What I Wish I Learned as a New Freemason – Part Two
W Bro Tony Harvey, PJGD, 2012 Prestonian Lecturer, writes…
In the last edition I shared the first two of my top tips for new Freemasons. They were:
- Understand what it is you have joined, and
- Engage with your Lodge, its activities and members
In this article, I continue with my next two.
3. Keep seeking what you are seeking
Each of us joined Freemasonry for our own very personal reasons. There are at least nine different typical main reasons why people do join. However, as these are quite broad and diverse, we sometimes find that people don’t always get what they are looking for as early as they would like.
Some of these reasons are more to do with the wider fraternity aspect of Freemasonry, and others are more to do with the membership organisation aspects.
It is also the case that, over time you will seek different things from Freemasonry. The reason we joined is not always the reason we continue in membership. It is a very healthy thing to review these issues regularly, and to ask yourself what you are seeking now. This will help you focus your attention and get the right support.
The primary means of support in your early years will be through your “personal mentor.” This is an experienced Freemason assigned to you by your Lodge. Their role is to help you get the information, support and personal contact you want and need. The idea is to respond to your wishes and preferences, to make Freemasonry’s offer of a “special form of personal development” very real for you.
There are two key issues here. First, make sure your personal mentor is someone you feel you can get on with, who is supportive of you and willing to give you time. Secondly, some mentors misunderstand their role. Some think mentoring is about teaching you what they think you should learn about Freemasonry. It’s not – it’s about you and your needs.
Some Lodges – especially the more traditional, and those which are low in membership and are stretched – operate a sort of “conveyor belt” approach to Freemasonry, where new members are asked to follow a route laid down by others rather than follow their personal journey. To make your journey in Freemasonry more “member-centric”, please make it clear to your personal mentor what you are seeking. Ask them to help you learn at your own pace, in your preferred way and to help you find answers to your questions.
That said, there are some fundamental things the Lodge will rightly want you to learn in your early meetings. These include the structure of a Lodge meeting and festive board, some basic aspects of etiquette and protocol, and Lodge traditions or conventions. These may appear strange at first but please respect them, go with the flow, and ask questions. Some features will be common to all or most Lodges while others will be unique to your Lodge or its locality. When you visit other Lodges, you will appreciate how varied Freemasonry can be and yet how much we all have in common.
I suggest you arrange to meet with your personal mentor at intervals to suit you. Always have some questions to ask and try to undertake some personal learning between your meetings. There are plenty of resources available for this. In the United Grand Lodge of England we have Solomon, our online learning platform. If you have not already registered for Solomon, please do so at https://solomon.ugle.org.uk – it is a fantastic resource. The Solomon Academy is especially useful for new members.
As you progress, keep asking questions. Seek out the members who seem to be in the know and ask them to explain or clarify things you don’t understand.
You may not always get a complete or satisfactory answer, however. This may be because the person you ask is not too sure themselves, in which case your question may prompt them to do some research of their own. Or it may be that you ask something for which there is no categorical or definitive answer. Freemasonry communicates its meaning through symbols and stories, or allegory. These lend themselves to different interpretations, based upon insight and contemplation. A good mentor will help you to develop an interpretation that is appropriate or relevant to you at the current time.
This conveniently takes me on to my next top tip.
4. Study the ritual
The ritual is how Freemasonry communicates its meaning. It developed into its current form in the early nineteenth century, although its origins go back at least one hundred years before then. It has changed very little in the last two hundred years, although there are many variations, or “workings” as they are called.
Freemasonry in many countries uses a different form of the ritual, although most that you will come across will have familiar elements.
[Note that there are some organisations calling themselves Freemasons whom we do not recognise as such. This is because they do not conform to certain standards or criteria, including requiring a belief in a Supreme Being. We should not attend meetings of such Lodges, which we consider to be “irregular”, or allow their members to attend ours.]
Back to the ritual. We first come across the ritual of a particular degree when that degree is conferred upon us. At that point, we have little hope of remembering much of the detail and are often left confused, with many questions.
So, my tip is: get a copy of the ritual for each degree as soon as possible and start reading it. In fact, read it over and over. The ritual is rich with stories, symbols, and sometimes with characters. Each has a moral meaning or lesson. Look for the underlying pattern and the key messages. Study the Charges, Addresses and the Working Tools. Consider how you can apply these to your own life and behaviour. Recognise that the stories in the ritual are not literal, or true history. Much of it derived from biblical stories which have been embellished to communicate – in story or allegorical form – our values and principles and our esoteric knowledge.
Then, seek an opportunity to discuss your interpretation of the ritual with others. This could be with your personal mentor, or at a Lodge of Instruction, a study group or just over a pint.
The more you study the ritual, the easier you will find it is to learn. At some point you are likely to be invited to deliver some ritual for a ceremony. Quite possibly the first thing you will be asked to do is deliver the Working Tools. So, I recommend you start by learning these.
The first step to learning any ritual is to confirm all the words, their meaning and their pronunciation, with an experienced member. Then record the passage, leaving spaces for the signs, tokens or words. These are the so-called “secrets of the degree.” Play back the whole recording to get the rhythm and flow clear in your mind. Then start repeating it out loud as you play the recording. When you think you have the sense of it, try repeating it without playing back the recording. Start with one sentence, gradually adding more sentences as you grow in confidence and capability.
You may ask a family member to help you, providing you do not allow anyone who is not a Freemason to read, see or hear any “sign, token or word.”
If you are asked to deliver some ritual for a Lodge meeting, make sure you have enough time to learn it. If you do not, politely decline and explain why, and immediately offer to do it at a later meeting.
In the lead up to delivering ritual at a Lodge meeting, ask others to listen to you – without correcting every minor error. Try to practise in your own Lodge room, to get the feel of the place. When it comes to the meeting itself, remember that everyone around you wants you to succeed. They are there to support you.
Remember also that Freemasonry is not theatre, and we are not performing a Shakespearean play. We don’t require word-perfect precision. Small slips are acceptable. What really matters is the meaning, how you communicate that to another person, and what they take away from their experience. So, after you have delivered the ritual, reflect on what you did well, not on any errors.
As you progress, I advise you to keep the ritual nearby and to refer to it often. Top up your previous learning. Review your understanding and revise your interpretation. Freemasonry really is a lifelong study, and the ritual lies at the core of it. Learning to love it, understand it and to be able to deliver it will bring you a lot of satisfaction – and quite possibly a lot of invites to visit and assist other Lodges.
I have now shared four of my seven top tips for new Freemasons, the things I wish I had learned as a new member. The final three will appear in the next edition of Arena.
In the meantime, I would like to hear your thoughts on what I have written. Please write to me, care of the editor. I will respond in the next edition.
A lifelong Scout, Tony Harvey was Initiated into Pioneer Lodge No 9065, the Derbyshire Scout Lodge, in 1991. Specialising as a Lodge Secretary and Charity Steward, his active Provincial roles have been as a Mentor, Warden, Secretary, Membership Officer, Learning & Development Officer and Communication Officer. He was the Prestonian Lecturer for 2012 with, “Scouting & Freemasonry: two parallel organisations?” and has held many other Masonic lectureships. He has served as a trustee of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls & Boys, the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Lifelites. He is currently Chair of Trustees of Lifelites and Deputy Chair of the Grand Master’s Keystone Fund Awards Panel. Tony is a Past Junior Grand Deacon in UGLE and a Grand Officer in four other Orders.
Tony conceived and was the main author of UGLE’s Members’ Pathway. He also developed the Seven Habits of Highly Successful Lodges, which has become a Lewis Masonic best seller.
For twenty years Tony has concentrated on membership development and the modernisation of Lodge management. His books, talks and articles combine historical analysis with an understanding of organisational development to promote a forward-thinking approach to Freemasonry, based on the evolution of our Lodge practices while retaining our fundamental meaning and purpose. He encourages Lodges to adopt a member-centric approach, more suited to 21st century lifestyles.
This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 60 – Spring 2026.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in Arena Issue 60 here.
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