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THE SPARK FELT AROUND THE WORLD

By Bret Iddings of Groton Lodge #496, NY

& Coudersport Consistory, PA

I am very passionate about Masonic education. It has helped me over the

past few years completely turn my life around and, in fact, the more I have

pursued the Light in Masonry, the more I have witnessed its magic manifest in

my life.

First, I ask that all readers quietly reflect to themselves on why they first

sought to gain admission into Freemasonry. Maybe it was to meet new people

and make new friends. Maybe you heard that masons do good and charitable

things for the local community and you wanted to be a part of it. Possibly you

heard that the Freemasons were engaged in a global conspiracy to secretly take

over the world and you wanted your piece of the pie. Oops, I just revealed why I

am here!

All jokes aside, no matter what our intentions were at the beginning, we

can all admit that there was a reason we wanted to become a Mason. It wasntuntil we showed up to our first night at lodge for initiation that we encountered

the mystical aura and very powerful egregore of Freemasonry.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term egregore, I will refer to the

definition in the book Lifting The Veil: Esoteric Masonic Thought published by

Dr. John S. Nagy and the article written by Bro. Robert T. Dunn, who defines it as

the distinctive energy of a specific group of people working together, creating

and building the same thought-form or energy form. Building on this, any

symbolic pattern that has served as a focus for human emotion and energy will

build up an egregore over time, and the more energy that is put into such a

pattern, the more potent the egregore will form around it The egregore of

Freemasonry has existed for centuries, and it is the result of the focused will to

connect with the spiritual realm for millions of men, all around the world[1]

. You

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will encounter different group egregores when you go to work, school, church, to

a stadium to watch a sporting event, to a parade and to any other environment

that has a group of people collectively taking part in an activity.

Needless to say, we all encountered that when we first entered the lodgeand went through our initiation to become an Entered Apprentice. Through that

process of initiation, we were introduced to many of the basic teachings of

Freemasonry and a completely new way of looking at and experiencing the world.

As we progressed through the three degrees and levels of initiation to become a

Master Mason, it became very obvious of why, over time, Freemasonry has been

hailed a science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated in symbols. We were

introduced to certain tools as masons and were taught the story and allegory of

the building of King Solomons temple by our ancient operative Grand MasterHiram Abiff, in cooperation with King Solomon, Hiram King of Tyre and the many

different bands of workers and fellows of the craft.

If we recall the teachings of the common gavel, we remember that it was

used by operative masons to prepare stone so that it could be used to erect the

temple. As Free and Accepted Masons, that same tool was symbolized as a

representative of our own free will, which we are instructed to use for more

noble and glorious purposes as was further explained to us during theproceedings. This instruction, combined with 1 Corinthians 3:16 from our Volume

of Sacred Law, could be considered as a strong topic for serious contemplation

and reflection for all of us brothers who are seeking more education and Light in

Masonry.

Getting back to the initial topic of Masonic education and why we sought

admission in the first place, I think it is safe to say that we were all searching for

something. We instinctively knew that there was something more to life than

what was provided in our upbringing and initial American education. Soon

enough, we found ourselves as a candidate, accompanied by the masters of

ceremonies, waiting for permission to enter the lodge room on the night of our

initiation. Months later or longer, we were raised to the Sublime degree of Master

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Mason, having received all the benefits that could be acquired by a newly made

Master Mason.

I have been in contact with many brothers from around the world, a

majority of them being of the younger generation of Masons. One thing is loudand clear, no matter the age, the brothers I have spoken with demand Masonic

education. It is crucial that regular business be attended to on a regular basis but

it is also important that we fulfill that other need we all have as masons, that

same need we had when we first petitioned to become a Freemason: education.

As it is mentioned in the initial teachings, we are instructed to conduct

personal research in the numerous books of Masonic symbolism outside of our

regular lodge activity. Just like with anything in life; if we seek, we will find what

we are looking for. In the case of Masonic education, if we dedicate ourselves to

understanding the wisdom of the creators of the Craft and the forefathers of our

country, we just might find what we set out to discover in the first place.

Focusing on education will not only create a spark within us individually, it

will collectively motivate and inspire our lodge, brothers new and old. This energy

will spread to neighboring lodges and reach all the hearts that are seeking it.

Living what we learn will allow us to be role models to non-members and we will

see a correspondence of that energy spread in our community. In due time that

initial seed of intention will grow into the spark felt around the world.

1. Robert Theron Dunn, Lifting the Veil: Esoteric Masonic Thought(Lutz, FL: Dr.

John S. Nagy/Promethean Genesis Publishing, 2009), pg. 128-129.