The 'Three Stooges Degree': Pickens Star Lodge No. 220

I've been doing other things besides blogging lately, so I'm kinda late in chiming in on a recent post and its subsequent comments on Bro. Chris Hodapp's blog.

When I first came on the Masonic blog scene with The Burning Taper three years ago, writing about my experiences in my local lodge, many — perhaps most — of my Masonic readers couldn't or wouldn't believe the strange state of Freemasonry in Georgia.

Countless readers have written to me over the years, publicly or privately, saying "that's not my Freemasonry," or saying I must be making stuff up, because "Masonry is not like that." When I made blanket statements about Freemasonry, I was speaking of what I had personally experienced. Now someone else has verified some of the things I've been saying all along.

Brethren from my home lodge, Pickens Star Lodge No. 220, F&AM, of Jasper, Georgia "performed" their version of the Master Mason ritual at a "cave degree" in Tennessee recently. Over 250 Masons from 14 states, Canada and England were in attendance for a show that is sure to be talked about for years: The Three Stooges Degree.

Here's what a visiting brother from Indiana emailed to Bro. Chris Hodapp after witnessing Pickens Star's Master Mason ritual:

Hi, Chris,

Back from the Cave Degree in TN... this was my third year, and it's generally been a wonderful time. This year left me with a really bad taste in my mouth.

In short, the Degree Team from Georgia put on the most banal, disgusting parody of the MM that I've seen in all my 26 years as a Mason. If I had been Raised with such tomfoolery, I'd never have set foot in a lodge again. Period.

If I were their GM, I'd jerk their Charter so fast, they'd find their butts spin-driven into the ground. But apparently, GA is a very different place than Indiana.... If (as it's reasonable to assume) a Degree Team invited to another Jurisdiction is putting on their most solemn, refined Work, GA insulted every Brother in attendance. I'd heard that GA was "a little rough" on their Candidates. I don't even want to think about how bad it would get, if they weren't on their "best behavior".

The Three Ruffians were literally transformed into the Three Stooges. "Nyuk, Nyuks,", noogies, head-slapping, eye-poking, pratfalling fools. (Jubelum was actually wearing a black, bowl-cut Moe wig, to make the slapstick all the clearer.)

If that wasn't bad enough, the Graveside Prayer turned into a 25-minute Sermon, calling Jesus down to Bless us, our Children, our Grandchildren... and damn the Unbelievers into the Fiery Pit for Eternity if they don't see Jesus (mentioned at least 25 times) as Lord and Master of all. I was half-expecting the guy to pull out a basket of snakes from under his Apron, and start handing them around.

It was so bad, that most of us who hadn't escaped beforehand were in slack-jawed shock by the end, and the cave emptied in record time.... I haven't begun to chip at the iceberg. IN and TN are fairly distinct in our Working... yet our Bro. down there was just as appalled as I was. Rewording the Obligation (to explain that "Clandestine" means "Prince Hall" in modern English) really riled me.

I'm sorry to have bothered you with this... but I don't know anyone who's Travelled as you have. Their disgusting, juvenile performance has left me a little wounded.... I've never seen anything so utterly Unmasonic as what was pulled on us last Saturday. I know it's not the norm... but have you ever seen anything similar?

I've seen the performance several times — once as the Center of Attention — and each time I've thought to myself, "This can't be the way it's supposed to be!"

Once, a month or two after I was Raised, I was even drafted into a minor role as a spear-carrier. I donned a shiny robe made of Halloween-costume material and a matching bellboy/flying monkey cap, and was roughly pushed to the appropriate mark at the head of the soon-to-be-raised brother.

I've seen the silly wigs and the tattered and frayed "Hulk" pants the Indiana brother mentioned, and grimaced at the nyuks and giggles from cast and sideliners. I always thought the costumes, wigs and beards looked like props from B-grade monster and Flash Gordon movies of the 1930s.

Especially disturbing are the laughs and catcalls as the man becoming a Master Mason meets the Three Ruffians and his fate. Giggles galore. For some reason, the larger the man, the funnier the crowd thinks it is.

The "loud and long" prayers to Jee-zus! have been discussed before.

I've also written before about how, at the end of the show, one of the brothers takes it upon himself to remind the New Brother what he has just learned. Indeed, he is told that he cannot sit in lodge or discuss Masonry with anyone from a "clandestine lodge, and the only clandestine lodges we know of are the black lodges."

Forget for a moment the oxymoron of "knowing of a clandestine ('unknown,' 'hidden') lodge." Instead, focus on what the New Brother, eager to take his place in a fraternity dedicated to the universal brotherhood of all mankind, is told: "You're not a brother to black Freemasons, and they are not brothers to you."

As I've said before, my first thought upon hearing this was, "Oh, shit! I've just joined the KKK!"

I've had other moments of wondering how many of my local brethren were Ku Klux Klan members, but that's fodder for another article, another time.

Here's the saddest part of all: My brothers at Pickens Star Lodge actually think the chuckles and Jesus-prayers are proper, that the ritual should be enacted exactly the way they do it, that this is the way Masonry is supposed to be. As odd as they act, they are sincere in their belief that Freemasonry the way they interpret it is what Freemasonry is and should be.

As I was told many times back when I was an active member of my lodge, "that's the way we do it!"

If you have not yet read about my adventures at Pickens Star Lodge, click on "Small Town Freemasonry 1: A Bucket of Rattlesnakes" (under "The Burning Taper Backstory" in the right-hand navbar) and read through Part 4 and beyond.

Masons | Masonic Ritual |Pickens Star Lodge | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Masonic funerals: 'Where tears have no station'

Many times when a Master Mason passes away, he has told his family and/or his brethren that he wishes to have a Masonic memorial service.

When this happens, his lodge is honored to perform such a service. As many brethren who can make it will meet at the lodge an hour or two ahead of the deceased brother's schedule funeral, and open a Lodge of Sorrow.

The ritual of opening the Lodge of Sorrow differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but usually consists of an abbreviated regular opening followed by solemn recitations about life and death.

Some lodges (in Georgia, at least) will open a Lodge of Sorrow once, or once a year, and leave it open for the year, or indefinitely, to make it easier. Personally, I think a Lodge of Sorrow should be opened and closed for each deceased brother, to show respect for each individual.

After the Lodge of Sorrow is opened, the brethren will travel to the place of the funeral, and await the arrival of the brother's body outside the building. As his family and his casket enter the building, the brothers stand at attention, while two Masons, standing opposite each other, at each end of line cope the procession by raising and joining together staffs, forming a triangle over the heads of the mourners, symbolizing the canopy of Heaven.

The Masons will then sit together in the chapel, usually at the rear. At the conclusion of the funeral service, the Masons leave first, and again form a line on each side of the procession, again coping the family and casket as they pass by.

At graveside, the service is usually all Masonic, with the presiding Master reciting beautiful words of solice and hope for life everlasting, ending with the symbolic laying of white gloves and a white Masonic apron upon the casket.

The brothers circumnavigate the casket, and at the appropriate time, each one removes the sprig of acacia that has adorned his lapels and put it atop the casket.

It's a beautiful, meaningful and moving ceremony.

After speaking with the assembled mourners, many of the Masons return to the lodge to close the Lodge of Sorrow, again with suitable ceremony.

Recently in Jackson County, Florida (on the border with Georgia and Alabama), Harmony Lodge No. 3 did something a little different. They invited the family and the public to attend the Lodge of Sorrow ceremony.

Last January, sheriff's deputy Mike Altman, who had been a Master Mason less than a year, was killed in the line of duty.

Because of the large number of people who attended his funeral, the Masonic lodge had given up their places in the church and at the graveside, and until last week, had not given Masonic honors to their departed brother.

On Monday, they opened a Lodge of Sorrow with family, friends and law enforcement co-workers of Bro. Altman in attendance. An article in the Jackson County Floridian by Deborah Buckhalter gives a wonderful description of what went on, spelling out not only the facts but great descriptions of the meanings behind the ceremony.

I've attended several Masonic funerals in the past several years. Most times it was the funerals of brothers I barely, if at all, knew. Each time I participated in the ritual I was moved by the poignancy of the lecture given at the graveside, and by the symbolic actions we performed.

For many years, W. Bro. Roy Collis opened and closed the lodge, and performed the Master's duties at graveside for our lodge. Even as he approached 90 years old, Bro. Roy was sharp as a tack and impeccable in his delivery. Bro. Roy no longer presides over Masonic funeral traditions; in the past year his health has deteriorated to where he is unable to even attend lodge. He'll be 92 at the end of September.

The one time I participated in the Masonic services for a brother I knew very well, we were stymied by his church's minister. Bro. Bob Webster and I attended the same local Presbyterian church. The church's long-time minister, Pastor Dave, had just left the church to move to another city. Pastor Dave was a great guy; I knew him well. He'd presided over the non-Masonic funeral of a brother who had died a few years earlier; ironically, Bro. Bob and I had been two of the four men from our lodge who had gone to that brother's funeral.

The new minister at the church didn't like Masons. He would not allow us to follow our tradition and perform the honors after the regular funeral service. Bro. Bob had been cremated, and his ashes were to be scattered in a memorial park area on the church premises.

Traditionally, all the mourners would have joined us in the park while we performed our rituals. The minister saw to it that we did it ahead of time, by ourselves, with only Bro. Bob's immediate family present. I found it very unchristian of the minister, who was so new to the church that he didn't really know Bro. Bob, to impose his will and insecurities about Masonry on the family like that. Bro. Bob's ashes were scattered in the park even before his regular funeral service was held. It was very awkward for all involved, simply due to the new pastor's anti-Masonic stance. Had it not been for the fact that the funeral director, Bro. Roper, was a Mason, I don't think the minister would have allowed us to conduct our services at all.

Some Masonic purists would argue that Masonic funeral ceremonies should not be performed for brethren who are cremated. I've heard that more than once, usually by someone who takes the fundamentalist "resurrection of the body" dogma literally.

Another time, we conducted our memorial services indoors, at the end of the regular funeral service. It was a cold, rainy January afternoon, and the burial plot was just outside the church, so we performed the honors indoors, arranging ourselves around the casket in the front of a very small country church.

If you are a Mason, try to take the time to attend funerals of your brothers, whether you knew them or not. Familiarize yourself with the ritual, so you know what is expected of you.

If you're not a Mason and have never seen a Masonic funeral ritual, make it a point to do so. You'll be awed by the service's meaning, symbolism and grandeur.

Masons | Masonic Ritual | Lodge of Sorrow | Freemasonry | Funerals | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

The Mason's nightmare

W. Bro. Steve Barr of North Hollywood (Calif.) Lodge No. 542 penned this short story last week after his lodge conferred the Master Mason's degree.

Do you know "the actor's nightmare"? Where you dream you're up on stage, in front of a big audience, and you've suddenly forgotten your lines?

That happened to me last night. For real.

One of the newer brothers in my Masonic lodge has been very diligent in learning what he needs to know to progress through the initiatory degrees. He had demonstrated his proficiency in the Fellowcraft degree (which is the second of three) and I wanted to give him a special experience when he received his Master degree. So I invited the Shrine degree team to perform the ceremony for him.

The Shrine, if you didn't know, is a affiliate body of Freemasonry, known for their free children's hospitals, their distinctive fezzes, and driving little cars in town parades. Their degree team is highly regarded, and they travel around southern California performing the degrees for any Master who wants to give an initiate a mark of distinction.

My lodge hasn't performed this particular degree in a few months, and so I diligently brushed up on my lines for the part of the ceremony that we would perform before handing it over to the Shriners. And I'm really proud of my officers — we were nearly perfect with the stuff we did. That's important, because the Shrine degree team has a lot of big muckety-mucks from the world of Masonry, and they take ritual performance very seriously, and I wanted us to make a good impression.

But, in my brushing-up, I forgot that there's a part waaaay at the end of the ceremony that is always done by the actual Master of the lodge, no matter if someone else is sitting in for him during the ceremony. I hadn't even thought about it since the last time we performed the ceremony, and I didn't brush up on it at all.

And, well, it's not the sort of thing that a person can ad lib:

"Brother [last name], I congratulate you on your becoming a Master Mason, and as such I commend you to the kind care, love, and protection of all Master Masons withersoever dispersed. The eyes of the Fraternity are now upon you. Be just, be faithful, be true, and convince the world by your acts that on becoming a Master Mason you have become a better man. Retain, we entreat you, that goodness of heart, that purity of intention, and that love of virtue of which we think you now possessed, and of which this spotless vestment* wherewith you are now girded is at once the emblem, the badge, and the reward."

Nothing now remains to constitute you a member of North Hollywood Lodge number 542, Free and Accepted Masons of the State of California, but to approach our Secretary's table and there sign its bylaws, which will subject you to its burdens and its responsibilities, as well as entitle you to its benefits and its privileges."

See? Not exactly colloquial language, is it? (* the 'spotless vestment' is the lambskin apron, which every Mason wears in lodge.)

This little speech comes at the end of a different little speech called the Charge, which was being performed for the first time by a brother of our lodge, who just became a Master Mason a few months ago and is really gung-ho, so I wanted to reward him by allowing him to perform the Charge in front of all the assembled muckety-mucks. He did it excellently, and when he was done I sat there in the audience, basking in the warm glow of pride I had for my lodge... and slowly realized that nothing was happening.

I looked up at the guy sitting in the Master's chair, and he was looking right back at me. Expectantly.

Sitting next to him was my District Inspector, who is the guy assigned by the Grand Lodge to several lodges in our area, to make sure our ritual is up to snuff. He was staring at me too, raising his eyebrows, asking me what the hold-up was.

And THEN I remembered that I was supposed to do the Master's Congratulation speech.

Well... f***.

I've already mentioned 'the actor's nightmare' but now I want you to visualize 'the deer in the headlights.' I froze, my eyes going wide and my mouth going dry. My balls crept up into my body cavity, trying to hide. I wanted to follow them up there.

I stood up, adjusted my apron and tuxedo, and shakily walked up to the guy who had just gone through a solemn and impressive ceremony to be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. I cleared my throat and choked out "Brother ________, I congratulate you on your becoming a Master Mason." And that was it. No idea what was supposed to come next.

All of the Shriners know that speech by heart. So does our Inspector, and about half of the guys from my lodge who were there.

They all started whispering the next few words, which to me sounded like dead branches rubbing against a windowpane. Incredibly freaky.

My new brother was looking at me quizzically, wondering if my quivering hands or the blood oozing from my ears was part of the ceremony. I shook his hand, smiled, summoned my courage, and strongly declared "Brother _______, I have no idea whatsoever what I'm supposed to say next."

Everyone chuckled. Thank god.

I said a little phrase, which is a Master Mason's signal of distress, and one of the past Masters of my lodge was suddenly standing behind me, his hand on my shoulder, saying "With your permission, Worshipful, may I give the congratulation?" Everyone knew that he was bailing my ass out, but I thought it was incredibly classy of him to phrase it that way.

I nodded and somehow made it back to my seat without passing out. The past Master performed the congratulation flawlessly, and the ceremony was over. After we closed the lodge and were having refreshments downstairs, everybody gently joshed me about it, letting me know they weren't offended by the fact that I am an incompetent Master of my lodge. :)

So. That was my evening last night. How was yours?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go memorize that damn Congratulation so well that I will never forget it again.

Republished with permission of W. Bro. Steve Barr

Image: W. Bro. Steve Barr, North Hollywood Lodge No. 542

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'Corn, Wine and Oil' film concludes Masons are creepy Satanists

A 14-minute trailer called "Corn, Wine and Oil," an excerpt from a 3-hour film, touches on, in no particular order, the architecture of Washington, DC, Skull and Bones, the hidden meaning of "corn," Masonic cornerstone ceremonies, Baal worship, the Morgan Affair, Royal Arch ritual, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and much more. Using spooky music and gee-whiz narration along with interviews with Masonic authors, Christian ministers, Scottish Rite spokesman Brent Morris, and others, the film concludes that Freemasons are creepy Satan worshipers. One interesting clip shows author and Co-Masonry member Dr. Robert Heironimus trashing Skull and Bones as "the most powerful and one of the darkest of all secret societies." There's even a clip of Pres. George W. Bush saying "it's so secret I can't talk about it."

Here's the movie's blurb, from Google Video:

New 14 Minute Trailer — "Riddles In Stone: Secret Architecture of Washington, D.C.," will continue to explore the fascinating history behind the origins and focus of the world's most powerful nation: America. Why was this nation founded? How was the precise location of Washington, D.C., determined? What is the meaning of the seemingly countless occult images in our nation's capitol?

Volume II zeroes in on the Masonic & Rosicrucian influence so prevalent amongst our Founding Fathers as they planned, and began to implement, the layout of America's Capitol. For years, extreme controversy has abounded as to the exact meaning of the occult symbols found within the street layout, the buildings, and the monuments of Washington, D.C.

Is there really an inverted Pentagram formed by the street layout just north of the White House? We have discovered the esoteric reason why this Pentagram is missing one segment.

Was this city laid out to reflect the vision of a Masonic Christ foreseen by Sir Francis Bacon? Is it true that America's capitol was laid out "according to the stars", i.e., in the astrological shapes of certain planets and stars so revered by occultists?

Why did our Masonic Founding Fathers perform "Corn, Wine, and Oil" ceremonies at cornerstone layings and at the dedication of the finished structure?

Does this occult "wisdom" represent the interests of America, or a hidden agenda?

As with Volume I, this "Secret Mysteries" series will continue to explore current — and possibly future — events by examining America's past. What can these realities mean for the unfolding destiny of America and the world? Now you will know that, when President Bush said he was fulfilling the "Ancient Hope" of the "New Order of the Ages" (as we show in Volume I), he was merely acting out the plan reflected in the street layout and in the architecture of Washington, D.C.

Watch the video at Google Video or below.



Masons | Masonic Ritual | Anti-Mason | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony: What does it mean?

A 60,000 square foot public library is being built in Santa Maria, California. Completion is expected in mid-2008. Celebrities, including radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger, have helped raise funds, a news article relates.

On March 24 comes the cornerstone dedication.

For hundreds of years it has been customary to have Freemasons perform a dedication ritual to "bless" the cornerstone of a public building.

This scares the willies out of evangelical Christians and paranoid, anti-Masonic conspiracy theorists. A few weeks ago we mentioned the "panic" the cornerstone at the Denver airport has caused in those prone to seeing New World Order symbolism everywhere.

Anyway... what's the point of a Masonic cornerstone dedication ritual? What does it entail?

A Masonic cornerstone ritual is probably the only Masonic ritual, other than a Masonic funeral, that the public (known masonically as "profanes") will ever see conducted. When the brethren are sharply dressed, and well-rehearsed, it's an awesome thing to behold. I recall watching on C-SPAN back in the early 1990s, before I was a Freemason, the Masonic re-dedication of the cornerstone at the U.S. Capitol.

The dedication ceremony is the symbolic laying of the cornerstone, that which supports (again, symbolically) the entire structure. When the cornerstone is discussed, by extension, it refers to the entire building project, and that, in turn refers not only to the actual physical actions to erect the building, but also to the mental, spiritual, even metaphysical energies that have come together to cause the creation of the edifice. The officers conducting the ceremony, usually officers of the state's Grand Lodge, symbolically square, level, and plumb the cornerstone, assuring that it is set correctly, that "the Craftsmen have done their duty."

After the Grand Lodge officers have squared, leveled and plumbed the cornerstone, the Grand Master "finishes the work" by proclaiming the foundation stone "well formed, true and trusty."

The Grand Master then "blesses," for lack of a better word, the cornerstone (again, which by extension, represents the entire project) by pouring corn (which means grain, and doesn't necessarily have to be maize), wine and oil.

The Corn of Nourishment symbolizes health and heartiness of the workers.

The Wine of Refreshment symbolizes plenty.

The Oil of Joy symbolizes peace and joy.

There is no "magical" effect; the Grand Master has no power to bestow these benefits. He is, quite simply, asking that these benefits and blessings be bestowed upon the project and the people by the GAOTU, the Great Architect of the Universe, God.

The following is reportedly the Cornerstone Leveling Ceremony (or Ritual) for the Grand Lodge of Texas A.F.& A.M. It is very similar to other ceremonies I've seen, including the one used by the Grand Lodge of Georgia.

In the cornerstone leveling ceremony it is permissible, but not necessary, to open a Master Mason's Lodge. A Representation of the Grand Lodge is opened and called off for the purpose of leveling the cornerstone.

After the Representation of the Grand Lodge is opened and called off the Brethren proceed to the site where the ceremony, under the direction of the Grand Master or his representative, proceeds as follows:

GRAND MASTER: Right Worshipful Grand Senior Warden, the Grand Lodge of Texas having been invited to lay the cornerstone of this edifice, and having assembled for that purpose, I now order that this, the Representation of the Grand Lodge of Texas, do now assist me in the performance of this work. This my will and pleasure you will, therefore, proclaim to the Grand Junior Warden, that the Brethren and others present may have due notice thereof.

GRAND SENIOR WARDEN: Right Worshipful Grand Junior Warden, it is the order of the Most Worshipful Grand Master that the cornerstone be now laid with Masonic honors; this you will proclaim to all present, that the occasion may be observed with due order and solemnity.

GRAND JUNIOR WARDEN: The Brethren and all persons present will take notice that the Most Worshipful Grand Master will now proceed to lay this cornerstone in due Masonic form. You will, therefore, observe the order and decorum becoming the important and solemn ceremonies in which we are about to engage.

GRAND MASTER: Right Worshipful Grand Treasurer, I now order you to deposit the corn, medals and papers in the place prepared for their reception.

The principal Architect then presents the working tools to the Grand Master, who directs the Grand Marshal to present them to the Deputy Grand Master and Grand Senior and Grand Junior Wardens.

The Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, and Grand Wardens then descend from the platform; the Grand Master with the Trowel, the Deputy Grand Master with the Square, the Grand Senior Warden with the Level, and the Grand Junior Warden with the Plumb — the Grand Master standing at the East of the stone, his Deputy on his right, the Grand Senior Warden at the West, and the Grand Junior Warden at the South side of the stone. The Grand Master spreads the cement, and may then direct the Grand Marshal to order the craftsmen to lower the stone by three motions.

The Public Grand Honors may then be given [without words].

The Square, Level and Plumb are then applied to the stone by the proper officers.

GRAND MASTER: Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, what is the proper jewel of your office?

DEPUTY GRAND MASTER: The Square.

GRAND MASTER: Have you applied the Square to those parts of the stone that should be squared?

DEPUTY GRAND MASTER: I have, Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the Craftsmen have done their duty.

GRAND MASTER: Right Worshipful Grand Senior Warden, what is the proper jewel of your office?

GRAND SENIOR WARDEN: The Level.

GRAND MASTER: Have you applied the Level to the stone?

GRAND SENIOR WARDEN: I have, Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the Craftsmen have done their duty.

GRAND MASTER: Right Worshipful Grand Junior Warden, what is the proper jewel of your office?

GRAND JUNIOR WARDEN: The Plumb.

GRAND MASTER: Have you applied the Plumb to the several edges of the stone?

GRAND JUNIOR WARDEN: I have, Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the Craftsmen have done their duty.

GRAND MASTER: Having full confidence in your skill in the Royal Art, it remains with me to finish the work.

The Grand Master then gives three knocks upon the stone and says:

GRAND MASTER: I find this foundation stone well formed, true and trusty, and may this undertaking be conducted and completed by the Craftsmen, according to the Grand Plan, in Peace, Love, and Harmony.

The Deputy Grand Master then receives from the Grand Marshal the vessel containing Corn, and spreads the corn upon the stone, saying:

DEPUTY GRAND MASTER: May the health of the workman employed in this undertaking be preserved to them, and the Supreme Grand Architect bless and prosper their labors.

ALL BRETHREN: So mote it be.

The Grand Senior Warden then receives from the Grand Marshal the vessel containing wine, and pours the wine upon the stone, saying:

GRAND SENIOR WARDEN: May plenty be showered down upon the people of this State, and may the blessing of the bounteous Giver of all things attend their philanthropic undertakings.

ALL BRETHREN: So mote it be.

The Grand Junior Warden then receives the vessel containing Oil and pours the oil upon the stone, saying:

GRAND JUNIOR WARDEN: May the Supreme Ruler of the World preserve the people in peace, and vouchsafe to them the enjoyment of every blessing.

GRAND MASTER May the Corn of nourishment, the Wine of Refreshment the Oil of Joy, and all the necessaries of life abound among men throughout the world, and may the blessing of Almighty God be upon this undertaking, and may this structure here to be erected be preserved to the latest ages in order that it may promote the useful purpose for which it is designed

ALL BRETHREN: So mote it be.

The Grand Master then presents the implements to the Architect, saying:

GRAND MASTER To you Brother Architect, are confided the implements of operative Masonry with the fullest confidence that by your skill and taste a fabric shall arise which shall add new luster to your fame as a Master Builder; may it endure for many ages, a monument of the liberality and benevolence of its founders

ALL BRETHREN: So mote it be.

An oration suitable to the occasion may be then delivered. An ode may be sung and a prayer should conclude the ceremonies. After the leveling ceremony, the Brethren return to the Lodge room, the representation of the Grand Lodge is called back and closed.

Image: Georgia Grand Lodge members re-dedicating the cornerstone of the Georgia State Capitol building in 1985. Click here for additional photos.

Masons | Masonic Ritual | Masonic Cornerstone Dedication Ceremony | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com