The Masons

Entrance to Freemasonry

Slowly I was led forward into the darkened room by my conductor. The room would have been pitch dark, if it were not for a very light flickering orange glow that I could just make out from behind the green velvet blindfold that covered both my eyes. I couldn't see forward but I could see downwards a little due to a gap in the blindfold and could just about make out the silhouette of my slipshod feet through the darkness below me. The conductor maintained a tight grip upon my right arm and I could feel the trembling left hand of the second candidate on my left shoulder behind me. His hand although shaking vigorously was clamped firmly to my shoulder as the conductor led only me by the arm, and the second candidate in turn was guided by holding on to me. He would have been lost in the darkness were his hand to slip. I could understand why he was so nervous. I was too. I was grateful to be hidden behind the blindfold to shield me from whatever unknowns lay ahead of us in the room, and also to hide the worry that must have been showing in my eyes. I had no idea how many people were in the room which was in complete silence, but I sensed there were a lot. There was an air of nervous anticipation which I could sense all around me.

I and the stranger behind me had met for the first time only an hour before. After being forced to strip to our underwear and dress in some ceremonial attire that had been carefully laid out for us, we had spent a nervous hour sitting together, making small talk, getting to know each other and trying to prepare ourselves for what was to follow. The two of us were known as "candidates" and were to be initiated into Freemasonry this evening. The 1st Degree, also known as the "Entered Apprentice Degree" would be conferred upon us by the Lodge Office Bearers, after which we would officially be Freemasons, or more specifically, "Entered Apprentice Freemasons", the most junior masons in a masonic lodge. We sat together, talking occasionally in hushed nervous tones, on a leather bench in the corner of a room known as "The Adjacent". The Adjacent was a large imposing room that emanated formality. It was a long rectangular shaped room with a large fireplace at the far end, above which hung a very large oil painting of Lord Arbuthnot, a prominent Freemason from the 19th century. One of the long walls was lined from end to end with pictures of the Lodge Office Bearers; every Master and his Office Bearers from present day right back to the late 1800s. In each picture a group of stern looking men, dressed in their regalia sat rigidly staring out of the picture frame. On one of the shorter walls on the opposite side furthest from the fireplace and Lord Arbuthnot, three tall windows overlooked the town's market place but were shaded by the blinds which had been pulled all the way down to avoid prying eyes. In the corner, perpendicular to the windows an open doorway led back to the long stair landing and the winding staircase that gave access to the upper floor of the very large masonic building.

The only other person in the room, other than me and the stranger, was an Office Bearer of the lodge known as the Tyler. His job was to remain outside the door of the lodge and guard against any potential intruders or eavesdroppers. On the long wall opposite the one with the Office Bearers' pictures were two large wooden doors with brass knockers and spy holes, which led from The Adjacent into the Lodge Room (also known as the temple). Every now and again there would be a sudden, sharp series of thuds from somebody knocking on the other side of the door and the Tyler would immediately repeat the pattern of knocks back on one of the brass knockers on his side of the door.

The stranger was around 35 years older than me. His name I had learned was Robert and he sold mortgages. He confessed to me while we were alone that he was joining the masons because it would be good for business, more potential clients for him and more mortgages to be sold. As an 18 year old student of technology, I knew nothing about business, nor could I comprehend how business networking worked or how a masonic lodge membership would equal a mortgage broker selling more mortgages. My reasons for joining were more straight forward. My father and grandfather were both masons as had been most male relatives in my father's side of the family. My best friend was a member of the lodge, and he along with his neighbour who lived across the street were my "Proposer" and "Seconder" to Freemasonry respectively. Whilst my dad's family was full of Freemasons, the same was not true of my mum's family. Freemasonry was frowned upon and treated with suspicion by many of my mum's family. My mum's mum - my gran - was a member of a very strict local church, as were many of her family, and the constitution of the church barred members of secret societies from becoming members. My mum told me that while courting my dad she often had to make excuses at church to explain his whereabouts when he was at a masonic meeting. In addition to the family connection to Freemasonry, I was motivated to join out of curiosity and mystery. This was an organisation that few people knew anything about. Masons did not talk about what happened at their meetings and naturally I wanted to find out what all the mystery was about.