ctp2nd
Premium Member
Howdy All,
I've often contemplated writing a synopsis of my Masonic Journey, and just as often, I have deleted it and moved on. Here, I will try to articulate how and why I feel my petition should never have been read.
Over the course of my first 24 years on this pebble of a planet I had been informally introduced to masonry by the masonic lodge I passed frequently in my hometown, by the conversations about that lodge and its members by equally ignorant friends, and through the recognition of its emblems in small towns across the State of Texas. It wasn't until I moved in with a friend of a friend a year after graduating college that I had my first real discussion about this thing called freemasonry.
The roommate was a Shriner and invited me to an event they were having in Houston. I, with nothing better to do and being promised a good time and free beer, jumped into his truck and headed south.
Good time: Check
Free beer: Check
Some old lady grabbing my ass: Check
Needless to say, it was a day spent with fun loving individuals that were partying all freaking day and raising a shit-ton (metric measure) of money for their hospitals and more importantly, for the children.
I ended up inquiring, "How I might become a Shriner?" His answer, "By being a Mason."
Pulling from my infinite ignorance I said something along the lines of, "Oh, and I have to ask like 7 times, and on the 7th time, you can tell me. Right?"
After a laugh cementing the ignorance of my previous 24 years, I was informed of that I had but to ask to be one, and he'd grab me a petition. I did, the petition arrived, and as I reflect back, that was the first point at which I should have been stopped.
I was interested, then, because of the partying and drinking and harmless sexual advances of some 50+ women. That was the entirety of my interest, but, my friend being the good Mason that he was, called his dad and asked that he bring a petition from their home lodge, some 200+ miles away from where we lived, whenever he was to come down again.
The time between my request and my receiving the petition was approximately 3 months, during which time I did what all good computer geeks with an affinity for Google would do. I looked up everything I could about Masonry, Freemasonry, Masonic Lodges, Freemasons, Masonic Conspiracies, Masonic Religion, Masonry vs Christianity, Former Masons for Christ... and in all my cliff's notes worth of skimming these topics on a countless number of websites, pages, pdfs, images, ephemera, etc, I found my second reason, or set of reasons, for wanting to join:
1) Freemasonry was either REALLY good or REALLY bad / evil.
2) Freemasons were either regular men or a semi-secret exclusive group of men trying to take over the world.
3) Freemasonry was either a beneficent fraternity with the goal of "Making good men better." or a religious cult preaching satanic worship through virgin sacrifices to the goat headed demon god Baphomet. (Thanks Leo Taxil).
These three things, and I am sure several others, both positive and negative, sparked a curiosity within me and removed any doubt as to whether or not I'd fill out that petition, whatever that was and whenever I got it. Now, I do want to clarify that I wasn't interested in joining a REALLY evil, semi-secret exclusive group of men trying to take over the world while worshiping satan through virgin sacrifices to the goat headed demon god Baphomet. I was just interested that there was even the possibility that any one of those things could be true.
Finally, the petition showed up, entirely blank except for the Lodge Information, two recommenders, and three references. The recommenders I immediately recognized: My friend and his father. The references, I had never and, to my knowledge, have never met. I filled out the petition, called Mom to get her to fax me a copy of my Birth Certificate (which sparked a series of conversations that marked my 3rd set of reasons for wanting to join), and gave it to my friend's dad to take back to his lodge (once again, over 200 miles from where I lived). I was informed that my petition would be taken to their lodge, read, and some people would call me.
While waiting for said calls, my mother, who had asked about my asking for the Birth Certificate, talked to my Grandmother who talked to my Uncle who, as it turns out, is REALLY Anti-Masonry.
"It's a cult." "It's anti-Christian." "Jack the Ripper was a Mason." "If you respect me as your Uncle, you'll wait until I can research this further before joining." "Your great uncle on your grandfather's side (and you know how much you loved your grandfather) quit masonry on his death bed because his preacher told him Masonry was incompatible with Christianity and his Salvation depended upon his rejection of it.", He said.
I could literally write a short story on that conversation, but I'll save that for another day.
Reason #3: Rebellion. Who was my uncle to tell me what I could and couldn't do? Everything he said I had seen in my searching the interwebs. I was pissed that this guy, only an annoying thorn in my family tree, was trying to scare me out of joining a group of people that loved to party, flirt, and drink beer. I would have expected the same lecture about college.
Anyway, the calls came about a month after I sent the petition in and I answered the men's questions exactly the same with the answers I thought they wanted to hear. I must have been right, because I got a call from my roommate's father telling me that I needed to drive up to their lodge in September of 04 for my first degree. I did, I was initiated, and my journey into freemasonry was begun.
Now, in reference to the title of my post: "Someone should have stopped me at the West Gate..."
I knew nothing of substance about the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. My interest was initially for the partying. That grew into the possibility that something thrillin, spooky, and/or nefarious might happen in my joining said Fraternity. And to seal the deal, my effing uncle forced the most child-like reaction, "I'll do what I want!".
Someone should have stopped me.
My petition was from and for a lodge located 200+ miles away from home. How the hell did they just ignore the fact that there are 20+ lodges in and about my county?
Someone should have stopped me.
My recommenders new me, my several vices, and that I knew nothing about Freemasonry. I never met a single of my masonic references or investigators. These guys knew me as a voice with answers polished to meet their requirements.
Someone should have stopped me.
But, they didn't, and here I am: Past Master of two lodges, Secretary of one, Tyler of another, A certificate holder, Lodge Instructor, and "Mr. Mason" according to my wife.
If I, today, were to have met the ME from 2004, I would have spent a lot of time talking to him about this Fraternity that I have grown to love and her philosophy that guides my actions through life. I would not, however, have let him, in the state of preparedness that I was back then, procede.
I would have stopped me at the West Gate.
Sometime, I'll follow up on this post with my masonic experience during my first year as a member of the craft. From EA to Master Mason w/out ever learning a bit of the memory work except for the PDF I found out of Colorado covering the questions and answers for their EA work. I think I learned the first 5 answers, which, to my surprise, weren't the same as Texas work.
Until then, have a great day / week / month / year / life.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Tom
I've often contemplated writing a synopsis of my Masonic Journey, and just as often, I have deleted it and moved on. Here, I will try to articulate how and why I feel my petition should never have been read.
Over the course of my first 24 years on this pebble of a planet I had been informally introduced to masonry by the masonic lodge I passed frequently in my hometown, by the conversations about that lodge and its members by equally ignorant friends, and through the recognition of its emblems in small towns across the State of Texas. It wasn't until I moved in with a friend of a friend a year after graduating college that I had my first real discussion about this thing called freemasonry.
The roommate was a Shriner and invited me to an event they were having in Houston. I, with nothing better to do and being promised a good time and free beer, jumped into his truck and headed south.
Good time: Check
Free beer: Check
Some old lady grabbing my ass: Check
Needless to say, it was a day spent with fun loving individuals that were partying all freaking day and raising a shit-ton (metric measure) of money for their hospitals and more importantly, for the children.
I ended up inquiring, "How I might become a Shriner?" His answer, "By being a Mason."
Pulling from my infinite ignorance I said something along the lines of, "Oh, and I have to ask like 7 times, and on the 7th time, you can tell me. Right?"
After a laugh cementing the ignorance of my previous 24 years, I was informed of that I had but to ask to be one, and he'd grab me a petition. I did, the petition arrived, and as I reflect back, that was the first point at which I should have been stopped.
I was interested, then, because of the partying and drinking and harmless sexual advances of some 50+ women. That was the entirety of my interest, but, my friend being the good Mason that he was, called his dad and asked that he bring a petition from their home lodge, some 200+ miles away from where we lived, whenever he was to come down again.
The time between my request and my receiving the petition was approximately 3 months, during which time I did what all good computer geeks with an affinity for Google would do. I looked up everything I could about Masonry, Freemasonry, Masonic Lodges, Freemasons, Masonic Conspiracies, Masonic Religion, Masonry vs Christianity, Former Masons for Christ... and in all my cliff's notes worth of skimming these topics on a countless number of websites, pages, pdfs, images, ephemera, etc, I found my second reason, or set of reasons, for wanting to join:
1) Freemasonry was either REALLY good or REALLY bad / evil.
2) Freemasons were either regular men or a semi-secret exclusive group of men trying to take over the world.
3) Freemasonry was either a beneficent fraternity with the goal of "Making good men better." or a religious cult preaching satanic worship through virgin sacrifices to the goat headed demon god Baphomet. (Thanks Leo Taxil).
These three things, and I am sure several others, both positive and negative, sparked a curiosity within me and removed any doubt as to whether or not I'd fill out that petition, whatever that was and whenever I got it. Now, I do want to clarify that I wasn't interested in joining a REALLY evil, semi-secret exclusive group of men trying to take over the world while worshiping satan through virgin sacrifices to the goat headed demon god Baphomet. I was just interested that there was even the possibility that any one of those things could be true.
Finally, the petition showed up, entirely blank except for the Lodge Information, two recommenders, and three references. The recommenders I immediately recognized: My friend and his father. The references, I had never and, to my knowledge, have never met. I filled out the petition, called Mom to get her to fax me a copy of my Birth Certificate (which sparked a series of conversations that marked my 3rd set of reasons for wanting to join), and gave it to my friend's dad to take back to his lodge (once again, over 200 miles from where I lived). I was informed that my petition would be taken to their lodge, read, and some people would call me.
While waiting for said calls, my mother, who had asked about my asking for the Birth Certificate, talked to my Grandmother who talked to my Uncle who, as it turns out, is REALLY Anti-Masonry.
"It's a cult." "It's anti-Christian." "Jack the Ripper was a Mason." "If you respect me as your Uncle, you'll wait until I can research this further before joining." "Your great uncle on your grandfather's side (and you know how much you loved your grandfather) quit masonry on his death bed because his preacher told him Masonry was incompatible with Christianity and his Salvation depended upon his rejection of it.", He said.
I could literally write a short story on that conversation, but I'll save that for another day.
Reason #3: Rebellion. Who was my uncle to tell me what I could and couldn't do? Everything he said I had seen in my searching the interwebs. I was pissed that this guy, only an annoying thorn in my family tree, was trying to scare me out of joining a group of people that loved to party, flirt, and drink beer. I would have expected the same lecture about college.
Anyway, the calls came about a month after I sent the petition in and I answered the men's questions exactly the same with the answers I thought they wanted to hear. I must have been right, because I got a call from my roommate's father telling me that I needed to drive up to their lodge in September of 04 for my first degree. I did, I was initiated, and my journey into freemasonry was begun.
Now, in reference to the title of my post: "Someone should have stopped me at the West Gate..."
I knew nothing of substance about the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. My interest was initially for the partying. That grew into the possibility that something thrillin, spooky, and/or nefarious might happen in my joining said Fraternity. And to seal the deal, my effing uncle forced the most child-like reaction, "I'll do what I want!".
Someone should have stopped me.
My petition was from and for a lodge located 200+ miles away from home. How the hell did they just ignore the fact that there are 20+ lodges in and about my county?
Someone should have stopped me.
My recommenders new me, my several vices, and that I knew nothing about Freemasonry. I never met a single of my masonic references or investigators. These guys knew me as a voice with answers polished to meet their requirements.
Someone should have stopped me.
But, they didn't, and here I am: Past Master of two lodges, Secretary of one, Tyler of another, A certificate holder, Lodge Instructor, and "Mr. Mason" according to my wife.
If I, today, were to have met the ME from 2004, I would have spent a lot of time talking to him about this Fraternity that I have grown to love and her philosophy that guides my actions through life. I would not, however, have let him, in the state of preparedness that I was back then, procede.
I would have stopped me at the West Gate.
Sometime, I'll follow up on this post with my masonic experience during my first year as a member of the craft. From EA to Master Mason w/out ever learning a bit of the memory work except for the PDF I found out of Colorado covering the questions and answers for their EA work. I think I learned the first 5 answers, which, to my surprise, weren't the same as Texas work.
Until then, have a great day / week / month / year / life.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Tom
