A ritual is an established or prescribed set of behaviors. Most often we think of them for religious purposes but people use rituals every day in ordinary ways. Many people have a morning and/or bedtime ritual. The morning ritual – get up, go the bathroom, let the dog out, start the coffee, take a shower, get dressed, have breakfast or whatever your ritual is – we use to organize our thoughts and get mentally focused for the day ahead. It might differ depending on whether it is a workday or not, but many people find that if their morning ritual is disrupted then their whole day is thrown off. At bedtime, the ritual helps to unwind and quiet the mind for sleep. In all of those cases, the purpose of ritual is to alter the mental state of the ritualist so that some kind of transition can happen.
In religious ceremonies, the same process applies. The established ritual is designed to focus the minds of the participants on God , create an altered state, and open the possibility of spiritual growth. Ritual causes mental change and that is its purpose.
How ritual accomplishes that change is by bracketing the time spent as “special” and unlike our ordinary, mundane lives. By doing a special set of behaviors unlike those in the rest of your day or life, we mark that time as unique. Weddings and holidays are “special” because they involve special established behaviors - we wear special clothes, have special ceremonies, eat special food, sing special songs, do special dances, and so forth.
Masonic ritual is not an exception. Our opening and closing rituals mark the time in lodge as different from our daily lives. Just being in a special time and place begins to alter the way our minds work. Then because the purpose of the fraternity is to ultimately make its votaries wiser and more spiritually developed – enLIGHTened – our members are exposed through lectures and initiations to special symbols and concepts to allow for a connection to the Divine – the Great Architect of the Universe. The opening ritual is critical. It makes the actual transmission and integration of the lessons of Masonry possible. Otherwise Masonry would be no different than a philosophical book club.
As with all other special events in our lives, an important part of the ritual is the preparation that takes place before a brother even leaves for lodge. Before a wedding, a funeral, church or even going out for a party on New Year’s Eve, the participants usually put on special clothes. Before going to work, many folks put on their “work clothes” – some kind of specialized uniform for their task ahead. Putting on the special clothes puts you into a different frame of mind. It changes your consciousness. It delineates the special from the ordinary; the sacred from the profane.
When a martial artist puts on his white gi, a basketball player puts on his uniform and laces his shoes, or a boxer wraps his hands, he is changing his mental state. He begins to gear up for the match ahead. His mind focuses, his concentration intensifies, and he becomes more serious about the work ahead. The process of preparing for the ritual IS a ritual in itself.
Preparing for lodge is no different. We are preparing for spiritual work. It is a special activity; a sacred activity. We open in the name of God and seek his blessings and guidance in all of our undertakings. It is serious work. It doesn’t have to always solemn, but it should always be serious.
Thus, our preparations for lodge should be serious. If we wear to lodge what we would wear around the house, we fail in our preparations. We are not taking it seriously. We are not making it special. We are not preparing our minds for further Light and thus, we shouldn’t be surprised that so many of our brethren never actually get any. They get fellowship and a good time, but not so much of the spiritual growth and maturity. Special dress is a way of actually doing the work of Masonry, of smoothing our own rough ashlars.
Further, special dress for lodge is an act of respect – to our God, our brothers, and to ourselves. To our God in that we usually wear special clothes for other times when we invoke Him, in churches and other religious ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. Why do we not do so at lodge? To our brothers in showing them that our brotherly love and friendship is real and it is special. We would wear a suit out of respect to a brother’s funeral, yet we can’t wear one while he’s alive? Or more importantly, when we raise him to brotherhood? And to ourselves, in respecting ourselves to be duly and truly prepared - physically and mentally - to actually engage in the lodge ritual work in the way in which it was intended; solemnly and sincerely. For only in such a prepared state where we have consciously “tended to every particular” can the work of the lodge actually “render all men” and the Fraternity remain of value and good repute before the world.
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