Why Is Ritual Important to Freemasonry?

First, this is not going to be an article ABOUT Masonic ritual, I do have an obligation to maintain. However, this this will examine ritual as it pertains to Freemasonry. Please, read on and let me know what you think about ritual. The next blog entry will discuss the probably source(s) of Masonic ritual.

As Always when discussing a subject of import, lets start off with a definition and progress in the examination. So, what IS a ritual:

A ritual is a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions.

A ritual may be performed at regular intervals, or on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or communities. It may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in arbitrary places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private, or before specific people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states.

The purposes of rituals are varied; they include compliance with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or approval for some event — or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself.

Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. They include not only the various worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also the rites of passage of certain societies, oaths of allegiance, coronations, and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sports events, Halloween parties and veteran parades, Christmas shopping, and more. Many activities that are ostensibly performed for concrete purposes, such as jury trials, execution of criminals, and scientific symposia, are loaded with purely symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and thus partly ritualistic in nature. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello are rituals.

In any case, an essential feature of a ritual is that the actions and their symbolism are not arbitrarily chosen by the performers, nor dictated by logic or necessity, but either are prescribed and imposed upon the performers by some external source or are inherited unconsciously from social traditions.(1)

So, it’s a set of actions though to have symbolic value that are traditional and are not arbitrarily chosen by the performers. Sounds a lot like Freemasonic ritual so far. Joseph Campbell said:

A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And through the enactment it brings to mind the implications of the life act that you are engaged in … But you don't know what you're doing unless you think about it. That's what a ritual does. It give you an occasion to realize what you're doing so that you're participating in the inevitable energy of life in its exchanges. That's what rituals are for; you do things with intention, and not just in the animal way, ravenously, without knowing what you're doing.(2)

Enactment of a myth, symbolism, imposed on the performers. Now that we have defined what ritual is, now we should begin to look at the place ritual has in Freemasonry, and what it does for the craft.

One thing that should be noted is that while ritual is the foundational means by which we form Masons from the profanes of the world, it is not the ONLY means of Masonic formation. Yet, in writing that, we must realize that it is the ritual that opens the door, and it is the ritual the effects the fundamental change in the psyche which makes a man a Mason. There are some men that have been made a Mason in a single day, and while they are good men, true brothers, it is the opinion of this author that such brothers have been robbed of a valuable and life changing experience.

Are these brothers any less Masons for not having personally experienced the ritual? No, of course not, most of them are active, wonderful brothers. None the less, the manner of their formation took away from them a fundamental awakening of the spirit which they may only achieve with difficult work and contemplation.

It is NOT the intent of this article to discuss the relative merits of one day conferrals, however, but no discussion of the importance of the ritual in the formation of a mason would be complete without at least a nod in the direction of this subject.

Ritual teaches fundamental lessons through symbols, on a subconscious level. This is a very powerful teaching tool! Masonry is something slightly different to every man, yet the fundamental truths are always there, and it is the ritual which speaks to the unconscious mind, which slips the fundamental truths of Freemasonry past the conscious defenses and makes fundamental and substantive changes.

So, why ritual? Again, quoting Joseph Campbell:

It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back.(3)

Ritual then is the tool which speaks directly to the spirit, it is the three distinct knocks upon the portals of the spirit which cause the doors to open and spiritual eye to open and see more than the material world. By this awakening, we use the spiritual eye (reflected in our lodges as the “All Seeing Eye”) to behold Jacob’s Ladder, which rises from the material plane to the spiritual plane, and upon which we place our first foot, symbolically, in the Entered Apprentice Degree.

Without the Ritual, Freemasonry would just be another frat club, and would offer nothing more than the Moose or Elks or Eagles… material charity without a spiritual change.

Where, then, did the ritual originate? How did this ritual, by which we are so fundamentally altered, taught and spiritually nurtured, arise? That, my brothers, is the subject of my next blog.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.

References:

1. Wikipedia – English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual 2/26/08
2. Mythic Reflections, Thoughts on myth, spirit, and our times an interview with Joseph Campbell, by Tom Collins, One of the articles in The New Story (IC#12), Winter 1985/86, Page 52 Copyright (c)1986, 1997 by Context Institute.
3. The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell, Bollingen Series XVII, Princeton University Press, 1973, pp 11

Is Masonic Ritual Timeless and Unchanging?

First of all, the obligatory disclaimer. The following is solely the opinion of the author, and does not represent any group, sub group, lodge, district, Lodge Officer, Grand Officer, Grand Lodge or other masonic entity.

Whew!

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, the issue of the day is Masonic Ritual, and the question is: Is Masonic Ritual Timeless and Unchanging?

Concerning making changes in Freemasonry and/or attempting to define Freemasonry as a social club and community service organization...

In the installation of officers the Master is admonished; "You admit that it is not in the power of any man, or body of men, to make innovations in the body of Masonry."

In the anteroom lecture we are asked "Do you seriously declare upon your honor that you will cheerfully conform to all the ancient usages and established customs of the fraternity?"

We all answered that question in the affirmative, from the youngest Entered Apprentice to the Most Worshipful Grand Master.(1)

11. You admit that it is not in the power of any Man or Body of Men to make innovation in the Body of Masonry.(2)

You admit that it is not in the power of any man, or body of men, to make innovations in the body of Masonry.(3)

There are more sources, but these three will do to make the point that innovations cannot be made in the Body of Masonry. The Grand Lodge of California, and the Grand Lodge of California are in agreement, as are, well, darn near every REGULAR Grand Lodge on which I could find references. The question we need to answer before proceeding then, is RITUAL included in not making innovations?

Clearly, the answer is no. Referencing alone the information contained in "The Convention that Changed the Face of Freemasonry" we can see that the ritual was deliberately and systematically... standardized in the early 19th Century. And yet...

Ritual, from Merriam-Webster Online:

1: the established form for a ceremony; specifically : the order of words prescribed for a religious ceremony
2 a: ritual observance; specifically : a system of rites
2 b: a ceremonial act or action
2 c: an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner(4)

There is nothing in this definition which would give one the sense that ritual cannot be changed or modified, so based on historical usage and technical definition, the ritual is NOT timeless, and CAN be changed at whim. Therein lies the challenge, for the ritual is designed to inculcate certain wise and serious teachings, to assist in the formation of a mason, to set a man on the path to inner change... to make him a better man, before g-d, his family, and his community.

It is a challenge because, any time change is undertaken without serious contemplation of all possible ramification, a slippery slope has been trod upon, with the end unknown to the authors.(5)(6)

The Grand Lodge of California is very strict about the ritual. As prescribed at the Convention noted above, the ritual is overseen by a Grand Lecturer, whose duty it is, with five Assistant Grand Lecturers, and a number of Inspectors, one assigned per district, to teach the ritual and ensure that all lodges under charter to the Grand Lodge of California, follow and use the same ritual, jot and tittle, pronunciation, gesture and floorwork. This leads to some interesting ritual work, and in the past several years, a continuous stream of minor "modifications"/"Corrections" to the ritual work.

An effort to "standardize" the ritual has also been undertaken in the past few years, so that what is done in the first degree is also done in the second and third. So if the Senior Deacon makes a 1/4 turn at one point in the ritual of the first degree, in a similar circumstance in the second he does not make a 1/2 turn, but instead ALSO makes the 1/4 turn. Minor tweeks.

This also means that if one Grand Lecturer feels that, say, Succoth should be pronounced Suk-koth, and the next feels it should be pronounced Zuk-oth, well, the inspectors make sure that all Senior Deacons know of the decision and are doing that in all future degrees.

These "corrections" are communicated through the Officer's Association all officer's are required to attend once per month, where the ritual is "exemplified" and information is disseminated. A great opportunity for masonic education is wasted in these sessions, because the Inspectors (and really, pitty the poor inspectors who have to try to make this interesting) are required to exemplify each degree at least twice per year, and assorted other materials must be presented, each year, year after year after year. So discussions of an educational nature must be set aside to focus on the ritual... but I digress.

The point here is that the Grand Lodge of California is very strict about the ritual, and what actually constitutes ritual. For instance, strangely, the color of the lights in the lesser lights is a matter of ritual, as is the wearing of white gloves by officers in other than one part of the third degree. Also, so, apparently, is the path a Deacon walks in carrying out his duties. These examples are offered not to ridicule the Grand Lecturer or the good work that he and his Assistant Grand Lecturers do, because it IS an often thankless job they face, but to offer an insight into the ritual workings in Califorina (and as I am NOT a member of any other Grand jurisdiction, I can only offer my perspective on California practices).

What we end up with, then, is ritual controlled by a small, closed group of well educated brothers with the best intentions of the craft at heart. The problem, however, is that these men, by the very nature of their work, send out these "corrections" without the input of the men who will be using them. We are all brothers and fellows, and we practice charity, of thought as well as of action, and obedience to lawful authority, but men are men, and over time what has resulted is a dual ritual, one used when the Inspector/some grand officer is looking, and the ritual that is worked in the lodge for the conferral of degrees.

The two rituals are similar, but in many cases what has developed is the knowledge that the Grand Lecturer and Assistant Grand Lecturers are ever changing, and the knowledge that the next Grand Lecturer or Assistant Grand Lecturer will change what his predecessors have changed makes the ever changing ritual more complex. Even the best intentioned brother, dedicated to inculcating every single "innovation" that comes down the pike at some point just tries to keep his head above water, listening politely when the Inspector corrects him, and then goes on doing what he knows. The body of changes just gets too large to compass and still learn the work.

California has a working, systemic, and well implemented methodology in place to teach the ritual (Officer's Association), it has an authoritative and well educated cadre of Grand Officer's in place to teach the ritual and carry questions / suggestions / complaints up to the Assistant Grand Lecturers and Grand Lecturer (Inspectors), and has a small, manageable, dedicated, well educated group of Ritual Authorities (Grand Lecturer and Five Assistant Grand Lecturers) to oversee the ritual. This system has worked, and despite its flaws, it continues to be a working and respected methodology with the backing of the Executive Committee and brethren of the lodges.

So, is ritual timeless and unchanging, written in stone and inflexible?

Not in California... thank the GAOTU

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.

References:

(1) Freemasonry as a Sacred Retreat by John W. Taylor
(2) The ANTIENT CHARGES and REGULATIONS of the UNITED GRAND LODGE of ENGLAND
(3) Grand Lodge of California, Free and Accepted Masons, Installation Ritual, Obligations of a Master
(4) Merriam-Webster Online, Ritual, as a noun
(5) Slippery Slope, Wikipedia Online, English Version, 02-17-08
(6) A Discourse on Method, by Rene Descartes, ISBN-10: 0872204200; ISBN-13: 978-0872204201, Hackett Pub Co Inc; 4 edition (June 1999)