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Here we go again!!!!!

GKA

Premium Member
Very sad to hear. I would say that this is a localized occurrence. Most Chapters do not act like this, although in my Chapter (in my 2nd term as HP/TIM), we don't issue gloves or caps, the chapter has fairly nice aprons that members wear, the coin/penny is given after the MkM degree and ritual upon being Exalted or receiving the SM degree (help me out @KSigMason or @Companion Joe , I forget the term for receiving the SM degree) respectively. So we have a lot less to order for new candidates. Still, we take our Chapter/Council pretty seriously so I find it hard to fathom another one being so flippant about new Companions.

I am sad to say that my chapter acts the same way, it has become a "good ole boys club", attendance is so bad that most of the time we cannot even open and no one new is interested in joining., I have considered demiting because it is just a waste of time and it is impossible to change it.
 

Willaim Perkins

Registered User
Well there is a saying that history repeat itself. I started my RA journey on Jan. 10th and finished on Feb. 14th. The experience is memorable just as my experience was as I journey to the sublime degree. Starting with my MM degree. We were prompted to pay a certain amount of money for items such as gloves, constitution, and certificate. Well we only received the certificate. We had to buy gloves online on our own, and constitution from Grand Lodge. We never got what we paid for so we blew it off. Well the same 3 of us were prompted to join the Royal Arch and pay $100 for 5 items that we woul get after the degrees were completed on the 14th of Feburary. Well guess what? NOTHING received but excuses as to why our apron, gloves, penny, skull cap, and certificate are not here. All other candidates from other lodges got theirs after final degree. We paid for these items on Dec. 5th of 2014 with receipt in hand. I have had it. I am starting to see a very ugly patern here that is about to be stopped in it's tracks. I called my High Priest Saturday, and asked if our items arrived as promissed on Friday, and was just abruptly told they are not here, and ended conversation. My other two brother are wanting to just quit, but I will fight this until I cant anymore.
Semper Fi Companion, I'm sorry things along your path are not going good.
 

RiverRatDoc

Registered User
A good website I have keep bookmarked since 1996 is
www.Bessel.org
R:.W:. Bessel's site is excellent starting point for "comparative" research.
Regarding Rituals : Not every Jurisdiction is the same. I've had the privilege to literally 'travel' & be exposed to a lot of different states.
There are different rituals that have appeared on the scene ( good research topic, one that takes a while. Track the top accepted writers of our Ritual from 1717 on. What versions got scratched? Who rewrote & when? Which one is your GL using?
Some states are coded, others not. Some states do not even have an accepted ritual ( e.g. Tenn), although unofficial books are used.
[ @CompanionJoe, don't bite. I've lived for a time on the other end of I-40 ]. In my home state, the Razorbacks have 1 ritual kept in the GL safe.
Get your hands on as many Rituals as you can ( if you choose this topic to chase to ground). You may need to correspond w/ other GL Sec's through your Lodge Sec.
Safeguard them.
I can promise you a rich, rewarding, & very enlightening topic if you choose(one that has endless research potential).

Hope you don't mind my 'nerd comments' on these threads.

Last pitch reminder: R:.W:. Paul Bessel's site is probably the best I've seen ( it's pragmatic, backed up with research, charts, graphs, etc ).
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
I'm not sure what you are talking about when you say Tennessee doesn't have an accepted ritual. The Grand Chapter of Tennessee most certainly has an accepted ritual. In fact, the ritual committee has spent the last several months updating it.
 

RiverRatDoc

Registered User
Bro Joe
What year did TN Grand Lodge officially recognize a printed ritual?
Previous to that, TN Grand considered the 'body of the ritual to be in the body of the Craft' . (I'm speaking only to Symbolic degrees ).

I'm not poking Brother. Granted this thread started out on Symbolic (Blue) as well as RA in YR.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Well, my dad was raised in 1966, and his Tennessee Craftsman (blue book/ritual) is letter for letter the same as mine that was presented to me in 1994. I personally own a Grand Chapter ritual (red book) that is a 1965 edition. So from that, at least half a century.
 

pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
A good website I have keep bookmarked since 1996 is
www.Bessel.org
It is very true that this is a great website. However this additional information should be noted. Several years ago I contacted Bro. Bessel about some outdated information I found on his website. He replied to me saying that he no longer keeps the website updated and that he is no longer active in Masonry. We worry about the new guys dropping out, how did we lose someone as intelligent and active as Bro. Bessel?
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
As a minor note, many GLs will frown upon lodge secretaries writing at all, particularly for this purpose (to obtain a copy of ritual) Many GLs adhere to communications only between GLs.
 

RiverRatDoc

Registered User
@CompanionJoe

My deepest apologies -- I wasn't trying to 'zing' at you.
( some examples ):
I know in SC that the Lodge only has so many books (rotated among officers).
In Ark, there's only 1. In the safe at GL, & what makes me beam with pride for my Brother Razorbacks is that proficiency has to be proved even on the 3rd. (I have an Ark monitor).
In Canada, each brother has to sign his book, & there is a statement to his family that upon his death, please return the book to the lodge.

I was commenting on just my observations over the last 18 years, my incessant quest to search out how the ritual has evolved over the generations (additions / deletions ). I love to find old writings & read them (in them I hear the voice of how Masonic brothers thought 'yesteryear').

I apologize in advance if my post conveyed an incorrect or even personal snark to its tone.

 

RiverRatDoc

Registered User
A Post Script (off topic).
To all who see my posts:

I thank you for your tolerance. I only give this App about 10 minutes a day. I don't ever mean to come across rash or rude. If I do, just let me know, whisper words of wise counsel.

Thank you. Have a good'un
 
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Companion Joe

Premium Member
No problems at all. I didn't think you were trying to zing me. I just wanted to set things clear for your enlightenment. Our blue books don't have the place to sign and the disclaimer for the family to return it, but our Chapter books do.
 
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