By this time next week, I’ll have joined the Brotherhood of Freemasonry having taken the first degree and become an Entered Apprentice. I’m excited but at the same time a bit nervous as I’m not completely sure of what will be involved. I do have a general idea from seeing Freemasonry specials on Discovery Channel and the likes but not enough to feel secure that I won’t embarrass myself.
I did get an accidental peek into the ceremony while reading my latest Freemasonry book Born in blood. I came to a section where they analyze the oaths that each degree candidate must take for clues to their historical origins. Well, I didn’t realize that they tell you the actual oaths. I’m deliberately trying NOT to discover the secrets of the rituals as I’ve been told that it ruins the experience.
Well, now I had a more serious concern because the book detailed the Entered Apprentice oath including a question and answer portion where the initiate is asked a series of questions that he really isn’t supposed to know the answer to. Once I read the proper answers, they made sense, but now I had the dilemma of going through the ceremony pretending I didn’t know the answers (which seems like a bit of a lie) or answering the questions correctly (which I’m technically not supposed to know the answers to).
Well, my conscience was eased when I told a friend (and past master of the lodge) of my concern. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry about that. You will be guided through the rituals by a fellow Brother. That Brother will generally answer for you or will whisper in your ear the proper response”. Whew!
So my suggestion to any aspiring Freemasons reading this, if you are like me and don’t want to spoil the surprise, be careful how much reading you do and you are bound to trip over some spoilers that you didn’t intend to!
BTW, I loved the book (Born in blood) and will do a short post on it in the near future.
This is my 2nd post on Freemasonry. Click here to view my 3rd.
3 responses to “A Week To Entered Apprentice”
it was an expreaince
I have found the same problem. Being ‘net friendly, there is just way too much info available. It’s hard not to keep reading but I too have also tried to ensure that I don’t read anything that seems to actually describe the rituals just to help ensure the sanctity and efforts by the Freemasons to make these rites personal and dignified!
I will become an entered apprentice in two weeks.