'Then more Light you shall receive!'

I finally became Worshipful Master of my lodge.

No, not Worshipful Master of Pickens Star Lodge No. 220, F&AM, of Jasper, Georgia, where I was raised and am still a member.

I finally became Master of my own lodge.

While drinking coffee and watching the sun come up, and reading Bro. Theron Dunn's Beacon of Masonic Light blog, all the basic Masonic concepts and symbols I learned so long ago came together in a new way for me, first in a minor and then in a major epiphany. No, the earth didn't shake, and there was no clap of thunder, but I began to see things in a new Light.

Bro. Dunn's most recent blog entry is titled "Who is the Widow?"

The title interested me not only because it's a good question, Masonically speaking, but it hit me on a more personal level, since, out of all the Masonically-themed screen names I could have chosen, I was "led" to use the moniker "Widow's Son" when I began this blog two years ago.

His article speaks of goddesses: Isis, Ishtar, Mary the mother of God. It talks about Hiram Abiff, about spirituality and creative forces.

I enjoyed reading it, and I started to leave a comment, which would have been my first comment ever on his blog.

I wrote, "Indeed a thought-provoking post."

And then, I was at a loss for words. I wanted to express that his article was good, one of the more enjoyable I'd read there.

But what thoughts had it actually provoked?

I sat in silence for a few moments, and then these words almost magickally appeared on the screen, coming from a deeper source within me than my usual level of conscious awareness.

The Lesser Lights:

• Sun = God = Ra = Father = Hiram before his death = Junior Warden = The Plumb


• Moon = Goddess = Isis = Mary = Mother (Earth) = The Widow = Hiram as a dead level = Senior Warden = The Level


• Worshipful Master = Man, or the Potential of (a) Man (or Humanity) = Resurrected Sun Horus = Resurrected Son Jesus = Hiram as a raised perpendicular = The Widow's Son = Worshipful Master = The Square

Here I paused, as I pondered what I'd just written. I sat back, had another cup of coffee, and kept asking myself, "What then, are the greater lights, and what do they represent?"

After a few minutes, and more coffee, I wrote the following. At first, it was a struggle to find the right words. This didn't come as easily; it seemed to have had to filter through my mind, unlike the previous material, which just "appeared."

The square represents our "new," or resurrected self, or that potential in us.

The compasses, as we are told, represents circumscribing our actions, or drawing a circle around ourself, or a concentrated focus.

What then emerges? In most Masonic locales, there is a G within the merged square and compasses, or sometimes the Volume of Sacred Law, often the Holy Bible in Western cultures. The Bible here is not meant to be taken literally, but as a symbol, as are the square and compasses.

The VSL, or the letter G, must then represent the merging of the square and compasses, which leads to Gnosis, or enlightenment.

I sat back, satisfied that I'd written some good material, and had some more coffee.

I re-read what I'd written. I especially kept going back to the part in the lesser lights section about the Sun, and the Junior Warden. The thought that I'd never progressed past the office of Junior Warden kept popping into my head.

The myth of Ra, Isis and Horus is fairly well-known. But there's a player in the myth that isn't always mentioned. It's the same player found in the God/Mary/Jesus saga.

Darkness. Set. Satan.

In my mind, I began to overlay the Egyptian and Christian myths with the Hiramic legend, and that I overlaid on my own Masonic life. When I was Junior Warden of my lodge, I was, literally, accosted by three Past Masters whom I've semi-jokingly referred to in my mind and in print as the Three Ruffians, Jubelo, Jubela, and Jubelum. Those three were inspired to take the actions they did by one from the Grand Lodge, a man highly regarded by some in Masonry yet who to me has long represented the North, or Darkness. I had long blamed them for my "downfall," not only for knocking me out of my station in the lodge and off my path to the East in "real life," but also for derailing my Masonic-spiritual path.

In hindsight, I should thank them. Their actions, rude and unpleasant though they were, sent me online to seek my Masonic path to More Light. This blog, along with my regular reading of other Masonic blogs and sites, was a direct result of their seemingly unmasonic behavior. Had I continued in the normal progression to the East, I'd never have learned the many things I have learned. I'd just be "one of the guys," mumbling through rituals I had little understanding of, looking forward to receiving one of those gaudy Past Master's blue nylon jackets my lodge is fond of presenting to Past Masters.

Today I found that Light I'd long sought. I don't just mean the minor epiphany of better understanding the three lesser lights. I'm fascinated by myths and gods and goddesses and what they represent, but that's not the major revelation.

The major revelation is that I created the problems I had in lodge all by myself. Yes, the Ruffians and the Grand Lodge leader of the pack were wrong in their actions, at least in my eyes. But they were following their Paths as they best saw fit. What they did changed my Path, as I was not yet ready, or worthy, to sit in the East, neither physically in a lodgeroom, nor metaphorically-spiritually as captain of my own ship.

I'd never have come to understand the Masonic symbols — or lessons — had I remained "in the line." I'd never in a million years learn what Masonry "really" is sitting in regular lodge meetings in that lodge. It took being shunned by them, being away from them, to lead me to where I am today.

So I say a belated thank you to the Three Ruffians, and to the Man from the North. Without you I'd be just another soon-to-be Past Master of a physical lodge in rural north Georgia.

Because of you, today I accept the Master's chair of my own lodge, that is, my own life.

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