imakegarb
Member
One wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie
Posts: 3,573
|
Post by imakegarb on Mar 25, 2007 4:30:11 GMT
Oddly, I made not one misstep. Everyone got dinged the right number of dings, the spins were right and no fires were set. Cora, you're right, it *is* very different in lodge.
I also was given a run thru on the floor work of an SD and my RWM seems to be of a mind I should do that work after I'm raised (or perhaps a bit earlier). I'm thinking it's a bit soon for such work but I've been told it's best not to argue with one's RWM and none of my lodge BB seemed to object to the idea (though a number have greater seniority). And, really . . . I rather liked it ;D
|
|
|
Post by middlepillar on Mar 25, 2007 21:12:17 GMT
Karen
Well done......I am still watching with great interest your advancement into the world of Freemasonry, and I thank you for being so eloquent in sharing your experiences.
|
|
|
Post by whistler on Mar 25, 2007 21:50:07 GMT
Karen Here is an interesting little observation, at an initiation during the opening of the Lodge I saw the Thurifer made a mistake in the sequence and started swinging the JW's pedestal before doing the alter he half completed the JW, when he realized stopped did the Altar, and then did the JW again in it's normal time - in all the JW's area received a double dose. Remember where the important work with the candidate is the performed, and the cone the Thurifer creates. Don't think it was an accident HGW
|
|
imakegarb
Member
One wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie
Posts: 3,573
|
Post by imakegarb on Mar 25, 2007 22:43:18 GMT
Thank you both Yup. I think it was Russell from whom I first heard mention the "beehive" the thurifer forms before each pedastal. I later read it in Leadbeaters "The Hidden Life in Freemasonry". It's a wonderful idea and image and it does feel that way. And if the JW got a double dose that day . . . oh my. I can only imagine such a Masonic career that candidate may have before him/her. For I am told the candidate, in all degrees including the first, brings with them the ritual they need. ;D And if I may add, it's not just in the first degree that there is important work done at that particular pedastal. There an important bit of work performed there in the second as well (and I'm wondering if the same will be so in the third). I have also wondered (and I've asked others. They're thinking about it): - What is the connection between the SW and IPM? I know there must be a connection, based on what I've seen in ritual (especially when we don't have an IPM present) and how each is censed. But that connection isn't clear to me. - Why are the numbers 6 and 8 not represented in the censing? Every other number from 1 to 9 is represented except these two.
|
|
|
Post by Bettendorf on Apr 4, 2007 23:51:25 GMT
Congratulations Karen! Ive never heard of this Office before though...
|
|
|
Post by corab on Apr 5, 2007 10:22:12 GMT
- Why are the numbers 6 and 8 not represented in the censing? Every other number from 1 to 9 is represented except these two. Prime numbers? Does anyone with a more solid grasp of maths and masonry want to comment on that? We have two permissible variations in our Rite of Censing. The one has the Thurifer cense the RWM first, then the Altar; the other is v.v. We use the latter, and it makes far more sense to me that way. HGW, Cora
|
|
|
Post by hollandr on Apr 5, 2007 10:51:12 GMT
When the altar is censed first it is like a spiral expanding out from the altar around the principal officers - as far as I recall
Cheers
Russell
|
|
imakegarb
Member
One wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie
Posts: 3,573
|
Post by imakegarb on Apr 6, 2007 6:19:44 GMT
I did, actually, suggest this but . . . yeah, we do the former. But it's all very cool.
Only now I'm writing an article about if for an online magazine. And I don't know where to begin.
|
|
|
Post by hopefulmason on Apr 11, 2007 12:50:28 GMT
Hello, I have been reading the post above but I dont know what the "Thurifier" is? Can someone tell me? Or the cone the thurifier creates? I dont know if I should already know this or not? Thank you.
|
|
imakegarb
Member
One wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie
Posts: 3,573
|
Post by imakegarb on Apr 11, 2007 14:05:27 GMT
A thurifer is the person who censes the lodge room and the brethren (no one gets missed but some get more than others). And the thurible is the same type as used in Christian Churches, and during ceremonies in other faiths, to do the censing. Here is a closeup of such a thurible. And here is a thurifer at work in a Christian religious setting. I'm very new but I understand censing is most commonly done (at the beginning of each lodge) in obediences such as mine (AFHR), LDH and in at least some French Femalecraft lodges. I also have confirmed (and my source is impeccable) that this is occasionally done during in UGLE lodges and, in those cases, a thurible is used. I've also heard (though, as a Fellowcraft, it's inappropriate for me to enquire too closely) that incense is used in high degrees in most all Obediences.
|
|
|
Post by hopefulmason on Apr 11, 2007 16:16:53 GMT
ok....I have'nt seen that done in my lodge. I always learn so much from you. Also I forgot to ask someone at my lodge. Since I passed my FC exam does that now make me 2nd degree, or are you considered 2nd degree once you have been through the FC cerimony. Just wondering
|
|
|
Post by corab on Apr 11, 2007 17:03:09 GMT
It's not something that is commonly done in male craft Lodges, Brother. I believe such use of incense in the three Craft degrees is fairly unique to Co-Masonry, and even then it is limited to certain rituals.
In the British Federation four rituals are in use, and as far as I know the Rite of Censing is practised only in the Lauderdale ritual, which is derived from the Dharma ritual. I visited a sister Lodge in Holland on Saturday, and they didn't use incense either.
As for your question about being an FC I can, of course, not speak with any authority for your Jurisdiction, but the general principle is like that of the EA degree: we are made an FC in the Passing ceremony; the exam serves merely to prove that we are ready to undergo the ceremony.
S&F,
Cora
|
|
|
Post by cezarek on Apr 11, 2007 17:51:04 GMT
Even within Co-masonry, its use tends to be restricted to English speaking countries (using the beautiful Lauderdale Ritual). In continental Europe, where AASR or Rite Francais Rectifiee are more likely to be used, incense isn't so popular. Unfortunately perhaps, since it can be a beautiful part of a ritual.
|
|
|
Post by corab on Apr 11, 2007 18:18:39 GMT
Even within Co-masonry, its use tends to be restricted to English speaking countries (using the beautiful Lauderdale Ritual). In continental Europe, where AASR or Rite Francais Rectifiee are more likely to be used, incense isn't so popular. Unfortunately perhaps, since it can be a beautiful part of a ritual. Yes, I noticed that during my visit to the Dutch Lodge. They worked Scottish Rite, which meant, as the RWM explained, that they don't take the Temple down after each meeting; there always is a presence there. I did feel a presence the moment I walked in, even though we didn't go through the Rite of Opening so familiar to me. I was pleasantly surprised at that, because previously I had held the belief that without 'properly' opening the Temple, something would be missing. I was proved wrong, however I did notice, that I was nowhere near as energised and in need of a good meal (a.k.a. grounding) afterwards. Fascinating, these differences! HGW, Cora
|
|
|
Post by hollandr on Apr 11, 2007 23:59:08 GMT
>I had held the belief that without 'properly' opening the Temple, something would be missing.
The other day I was walking through a supermarket carpark on a large piece of land that had once been owned by a lodge.
As I walked along a path I commented to my friend that I could feel that we were walking through the old lodge building and she commented that that was exactly where the temple had been sited.
I suspect therefore that the temple energies may remain long after the building has gone
Cheers
Russell
|
|
imakegarb
Member
One wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie
Posts: 3,573
|
Post by imakegarb on Apr 12, 2007 5:52:54 GMT
Everyone, thank you soooooo much for helping to fill in a few gaps. I kid you not, I'm writing an article about our censing and I've been trying to get a handle and where/when in the Craft censing is done.
And, please, do tell me more ;D
Near as I can tell, so far, it is most commonly done in Co-Masonic lodge, but not universally there. Meanwhile, in other obediences, it is done but only on rare occasions or in upper degrees.
But what I'd like to know more about is what we know about sensing in the early days. Was it a part of operative lodge practice or did we come by it from other traditions?
|
|
|
Post by cezarek on Apr 12, 2007 17:17:21 GMT
Yes, I noticed that during my visit to the Dutch Lodge. They worked Scottish Rite, which meant, as the RWM explained, that they don't take the Temple down after each meeting; there always is a presence there. I did feel a presence the moment I walked in, even though we didn't go through the Rite of Opening so familiar to me. I was pleasantly surprised at that, because previously I had held the belief that without 'properly' opening the Temple, something would be missing. I was proved wrong, however I did notice, that I was nowhere near as energised and in need of a good meal (a.k.a. grounding) afterwards. Cora, I'm intrigued and bemused. We use Scottish Rite, which has an opening and closing part. Taking down the temple is something new to me - is it different? You know, I've never attended a lodge working in the English language, and the more I hear about Lauderdale, the more I'm intrigued. There's a DH lodge near my old home in UK, maybe one my visits home will coincide with their meetings. I notice that in our temple, even outside the meeting times, there's a definite presence, comparable but not identical to the feeling of numen in some but not all churches - it still feels like sacred space. I wonder if this is someting to do with 'taking down the temple'. I also noticed recently, when attending a raising at a malecraft adogmatic lodge (Grand Orient) who use the same lodge room, that everything felt subtly different. Not just because there are certain differences in the way the room is arranged, but in a more intangible way - everything seemed lighter and somehow looser, but certainly neither better or worse, just different. Oddly enough I felt considerably more energised than normal (at my mother lodge, I have to fight to stay awake sometimes, possibly due to 3 and a half hour meetings with no break on Friday evenings as much as anything else) and felt energised for a long time after. They don't use incense either. Has anybody else noticed anything similar?
|
|