There is not much difference between the philosophy of Alternative Medicine and the philosophy of Freemasonry.’ John Chapman quickly drew me into his train of thought. ‘How so?’ I asked.
    ‘Both look at the whole person. Alternative Medicine considers the whole person rather than individual symptoms; Freemasonry too concerns the whole person – viewing us as both a physical body and a spiritual being. Furthermore, Alternative Medicine aims to restore personal harmony; masonry seeks to do the same thing.’
    I was talking with John Chapman during a walk with his dogs across a cold wooded common north of Winchester. While his three dogs rushed to and fro picking up the scent of squirrels or deer, we moved at a more leisurely pace, musing upon the links between Freemasonry and alternative approaches to health. John is well versed in both: since 1973, John and his wife – an Osteopath – have run a clinic for Alternative Medicine in Winchester. He has also been a Freemason for many years.
    One of the basic principles of Alternative Medicine, John explained, is that a person cannot be fully healthy unless he or she maintains a state of complete harmony, that is, a harmony derived from all the interconnected vital processes of the body and spirit flowing together easily and naturally. The practitioner of Alternative Medicine learns to recognise and treat all which disrupts or blocks this dynamic exchange. Professionally, this is John’s task: in order to achieve the significant healing results that he does he has trained in Homeopathy, Osteopathy. Hypnotherapy and Herbal Medicine.
    These four disciplines have a different approach to the whole person: Herbal medicine involves him in preparing medicines from plant extracts although the primary ingredients which he uses are now purchased from specialist suppliers. This approach differs from Homeopathy in that the latter tends to dilute the medicines to a point beyond any ability to measure the concentrations. This diluted medicine then acts as a trigger for the body’s own healing mechanisms so that one can say that it has stimulated the innate healing power of the body itself in order to produce a cure. Osteopathy deals with the physical manipulation of bones since the displacement of even a minor part of the skeletal structure can prevent the harmonious functioning of the body through impeding the natural flow. And finally, Hypnotherapy can be used to seek out the cause of some blockage preventing the progress of healing. These represent four different but complementary paths to health each addressing particular problems.
    I mentioned that Freemasonry, with its rituals, its Degree structure, and its progressive offices, is a journey, one which aids that important spiritual journey which we all – to a greater or lesser degree – follow. It struck me that John’s approach to Alternative Medicine could also be seen in this way. I asked whether he ever saw it like this, as an aid on a journey?
    ‘Oh yes. People will encounter obstacles on their way that they cannot overcome. Alternative Medicine helps them deal with these. If someone is suffering from physical symptoms it is often good to remind them that they don’t have the malady, their body does. Though, of course, sometimes the reverse occurs – they have the malady but the body doesn’t! We find that spiritual blocks can cause physical symptoms’.

Masonic charity

John was initiated in London, into Covenant Lodge, No. 4344, and his main charity during this time had been the Masonic Hospital. Indeed, he raised sufficient funds for them to be accorded a ‘Patron’s’ status.
    During his masonic career he has had personal experience of the charitable side of Freemasonry. Not long after he joined he experienced family difficulties and had custody of his three young children. He was struggling to cope. Freemasonry came to his aid and enabled two of his children to attend masonic boarding schools.
    More recently he suffered from a serious heart condition and doubted whether he could wait for hospital treatment. Alerted by his Lodge Almoner, the New Masonic Samaritan Fund stepped in and in just over a week offered to fund half the cost of a private operation. In one further week the treatment was concluded; within three months he was able to return to his work. He and his wife have every reason to be grateful.

Freemasonry’s promise

‘Why did you join Freemasonry?’
    ‘I was about thirty. I was asked to join and I agreed; I was ready for it. I had been looking into the deeper side of life for several years – I wanted to know who I was. Was I the physical being, or something more?’
    ‘And did Freemasonry fulfil its promise?’
    ‘It added another dimension; it was a natural progression for me. And this has continued. You join Freemasonry, first you sit on the side-line, then you take office and go through the Chair. Gradually masonry builds itself around you.’
    With the result that, for a decade or more, John has served as Director of Ceremonies for his Winchester Lodge!
    ‘Why would anyone join Freemasonry now?’, I asked.
    Because it gives another dimension to life. Nothing else can do that. It concerns Self-building of both the social and deeper aspects. This is an important dimension to life which many don’t have today. It forms a more solid basis for living; it teaches charity, guides you to looking inwards while at the same time presenting you with an outward aspect. Life today is centred too much upon simply surviving, upon existing, Freemasonry gives a more rounded view of life.’
    And Gill, his wife, added, ‘Masonry is a good thing. It makes all men equal if you follow it.’
    A question nagged at me: ‘If Freemasonry is founded upon the most profound principles. Why then do you think that there has been such a drop in membership? Are its principles irrelevant in the modern world where there are so many alternative ways of spending time?’
    ‘There is an ancient saying,’ said John, ‘that when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear. I see this relating to Freemasonry. What masonry is going through now it has been through before. There is a time of great richness and then a period when men are less receptive to its message; their minds are elsewhere. We are going through that time when men’s minds are not on spiritual things even though the teacher – Freemasonry – is there. So I don’t see the present time as a crisis but simply as a reflection of man’s needs - needs which are not centred upon spiritual things. We are all living high at the moment, money is good, and spiritual values take the back seat. But at a period of hardship or crisis people cry out for spiritual values again. Such periods ebb and flow like the sea.’
    ‘So,’ I interjected, ‘it is vital that the custodians of Freemasonry understand its spiritual heart.’
    ‘Absolutely. They must keep it as a solemn trust. The quality of Freemasonry must be kept - and it must wait for the pupils to appear.’

John Chapman is Director of Ceremonies of the Lodge of Economy, No. 76, Winchester. He is also in the Royal Arch and the Ancient and Accepted Rite. His book, The Asthma Action Plan appeared in its third edition in 1995.