Informal Presentation to the
North Dakota Rainbow
Mini-Grand Assembly
Grand Forks Masonic Center
Grand Forks, North Dakota
February 12, 2000
Chris Christianson, Senior
Grand Warden,
Grand Lodge, AF&AM, of
North Dakota
I am going to talk a bit
about some of the basics of the organization of the Lodge, and some of the
similarities between The International Order of Rainbow for Girls and
Freemasonry.
Before we tackle the
similarities, who can tell me the two greatest differences?
[Female v Male; Youth v age
of majority - although our allowing 18-year-old Masons means there is some
overlap.]
In general ways, any
organization has officer positions similar to those in the family of Masonry,
but I will draw a few comparisons between Rainbow and Freemasonry in particular.
Your Worthy Advisor in the
East, is the counterpart of our Worshipful Master, who is represented by the
square. Your Worthy Associate Advisor
is in the same chair, and has many of the same duties as our Senior Warden,
represented by the Level. Sister Hope
corresponds to the Junior Warden, whose jewel is the Plumb and whose duty, in
ancient times, was to observe the sun at meridian height which is the beauty
and glory of the day.
Sister Charity may be
compared to our Senior Deacon, although she sits in the North and the Senior
Deacon, whose jewel is the sun within the s & C, sits in the
Northeast. Your ritual includes an
allusion to this, for when asked what her station represents, Sister Charity
says: "in olden times a place of darkness". In the Lodge, those 'olden times' are still
here, for the North is still termed the place of darkness.
The Confidential Observer
fills the place of our Junior Deacon, who likewise guards the door from within,
and whose jewel is the moon within the square and compasses.
The Outer Observer and our
Tiler have the same duties. His
implement is the sword, which is to assist him in guarding the door of the
Lodge.
The Treasurer, Recorder and
Chaplain have the same duties in both Bodies.
But here the correlation begins to break down. Sister Drill Leader has no counterpart in local North Dakota
Lodges, but in the Grand Lodge would be represented by the Grand Marshal. The Senior Deacon attends to the Altar and
the Flag, taking care of some the duties of two of your officers.
The Mother Advisor has no
parallel in our Lodges, but not because her counsel would not be valuable. As a matter of fact, in many Lodges more
closely following the English model, the Immediate Past Master would fulfill
some of her duties. By custom, and in
practice, all of our Past Masters are valuable source of advice.
The beautiful and important
parts played by the Color Stations are not represented by Officers in the
Lodge, but instead included in portions of our lectures or lessons.
Your first Color Station,
Love, teaches a lesson very similar to that contained in one of the Tenets of
our Profession: Brotherly Love - where each candidate is taught that the
fraternity is bound together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affection.
Religion is a thread woven
throughout our work. The Bible is used
both as a source of moral lessons and as a reminder of the duty each member
owes to his own God.
Nature is a central theme in
the lectures of the Fellow Craft degree.
Less along the lines of an admonition to get some fresh air, but as a
reminder of its awesome power and variety, and as a physical display of the
works of the Supreme Architect of the Universe.
Immortality is one of the
most impressive lessons taught in the Master Mason degree. We also use green to represent
immortality. If you attend a Masonic
Memorial service you will likely see the symbolism exemplified.
Fidelity is impressed upon
the mind of the candidate early on, when he finds that he needs to trust in the
guidance of a Brother, on whose Fidelity he can safely rely.
Patriotism is taught in the
Entered Apprentice Charge, which is a final admonition concerning the behavior
we expect of a Lodge Brother.
Service is the lesson we
teach using the Beehive in the Master Mason degree. And is revisited with many symbols throughout the various lessons
of Masonry, including all of the Bodies of the Family of Freemasonry.
We both include the symbols
Faith, Hope, and Charity. You as titles
of officers, we as a part of the symbolism of the Entered Apprentice degree,
and representing the same group of virtues.
In the Entered Apprentice Degree Lectures, they are said to be
represented by the three principal rounds - or rungs - of that mysterious
ladder which Jacob saw in his vision extending from earth to Heaven, and teach
us to have Faith in God, Hope in Immortality and Charity toward all
mankind. The greatest of these is said
to be Charity. For Faith ends in sight,
hope in fruition, but Charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless
realm of eternity.
We both use the Holy Bible
in our meeting rooms. There is a
difference, though. We use the Holy
Bible as the source of moral laws and the lessons of our degrees, and because the
vast majority of our Members in North Dakota are Christian. However, if the Volume of Sacred Law for a
Candidate is another book, he would take his Obligation using that book.
In the matter of religion we
truly only require a belief in a Supreme Being and Immortality. And even that is an extension beyond the Old
Charges of the early 18th century, which are so often referred to as
Landmarks, or those things in our organization which cannot be changed. In the version of the Ancient Landmarks that
is included in the Code of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota as a reference
rather than a law, it states that the matter of religion is to be completely
left up to the conscience of the individual, even though in earlier times the
Members were expected to abide by the national religion wherever they lived.
That aside, we use similar
expressions to refer to the Bible. For
us it is the Great Light of Freemasonry.
For you it is the Great White Light formed of the Colors of the Bow. The Holy Bible is literally of central
importance to both of our organizations.
Both of our organizations
allude to the number seven. Rainbow
does it with the seven Color Stations of the Bow. In the Lodge we use that number at least twice. In one of the Entered Apprentice lectures it
is represented by the Tenets of our Profession - Brotherly Love, Relief and
Truth combined with the Four Cardinal virtues - Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence
and Justice. In the Fellow Craft degree
the number seven is represented by the seven liberal arts and sciences of
ancient times.
I don't mean to imply,
though, that your color stations are numbered seven as some simple imitation of
Masonry. Or that Rainbow is a watered
down version of Masonry for your use.
It is no surprise that your Founder, MW Bro. W. Mark Sexson formed
Rainbow along similar lines to Freemasonry, as he was an active and learned
Mason, and wanted the Order of the Rainbow for Girls to provide the same sort
of environment for girls as the Order of Demolay does for boys. But Freemasonry expects its candidates to
already be good men, needing some reminders of the basic qualities of an
upright life; but, even more, needing guidance in the development of leadership
capabilities and self-improvement skills.
In Rainbow you find a
Minister and Mason of the 1920s ensuring that girls had the proper environment
and lessons to be used to guide them through their development from girls to
women. One plain indicator of this goal
is that from the time of her Obligation the candidate is seldom referred to as
a girl in the degree work, but instead as a young woman. Much as in the Lodge the Obligation
transforms the candidate from being addressed with the honorific Mister to a
Member of the Fraternity hailed as Brother.
In your Funeral Service
Sister Charity says that the deceased was never privileged to know the meaning
of the Masonic apron in life, but since all things may be made known in the
life to come she places the little apron of the Rainbow Girl on the casket.
I cannot explain all of the
meanings of the Masonic Apron to you, and in fact may never understand all of
the symbolism myself, but this is what the Grand Lodge says about the apron in
the Family in the Open Lodge program:
There is no one of the symbols of Speculative Freemasonry more
important in its teachings or more interesting in its history than the lambskin
or white leather apron. It is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason;
more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle and when worthily worn, more
honorable than the Star and Garter or any other Order that can be conferred.
Let its pure and spotless surface be to you an ever present reminder of
"purity of life and rectitude of conduct", a never ending argument
for higher thoughts, for nobler deeds, for greater achievements and when at
last your weary feet shall have reached the end of their toilsome journey and
from your nerveless grasp forever drop the working tools of a busy life, may
the record of your life and conduct be as pure and spotless as this fair
emblem.
And when your body shall be lowered to the confines of that narrow
house appointed for all living, it will still be yours to wear.
The lessons of the Color
Stations are referred to as the seven degrees of your order. The three degrees of mine can be thus
explained:
The three degrees or three steps
are emblematical of the three principal stages of human life: youth, manhood
and age. As an Entered Apprentice, the Mason is taught those elementary
instructions which were to fit him for further advancement in his profession,
just as the youth is supplied with that rudimentary education which is to
prepare him for entering upon the active duties of life.
To me, that is equally a
description of what Bro. Sexson has accomplished in the Order of Rainbow.
As a Fellow Craft, the Mason
is directed to continue his investigations in the science of the institution,
and to labor diligently in the tasks it prescribes, just as the man is required
to enlarge his mind by the acquisition of new ideas, and to extend his
usefulness to his fellow-creatures; but, as a Master Mason, the Brother is
taught the last, that most important and most necessary of truths, that having
been faithful to all his trust, he is at last to die, and to receive the
rewards of his fidelity.
Freemasonry obviously uses
the tools of architecture and the stonemason as implements providing lessons
for the improvement of our minds and spirits, rather than any temporal or
physical building. As an example of
what we call working tools, the lesson of the trowel goes something like this:
Tools and implements of
architecture, and symbolic emblems most expressive, are selected by the
Fraternity to imprint on the mind wise and serious truths. And thus, through a succession of ages, the
valuable lessons of Freemasonry are transmitted unimpaired.
The trowel is an instrument
made use of by operative masons to spread the cement which unites a building
into one common mass; but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make
use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly
love and affection; that cement which unites us into one sacred band or society
of friends and brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that
noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work and best agree.
I have already presented a
lot of material to you, and instead of inundating you with more facts and
quotes, I would like to try to answer any questions you may have concerning
Freemasonry.
[Q&A period]
Now we are going to conclude
this presentation by using the form supplied in the Family in the Open Lodge
program to give the loved ones of Freemasons an idea of how a Lodge
operates. I am going to use you girls
for the Officers. Those of you already
seated in the places of the Lodge Officers will read their parts. Your Worthy Advisor is already in the East
and she will read the part of the Worshipful Master.
The asterisks represent raps
of the gavel by the Worshipful Master in the East, or the Senior Warden in the
West, or the Junior Warden in the South.
One rap by the Master calls
the Lodge to order, causes the Officer addressed to rise, or may accentuate a
statement or activate an order.
Two raps by the Master
causes all Officers to rise. Three raps
causes all present to rise. One rap
causes any standing to be seated. The
Senior Warden signals the end of the Ritual with a single rap.
In Lodge each Officer's
title would be prefaced with "Brother". That would sound silly here, so we will dispense with it.
Closing
W.M. We are about to close
this Lodge of Family.
W.M. * Senior Warden, where were you made a Mason?
S.W. It was done in a regularly constituted
lodge for each of the three degrees, duly assembled in a room or a place representing the various
floors or chambers of King Solomon's Temple.
W. M. How many officers constitute a lodge of
Masonry?
S.W. Eleven, Worshipful Master: Senior and
Junior Wardens, Treasurer, Secretary, Chaplain, Senior and Junior Deacons,
Senior and Junior Stewards, and Tiler.
W. M. Senior Warden, The Stewards place?
S.W. At each side of the Junior Warden in the
South.
W.M. **
(those serving as Officers rise)
Brother Senior Steward, the stewards duty?
S.S. To assist in the
collection of dues and subscriptions, to see that the tables are properly furnished at refreshment and generally to
assist the Deacons and other officers in performing their respective duties.
W.M. Senior Warden, The
Junior Deacon's place?
S.W. At the right hand of the Senior Warden in
the West.
W.M Junior Deacon, your duty?
J. D. To attend to all alarms at the outer door,
introduce candidates, and to attend on the Master and the Wardens.
W.M. Senior Warden, The
Senior Deacon's place?
S.W. At the right hand of the W.M. in the East.
W.M. Brother Senior Deacon,
your duty?
S.D. To attend to all alarms at the inner door,
receive and conduct candidates, introduce and accommodate visitors and to attend on the Master and the
Wardens.
W.M. Senior Warden, the
Chaplain's place?
S.W. At the left of the W.M. in the East and in
front of the Secretary.
W.M. Brother Chaplain, your
duty?
Chap. To perform those
solemn services which we should constantly render to our infinite Creator.
W.M. Senior Warden, the
Secretary's place?
S.W. At the left hand of the Worshipful Master
in the East.
W. M. Secretary, your duty?
Sec. To observe all the proceedings of this
lodge, make a fair record of all things proper to be written, receive all
monies due the lodge and pay them over to the Treasurer.
W.M Senior Warden, the Treasurer's place?
S.W. At the right hand of the Worshipful Master
in the East
W.M. Treasurer, your duty?
Treas. To receive all monies
from the hands of the Secretary, keep just and regular accounts of the same and
pay them out by the order of the Worshipful Master with the consent of the
lodge.
W.M. Senior Warden, the
Junior Warden's station?
S.W. In the South, Worshipful Master
W.M. Junior Warden, your
duty?
J.W. As the sun is in the South at meridian
height is the beauty and glory of the day, so stands the Junior Warden in the
South to call the Craft from labor to refreshment, superintend them during the
hours thereof, see that none convert this means of refreshment into
intemperance or excess, call them to labor at the order of the Worshipful
Master.
W.M. Senior Warden, the
Senior Warden's station?
S.W. In the West, Worshipful Master.
W.M. Senior Warden, your
duty?
S.W. As the sun is in the west at the close of
the day, so stands the Senior Warden in the West to assist the Worshipful
Master in opening and closing his Lodge, pay the Craft their wages, if any be
due, and see that none go away dissatisfied, harmony being the strength and
support of all institutions, more especially of ours.
W.M. Senior Warden, the
Master's station?
S.W. In the East, Worshipful Master.
W.M His duty?
S.W. As the sun rises in the east to open and
govern the day, so rises the Worshipful Master in the East, to open and govern
his Lodge, set the Craft at, work and give them proper instruction.
W.M. *** Senior Warden, how
should Masons meet?
SW On the level (Master & SW take one step down, Junior Warden and
others descend to floor)
WM How act Junior Warden?
JW By the Plumb (Master takes one more step down, SW steps to floor)
WM And part upon the square.
So may we ever meet, act and part.
W.M. This Lodge of Family is closed
S.W. *
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