The Ceremony of Initiation or

First Degree: A QuickStart Guide

This QuickStart Guide is for you if you are:

• A newly admitted Entered Apprentice
• A Proposer appointed as a Personal Mentor
• A Personal Mentor appointed to work with a Proposer and his
candidate
• A Preceptor working with Personal Mentors to facilitate the
learning of their mentees
Should you refer to another QuickStart guide or other resource?
• You should also refer to the ‘Initiate’s Guide’
• You should also refer to ‘Recommended Masonic Reading – A QuickStart
Guide’ in which you will find references to much fuller explanations than are
possible in this short QuickStart Guide
• If you are a Proposer, Personal Mentor or Preceptor, you should also refer to
‘Being a Personal Mentor - A QuickStart Guide’
• If you are a Proposer, Personal Mentor or Preceptor, you should also refer to
‘Being a Proposer: A QuickStart Guide’
When will you find it useful?
Use this document to guide a conversation with your Personal Mentor as soon as
possible after your Initiation and before you visit another lodge to see the ceremony.
Why do we need this QuickStart Guide?
This guide will help you to make sense of the initiation ceremony. It will also help you
to get your masonic journey and mentoring relationship off to a good start.
Introduction
The First Degree or Ceremony of Initiation is the first step taken by every man on being
made a Freemason. It has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years and
contains both language and symbolism with which we are unfamiliar today. It’s true to
say that none of us understood its meaning when first we encountered it. Like other
parts of the ritual we had to observe the ceremony several times, perhaps many times,
before the messages it contains became clear and this may not happen for you until
well after you have become a Master Mason. We learn later in the ritual that it is
emblematic of birth, of a new beginning, and that it illustrates natural equality and
mutual dependence – two axioms of masonry. It spells out in detail the requirement of
the order for its members to live a virtuous life – in fact the practice of every moral,
social, public and domestic virtue. If you have any questions, ask your Personal Mentor
for guidance. If he can’t help, please feel free to contact your Lodge Mentor or the
Provincial Grand Mentor or visit www.berkspgl.org.uk
Some Key Points
1. Your Preparation outside the Lodge
Each part of your preparation had meaning. Some of the symbolism was
explained later by the Worshipful Master. Other parts are explained in ‘The
Lectures of the Three Degrees of Craft Freemasonry’ – see ‘Recommended
Masonic Reading – A QuickStart Guide’.
2. You took your First Step across the Threshold into the Open Lodge and met
the First Challenge
Although the crossing of the threshold in this manner is significant, it is only
the first part of the whole ceremony which is described later as ‘your
admission amongst Masons’. The Worshipful Master asked you: ‘Are you a
free man and of the full age of twenty-one years?’ Are you free to enter into
binding contracts on your own behalf? Are you mature enough to take this
seriously? You answered in the affirmative.
3. The Prayer and your Belief in a Supreme Being
The Worshipful Master then asked you and all the brethren to pray together.
After the prayer, the Worshipful Master asked you ‘In all cases of difficulty
and danger in whom do you put your trust? You answered, ‘In God’ and met
this essential qualification. Each of the three degrees begins with a prayer as
does the opening and closing of the Lodge.
4. You Went Around the Lodge to Meet the Wardens
You were led around the Lodge so that the members could recognise you and
confirm that you were properly prepared. Both the Junior and the Senior
Wardens checked your credentials and, on confirming your identity,
welcomed you into the lodge room. The Senior Warden then confirmed to the
Worshipful Master that you were ready for the next stage.
5. You Received the Next Three Challenges – Your Motives were Tested
You were asked to confirm that you were joining the Lodge for the right
reasons and that you were not seeking pecuniary or even social advantage,
that you want to learn and improve yourself and that, if you were admitted,
you would stick to the rules. You responded positively to all these questions.
6. You Advanced to the Pedestal and Took the Obligation
You were led to the Master’s pedestal and on your arrival the Master said: ‘It
is my duty to inform you that Masonry is free and requires a perfect freedom
of inclination in every candidate’. This ‘freedom of inclination’ means you
were acting without duress or any form of malign or misplaced influence –
one definition of ‘of your own free will’.The central theme of the obligation is
integrity and discretion. The ‘secrets of the degree’, as we shall see, are purely
symbolic and ceremonial. They have no intrinsic value or meaning beyond the
ritual and exist as tests of integrity. Today, we recognise the ‘secrets’ as ‘the
modes of recognition’ of the degree – the grip or token, the word and the sign.
None of these should be used outside the lodge nor communicated at any
 time to non-masons. Having taken a solemn obligation not to reveal the
‘secrets of the degree’, you would be acting dishonourably if you were to do
so. You would be ‘void of all moral worth and totally unfit to be received into
… any … society of men who prize honour and virtue above the external
advantages of rank and fortune’. It is our united aim to live virtuously and
honourably. You should familiarise yourself with the obligation you promised
to uphold.
7. You were Restored to Material Light and Given the ‘Secrets of the Degree’
You were then restored to material light – but you still have a distance to
travel to reach the knowledge of yourself leading to enlightenment. Your
masonic journey can be characterised as a journey out of darkness towards
light, towards enlightenment. The Worshipful Master then explained the
three great, though emblematical, lights in Freemasonry followed by the
three lesser lights. These added to the solemnity of the ceremony and helped
to consolidate the centrality of metaphorical light in our ceremonies. It was
probably at this point that you first realised that the officers deliver their
words from memory.
8. You visited the Wardens Again to Emphasise Caution
You had conversations with both Wardens during which you rehearsed the
sign, the grip or token and the word of an Entered Apprentice. The
conversations also reinforced the need to keep the secrets of the degree
private. Don’t use them outside the Lodge and don’t reveal them to non-
masons – you have made a solemn promise not to do so.
9. You Received the Badge of Innocence and Told Why We Prize Harmony
After your conversation with the Senior Warden he presented you to the
Worshipful Master ‘for some mark of [his] favour’. The Worshipful Master
delegated to him the task of investing you with the distinguishing badge of a
mason – the white lambskin apron which we all wear and which we consider
to be the ‘badge of innocence and the bond of friendship’.
The Worshipful Master then told you that we prize harmony in our lodges and
that disagreements and disputes between Brethren are not to be tolerated. If
you find yourself in such a position, settle it amicably or withdraw quietly from
the Lodge.
10. You Received a Charitable Challenge Which You Were Unable to Meet
The Worshipful Master then asked you to contribute to charity, but you were
unable to do so because of your preparation. He pointed out that you should
remember being admitted to Freemasonry ‘poor and penniless’ and seek to
relieve that state in others when you can afford to do so.
11. The Working Tools were Explained, the Warrant was Displayed and You
Received the Book of Constitutions and the By-Laws of the Lodge
You were told that we apply the tools of operative masons to our morals. The
working tools of an Entered Apprentice are the 24-inch gauge, the common
 gavel and the chisel. Ask your Personal Mentor what they symbolise.
You were shown the warrant of the Lodge. This was granted by and belongs
to the United Grand Lodge of England. Without it the Lodge cannot meet and
undertake the work of ‘making masons’. The Lodge works not only on its own
behalf but also on behalf of the Order
You received the Book of Constitutions and the lodge by-laws. These contain
the rules and procedures by which we govern our relations with each other
and our administrative regulations. You then withdrew from the lodge to
‘restore yourself to your personal comforts’.
12. The Charge After Initiation
This long piece of ritual, once again delivered from memory, contains all the
duties of a Freemason. It is these duties, principles and tenets that you have
undertaken to live up to. It describes the nature of the Order – unique,
important and worthwhile; the role of the Volume of the Sacred Law; your
civil duties; the four cardinal virtues Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and
Justice; the excellences of character you are to practise – Secrecy, Fidelity and
Obedience – and the expectation that you will try to make a daily
advancement in Masonic knowledge. You should read, understand and follow
the principles contained in this piece.

The Important Messages Communicated by the Degree

• Your admission among masons in a state of helpless poverty represents the
state in which you entered the world – you arrived with nothing and set out
on a journey.
• All men are born equal and deserve equality of opportunity, honour and
respect as individuals. We characterise this as ‘Brotherly Love’.
• We cannot be self-sufficient; we are dependent on one another. Our
existence depends on the support and work of others.
• Your wellbeing will be enhanced by helping others. The Golden Rule – Treat
others as you want to be treated by them. In doing so you will follow the
example and will of the Great Architect.
• Help others whenever you can. We characterise this as ‘Relief’.
• Freemasonry is based on the practice of every moral and social virtue, public
and private. Be prudent, moderate in all things, strong in principle, and just.
• Live a virtuous and honourable life to achieve respect. This is an aspect of
‘Truth’.

For more assistance and advice contact your Personal Mentor, Lodge Mentor, or
The Provincial Mentor: [email protected] Rev 0.1 9/18