Lecture
The Charge After Initiation (Commentary)
What if a single ritual moment could shape your moral compass for life? The Charge after Initiation compels new Freemasons to treat the Volume of the Sacred Law as an “unerring standard,” to embody moral and social virtue in deed, and to uphold secrecy, fidelity and obedience, seeding lifelong curiosity to explore its deeper meaning. Anyone who learns this beautiful piece of ritual and dwells upon it, in time, discovers that the precepts it contains gradually becomes part of their own belief system.
In order for us to understand the Charge after Initiation I feel it is important to know a little of our Masonic origins. Let us therefore have a brief look at craft “Guilds”.
A guild is: “an association of craftsmen or merchants formed for mutual aid and protection and the furtherance of their professional interests” – Britannica.com
Guilds were at their height in Europe between the 11th and 16th centuries. Of the two types of Guilds; Merchant and Craft, we will be looking more specifically at the development of the Craft Guilds although you will see how the two weave together in later years..
The Craft Guilds would consist of Master Craftsmen in a town or city coming together to regulate the standard of work, pay and conditions for that industry.
Each industry would have their own Guild of artisans and craftsmen. For example, Guilds of weavers, dyers and fullers in the wool trade, and masons and architects in the building trade. Other Guilds included; blacksmiths, butchers, bakers etc.
The Guilds became very influential in local government and in the local economy. Many were appointed by Royal Charter, an interaction that indicated the importance of the trades to the development and stability of the country. They were also very involved in helping their members and improving their community through general philanthropy.
A Master Craftsman would have apprentices who would learn the secrets of their trade. The apprentices would be in early adolescence, often about 14 years of age, and would complete an apprenticeship of between five and nine years.
They received no pay but were given food and lodgings. In fact, some families paid the Master Craftsman for their son to serve an apprenticeship with them in order to learn a respected trade.
Maintaining a good reputation as a man as well as a Master Craftsman meant there was always work. Living with the Master Craftsman, the apprentice was taught to respect the Master’s wife, his daughter, and his maid.
He would be dressed appropriately at the meal table and would be prompt. He would treat all the Master’s clients courteously for that would bring in the work.
If he did not keep to this professional and personal standard he was simply returned to his family, unqualified.
After completing their apprenticeship the qualified craftsman would then become a journeyman, travelling from job to job, Master to Master, following the work and fine-tuning his skills.
To become a Master himself he was tasked with the production of a “masterpiece” which would be judged by established Masters in the Guild.
If successful, he could then open up a workshop of his own with his own apprentices working to the high standard set by the Guild not only in the work produced but also as a citizen, always ensuring that they did not bring the Guild into disrepute.
The Guilds held their own professional courts to investigate complaints in order to maintain their high standing in the community.
It is during the heyday of the Guilds (or in London the “Livery Companies”) that Freemasonry has been alleged to originate.
If we look at the Coat of Arms of the United Grand Lodge of England you will see, on the left as you look at it, three castles a chevron and compasses.
This took its rise from the “Moderns” and before that, the Coat of Arms of the Worshipful Company of Masons who registered their Arms with the College of Arms in 1472, but with a sable (black) field and not gule (red) field as in that of the UGLE Coat of Arms, which itself was registered much later in 1919.
The Guilds grew at a time of pilgrimages and the Crusades of the Middle Ages when powerful Christians from all over Europe grasped their opportunity to sack the Towns and Cities of the Middle East relieving them of land, valuables and life in the name of God. As land was won, foreign outposts and fortifications were required and given the riches that had just been confiscated, beautification was demanded. Once returned back home, Cathedrals were then sanctioned and erected in thanks for God’s loving support of the multiple foreign victories and ornate tombs located therein for the bones of the victorious aggressors..
At the time that the Guilds were establishing themselves around Europe, the Continent began to suffer extreme religious turmoil. Cousins with differing religious faiths suddenly discovered themselves in conflict with one another and perhaps more pointedly, men of science with differing faiths were unable to discuss their scientific findings and views simply because of their religious backgrounds. An environment where religion had no place but conversation could flow freely would therefore have been much in demand. Thus Lodge meetings became popular in coffee houses and public houses alike.
Because of the heavy handed approach of the Papacy and their lack of compassion for the Country, the English monarchs from Henry VIII (1491 – 1547) through the Reformation to William III (1650 – 1702) gradually moved away from the dominance of the Roman Church towards the much more palatable “Protestantism” culminating in the Act of Settlement in 1701, which in fact stated that the reigning Monarch now had to be Protestant.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, England during this period had become very religious and somewhat extremist, to the point that employers, members of the Guilds, insisted their employees attended church.
In feudal societies, freemen were those above the ‘unfree’ (or tied) peasants and serfs, functioning much as a medieval middle class. Freemen were bound to the king or local lord by oaths of allegiance. They paid rent or taxes, and were required to bear arms to defend their town or kingdom. Over time, “freeman” developed into a specific legal status in towns and boroughs. A freeman of a city had the exclusive right to trade, run a business, or join a merchant guild. Freedom to a city could be earned through birth (patrimony), completing an apprenticeship (servitude), or through purchase (redemption).
The reputation of the Guilds (or in London the “Livery Companies”) became such that honourable and established Freemen of the area desired to become associated with them. Furthermore other professions such as; scientists, business owners, tradesmen, councilors and nobility, as well as those who would normally be associated with the Merchant Guilds showed more than a passing interest and so these honourable men and women were accepted as social or “speculative” members, hence the phrases “Free and Accepted” (ie Freemen who had been accepted) or “Speculative” (such as the other trades and professions)”.
Now let us compare the Charge after Initiation with what we have learned from the above information.
“Bro. AB, as you have passed through the ceremony of your initiation, let me congratulate you on being admitted a member of our antient and honourable institution.
Ancient no doubt it is as having subsisted from time immemorial, and honorable it must be acknowledged to be, as by a natural tendency it conduces to make those so, who are obedient to its precepts.
Indeed, no institution can boast a more solid foundation than that on which Freemasonry rests – the practice of every moral and social virtue.
And to so high an eminence has its credit been advanced that in every age monarchs themselves have been promoters of the art, have not thought it derogatory to their dignity to exchange the sceptre for the trowel, have patronised our mysteries and joined in our assemblies.”
The fact that there is a “ceremony” of admittance clearly indicates that you are entering something which is unique and not a job. It is special because the people within the Institution make it so.
They have a code of moral conduct which they put into practice that makes them deserving of respect – being “honourable”.
“Antient” refers to the fact that it is old and its precepts can be traced back to the Guilds.
“Immemorial” means “originating in the distant past”; again, referring back to the time of the Guilds but likely not I’m afraid to the Egyptians or Greeks.
In the original hierarchy of a Freemasons’ Lodge, the newest member would be given an apron and trowel, and act as the Inner Guard.
He would prick the chest of the Initiate with the trowel to test one of the five senses on the Initiate’s entrance to the Lodge. The Initiate would then become the newest member and take on that role. We now use a poniard in place of that trowel although a trowel is often shown as though it were one of our working tools.
Monarchs themselves have “exchanged the sceptre for the trowel” referring to the Princes of Wales;. Edward VII (1841 – 1910) and George IV (1762 – 1830) who was Prince Regent, both taking the humblest of positions, the Inner Guard, as the newest Lodge member.
“As a Freemason, let me recommend to your most serious contemplation the VSL, charging you to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice and to regulate your actions by the divine precepts it contains.
Therein you will be taught the important duties you owe to God, to your neighbour and to yourself.
To God, by never mentioning his name but with that awe and reverence which are due from the creature to his Creator, by imploring His aid in all your lawful undertakings, and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support.”
The VSL, in English Lodges, must be the whole Bible and must be open in order to make the Lodge ‘regular’. Therein we find the precepts that “regulate our actions”.
Books of other faiths may lay upon or alongside the Bible in English Lodges (if it is requested of the candidate) but not replace it. This duality signifies the unity of faiths.
The Bible is not just a gesture to religion it is the “unerring guide” to our actions and so it must be present and open to enable it to be read by the Master when he “employs and instructs the Brethren in Freemasonry”.
In the ceremony of Initiation you are asked “In all cases of difficulty and danger in whom do you place your trust?”
A question that must be answered truthfully to fulfil a requirement of entry into our Institution.
Above the Ark of the Covenant on the Coat of Arms of United Grand Lodge of England is written in Hebrew “Holiness to the Lord” and on the Coat of Arms for the Worshipful Company of Masons is written the motto “God is our guide”.
“To your neighbour, by acting with him on the square, by rendering him every kind office which justice or mercy may require, by relieving his necessities and soothing his afflictions, and by doing unto him as in similar cases you would wish he would do to you.”
By “acting with him on the square” that is to say by acting with reverence and high morals both practically and emotionally, as well as financially to help your fellow man. Bible quote: “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31)
“And to yourself, by such a prudent and well regulated course of discipline as may best conduce to the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy, thereby enabling you to exert those talents wherewith God has blessed you, as well to His glory as the welfare of your fellow creatures.”
To set yourself “a course of discipline”, a daily routine, which looks after your mental as well as physical health.
At the time of the Guilds, if you were not at your best mentally and physically you were not able to do the work that would enable you to provide for your family, or be in a position to help others.
There are not many Institutions that promote mental wellbeing or ‘mindfulness’ as part of their guidance and protocol. Mindfulness has been practiced in Lodges since well before the Constitutions were first documented back in 1723.
“As a citizen of the world, I am to enjoin you to be exemplary in the discharge of your civil duties, by never proposing or at all countenancing any act that may have a tendency to subvert the peace and good order of society, by paying attention to the laws of any State which may for a time become the place of your residence or afford you its protection, and above all, by never losing sight of the allegiance due to the Sovereign of your native land, ever remembering that nature has implanted in your breast a sacred and indissoluble attachment towards that country whence you derived your birth and infant nurture.”
Early Guilds existed by virtue of Warrant or Charter signed by the Monarch and so the allegiance of Guild members was to the Crown.
Within our ranks over the years we have had future kings and our present Grand Master, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, is of Royal blood and the uncle to “King Charles III”.
The civil wars of the 17th century had brought disorder to the whole land but the Guilds pledged to the monarch to be peaceful and law abiding and so it remains today.
“As an individual, let me recommend the practice of every domestic as well as public virtue: let Prudence direct you, Temperance chasten you, Fortitude support you and Justice be the guide of all your actions.
Be especially careful to maintain in their fullest splendour those truly Masonic ornaments, which have already been amply illustrated – Benevolence and Charity.”
What you do in both your public and private lives will have an effect on your reputation and consequently on that of the Institution.
Operative Masters in the past had to look after their apprentices, and demanded respectful, polite, and virtuous behaviour; to be a good man and uphold a good reputation so that the Master Craftsman’s business continued to prosper.
To follow the dictates of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice, is to be a credit to yourself and of benefit to your trade or calling.
“Still, as a Freemason, there are other excellences of character to which your attention may be peculiarly and forcibly directed: amongst the foremost of these are Secrecy, Fidelity and obedience.
Secrecy consists of an inviolable adherence to the obligation you have entered into – never improperly to disclose any of those Masonic secrets which have now been, or may at any future period be, entrusted to your keeping, and avoid all occasions which may inadvertently lead you so to do.”
The Master Craftsman would convey a way of producing an item that is unique to his trade to his apprentices – a trade secret.
He would not want that secret to be conveyed to people outside of his craft, for that would likely have a very strong effect on his business, his livelihood, and his reputation.
The only secrets we now have in Freemasonry are the manner in which we recognize each other.
In conveying those secrets to people outside of the “Craft” would endanger the reputation of our members. A reputation that has been built up over three centuries. It is a test of your individual integrity.
“Your Fidelity must be exemplified by a strict observance of the Constitution of the fraternity, by adhering to the ancient Landmarks of the Order, by never attempting to extort or otherwise obtain the secrets of a superior degree, and by refraining from recommending anyone to a participation of our secrets unless you have strong grounds to believe that by a similar fidelity he will ultimately reflect honour on your choice.”
Fidelity means “faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support.”
It is, therefore, important that you take time to read our Constitutions for therein you will be “instructed in the duties you owe to the Craft in general” and from our By-laws “the duties you owe to this Lodge in particular”.
With regard to the “antient Landmarks of the Order”, it must be noted that Freemasonry does not have a controlling authority over individual Grand Lodge, so the “antient Landmarks” may vary around the world. However these are six of the most common:
- Belief in a Supreme Being
- A book or volume of the sacred law
- That a Mason be freeborn and of lawful age.
It is easy enough, nowadays, to find the secrets of a superior degree but why would you want to? It would take away the mystery and drama of the ceremonies and make them less of a learning experience.
It would also bring into question your own integrity, for being pressed further you would soon fall foul and identify yourself as someone not entitled to the rank, a “cowan”, one who works as a Mason without having served a regular apprenticeship.
A whole debate can be had on the recommendations of candidates. Who really knows another? What goes on behind closed doors?
When Master Craftsmen selected their apprentices they would go by word of mouth, recommendations, and the reputation of the prospective candidate’s family, but it is not until the apprentice is able to demonstrate the skills set by the Master Craftsman that a true indication of worth can be gained.
What can be established is the character of the candidate by references from reputable sources and face to face, both of which can be an act.
His true character will be tested thoroughly during his apprenticeship.
“Your obedience must be proved by a strict observance of our laws and regulations, by prompt attention to signs and summonses, by a modest and correct demeanour in the Lodge, by abstaining from every topic of political or religious discussion, by a ready acquiescence in all votes and resolutions duly passed by a majority of the Brethren and by perfect submission to the Master and his Wardens whilst acting in the discharge of their respective offices.”
You can only know our laws and regulations by reading the Constitutions and By-laws. It doesn’t have to be done in one chunk. Read little and often.
Demonstrate your accession to the values of the Lodge by making a habit of replying to messages, especially summonses sent by the Secretary the same day. He has a lot of work to do putting a meeting together.
Put the dates of Lodge meetings and rehearsals in your diary so that you can plan ahead.
Lodges are places of safety for many of our members. It must therefore be a place of conviviality and concord, not a place where a member may feel embarrassed or face anger.
There is enough of that in the world. It should be a place where a man of any religious background, political persuasion or cultural difference may feel he is safe and among friends.
“And as a last general recommendation, let me exhort you to dedicate yourself to such pursuits as to enable you to be respectable in life, useful to mankind, and an ornament to the society of which you have this day become a member; to study more especially such of the liberal arts and sciences as may lie within the compass of your attainment, and without neglecting the ordinary duties of your station, to endeavour to make a daily advancement in masonic knowledge.”
It is here that the Charge makes an intrusion into your private life by asking you to make your hobbies and pastimes such that they do not bring you or our Institution into disrepute.
It encourages you to continue your personal commitments – and without detriment to yourself, your family and your work – learn more about our Institution which in itself is a pathway of personal improvement.
“From the very commendable attention you appear to have given to this charge, I am led to hope you will duly appreciate the value of Freemasonry, and indelibly print on your heart the sacred dictates of Truth, Honour, and of Virtue.”
I hope you now realise that if you are able to embrace it, Freemasonry becomes a way of life and not just a social opportunity.
