Page 91 - Amo Amass A-muse is some of the fruit of a lifetimes love of Freemasonry - the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235

Amo Amass A-Muse - Lodge of the Nine Muses 91

Some of you might feel the urge to find out more about Masonry and perhaps
one day find the time to study and carry out your own researches. For this purpose,
it is as well to start collecting data now, and this can be done, as soon as you are a
Master-Mason, by joining the correspondence circle of one of the great Research
Lodges. As a member of the correspondence circle you will then receive an annual
copy of the ‘Transactions’ which they publish. They are not expensive and afford you
a number of other privileges. The most widely known and read are the Transactions
of the Quator Coronati Lodge No. 2076 which also includes on their summonses
a number of answers to questions. Then there is what some call ‘The poor Man’s
Research Lodge’, the Leicester Lodge of Research No. 2429. Their Transactions are
naturally highly critical and specialised, but there are always articles of more general
interest.
You have been told that there are several degrees in Freemasonry but there are
only three degrees in the Craft plus the Order of the Holy, Royal Arch, which is
not a degree but is the only other part recognised as Ancient Freemasonry by our
Grand Lodge. After you have been raised to the 3rd. Degree for four weeks you are
entitled to apply for exaltation in a Royal Arch Chapter, which I hope you will do
one day. There are also a number of Orders and side degrees working under their own
Constitutions for which you have to be a regular Freemason to be able to join. You
can, of course, join as many Craft Lodges as you wish, provided they will have you, but
I do advise you to stick to your Mother Lodge which Made you.
As a rule, Lodges are formed by those with common interests such as members of
the same town, the same profession or trade, the same school, the same hobby and so
on, creating a further bond between members, but there are two subjects barred even
in conversation at all Masonic gatherings. These are Religion and Politics. Although
we can claim that Masonry is the basis of both, greater animosity has been caused by
divisions in both than from any other cause.
You will notice a great variety of Aprons, Collars and Jewels being worn in Lodge.
Study the illustrations at the end of your Book of Constitutions which will tell you
what most of them are. You may notice that Grand Officers seldom, if ever, wear
Jewels. This custom dates its rise from the 1914-18 War when many were handed in
to be melted down to help pay for the War Effort.