Even though Masonry never stops, it has been a chaotic time for the Craft. Rather than obsess over the latest closures, let’s turn the corner and use this to make positive suggestions on what we can do in the meantime.
The following references are culled from many helpful brothers online who have shared what they’re doing to learn and improve themselves during the break from in-person lodge meetings.
Masonic Education: Lodge Talks
This Google Drive folder contains many Google Slides/PowerPoint presentations of Masonic Education. Feel free to contribute! Link the slides below or message me and I’ll make provisions to add your lodge’s talk to the collection.
If your lodge has recently done a talk over Zoom, Skype, during the closures, I’d love a copy to share with other lodges who are still struggling with how to interact and keep learning & growing during the closures.
Also consider the free Masonic Life Balance Course from the Winding Stairs.
Facebook Groups
A lot of Masonry these days seems to take place on Facebook, within private groups. In general, these require a Facebook account and to request permission to join. Some of the most relevant are:
- Refracted Light
- The Winding Stairs
- NC Masonic Research Society (online presentations & education)
Video Learning
I’m going to plug one of my recent favorites: The Prevalence of Clandestine Masonry in the US by Oscar Alleyne.
- Masonic Education: YouTube Playlist
- Masonic Awareness at the Speed of Light
- The Livingston Masonic Library YouTube Channel
- Brother Chuck Dunning’s Contemplative Builder YouTube Channel
- 33 and Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry
- The Freemason
- Inside the Freemasons (Documentary)
Other Video Streaming
- Nazis and Freemasons – investigation into the Nazi looting of Masonic materials in France during WWII
Books & Papers
Are you new to Freemasonry? Check out this list of books specifically for you.
- Ars Quatuor Coronatorum Papers
- Observing the Craft by Andrew Hammer
- Contemplative Masonry by Chuck Dunning
- Stellar Theology & Masonic Astronomy by Robert Hewitt Brown
- The Arcana of Freemasonry (1915)
- Use the Iowa Masonic Library Online Catalog
Podcasts
- XOriente
- Short Talk Bulletin Podcast
- Meet, Act, and Part
- Whence Came You? Masonic research papers & perspectives.
- The Masonic Roundtable. Weekly panel discussions on Masonry.
- The Winding Stairs Masonic Podcast
- Brought to Light
Paid Audiobooks
- Laudable Pursuit – an examination of the state of freemasonry in the United States and a plan of action for rejuvenating lodges in the 21st century.
Online Chats
Ritual Practice
Many lodges are conducting remote ritual practice. Some grand lodges such as the UGLE have made a point to indicate that this is allowed. No need to get sloppy on the conferral of the degrees during the break.
Charity
With a fair bit of economic destruction in the wake of recent chaos, your communities need your support more than usual, and many lodges are organizing groups to work with food banks, shopping for supplies for the elderly, or even donating raw cash to groups of folks who have lost their jobs in the immediate aftermath. Do not forget our interdependence.
Events
Every night at 9:00pm UK time, brethren in the UK will be using the #TimeToToast Hashtag on twitter to toast absent brethren.
Forthright 