Initiation
by Sister Sarah

When my friend suggested I become an Esoteric Freemason, I laughed.  I mean, I thought Masons were the Good Ole Boys Clubs of America.  Most Masons I know don't accept Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Arabs, African Americans, Hispanics, Buddhists, women or anybody who doesn't meet their economic standard of living.

I laughed until tears ran down my face.

I remember one of my boyfriends was a Mason.  He was so upright and bigoted I dumped him right after I attended one of his Masonic dinners.  Here was a room full of male chauvinists all trying to be better than everybody else and showing off their wives like a prize trophy.  It made me sick.

And now, here's my friend suggesting I should become an Esoteric Freemason.  It broke me up.  It broke me up completely.  It was just about the funniest thing I had ever heard.  The only thing funnier that I can think of is when my brother's fraternity drove my brother out in the country, took off his clothing, died his masculinity purple, poured booze all over him and left him naked on the road.  The fraternity called the police and reported a drunk person wandering around naked on the road.  My parents flipped out when they recovered him from the county jail.  Everything turned out fine, but I laughed my head off.  Dad said his private parts were purple for a month.

Anyway, here I am laughing my head off again while my friend smiles and waits patiently.  Eventually she got my attention and convinced me to at least look at the sample ritual and teachings.  I did.  I did the whole thing and decided to give it a go.  I joined AA & EF.

That's when my friend told me about the bare breasts and the goat.  It wasn't all at once, mind you, it was piece by piece as I worked my way through the three degrees.  Since I had decided to do private initiations, I wasn't worried about the bare breasts, so I exposed them for my own initiations.  I was also confused as to where the goat came into the Master ritual.  Every time I asked, people laughed.

Then one evening [doesn't this sound like "once upon a time?"] my friend invited me to a gathering of other Esoteric Freemasons in her home.  I went.  They volunteered me to be the candidate for the first degree.  I almost panicked, but my friend told me she would be my guide and ushered me off to the bedroom. 

There I was dressed in the usual form with both my nipples fully covered and my left breast exposed about half-way down so you could see the top portion.  I was taken into the front room [Lodge Room] according to the ritual for an Entered Apprentice and went through the entire regular and esoteric rituals.  It was a moving experience I'll never forget.

Our Lodge meets in a different member's home once a quarter.  At each meeting a different person goes through one of the three degrees and we have refreshments.  We all take turns reading the many parts and lectures.  The host or hostess acts as the guide for the candidate.  The host or hostess and one or two other members bring the refreshments and we all share in cleaning up. 

We open and close on the degree being conferred and we don't conduct any business as such.  We decide things during refreshment.  We don't collect any money, so we don't have need for a treasurer.  We don't keep any records, so we don't have need for a secretary.  We don't have any officers.  We take turns doing whatever needs to be done and we see that everybody gets to do each part eventually.

Though most of us are working the higher degrees, we seldom discuss them at the quarterly Lodge meetings.  We invite others to become a part of AA & EF and when they complete their Master Mason initiation, we invite them to join our Lodge. 

Today I ask my friends out to lunch and ask them to consider becoming an Esoteric Freemason.  If they laugh, I fully understand.