By Grace Frost
Members of the Mitchell Masonic Lodge confirmed a plethora of Freemasonry folklore at its open night last month, hosted to inspire a greater rate of involvement with the affiliation.
The occasion marked the first of its kind in nearly 17 years since the formation of the Mitchell Lodge 929 in 2006.
Hosted at the Broadford Masonic Hall, the open night saw the lodge room – or temple – unveiled to attendees, which was decked out in cerulean blue carpet, bordered with wooden pews, and sat throne like chairs at each quadrant.
Grand superintendent of membership Neville Wiggins showed attendees a range of objects including ‘wands’ carried by deakins of the lodge during ceremonies, the square and compass designed to keep Freemasons ‘within bounds with each other’, the Freemason ritual book filled with redacted words that required memorisation, and detailed the symbolism in the room’s patterned rug.
He explained the room was divided by cardinal directions to mirror King Solomon’s temple and pointed out the huge silver letter ‘G’ that hung from the centre of the ceiling.
“Because we are not a religion, we accept all religious faiths in Freemasonry,” Mr Wiggins said.
“A lot of us are Christians, Hindus, Muslims, so for us, we use the term ‘Great overseer of the universe’.
“[Within ceremonies], we’re taking the journey where we theoretically build King Solomon’s temple – King Solomon is the guy that walks through the door, and he becomes a Freemason. We build that person to be a better person.”
Mr Wiggins confirmed Freemasons used a secret handshake – which mimicked a standard handshake to the untrained eye – and a secret password to ensure no ‘intruders’ entered the lodge room.
Although much of Freemasonry practice was laid bare, when an attendee asked the coveted question of ‘what do you do?’, details about ceremony structures, rituals and what happens behind the closed lodge room door were not explicitly stated.
The Freemasons believe giving back to the community was ‘a really important part of Freemasonry’, particularly in reflection of their three principles – brotherly love, relief and truth.
Freemason Jim Hinchcliffe, who joined Freemasonry 49 years ago, added that Freemasonry was about serving the community’s needs with humility.
“In the old days, […] if anyone was in trouble, […] if members died and their wives were left with a house that needed painting and all that sort of stuff, Freemasons would go and do those jobs,” he said.
“But they never told anyone about it – they just went and did it. We weren’t after any accolades.”
Mr Hinchcliffe credited Freemasonry with building his confidence, his leadership skills and diligence, and said members ‘come out better men‘.
During the men’s meeting at the open night, the door to the lodge room was shut, and member’s wives and all guests were not allowed to enter while they prepared a ceremony of the vacant chair to show guests.
Women remain unable to become members at the lodge, but many were present at the meeting, preparing supper for the Freemasons and attendees.
Ann White, whose husband became a Freemason when he was 21, explained that women took the head role of catering when their husbands became master of the lodge.
Ms White said she had found support and a sense of family within the organisation.
“Once you have a friend in [the Freemasons], you’ll have them for life,” she said.
Mr Wiggins explained that attendees meetings occur once a month, with a couple rehearsals prior.
For more information on Freemasonry, people can call David Atkinson on 5781 0728 or 0402 457 810 or email davidakko@hotmail.com.
