THE SPARK FELT AROUND THE WORLD By Bret Iddings of Groton Lodge #496, NY & Coudersport Consistory, PA

I am very passionate about Masonic education. It has helped me over the past few years completely turn my life around and, in fact, the more I have pursued the Light in Masonry, the more I have witnessed its magic manifest in my life. First, I ask that all readers quietly reflect to themselves on why they first sought to gain admission into Freemasonry. Maybe it was to meet new people and make new friends. Maybe you heard that masons do good and charitable things for the local community and you wanted to be a part of it. Possibly you heard that the Freemasons were engaged in a global conspiracy to secretly take over the world and you wanted your piece of the pie. Oops, I just revealed why I am here! All jokes aside, no matter what our intentions were at the beginning, we can all admit that there was a reason we wanted to become a Mason. It wasnt until we showed up to our first night at lodge for initiation that we encountered the mystical aura and very powerful egregore of Freemasonry. For those of you unfamiliar with the term egregore, I will refer to the definition in the book Lifting The Veil: Esoteric Masonic Thought published by Dr. John S. Nagy and the article written by Bro. Robert T. Dunn, who defines it as the distinctive energy of a specific group of people working together, creating and building the same thought-form or energy form. Building on this, any symbolic pattern that has served as a focus for human emotion and energy will build up an egregore over time, and the more energy that is put into such a pattern, the more potent the egregore will form around it The egregore of Freemasonry has existed for centuries, and it is the result of the focused will to connect with the spiritual realm for millions of men, all around the world [1]. You

will encounter different group egregores when you go to work, school, church, to a stadium to watch a sporting event, to a parade and to any other environment that has a group of people collectively taking part in an activity. Needless to say, we all encountered that when we first entered the lodge and went through our initiation to become an Entered Apprentice. Through that process of initiation, we were introduced to many of the basic teachings of Freemasonry and a completely new way of looking at and experiencing the world. As we progressed through the three degrees and levels of initiation to become a Master Mason, it became very obvious of why, over time, Freemasonry has been hailed a science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated in symbols. We were introduced to certain tools as masons and were taught the story and allegory of the building of King Solomons temple by our ancient operative Grand Master Hiram Abiff, in cooperation with King Solomon, Hiram King of Tyre and the many different bands of workers and fellows of the craft. If we recall the teachings of the common gavel, we remember that it was used by operative masons to prepare stone so that it could be used to erect the temple. As Free and Accepted Masons, that same tool was symbolized as a representative of our own free will, which we are instructed to use for more noble and glorious purposes as was further explained to us during the proceedings. This instruction, combined with 1 Corinthians 3:16 from our Volume of Sacred Law, could be considered as a strong topic for serious contemplation and reflection for all of us brothers who are seeking more education and Light in Masonry. Getting back to the initial topic of Masonic education and why we sought admission in the first place, I think it is safe to say that we were all searching for something. We instinctively knew that there was something more to life than what was provided in our upbringing and initial American education. Soon enough, we found ourselves as a candidate, accompanied by the masters of ceremonies, waiting for permission to enter the lodge room on the night of our initiation. Months later or longer, we were raised to the Sublime degree of Master

Mason, having received all the benefits that could be acquired by a newly made Master Mason. I have been in contact with many brothers from around the world, a majority of them being of the younger generation of Masons. One thing is loud and clear, no matter the age, the brothers I have spoken with demand Masonic education. It is crucial that regular business be attended to on a regular basis but it is also important that we fulfill that other need we all have as masons, that same need we had when we first petitioned to become a Freemason: education. As it is mentioned in the initial teachings, we are instructed to conduct personal research in the numerous books of Masonic symbolism outside of our regular lodge activity. Just like with anything in life; if we seek, we will find what we are looking for. In the case of Masonic education, if we dedicate ourselves to understanding the wisdom of the creators of the Craft and the forefathers of our country, we just might find what we set out to discover in the first place. Focusing on education will not only create a spark within us individually, it will collectively motivate and inspire our lodge, brothers new and old. This energy will spread to neighboring lodges and reach all the hearts that are seeking it. Living what we learn will allow us to be role models to non-members and we will see a correspondence of that energy spread in our community. In due time that initial seed of intention will grow into the spark felt around the world.

1. Robert Theron Dunn, Lifting the Veil: Esoteric Masonic Thought (Lutz, FL: Dr. John S. Nagy/Promethean Genesis Publishing, 2009), pg. 128-129.