not however always the case. Lodges exist that just don’t feel good. That have a down vibe. Perhaps membership problems plague the Lodge, or financial problems, or a lack of any young energetic members. Whatever it might be, the Masons have given up on a fundamental level and the Lodge’s egregore has become negative. It just doesn’t feel good to be there.
These Lodges may struggle to survive, for many years in some cases, but unless they are able to somehow regain that vital energy and excitement that can turn negative into positive, they will never thrive.
This is why in most cases, two weak Lodges, even though a merger might look great on paper, generally end up creating a weak merged Lodge. Because the negative egregores that are doing harm to the Lodges individually merge as well, and the negative influences do not stop. In fact, they likely grow stronger.
At the risk of sounding cold, I think it reasonable to acknowledge that not much of value is lost in a situation like this. Two Lodges that were contributing little became one Lodge that contributes little. The value remains the same.
That is not the case however if a weak Lodge with a negative egregore merges into a temporarily weak Lodge with a positive egregore. That Lodge which is temporarily weak has a chance of turning itself around because of the positive energies and mindsets of its members that are all contributing to its positive egregore. They can make it together, the Lodge can become strong again.
But if they happen, during this point of weakness, to merge with a Lodge plagued by a negative egregore, that negativity can overcome their positive. The new Lodge may well start out with a negative egregore that will consume all the good until in the end three Lodges die.
Weak and negative Lodges should only be taken on by strong Lodges. Lodges strong enough to overcome the weakness and negativity. Lodges with a strong enough positive egregore that it can supplant its negative compatriot. In this way, the strong Lodge can actually be made even stronger.
But two weak Lodges, merged together, will almost always result in yet another weak Lodge.
I’ve been thinking about this post because of Washington’s own Little Falls Lodge. Little Falls is a tiny Lodge, composed in my view of 2.5 active Masons (that is not a typo two and a half active Masons now make up the Lodge.) Undoubtedly, they are struggling.
But their egregore is strong. Very strong. They have a solid plan for future growth of the Lodge, and have implemented that plan. They can consistently get 10X their number to attend their special events. Lastly, each and every year they carry out extremely significant Masonic charity within their community. Charitable work that makes a tremendous difference to the community as a whole.
Had they merged with a Lodge dominated by a negative egregore, flooding their own Lodge with all of that negativity, they would not have survived.
By avoiding a merger, their future looks bright, no matter how tenuous things might appear at the moment.
For those who might be interested in exploring the concept of egregore further, especially in a Masonic context, here is some quick reading:
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed this essay, please consider forwarding it to your Masonic friends.
Excellent, thank you.
Good Morning MW Cameron, this is an important subject that I have been pondering about our lodge for 6 years...A few decades ago when I worked as psychotherapist, our general 2 yr. treatment plan was for the healing and growth of the individual, then we created a specific treatment plan for the individual. In the case of married or partnered couples, both persons were required to attend the IOP, Intensive Outpatient Program. That, in some cases infuriated one of the persons involved. The relationship between 2 or more persons create one egregore. Hence all are affective and in need of treatment. e.g. A couple is in an auto accident and the driver is physically injured yet the ambulance takes both the driver and the passenger to treatment. Why? both were injured (affected) even if the passenger did not receive any physical injuries.
We always encouraged our patients NOT to get into any relationships after being freshly separated or divorced. Indeed, our requirement was for them to wait 1 year or longer or not at all before entering any relationship…
I am in support of what Little Falls Lodge is doing and curious to learn more...
This was a long way of saying that the well being of all of our lodges would benefit from a Holistic Spiritual, Mental, Emotional and Physical Program to improve the Holistic Well Being of all the Egregores of our Lodges that exist in our WA Jurisdiction. By having such a program we all would be of One Mind, hence, a united and healthy WA Grand Lodge Egregore.