Freemasonry: A Very Short Introduction - Andreas Önnerfors 2017
Purpose of rituals
From darkness to light
Given the pivotal position of rituals within freemasonry, it is legitimate to ask what purpose they fulfil. Firstly, rituals of initiation draw a line between the public and private sphere—between external and internal, secret and open. Hence, they are used to reinforce the idea of the secret and of secrecy as an organizational and knowledge principle in freemasonry. Secondly, it is in live performance, through the experience and application of ritual accompanied by strong sceneries, images, and metaphors, that masonic ideas are expressed and transferred to a candidate. It is only in cooperation between officers and lodge members that the ritual can actually take place. Masonic rituals and their dynamic expansion (within a pre-defined framework of constitutive elements) are a remarkable instance of invented autonomous programmes of moral and spiritual self-education centred on the individual and his quest. This quest takes place within the narrative structure of the construction of Solomon’s Temple, the death of its architect, and the events unfolding thereafter. The Temple assumes the position of an image of the world (’imagus mundi’) and is thus a metaphor for human society and its potential perfection. From the ruins, it can be reconstructed, in the form of a new Temple, as a cathedral, or in an entirely spiritual form.
No external ideological or political authorities imposed on freemasons (or any other fraternal orders) how to develop their rituals in form and content. These rituals are self-generated and original, initially framed around well-known Jewish-Christian mythologies and a classical legacy, but with a basic form of ritual play that was filled with the possibility of infinite variation. Physical experience (and artificially generated states of mind and consciousness) is an integrated part of the ritual drama, which inscribes itself onto the body. Repeated physical ritualistic staging aims at the internalization of moral behaviour patterns for application in everyday life. In the case of freemasonry, at least in the craft degrees, this internalization clearly relates to the central Enlightenment value of self-mastery in a society where there is ever increasing interpersonal complexity. However, the esoteric content of masonic rituals (such as the cabalistic influence in search of what is lost and the ’unio mystica’) also places freemasonry in a position of resistance to the dominance of either doctrinal faith or pure rationality.
This side-stepping of doctrinal faith or pure rationality is exemplified by the third-degree ritual, which is a staged overcoming of mortality. By offering this experience to hundreds of thousands of members over the last three centuries, freemasonry has contributed to a shift in attitude over death. Many have turned from a previous concern with avoiding possible divine retribution in the afterlife towards a more secular doctrine—a concern rather with their future reputation in society after their demise.