Macoy's Middle Chamber- New Mason

Welcome to the Middle Chamber.  

Your petition was voted on and you have been elected to receive the degrees of Freemasonry.

Here is a video you can watch with your Mentor.  If you do not have a Mentor, show this video to the brothers who signed your petition and make sure they approve of what is in it. 

The Classic Author's comments:

Do not try to discover beforehand exactly what will happen. Prepare yourself to receive, observe, reflect, and learn.

1. William Preston: What to expect from the degrees

William Preston, Illustrations of Masonry
First published in 1772; the passage below appears in the expanded 1796 edition.

“Masonry is a progressive science, and divided into different classes or degrees, for a more regular advancement in the knowledge of its mysteries.”

Why Preston works

Preston gives the candidate the most important expectation: the degrees are progressive. He should not expect to understand everything during his first experience. Each degree provides another part of an organized system of moral instruction.

This quotation lets you reassure him:

• He is not being tested on prior Masonic knowledge.
• No one expects him to comprehend every word or symbol immediately.
• What initially seems unfamiliar will become clearer through reflection, instruction, and later degrees.

Preston also describes Masonry as something revealed to the sincere and industrious inquirer. In other words, the ceremony begins the education; it does not complete it.

2. H. L. Haywood: How to prepare mentally

H. L. Haywood, Symbolical Masonry, 1923

“To be ‘prepared in the heart’ means that within one’s own mind and feelings he is experiencing the meaning of that which he does…”

Why Haywood may be your best preparation quotation

Haywood warns against treating the degrees as something through which a man should simply be hurried. Proper preparation is not memorizing facts or learning secret information beforehand. It is reaching the proper state of mind.

For the candidate, that means:

• Come sincerely and voluntarily.
• Set aside outside distractions for the evening.
• Be receptive rather than analytical.
• Allow yourself to feel the seriousness of the occasion.
• Do not worry about performing perfectly.
• Reflect afterward rather than trying to interpret everything while it is happening.

Haywood says the proper mood includes right motives, willingness, seriousness, and a reverent frame of mind. He also places responsibility on the lodge to preserve the dignity of the occasion and prepare the candidate properly.

This is especially valuable because it reminds the lodge that candidate preparation is not solely the candidate’s responsibility. The brethren receiving him must avoid joking, rushing, unnecessary confusion, or anything that diminishes the solemnity of the experience.

3. Carl H. Claudy: How to receive the experience

Carl H. Claudy, Introduction to Freemasonry: Entered Apprentice, 1931

“It is not only with the brain and the mind that the initiate must take in Freemasonry but also with the heart.”

Why Claudy completes the sequence

Preston tells him that Masonry is progressive. Haywood tells him to prepare his heart. Claudy tells him how to receive what he experiences.

The candidate should listen and observe, but he should not approach the ceremony as though he were attending a lecture and taking a mental examination. Freemasonry communicates through allegory, symbol, action, atmosphere, and emotion. Claudy argues that hearing the words without engaging the imagination and heart means missing much of their meaning.

Claudy is also an excellent Macoy-associated voice. Macoy currently offers his three-volume Introduction to Freemasonry set, organized around the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason degrees.

There is one important editorial distinction: use this brief Claudy quotation before the degree, but give the candidate the complete Entered Apprentice volume after his initiation. The book was historically used as instruction for newly initiated Entered Apprentices and contains explanations better encountered after the experience. 

Books  you can read before your initiation:

The Craft & Its Symbols by Allen Roberts

The Newly Made Mason by HL Haywood.