Updated April 12 2008

Silver Star News Letter

Trestle Board

April 12, 2008

Grand Lodge Scholarship Committee

We have received word that one of our scholarship nominees from Silver Star has been awarded one of the Grand Lodge Scholarships.  There will be more information from the Grand Lodge.

WB Roy Lawson

50 Year Pin

On April 8^th, 2008, WB Roy Lawson was received his 50 year Masonic Service pin at the stated meeting of Moses Lake Lodge #174.  WB Lawson said he was overwhelmed by the presentation, framing of his photo, certificate from the Grand Lodge and card from the brothers at Silver Star. 

Brother Lawson is in good spirits and took up working with the brothers in Moses Lake.  Masonic spirit and brotherhood is alive and well in Moses Lake.  If you have a chance, give Roy a call or drop him a line to congratulate him on this most impressive award.

Masonic Education

Courtesy of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana

http://www.la-mason.com/stb46.htm

THE MASONIC RITUAL AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL

by Aubrey L. Burbank PGM, Maine

The Short Talk Bulletin was adapted from a thought-provoking paper presented at the Seventh Annual Northeast Conference on Masonic Education and Libraries in 1962 by Past Grand Master, Aubrey L. Burbank of Maine.

The subject calls for an appraisal of the place of the Ritual in the program of education, and implies that its future is, in some measure at least, dependent upon its growth and development, past and present. The inference, therefore, is that we begin at the beginning, and that while the intent is to think in terms of the speculative craft, we cannot detach ourselves from antiquity. We must necessarily begin with the operative guild which gave us birth.

Masonic ritual, in the broadest sense, incorporates any and all ceremonies or rites from the opening of the lodge to its closing, including the conferring of degrees. To trace the beginning in either particular would be next to impossible, and it is not our intent to DWELL in the past. We can be reasonably certain, however, that the first speculative lodges inherited their modes and customs from the operative guilds and thus began their existence with a ritual sufficient for their needs-a ritual which probably provided for a ceremony of opening and closing and the administering of an oath of allegiance. This is understandable in view of the fact that mediaeval lodges opened with prayer, after which each workman had his daily labor assigned him and received the necessary instruction to complete the work in detail. We further learn that in or near that same period, an investiture with Masonic secrets, the building secrets, that is, was, perhaps, originally conferred in one of the abbey rooms near which the Cathedral, or other sacred edifice was being erected, until the superstructure had so far advanced as to cover the church crypt, and offered a safe asylum for the craft to congregate in, for the purpose of working the rites appurtenant to the several Masonic degrees.

With the passing of time, the working tools of the operative craft became the symbols of the speculative, and in order that they might be understood and their significance properly related to the living of a life acceptable to God and in a more perfect relationship with one another, it became necessary to devise a means of instruction which gave rise to ritualistic form.

As speculative Masonry grew and spread to other parts of the old world and eventually to America, its ritual became further enriched with allegory and symbols to the point where it became an art in itself, but never losing its original purpose and intent-that of imparting knowledge to the initiate.

There have been times in the history of the craft, however, when ritualism became the whole aim and end of Freemasonry. The effects of war, which made its mark upon society and life in general found no exception in the Masonic Fraternity. Lodges became likened to "6 mills" in turning out Masons (or numbers), and the ritual suffered as a result, due partially to haste, and partly to indifference and ineffectiveness on the part of undedicated officers. Then, too, in America, there has been a tendency to lengthen the ritual to accommodate the so-called ritualistic orators, and a further tendency to exploit the ritual, for the amusement of the brethren at the sacrifice of the more important task of imparting knowledge.

In more recent years, through various programs of candidate instruction, with the ritual as the foundation and basis of that instruction, there has been a growing tendency to restore the ritual to its proper place in the total program of Masonic education. Newly-raised Masons today have at their disposal a greater understanding and appreciation of the historically and life-molding significance of the ritual, and the emphasis in rendition is gradually changing from the 'I' dotter and the "T' crosser to the more meaningful rendition which causes men to think, to feel, and to act.

This is not to condemn good ritualism. The preservation of ritual in its purest form is most important and imperative. Good ritualism is an honor; poor ritualism is always pernicious. Good ritualism is worth the best efforts and highest aspirations of any Master; poor ritualism is unworthy of any Master. Good ritualism is one of the great assets of a lodge and a potent advertising medium; poor ritualism is an efficient hypnotic.

However, our subject does not concern itself with ritualistic rendition, but rather the place of the ritual in an educational program.

We have already indicated the tendency on the part of many Grand Jurisdictions to initiate a program of candidate instruction, and it is our opinion that such instruction cannot divorce itself from the ritual as the basis and foundation of that instruction.

As for its place in the future, it is our feeling that there are unexplored resources in the symbolism and allegory of our ritual commensurate to, and of about equal magnitude with the space age in which we live, resources which will help mankind to better understand his place in the world as a creature of one Almighty Parent, and endowed with powers beyond his most imaginative dreams. If we are to make men, through our ritualistic teachings, better able to deal with the problems of life in their relations toward the Supreme Architect of the Universe and their fellow man which is our major task in the building of spiritual temples, then we must utilize the resources at hand.

To say that we have exhausted this field would be preposterous and indicative of Masonic ignorance, because, as any one of you sufficiently versed in Masonry very well know, there is no end to the great well of information which lies buried in the antiquity of our Order. The potential in space is limitless-so also is the potential in Masonic research.

Some of these are so obvious that we hesitate to call them to your attention. WHY CAME YOU HERE? To seek Good that makes us Men, and the love that makes us Brothers. WHAT CAME YOU HERE TO DO? To discover myself, and how to rule and use the strange powers within my nature, that the Rough Ashlar of Youth might be wrought into the Perfect Ashlar of Manhood. WHAT DO YOU MOST DESIRE? To walk in the light, to know the Truth, to live in the glory of an illumined world, to ascend the Winding Stair of knowledge, to enter the Court of the Temple of Imagery where the symbols of God hallow our mortal life. BY WHAT RIGHT OR BENEFIT? By the Right of a man to know the meaning of life, so brief at its longest, so broken at its best; and by the benefit of a need too deep for tears. WORDS? Yes. But meaningful words that can be read into our symbolism and allegory.

And what of the even more obvious teachings left unexplored in our Ritual? The search for the Lost Word-the Rite of Destitution-The Altar-The Great Lights, and the Lesser Lights-the letter "G"- the Hiramic Legend. We could go on and on, illustrating where we have but scratched the surface in our program of education. But, behind, before and underneath it all lies the ritual, so rich and abundant in life-building, and soul-building resources as to defy the most searching and scholarly mind.

What of the place of the ritual in any program of education? It is, as always, past, present and future, the foundation stone upon which we not only MUST build, but through the grace of an Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent God, we are so privileged as men and as Masons.

Tips on Memory Work for New and “Established” Masons

Courtesy of A Page About Freemasonry

http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/

Learning & Memorizing Ritual

by Wor. Mark Waks

One of the problems that most often plagues Masonry is poor ritual. By this, I don’t just mean getting the words wrong -- I mean ritual that is drab and uninspiring, which fails to actually teach a candidate. Ritual is often mediocre, and it doesn’t have to be; anyone can do ritual well, provided he knows a little about acting.  It isn’t hard, actually; it’s mostly a matter of knowing how to do it, plus a lot of practice. This article is intended to impart some guidelines on how to do Good Ritual. It doesn’t demand a lot of time, or any particular talent, just a little drive to do well. Read it and play with it. With some practice, you should be able to use these techniques to good effect in your Lodge. The course is specifically aimed at dealing with the longer speeches, but uch of it is also relevant to shorter pieces; I commend it to junior officers.  This is adapted from a lecture that I worked up for my own lodge; having done that, I figured I should

try to spread these tips around for the common weal of the Craft. (Caveat: I do assume that you have some kind of cypher book, with encoded ritual. If your jurisdiction doesn’t use this, you’ll have to adapt these lessons.) 

1: Figure out the Words

The first step of learning any ritual is to know what you’re saying! This should be obvious, but is often overlooked, because brethren are afraid to admit that they don’t already know the right words. Don’t be afraid to admit your own limits -- I’ve never met anyone who gets every single word right every time.  Start out by listening to someone say the speech, preferably several times. (You should be doing this the entire previous year, listening to your predecessor.) Listen carefully, and make sure you understand what’s being said; ask questions if you don’t. (After lodge, of course.)

 Next, go through your cypher or code book carefully, and see how much you can read. Mark words that you can’t figure out, or that you’re unsure of -- this is the point to catch any mistakes you may be making. Then call or get together with a Ritualist or a reliable Past Master, and talk through it, reading out of the book slowly. Have him correct any mistakes, and fill in the words you don’t know. Take notes (preferably somewhere other than in the book), because you will forget the corrections as soon as you’re on your own.

 2: Understand the Speech

This step gets overlooked even more often than the previous one. Read through the ritual a couple of times, and make sure you really grasp it. Don’t just know the words -- know what it’s talking about. Find out who the characters being talked about are. Again, ask questions.  Now, start trying to understand the speech structurally. Any ritual is made up of components, separate pieces that are linked together. For example, a section may be talking about symbols, with three paragraphs per symbol: concrete meaning, abstract meaning, and purpose. Figure out what these pieces are -- you’ll use them later.

The next step is especially useful for long speeches -- visualize the speech. Any speech can be thought of in terms of movements, places, rooms, stuff like that.  Words are hard to remember in order; places are easy. The canonical example is the Middle Chamber Lecture, which walks through King Solomon’s Temple. That’s no accident -- that path is easily visualized, and makes a good example of how to learn ritual, which is probably why it is the first major speech an officer learns. This is why we use symbols in the first place: because they are easy to learn and internalize. Use them.

3a: Small-Scale Memorization

This is never anyone’s favorite part; anyone can do it, but no-one finds it simple. It’s considerably easier if you do it right, though.  Start out by reading the speech over and over. Don’t move on to the next step until you can read it from the cypher quickly, without breaks or hesitation.  Read it out loud, when you get the chance. This step is particularly important, and skipped more often than any other. Don’t skip it -- this is how you get your brain and mouth trained to the words. It may sound silly, but it really matters -- the mental pathways used to talk are distinct from those used to read.  Now, start trying to learn sentences. Just sentences. Read the first word or two of the sentence, then try to fill in the remainder from memory. Don’t fret if you can’t do it immediately; it will probably take at least 5 or 10 times through before you’re getting most of the sentences. You’ll find some that are hard -- hammer those ones over and over (but don’t totally neglect the rest while you do so). Again, get to the point where you’re doing reasonably well on this, before going on to the next step.

 3b: Large-Scale Memorization

Once you’ve got most of the sentences, try to move on to paragraphs. Again, some will be easy and some hard. Try to understand exactly why this sentence follows that one -- in most cases, the ritual does make sense. An individual paragraph is almost always trying to express a single coherent thought, in pieces; figure out what that thought is, and why all the pieces are necessary. Keep at this until you’re able to get most paragraphs by glancing at the first word or two, or by thinking, “Okay, this is the description of truth,” or something like that. Finally, start putting it all together. This is where the structural analysis in Step 2 gets important. You visualized the speech, and figured out how it hooks together; use that visualization to connect the paragraphs. Make sure you have some clue why each paragraph follows the one before. In almost every case, the next paragraph is either a) continuing this thought, or b) moving on to a related thought. In both cases, you can make memorization much easier by understanding why it flows like that. Convince yourself that this paragraph obviously has to follow that one, and you’ll never forget the order.

 4: Smoothing It Out

You’re now at the point where you’ve got pretty much all the sentences down, and most of the paragraphs, and you’re able to get through the whole thing only looking at the book a few times.  Now, start saying it.  When you’re driving in the car; when you’re alone at home; pretty much any time you have some privacy, try saying it all out loud, at full voice. Trust me, it sounds very different when you actually sayit aloud. You'll find that you stumble more, and in different places. Some words turn out to be more difficult to pronounce than you expected. Try it a few times.

Start out by trying to do this frequently -- once, even twice every day. It'll be hard at first (and it's a real pain to pull out the cypher book while you're driving), but it'll gradually get easier. When you're starting to feel comfortable, slow down, but don't stop. Practice it every couple of days, then every week. Don't slow down below once a week. If you feel up to it, see if you can speed up your recitation. (But do not ever speed-talk the ritual in open Lodge -- that's for memorization and rehearsal only.)

 5a: Mindset

Last part. You're now at the point where you pretty much have the ritual memorized. Now, the trick is learning how to perform it well. Very nearly everyone has some amount of stage fright; us acting types often have it even worse than most. The trick to overcoming it is control of the nerves.

 Now that you're comfortable reciting the ritual, observe how you do it. By now, you're not thinking about it so much; your mouth is doing almost all the work, with the conscious mind simply making a few connections between paragraphs. That is the right state to be in. Think about how that feels, and learn it.

 Before you go in to "perform", do some basic acting exercises. Take a few deep breaths; concentrate on not thinking. I think the ideal is a little light meditation, but it takes a fair bit of practice to be able to drop into that state on demand; for now, just worry about being calm. Being calm is far more important than anything else. If you're calm, you're unlikely to screw up too badly; if you're tense, you're far more likely to. Some people like to exercise the body a bit, to relax the mind; you should do what works for you.

 5b: Acting

Now the final nuance, which separates merely competent ritual from the really good stuff. Now that you're able to let your mouth do all the talking, start listening to yourself. Think about the ritual again, but don't think about the words, think about what it means. What are the important bits? Emphasize those. How could you use your body or hands to illustrate a point? Try talking *to* the person in front of you, not just *at* them -- look them in the eye and make them get the point. You are teaching important lessons here; try to capture a little of the emotional intensity of that importance.

Think of your "performance" as a melding of two parts. Your mouth is providing the words, your mind and heart the emotion. Again, nothing beats practice. This is what rehearsal should really be for -- taking a dummy candidate in hand, and learning how to really get the point across. Don't fret if you find that you need to change "modes" now and then -- here and there you will need to think about the words briefly, when you change paragraphs or hit a hard sentence. That won't throw you, though, so long as you keep track of what you're saying; you've already figured out why each part leads into the next, and that will guide you when you stumble.

Conclusion

Don't expect to get all this down instantly; it takes most people a few years to really get good at it. Just try to advance yourself bit by bit. Learn the transitions and pieces first -- if you have that, you can get through the ritual. Next time, work on memorizing more thoroughly. The time after that, work on getting it really smooth. After a while, you can build up to the point where you have the luxury to act. And at that point, you will find that you start doing the kind of ritual that Masonry is meant to have -- both moving and interesting, enough so that the candidate (who is, remember, the whole point) actually *learns* what you're saying, and what it actually means. And if you really do it well, you'll find that you come to understand the meaning of the ritual a good deal better yourself...

Wor. Mark Waks
Master, Hammatt Ocean Lodge - Saugus, MA
Mostly known on the Net as Justin du Coeur