A Pommie Down Under Part 4

I left off last time by talking about the Installation, l will now give an update on Lodge meetings, and l hope that this does not make any St Philip Masters jealous!!!

The WM here only does a fraction of the work, such as the Opening, Closing and delivering the Obligation to the Candidate. All other work is given by Past Masters, so getting through the Chair is fairly easy.. As l have mentioned before, the ritual procedure is very strict and to the book, and l have to admit, the DC had to have a quiet word with me about my salutes, which are virtually the same, and were a bit, shall l say, Essex like for his taste!!!

After Opening , and the Lodge business has been done, that includes all communications coming in and going out of the Lodge via the Secretary, and monthly accounts being presented by the Treasurer, next comes the admission of visitors, in this order;

1. Reigning Masters of other Lodges. They are each introduced to the WM, who shakes their hand. The DC will seat them on a raised platform on which the Master and Grand Officers sit.

2. Past Masters. They are also introduced to the WM, again shaking their hand, they then take a seat in the Lodge.

3. Visiting Brethren, (Vouched For). Before admission, the Inner Guard reads out the names of the visitors and at each one the member inviting him will stand, and give the sign of Fidelity, confirming that the visitor is a True and Proper mason.

Its interesting to note that all of the above may have visited the Lodge many times, but this procedure is strictly carried out.

The words to the Opening Ode are the same but with a completely different tune.

During each perambulation with the candidate a Masonic hymn is sung, which extends the length of the meeting quite considerably.

Our meetings start at 7:30 pm, with dining starting between 10:00 to 10:30. Thankfully, the Festive Boards are quite short with just a very light meal, such as a ham salad, or some kind of quiche. The cost is $10 (about £6). We do not have the toasts, that we all know and love in the UK. We do toast Her Majesty The Queen and her portrait hangs in the Lodge. We used to sing both anthems, but now we only sing the Australian one.

We toast the Master, and he responds, we then sing a toast to the visitors, and they give a short spoken response. We have a raffle and that's about it. All visitors meals are paid for by the Lodge.

We don't have a bar, so there is little incentive to circulate and chat, or, over indulge, which l used to enjoy once in a while, particularly with good friends, and the wife being able to pick me up afterwards. We do have a limited supply of free beer and wine at the Festive Board, that you help yourselves to from the trolley.

Next time the Principles of Australian Freemasonry