Initiation is a rite performed by all main stream religions and many wisdom schools throughout the world. ‘Initiation’ is given various names and the rituals performed in very different ways; in fact, the word initiation is often carefully avoided. Freemasonry is different in that it uses this word.
     Importantly, Freemasonry is an institution that awaits your ‘adult’ decision to make this commitment which initiation demands. Many religions allow parents to make this decision for you, for example, early life Baptism and Confirmation. In Freemasonry, which of course is not a religion, we make an adult choice. It is therefore potentially far more significant.
     However, few of us read the rituals prior to being initiated or have any real idea what awaits. Some, including me, did not realise that there was such a thing as a ritual book; or anything that we would be expected to learn.
     Should more be shared prior to making the decision to accept an invitation to become a Freemason? Of course, the Freemason who has invited you to join sees the potential in you and considers that you may well be at a point in your life when you are ready for Freemasonry. However, if it is to be your decision, surely you should know more.
     Shouldn’t every candidate be told a lot more about the importance of Freemasonry prior to entering a lodge for the first time? Wouldn’t the adult choice we each make be considered in a more informed and profound way? Wouldn’t this set us aside from initiatory ceremonies performed in a candidate’s relative ignorance? Many drop out in their early years as Freemasons. Why?
     Clearly one of the reasons is the lack of mentoring which is now being addressed and which was so eloquently written about in the Winter 2008 issue of Freemasonry Today. Perhaps another reason for people leaving is they were not given sufficient information at the outset to know whether it was right for them at all; or at that time in their life.
     If they had known more at the outset they might not have accepted the invitation to join in the first place. Further, lodges initiating them would not have wasted their time and energy performing elaborate ceremonies for someone not ‘ready’ to take this step.
     I believe more information should be made available in a new ‘prospectus’. Further, that this should be required reading prior to a potential candidate being ‘free’ to accept an offer to join.
     What is wrong with telling someone more? Why not simply ask someone if they would be interested in becoming a Freemason and giving them the prospectus and asking them to read it prior to making their decision? Only upon affirming that you have read it and understand it should they be admitted to a lodge. That does not mean that they have to agree to everything that it says, just that they have looked carefully at what Freemasonry is about and want to join.
     What should we put in it? A simple pamphlet was printed for general distribution by the United Grand Lodge of England in November 2001, Your Questions Answered. It was devised to diffuse suspicions about Freemasonry, then more prevalent in society, enhanced by ‘scaremongering’ sensationalist journalism. But it says little of the wonder and depth of Freemasonary. It’s time to write something put together for a different purpose. It’s time for a new approach; a prospectus written to ‘inspire’ rather than to ‘defend’.
     What are the elements of Freemasonry that are at the ‘core’ of our institution? Better, what should be at the core of our institution in the future? Many of us would disagree about this.
     This is part of the magic of Freemasonry. There is no ‘one way’, no one reason to join. Everyone has their own path.
     Everyone joins for different reasons. However, shouldn’t at least some of the possibilities be set out in a coherent and inspirational book of essential reading. I discovered little of the hidden truths until my year as Master. In this year, for the first time, you are forced to read and learn the full ritual. The only way I have ever learned anything is to first understand it. It was during this process and since that I have started to understand the beauty and magic in the rituals. For me, this is what Freemasonry is all about.
     It is a voyage of discovery that starts with initiation and over many years mysteries unfold as you perform the ceremonies and grow to understand the rituals and their importance.
     Do we explain that the ‘secrets’ in Freemasonry are not merely in a handshake? It is the process of unlocking the secrets that are veiled in the words, actions, symbolism and allegory contained in the rituals that enrich the Freemason. Should this not be a core message in Freemasonry and one shared right at the outset?
     Should this prospectus make clear that all newly made masons make an oath, a sworn declaration, to learn about something new and special and that in doing so they will be required to affirm that they seek a higher purpose for living their lives? That Freemasonry is something separate beyond normal life relationships, work, ambition, and materialism.
     It is common knowledge that we are blindfolded when entering a lodge for the first time. Why not provide an inspirational explanation for this? Are we blindfolded for the fun of it and to make a new member feel ridiculous? Does it represent in a profound way to the candidate ‘the darkness of ignorance’? Is this the ignorance of our higher purpose and divine nature? If it is, why not put it in a prospectus? Do we make clear that if they are to join they will have to declare that they do not want to be ignorant any longer? Further, that they will be joining an institution in which everyone is helped and guided to seek and find their light; their truth.
     The prospectus should not dwell on the past. It should focus on the relevance of Freemasonry to that person right now. It should stress that Freemasonry will open up a whole new vista of knowledge and experience that has the potential to change their life forever.
     It’s time to be pro-active and writing a prospectus may assist.