ROYAL ARCH CHANGES
Sir,
    The various readers’ letters (Freemasonry Today, Summer issue) concerning ritual and ritual changes make for a useful kaleidoscope of views across the Craft and Royal Arch and deserve to be studied, and the threads drawn together.
    John Grange is right when he says that a drop in interest in the Royal Arch is not due to any intrinsic problem with the degree, although I am not sure that the answer is fewer and larger lodges. Indeed, there is evidence that smaller lodges, provided that the leadership and enthusiasm are there, would result in members having more incentive, and opportunity, to learn the core message that Freemasonry can impart on our masonic journey.
    Our lodges of instruction are indeed more often lodges of rehearsal, but this is because lodges of instruction lack the competence and the knowledge of ways to teach the message and sadly, too often lack knowledge of the message itself. John Grange is right again to assert that, given an insight into the spiritual and philosophical richness of the Craft, an aspiring Freemason would be naturally led to extend his researches, his masonic path, into the even greater riches of the Holy Royal Arch.
    So, where are we with the Royal Arch ritual? John Mitchell is very wide of the mark to suggest that the removal of words constitutes a dumbing-down of the ritual. If the message conveyed by such a ritual is to rest on a word or a group of them, with respect, that ritual is not worth much at all. If, as he asserts, chapters are failing to ‘recruit’ from Master Masons, it must surely be because the Craft degrees, in John Grange’s words, have not ‘enthralled’ the aspirants (I don’t like the word ‘candidate’).
    John Mitchell’s dissertation is, I am sure, historically apposite, but fails to centre itself on the indispensable spirituality of the degree. Here, as elsewhere, Mark Gannaway is correct in binding himself to the poetry of our ritual. But here too, John Dutchman-Smith is wrong to say that the core and soul of Freemasonry is not the ritual. Brotherly Love and Relief are attributes to be found in any philanthropic society (and in the principles of the French Revolution!) and I should like to know what tools he uses in arriving at Truth, if they are not to be found in the ritual.
    Then again, there is no ‘dumbing-down’ implicit in reading the ritual – as is the practice in many continental European lodges – where the delivery is infinitely more dignified and meaningful than in the halting attempts of many a hapless Master in this country, whose learning skills, through no fault of his own, are simply not up to it.
    In this debate, we need also to maintain a sense of proportion. I want to assure Mark Gannaway that nobody is proposing that we ‘ditch our ritual’. Its poetry, and through that its spirituality, is as vital today as ever, and here we come to the proposed Royal Arch ritual changes. I feel that the key word here is ‘verbosity’. So much of the beautiful poetry in Royal Arch is mired in and obstructed by a plethora of words, that the message, a direct and simple one in itself, has to fight its way through in order to be heard and made vital.
    We do not want to – we do not need to – dumb down our ritual. We do however need to re-vitalise it, to ensure that our aspirants relate to it and find meaning in it for their everyday lives, and for their advancement on the masonic path, to keep and to guide them on their journey and to help them resolve conflicts in themselves and in the world around them. If a clarification (not a simplification!) of the Royal Arch ritual achieves that, aspirants will flock to it. It’s worth the effort.
    Julian Rees, Kirby Lodge, No. 2818, London.

ENHANCE WHAT WE HAVE
Sir,
    I have been reading with great interest the ongoing debate surrounding the one-day masonic classes in America and would like to observe that in many cases in this country, although we are initiated individually, there is seemingly little effort made to extend the learning of a Brother as he progresses through the three degrees of Craft Freemasonry. Lodge meetings are generally taken up with Initiations, Passings, Raisings and Installations, whilst Lodges of Instruction focus on practicing the ritual ahead of the next ceremony. We therefore learn the ritual by rote without necessarily pausing to understand what we have been taught.
    All too often we then hear complaints that the ritual is too old-fashioned, or that Brethren today do not have enough time to learn it properly, or that if we simplify it we could attract more new Brethren to the Craft. Perhaps, rather than seeking to modernise, shorten, or simplify our ritual, we should seek to explain it more. I don’t know how many other Brethren paused to wonder what it meant, for example, when in the Second degree you are told that you are now expected to extend your researches into the hidden mysteries of nature and science.
    I certainly did and set about trying to find out more. Since much of the explanation is contained in the relevant lectures it is a great pity that these are hardly ever given today . I know this to be a fact having tried for months to obtain a copy of Taylor’s Lectures of the Three Degrees. The Lectures are most interesting and stimulating and they certainly make the ritual more understandable – and enjoyable.
    Perhaps we should focus upon enhancing what we have before we seek to change it. Are experienced Masters not enjoined to guard the Landmarks against encroachment? If we do not, I fear that one-day classes leading to membership of what will probably become an elitist dining club could well be a glimpse into our own future..
    Andrew Gill, Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire, Past Master , Temple Bar Lodge, No. 1728.

ONE-DAY CLASSES
Sir,
    I have read with horror and near disbelief the various reports of mass initiations in America. Predictably this has drawn criticism from all sides. It takes many years of mental preparation before offering oneself as a candidate for Freemasonry. The first test question at the start of the Second Degree ceremony is very appropriate and demands an honest answer. A one-day class for 2100 initiates as reported in the Summer issue of Freemasonry Today makes a mockery of our traditions and principles. I hope these views will be made known to our American Brethren.
    Ken Weaving, Lodge of St. Barnabas, No. 5050, Warwickshire.

THE SECRET MONITOR
Sir,
    In response to Bro. Rex Haworth who, in the Summer issue of Freemasonry Today, asked why he should become a member of the Order of the Secret Monitor, I feel it is a little like the question of why should one become a Freemason. You don’t know what you’re missing until you join.
    Bro. Haworth is right, of course, when he writes that as a Master Mason he should be attentive to all his Brethren. However, I doubt if there are many Craft Lodges in which there is not at least one member who has become an infrequent attender and nobody seems to know his situation. If the Almoner can’t contact him for one resaon or another it can be difficult for all concerned.
    The Order of the Secret Monitor doesn’t allow this problem to exist. We keep close contact at all times, not just before a meeting – and it really works.
    Here in the Province of Dorset we have very good relationships with each other. Not just in each Conclave, but between members of all the Conclaves. We could be considered fortunate to be a small and compact Province. Just five Conclaves and the longest distance between any of them is only about forty miles so we can, and do, visit each other a lot. I know that we all enjoy the spirit of true friendship.
    I would suggest to Bro. Haworth that he should join and discover for himself the benefits of belonging to this truly masonic Order.
    G. McLeod, Faithful Friendship Conclave, No. 290, Province of Dorset.

MUSIC IN LODGES
Sir,
    As a trained professional musician (The Royal School of Church Music, and the Royal Academy of Music) I regularly play in lodge and give public recitals in England and on the Continent, I am also in the middle of recording the complete Bach Organ Works on Compact Disc. You will not be surprised then to know that I am a strong advocate of keeping the standard of music in Freemasonry high! If lodges are unable to find an organist able to meet the high standards we should be setting, then why not invest in a recorded music system?
    Since I trained the Compact Disc has become available with superb music of all types; years ago music in Masonic ceremonies was not just restricted to the sound of the organ, so why restrict it now? We have the technology: just think what our ceremonies could contain; as well as the organ, orchestras, choirs, and string quartets!
    Perhaps more can be done to use this modern way of performing music and raise the standards of the sometimes very poor music making in lodges that I have heard and, for me, do nothing to enhance a ceremony. In order to ‘do my bit’ to raise the standard of music in Masonry I have recorded Compact Discs for most degrees.
    And finally, beware of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and ‘Virtual Organists’. It’s not true that ‘with modern technology you don’t have to be a musician’. You only get out of it what you put into it and that can often mean a robotic organ sound with no natural reverb.
    The Revd. Ivan Fowler, Sneyd Park, Bristol.

CHELSEA LODGE CENTENARY
Sir,
    Chelsea Lodge, famous for its involvement in the world of show business, celebrates its centenary early next year.
    In 1905 a group of music hall, variety artists and musicians founded a masonic Lodge which was destined to become one of the best-known and best-loved in the world of Freemasonry - Chelsea Lodge No. 3098.
    One hundred years ago membership was only available to those involved in show business and certainly the way the Lodge was run differed from the majority of other London lodges. I am putting the finishing touches to a book to be published early next year which gives a social history of music hall, variety, theatre, circus, travelling showmen, pantomime, magic, ventriloquism, jazz and dance bands, silent films, talkies, cinema, radio, television, summer seasons and Royal Variety Performance. It links into those members who earned their livelihood from the world of entertainment.
    The Chelsea Festive Board is renowned for its entertainment. Through your well respected journal I am seeking help from any person who visited Chelsea Lodge and has any memories of people they saw either carrying out the ceremonies or performing at the Festive Board or who attended as visitors. Basically I am looking for light-hearted anecdotes.
    Space does not allow me to list all the famous names who have been members but Chelsea Lodge can boast some of the country's most famous and colourful performers. Any help to add weight to that fact will be most gratefully accepted.
    And finally ... Tommy Cooper was NOT a member of Chelsea Lodge, but his manager 'Miff' Ferrie was. Tommy did visit on a number of occasions, normally arriving late, and there are stories in circulation of the 'entertainment' he gave to all present. Maybe you remember such an occasion.
    Keith Skues, MBE, Chelsea Lodge, No.3098, London.

UNKNOWN JEWEL
Sir,
    With the present interest in jewels in your publication I wonder if any of your readers might be able to shed light on the jewel shown in the enclosed photograph. The jewel was given to my late Mother-in-law by her husband, a Grand lodge Officer, and has been passed down to my wife. I understand that the date of the hall marks are about 1810 but they do not appear in ‘Hall Marks of English Silver’.
    The maker is shown as ‘T.P. over E.R.’ The hall mark is a head, a lion, and the bold letter ‘C’. Perhaps some of your readers may have further knowledge.
    K. de Vere Lorrain, Salisbury, Wiltshire. Email: TwixSpires@aol.com

WHAT’S FOR AFTERS?
Sir,
    It has come to my notice that many masonic lodges, most especially London Lodges are being forced to pay high costs for low quality when they dine. I think that I am right - and doubtless the learned subscribers
    to this erudite publication will correct me if I’m wrong - in thinking that dining - the ‘Festive Board’ - is not a masonic event. The lodge has been closed, in due form and with solemn prayer; the Brethren have quit the temple and gone to have dinner. There is no need for them to dine in secret, is there? Private rooms can cost an awful lot of money, money that might otherwise be invested in a better meal or given in the cause of charity. Why isn’t it acceptable - perhaps it is - just to book a table for twenty? Birthday parties do it all the time, as do office parties. Many restaurants that don't have private rooms might be jolly glad of the business, particularly midweek. If a group of chaps want to get up and say grace and drink the Queen’s health, or anybody else's health, why shouldn't they? Is that anything to be ashamed of? The sight of a gang of fellows enjoying each other’s company might help to dispel the myth of masonic secrecy and could even encourage observers to enquire further. I would go so far as to suggest that candidates for initiation be invited to dine with the lodge prior to joining it so that the parties might be able to assess each other in relaxed surroundings. Who knows, girls might get invited - ooo-er.... Even if a lodge stuck to the traditional pattern for installations and initiations and only dined ‘openly’ once a year it might still save a few shillings and raise a few eyebrows - both good things in my opinion.
    Andrew Montgomery, Old Masonians Lodge, No. 2700, London.