From another thread . Who read ahead before their EA degree , who knew what was going to happen ahead of time . And those who did read ahead , how different was it from what you read . I'll be honest , I knew absolutely , positively nothing about Freemasonry on the night of my Intiation . There were Freemasons I respected including my father-in-law , so that is why I become one . One Thanksgiving , I was setting at my in-laws looking at my father-in-laws Masonic "stuff" and looked at him and said " How does one become a Freemason?" , he said "Ask one" so I then say "Okay , let's do this thing " . I did not even know they wore aprons , the Grand Master was there and I watched him put on his apron and GM jewel and wondered to myself "what the heck is that? ". That is how clueless I was . I went in completely , 100% in the "dark" . And I am so glad I did , I think it would not have been as special to me .
I did 'read ahead' ofr my EA more out of wanting to be prepared than wanting to know. Most of my friends think I was/did join a cult, I know different as my wife & I attended a Friday Night Fish Fry at the Lodge building and knew most everyone there (the no degrees of separation of living in a small town). But even knowing the wording of the EA ceremony (I study ceremonies as a hobby) did not prepare me for the awe I felt knowing that they were doing this mostly from memory and that they were & are human (there were a few "help me out here"s in the lecture. It was and is a moving ceremony for me. I have goals for my MM, I wish to be the Lodge's chaplain, a role I am suited for by my background and temperment, I don't aspire to more at this time. I do wana to get on with it and the Lodge is disorganized to some extent, which frustrates me some...
I "studied" and such by reading books in general, watching documentaries and other things about Freemasonry in general. I've read several books since that have talked about SR & YR and had talked about some morals of teachings of some of the parts of those bodies. I'm feeling a little cheated, as I want a fresh experience. However, if it is anything like the 3 degrees my mind is going to be going a million miles per hour, and I'll be lucky if a tenth of what I see/hear sticks. I learn more each time I see the work performed.
When I finally came to the decision to join the fraternity I came in knowing absolutely nothing. It was like this for the EA and FC Degrees. While waiting between the FC and MM degrees (I had passed my catechism examination for my FC at the time) I cam across a website tha had Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor. It was VERY tempting to take a look inside the MM degree work. I mean almost imposible to resist. I did. I am glad for it because I read it later and I would have been sorely disappointed if I had. Delaware's rituals are SO different! For those of you who are tempted to "read ahead", don't! The experience is so much richer for you if you do not!
I agree, reading ahead easied my mind, knowing what was coming next took some of the edge off for me, that is part of my character, to be prepared. For my FC & MM I intend to go in as unprepared as possible so as to be awed as possible.
I took Brother Hodapps advice from "Freemasonry for Dummies" . "If you don't want to diminish your initiation experience, skip this part of the book". I applied that philosophy to any reading I did that started to touch on the ceremonies. I went in knowing what had been hinted at by the Brothers and what I distilled from that books (skipping the designated sections). The rest was new and exciting and I am glad i did not muddy up the experience by researching and spoiling the fun. BTW, My natural tendency is to research the heck out of everything and know it all before I get started, so this was a big change for me. I was also considering doing the one to three day "quick Mason" format in a lodge out of state. Having gone through the whole thing "old school" and talking to guys who did the fast track, I came out with a much better experience and appreciation of The Craft. They regret taking the shorter route almost to a man.
I read a little, enough to get a good sense of why I wanted to join. But for some strange reason never read anything about the ritual itself; so yes, i was completely surprised and engaged! IMHO, that's the BEST way to go in.
My dad, granddad and great-granddad were all Master Masons and I was a DeMolay, yet for whatever reason I never discussed Masonry with any of them. I went into EA with no idea about the ritual and am very happy that I did. The EA degree made a deep impact on me.
Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Signficance Picked this up from the library, started flipping through it and decided to drop it back off until AFTER me MM. Too much information.
Nope, I never read ahead and I haven't for my upcoming raising. It is very temting though because in NZ the length of time between degrees is longer than in America but still not as long as other places...I was initiated in November 2009 and I am to be Raised in November 2010 after which I will be the Chaplain of my lodge. At our Installation this year I was installed as Chaplain pending raising so I am looking forward to that.
