Note From the Editor: In this short article written and published for "The Builder" Magazine in their December 1919 issue, R.W. Bro. Louis H. Fead, P.G.M., Free and Accepted Masons of Michigan writes about the story behind the story in each of the masonic degrees and the biggest takeaways for each of them as well as his opinion on Masonry in general. Enjoy!
The ritualism of Masonry is truly a wonderful thing. Simple in its dignity and with no striving for dramatic effect, its power is so intense that, when even fairly rendered, levity is impossible and the initiate is consciously impressed with a serious grandeur. With such possibilities of histrionic expression that the great Booth pronounced the Third degree the greatest tragedy ever written, even the Master who mouths his words and misconceives his emphasis cannot entirely destroy its beauty.
So distinctive is it in character that ten consecutive words from it cannot be used in the press, on the rostrum or in conversation without practically every Mason recognizing them; so quaint is its context that its antiquity is instantly impressed upon the hearer; so tuneful is its rhythm that it rivals the stately measure of poetry; so natural in its movements and so devoid of restraint that its force is felt at first subconsciously but the words often spoken always convey a new idea; and withal, so lofty in its principles and so true its precepts that it is not a wonder some men make Masonry their religion.
Yet the ritual is not all there is to Masonry. Underlying the ritual, there is a symbolism which attaches to each form and rite and ceremony a significance not before known. From the forgotten past of the Ancient Mysteries, it brings the magic of the dead art of symbolic teaching and transfigures the commonplace. It transforms the lodge room into a world and the candidate into an unborn child.
It depicts the building of a perfect life. It portrays the child born into the world, burdened with the cabletow of inherited tendencies. With solemn ceremonies, he is purified and consecrated, the evils of his inheritance fall from him, the light of knowledge floods him, and he is invested with purity and innocence.
To build the foundation and strong walls of the temple of his character, he is given the working tools of the Entered Apprentice and, as each rite is performed and each emblem passes before his vision, he learns to employ his time and to divest his mind and conscience of vice and the things that hurt.
Having builded the walls of his character, he is taught as a Fellowcraft, by the use of his physical senses and the contemplation of a mind enriched by a study of the liberal arts and sciences, to adorn the temple with the pillars of culture and mental strength. And finally, as a Master Mason, the symbols impress upon him the certainty of death and the resurrection that there may be within the house he has builded a living presence conscious of Immortality and that its various halls and corridors and chambers and apartments may be the home of an enlightened soul.
R.W. Bro. Louis H. Fead, P.G.M.,
Grand Lodge of Michigan F.&A.M.
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