                                                              FOR NEWLY RAISED BRETHREN                                 edited by:                              Robert H. Starr               Samuel Gompers-Benjamin Franklin Lodge No. 45                             Washington, D.C.       You have now received the three Symbolic degrees of Ancient CraftMasonry and, I hope soon, such instruction in the work of those degrees aswill enable you to pass a creditable examination therein--whenever you shouldvisit lodges in this or other jurisdictions throughout the world where youare unknown and cannot be vouched for as a Master Mason.      You have also received, I hope, through the Lodge System of MasonicEducation prescribed by our Grand Lodge an appreciation of the lessons we aretrying to teach and are versed, at least to some extent, in the history,traditions, laws, customs and usages of the Craft.  As a part of the MasonicEducation program, you have been told of your privileges, your duties andyour responsibilities as a member of your Masonic Lodge.  Some of these maybe enumerated briefly as follows: (a) To hold membership in some lodge.(b) To pay regularly and promptly such dues and assessments as your Lodge may     levy. (c) To attend the communications of your Lodge, to join in its deliberations,     to have a voice in its decisions and to assist in discharging its     responsibilities, among which are --          1.  Volunteer service on committees.           2.  Donations to the Masonic Blood Bank, if eligible.          3.  Assistance in conferring degrees.           4.  Attendance and assistance at Masonic funeral services when                summoned.       Your Lodge needs your help in these and many other ways.  Masonrymakes no demands; she provides opportunities, she gives you the keyto a door, she opens a path to your feet, but she forces you neitherto use the key nor travel the path.  She beckons; you may follow ornot as you please. If you follow, you will travel strange ways, butyou will find them increasingly pleasant the further you go.      This paper is limited to providing information about some of thecourtesies and etiquette of lodge life as generally, although not necessarilyuniversally, practiced.  Masonry has developed its own conventions, governedby tradition, custom and usage, by which its members act in lodge and in theanteroom and live together with the least friction.  Not to proceed accordingto their dictates is not a Masonic offense; it is merely a lack of Masonicmanners.  Unless you belong to a most unusual lodge, or had a most wisebrother for an instructor, it is doubtful if you were told much about theselittle niceties of lodge conduct.  You are supposed to attend your lodge andlearn by observation.    A.  Entering or retiring from lodge at labor or at refreshment by use            of the due guard - symbol of a Mason's obligations.     One of the prerogatives of a W.M. is to control the admission andretirement of both members and visitors to his lodge.  Masons, entering alodge give the due-guard to salute the W.M. at the Altar, if the lodge is atlabor.  This practice assures the W.M. that the brother knows on which degreethe lodge is open.  A brother making a wrong sign can be instructedimmediately.  He can readily determine this before giving the due-guard byobserving how the square and compasses are placed upon the Holy Bible on theAltar.  The salute informs the W.M. that the brother is a Mason of the degreeon which the lodge is open; if he makes an inferior sign and cannot, onrequest, give the right one, the W.M. can then use other means to ascertainthat no E.A. or F.C. is present in a Master Mason's lodge.  The salute is asilent assurance to the W.M. and through him to the brethren: "I remember myobligations."     Brethren give a similar salute to the W.M. at the Altar upon retiring inorder to get permission to leave. No one can enter or leave a lodge roomwhile a lodge is at labor without permission.  If the W.M. does not wish thebrother who salutes to retire, he tells him so, instead of responding to thesalute.      At refreshment the lodge is in charge of the J.W. in the South, whichthus becomes, for the time being, constructively the East.  The J.W.'s pillaris raised and the pillar of the S.W. is lowered.  The same salutes are givento the J.W, as are usually given to the W.M. and for the same reasons, in theevent a brother wishes to enter or retire.      The W.M. in the East occupies the most exalted position in the gift ofthe lodge.  A lodge which does not honor its W.M., not because of what hehimself may be, but on account of the honor given him, is lacking in Masoniccourtesy.  The position he occupies, not the man himself, must be given theutmost respect, if the traditions of the Fraternity are to be observed.  Itis, therefore, to the W,M., not to John Smith who happens to be the W.M.,that you offer a salute when you enter or retire from lodge.  Like any othersalute, this may be done courteously and as if you meant it or perfunctorilyas if you did not care.  The man who puts one finger to his hat brim when hespeaks to a woman on the street compares poorly with his well-bred neighborwho lifts his hat.  Taking the hat off is themodern remains of the ancient custom of Knights who removed their helmets inthe presence of those they felt their friends and thus, before those theywished to honor by showing that they trusted them.  A man removes his hatbefore a woman to show his respect.  Touching the brim is but a perfunctorysalute.  Similarly, the salute to the W.M. is your renewed pledge of fealtyand service, your recognition before all your assembled brethren of yourobligations.  It is performed before the W.M. and the Altar to show him yourveneration for his authority, your respect for all of that, for which hestands.  To offer your salute as if you were in a hurry, too lazy properly tomake it, or bored with its offering, is to be, Masonically a boor.  Moreover,brethren should not approach the Altar with bundles or papers in hand.  Somelodges permit smoking during a business meeting.  Even here, however, abrother is not too respectful who makes a solemn salute to the W.M. beforethe Altar with a cigarette or cigar either in his mouth or in his hand.                             B.  Addressing Lodge     In addressing the lodge for any purpose, a brother speaks to the W.M. The W.M. is the lodge.  A brother stands to order when addressing the chair,gives salute (due-guard and penal sign) and begins speech only after theW.M.'s recognition.  A brother does not turn his back on the W.M. to addressthe lodge without permission from him.  He who seconds a motion rises andsalutes when doing so.  No brother should ever sit while speaking.  Moreover,the spectacle of two brethren on their feet at the same time, arguing over amotion, facing each other and ignoring the W.M. is not one which any W.M.should permit.  But it is also one which no W.M. should have to prevent!      Failure to obey the gavel at once is a grave discourtesy.  The W.M.  isall powerful in the lodge.  He can put or refuse to put any motion.  He canrule any brother out of order on any subject at any time.  He can say what hewill and will not permit to be discussed.  Brethren who think him unfair,arbitrary, unjust, or acting illegally have redress; the Grand Lodge can beappealed to on any such matter.  But in the lodge, the gavel, emblem ofauthority, is supreme.  When a brother is rapped down, he should at onceobey, without further discussion.  It is very bad manners to do otherwise;indeed, it is close to the line between bad manners and a Masonic offense.                                C.  Advancement     If an officer is absent, the officers below his station do notnecessarily each move up a chair.  There is no "advancement by right" for anyoffice except that of W.M.  The W.M. fills any vacancy by temporaryappointment. In the absence of the W.M., the S.W. presides.  In the absenceof both the W.M. and the S.W., the J.W. presides.  The W.M. may ask a P.M. orany brother he believes qualified to fill a temporarily vacant chair.                              D.  Altar and East     Except in procession during a degree, it is practically universal thatbrethren do not pass between the Altar and the East in a lodge at labor. Why?  This courtesy is rooted in the thought that the W.M. should have theGreat Lights constantly in view.  In theory, the Holy Bible, Square andCompasses on the Altar are dedicated to God, the Master and the Craft and arein the charge of the Master.  He draws inspiration from the Great Lights onthe Altar to preside over the lodge and, therefore, at no time should hisview of them be interrupted.  This custom is but a pretty courtesy, but it isrooted in a fundamental conception of the Craft - that the Altar is thecenter of Masonry and that from it and the Great Lightsit bears, flow all that there is of Masonic inspiration, truth and light.                          E.  Altar and Lesser Lights     You have observed that, in our jurisdiction, the Lesser Lights areplaced in a triangular form about the Altar.  It is customary not to walkbetween the Altar and a light.  The theory is that the Altar and the threelights about it represent the Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, of theoriginal tabernacle in the wilderness.  Into this the High Priest could go, but only to return the same way.  Brethren enter this symbolic representationin the lodge room, but do not use it as a passageway by passing through it.                             F.  Altar and West     In passing from the South to the North side of the lodge at labor, orvice versa, between the Altar and the S.W. in the West, a brother should lookto the East and give the penal sign of the degree on which the lodge is open.                                 G.  ApronsBrethren who respect the formalities of their lodge will not enter itundressed; that is, without their apron or while putting on that apron. Aprons should be put on before entering the lodge room.  When, as sometimeshappens on "big nights", there are not enough aprons, a handkerchief may betucked in the belt to take its place.  The spectacle of a late brotherhurriedly entering the lodge room at the last moment, tying on his apron ashe approaches the Altar is much on a par with a member of church entering itwhile putting on his collar and tie.      As you have already learned, the use of the apron is extremelyold, not, as with the operative Masons, as a protector of clothing and bodyagainst tools and stone, but as a badge of honor.  In all times and climes,it has been a badge of distinction.  It is as such that a Mason wears it. The material of the Masonic apron - lambskin - is a symbol of innocence, asthe lamb has always been.  It is a courtesy much appreciated by all Tilers ifbrethren leaving the lodge room lay their aprons neatly in a pile or in theapron box, instead of dropping them anywhere for the Tiler to pick up and putaway.                                H.  Balloting     The etiquette which surrounds the ballot is a reflection of Masonicthought upon its value and importance.  Brethren ballot one at a time aftera salute to the W.M.  No one should leave or enter a lodge room during thetaking of a ballot, with the exception of the Tiler, if he is a member of thelodge.  It is customary to present the box first to the W.M.  for hisinspection, then to the Wardens.  The three principal officers ballot withoutleaving their seats.  In some lodges the box is passed also to all officersand P.M.'s. What is customary is good manners.  It is a gentle courtesy forthe Master to ask the Tiler to enter and vote, his place being taken byanother meanwhile.  This is properly done after all but the Tiler have voted.       In all Grand Jurisdictions the ballot on candidates is secret andinviolable.  It is considered un-Masonic for a brother to divulge how heintends to or has balloted or to attempt to ascertain how another will or hasballoted.  Peace and harmony are the foundations of all Masonic meetings. For Brother A to learn that Brother B has balloted or will ballot against hisfriend would disrupt that peace and harmony.      The rejection of a candidate is a blow to him who has applied.  Ifeveryone knew who had cast the black cube, the rejected man might speedilylearn and cause of friction in the profane world would then have come out ofa Masonic Lodge.      It is the duty of every member present to vote and the W.M. may obligehim to do so.  A Brother who does not vote, because too lazy, or tooindifferent, or for any other reason, is discourteous because he injures theballot, its secrecy, its importance and its value.                               I.  Conclusion     The thoughts above outlined will disclose that good manners in Masonry,like those in civil life, are rooted in kindness and flowerin good will.  They oil the Masonic wheels and enable them to revolve withoutcreaking.  They smooth the path of all in the lodge and prove to all thetruth of the ritualistic explanation of that "more noble and gloriouspurpose" to which we are taught to put the trowel.  