Today marks the midway point in our 100 Day Study Guide for Master Elects, over the last 50 days we have learnt our words and revised for the Installation and First Degree Ceremony, plus today we conclude our initial run through for learning the Second Degree Ceremony. I know I keep saying this, but the point of these 100 days is to be proficient at the Ceremony you are required for your Installation, as well as get a good grounding in the other three ceremonies so that when your Secretary says, “next month we’ll be doing a…” you have three or four weeks to brush up and rehearse, not learn!
So as already mentioned, today we wrap up the Ceremony of Passing with…
Learning Masonic Ritual, Day 50 of 100: Second Degree Closing
If you recall from yesterday we got as far as the Second Degree Working Tools but we have not allowed to learnt them in this run through as in most Lodges nowadays they are usually performed by another member, often a Master Mason getting introduced to floor work within the Lodge, or a Past Master who is not currently holding an Office.
Therefore we start with telling the Candidate they can now leave the Lodge, through to the Candidate returning and preparing for the Explanation of the Second Degree Tracing Board (pages 144-146 in my book of Emulation Ritual). There isn’t much new Ritual to learn here, and what there is of it is similar to the First Degree at this stage.
Like the Working Tools, the Tracing Board is usually outsourced to a Past Master (or two, as it is a large piece) so we will skip over this.
hat now concludes the Second Degree Ceremony itself. We will now Close the Lodge, first in the Second Degree (pages 59-61) and then completely (pages 62-65). Of course, we’ve already cover the First Degree closing at the end of both the Installation and First Degree so concentrate your efforts on the Second Degree Closing, it’s similar to the First, but there are a few questions to be addressed to the Wardens. It’s worth running through the First Degree closing quickly, it’s surprising how something you knew a few weeks ago can suddenly become a mental block, so a spare minute invested here won’t be wasted.
The Second Degree is considerably shorter than the First Degree so we have covered it a lot quicker, but we will cover it a couple more times to increase your learning and revision, which will improving your retention when it comes to revising and rehearsing it for real.