Dignified Lodge Practices Approved in Colorado

[My Freemasonry]

Karl J. Hinkle, Grand Master of Colorado, has issued an official decision encouraging chambers of reflection, processions and chains of union. According to Grand Master Hinkle,

Some have raised objections to these practices, voicing various objections. These practices do not constitute "innovations in the body of Masonry," as some have asserted. Nor are they the "property" of other appendant and concordant organizations.

Therefore, it is my Decision that practices to include, but not be limited to, chambers of reflection, processions of officers and brethren into and out of a Lodge room, and chains of union are authorized in the Grand Lodge of Colorado. Indeed, these practices and similar observances are to be encouraged, as they dignify and adorn the Masonic experience of our brethren. They are to be decidedly Masonic in content, character, or style. In order not to conflict with the ritual as authorized by the Custodians of the Work, these embellishments are to be conducted prior to the opening gavel rap or after the closing gavel rap of a Lodge meeting. Were the Custodians of the Work to revise the ritual at some future date to include any such practices or observances, and the grand Lodge were to adopt such revisions, such would become a part of the approved ritual."​

Click image to enlarge. H/T to Cliff Porter.

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[scialytic]

Interesting...I was just going through some books and I ran across this quote that mentions the mystic chain. It is a quote from an esoteric/exoteric book from the 1800's. It is not a Masonic book (though it was organized with a bunch of them on my computer). So it looks to have been a pretty normal thing back in the day...

"The mystic chain of the Masons, a reminiscence of ancient mysteries full of meaning, and of the highest import, is formed by making the circle with the hands of each person crossed. It derives all its significance from the cross and circle being figured at one and the same time, and as one and the same image, for the cross and the circle are so closely linked together that one cannot be interpreted without the other. For example, the circle having an inside cross is the symbol of fire and water, or the union of spirit and matter; though the first symbol in cosmogony is the circle, and the next one is the circle and diameter."-Facing the Sphinx​, by Marie L. Farrington (1889)

 

[chrmc]

The Chain of Union is a very common part of the masonic ritual in quite a lot of jurisdictions. I know that UK and most of the Nordic contries use it, and it is my impression that Germany and South America has it too.
As the Grand Master says. It's actually not innovations. It's returning to our roots.

 

[jwhoff]

There, my brethren, is an enlightened Grand Master! Either that or he has overcome the politics of destruction.

Naw ... that couldn't be it.

 

[BryanMaloney]

This chain of Union sounds like things I've encountered in various church-related groups, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and Orthodox. I'd be surprised to find out that it isn't universal to humanity.