# What Kind of Mason are you?



## jonesvilletexas (Dec 30, 2008)

Ritual
Practical
Heart
Business
Belly
Regular
Other (See Kinds of Masons Post)


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## rhitland (Dec 30, 2008)

The ritual and study of the why makes me happy as a little girl everything else Masonry has is a bonus.


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## Bro Mike (Dec 30, 2008)

I am still trying to figure that question out for myself.


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## Wingnut (Dec 30, 2008)

I lean toward regular but I have a deep desire for the esoteric and the "inner layers of the onion of Masonry" as I like to say as I peel the layers back...


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## Brother Secretary (Dec 31, 2008)

come on! only pick one!!!


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## Jon D. Smith (Jan 6, 2009)

Regular will probably fit me best now, as I grow. 

I didnâ€™t vote for Regular though, I voted Other
I didnâ€™t see a description for Other in the post on Kinds of Masonsâ€ but, I would like to think that I might become that Other type of Mason. To me, Other would be a blend of the desirable traits of the some of different types. I canâ€™t at the moment find any desirable aspects to the Business or Belly types.
But, if one reads through the other types you can pick aspects that blended would be very desirable if put in place in the proper time, proper situation and, proper context. It should flow without having to â€œturn onâ€ this type or that type.

Only time will tell if that type that I am to become.


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## eagle1966 (Jan 6, 2009)

I am a regular mason the description pretty much fits me to a tee
would like to be the esoteric but as the years pass so does the memory


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## Gerald.Harris (Jan 7, 2009)

I am a ritualist , but My choice is that I am a Mason at heart ! I have a hard time beleiving that any of us would be very good masons without having it in our heart first and foremost.


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## 4thgenPM (Mar 6, 2009)

Brother Secretary said:


> come on! only pick one!!!



With all due respect, Bro. Secretary, I would say that your answer to this questions would change depending on which of our many shared organizations you and I happened to be in at the time...

Christian D. Moore, PM


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## Ruffian1 (Jul 25, 2009)

It's a bit difficult to decipher the choices but given that I see Masonry as an ethical and education system the answer is "practical".  Unfortunately most Brothers crank through ritual but don't know what it means.  The whole point of Masonry is lost. The importance of Masonry is the lessons learned, not the food, ritual, brotherhood, networking, etc.  That all comes as a result of learning together.


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## bytheplum (Jul 25, 2009)

I would like to think I am a "good" Mason, but we won't know that until I go to my reward and see what others have to say about my life.  I know that I cannot fill my father's shoes in that regard.

I would call myself a Mason "searching for more light" because the WHY of our ritual has been, in many cases, overlooked and buried.  We need to teach the why but most of us (ritualists included) know so little about why that we do ritual "monkey-see-monkey-do."

I would call myself a Ritualist, but I am not really good enough to claim that title.


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## scottmh59 (Jul 25, 2009)

ive seen alot of "belly" masons.and with every beer,im working on being one too.
i see myself as practical


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## JTM (Jul 25, 2009)

is there a link to the "kinds of masons" post somewhere?


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## HKTidwell (Sep 9, 2009)

Holy smokes That took some doing to exclude in my search the Testing thread

http://www.masonsoftexas.com/showthread.php?t=580&highlight=Ritualist


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## RedTemplar (Sep 9, 2009)

Gerald.Harris said:


> I am a ritualist , but My choice is that I am a Mason at heart ! I have a hard time beleiving that any of us would be very good masons without having it in our heart first and foremost.



+1


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## BrianM (Sep 10, 2009)

I am a Mason in my heart , but I am also a ritualist . I put on both the EA and FC degrees in my lodge , all sections , from start to finish . My favorite lecture to give is the Winding Staircase lecture (Middle Chamber) , more so for candidates who really seem to be paying attention and soaking it in .

But in my heart I love being a Freemason , I love everything about it . I love being in Lodge , weather it be my own or out visiting ,and look forward to it all month . I don't care if the meeting is so-called "boring" or if we have a long meeting with education and speakers , I love setting in the East to put on degrees , giving lectures or just setting on the sidelines , I just love putting on that apron and jewel of my office . And after all my years as a Mason I still can not understand how brothers can go years without coming to lodge or choosing the Shrine or any other appendant/concordant body over the Blue Lodge . But that is just me .


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## Gerald.Harris (Sep 10, 2009)

BrianM said:


> I am a Mason in my heart , but I am also a ritualist . I put on both the EA and FC degrees in my lodge , all sections , from start to finish . My favorite lecture to give is the Winding Staircase lecture (Middle Chamber) , more so for candidates who really seem to be paying attention and soaking it in .
> 
> But in my heart I love being a Freemason , I love everything about it . I love being in Lodge , weather it be my own or out visiting ,and look forward to it all month . I don't care if the meeting is so-called "boring" or if we have a long meeting with education and speakers , I love setting in the East to put on degrees , giving lectures or just setting on the sidelines , I just love putting on that apron and jewel of my office . And after all my years as a Mason I still can not understand how brothers can go years without coming to lodge or choosing the Shrine or any other appendant/concordant body over the Blue Lodge . But that is just me .



Well said my brother, DITTO !


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## RedTemplar (Sep 10, 2009)

BrianM said:


> I am a Mason in my heart , but I am also a ritualist . I put on both the EA and FC degrees in my lodge , all sections , from start to finish . My favorite lecture to give is the Winding Staircase lecture (Middle Chamber) , more so for candidates who really seem to be paying attention and soaking it in .
> 
> But in my heart I love being a Freemason , I love everything about it . I love being in Lodge , weather it be my own or out visiting ,and look forward to it all month . I don't care if the meeting is so-called "boring" or if we have a long meeting with education and speakers , I love setting in the East to put on degrees , giving lectures or just setting on the sidelines , I just love putting on that apron and jewel of my office . And after all my years as a Mason I still can not understand how brothers can go years without coming to lodge or choosing the Shrine or any other appendant/concordant body over the Blue Lodge . But that is just me .




Great post, Brian.  You could do with a little more enthusiasm, though.  Hazard Lodge 676 meets on the second Monday and fourth Saturday of each month at 7:00pm. This coming Monday, September 14, we will confer the EA degree. You are most welcome to be with us for fellowship and a bowl of soup beans and corn bread. We are located on Main Street, Hazard, Ky. across from the Perry County Courthouse. If you want more info, PM me and I will give you my cell number (no, I'm not in jail). I look forward hearing from you sometime.  BTW, this invitation extends to ALL the brethren on this forum.


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## MitchN (Sep 10, 2009)

My vote is for Other.. 
at times I fit aspects of most of them.. I try to be a good Ritualist, backed with consideration of what the words mean and how to deliver them with meaning, I like to eat and am working on getting rid of the Belly that proves it.  I believe that Heart has a lot to do with being a Mason, but so does the Mind and Practical and Business are required to make the desires of the Heart come to fruition, and I try to be Regular in my attendence to Lodge to enjoy the Fellowship and Regular in attending to the duties and Obligations.


Mitch


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## HKTidwell (Sep 10, 2009)

RedTemplar said:


> You are most welcome to be with us for fellowship and a bowl of soup beans and corn bread.



I hope ya'll eat after the meeting or have short meetings because that sounds like a bad recipe for a confined space!


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## JBD (Sep 10, 2009)

Regular just like in the work - that is what we strive to be


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## BrianM (Sep 11, 2009)

RedTemplar said:


> Great post, Brian.  You could do with a little more enthusiasm, though.  .



Thanks , I almost spit coffee all over my laptop from laughing . I haven't been to Hazard in a long time , I may just have to head up that way some time and visit with you all .


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## Griffin (Oct 24, 2009)

I chose other. I'm interested in the esoteric, not as in the unwritten stuff you memorize for ritual and such, but in the spiritual and philosophical sense.  I'm interested in understanding the mysterious ways that Masonry stimulates an alchemical transformation in the heart and mind of a man.


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## jonesvilletexas (Oct 25, 2009)

KINDS OF MASONS
"I am almost through!" The New Brother displayed a sheaf of cards to the Old Tiler.
"Soon I will have joined them all and become every kind of Mason there is."
"What do you know about the kinds of Masons there are?" asked the Old Tiler,
interested. "You have not been a Master Mason long enough to gain all that knowledge!"
"That's not hard to gain, with all the brethren poking petitions at you. There are Scottish
Rite Masons and York Rite Masons and Templar Masons and Chapter Masons and
council Masons and..."
"Oh!" the syllable said much. The Old Tiler added, "I didn't understand. I thought you
couldn't have learned yet."
"Learned what? Are there some more kinds of Masons?"
"Indeed, yes! answered the Old Tiler. "A great many kinds. But seven you haven't
mentioned stand out more prominently than others."
"Do tell me! I thought I had joined most of them..."
"You don't join these. You become one, or are made one, or grow into one of them. For
instance, there is the King Solomon Mason. He thinks that everything that Solomon did
as a Mason is right and everything he didn't do is wrong. To him Masonry was
conceived, born and grew up in the shadow of King Solomon, and every word of the
legend is literally true, much like the man who refuses to believe the earth is round,
because a verse in the Bible refers to the 'four corners of the earth!' The King Solomon
Mason lives his Masonry according to his light; perhaps it's not his fault it is so dim.
"To the ritual Mason the importance of Masonry is the form of its words. A good Mason
in his belief is one who can repeat a lecture from end to end without a slip. A man may
do battle, murder, or cause sudden death, commit arson or run away with a neighbor's
wife; if he knows his ritual letter perfect, it 'was all a mistake!' The man who doesn't
know his ritual letter perfect is not, in this man's eyes, a good Mason; not though he give
to charity with both hands and carry love for his fellowman in both head and heart.
"The practical Mason looks at life from a utilitarian standpoint. He prefers electricity to
candles for Lesser Lights because they are simpler and prefers candles to electricity
because they are cheaper. He thinks a choir impractical because it produces nothing
permanent, and would rather spend the money for printed matter or a new carpet. He is at
his best when raising money for a new temple and at his worst when asked to express
himself upon the spirit of Masonry. His hand is in his pocket for charity, but never for
entertainment. He is usually on the finance committee, and recommends a budget in
which rent and heat and light are bigger than relief.
"The heart Mason is the opposite. He is full of impractical schemes. He wants to start a
new temple which will never be built. He talks much of the Fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of man, but is absent when the hat is passed and the committee on funds
needs a few workers to go out and gather in. The heart Mason is the lodge sob-sister; he
usually seconds any motion to spend any amount of money for flowers or to send a
brother away for his health, and always makes a little tear-filled speech about the
fatherless loved ones, even if the dear departed died a bachelor.
The business Mason belongs because he thinks it helps his job. He usually sits next to the
solid businessman in lodge and likes to tell people what he does. If he is a Past Master, he
never comes to lodge on time, so that he can get a special welcome at the Altar. His
favorite speech is about the man who tried to advertise his business in lodge and how evil
this was; in the speech he always mentions his own business. He wears an extra large
sized pin and prints squares and compasses on his letterheads.
"We dominate another kind by the expressive term of belly Mason. He is most faithful in
attendance at lodges where there may be a feed. He will cheerfully spend twenty cents
carfare and a long evening to get a fifteen-cent sandwich. If there is to be a sit-down meal
he will sit up all night to be on time. If the affair is in another lodge and needs tickets he
will take time off from his job to hunt a brother who has a ticket and doesn't want it. He
usually manages to cross the lodge room while the cigars are passed so he can dig into
the box twice. If the crowd is small, he is the last man to get a smoke, so he can take all
that are left. If the crowd is large, he is among the first, to make sure he doesn't get left.
"And then there is the regular Mason- the fellow who does his best with the time and
brains he has. He is the great bulk of the fraternity. He pays the dues and fills the chairs
and does the work. He is seldom a fine ritualist, but he is usually an earnest one. He is not
very practical, and would spend more than we have if it wasn't that he is too sentimental
to permit the charity fund to be robbed. He passes the sandwiches and coffee, and if there
is any left he gets his; but he doesn't care so long as the evening is a success. He isn't a
student, but something in the heart of Masonry has reached deep into his heart, and so he
comes to lodge and does his best. He is not learned, but he is not stupid. He is not
hidebound, and yet he is conservative. He loves his lodge, but not so much he cannot see
her faults. He is most of us."
"And what class of Mason am I?" asked the New Brother, uneasily looking at his sheaf of
cards.
"You have cards enough to be considered a Mason for almost any reason," answered the
Old Tiler. "But I'll take your word for it. What kind of Mason are you?"
"I don't know for sure, but I know what kind I am never going to be!" answered the New
Brother, putting his many cards away.


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## jwhoff (Feb 24, 2011)

I guess I'm an "other" guy. Philosophy was my favorite of three majors in college (I hung around a long time) and I love history and what makes folks tick. I was awfully hungry out there in the profane world those years looking for someone to ocassionally coverse with. Usually, though not terribly religious, I was drawn into friendships and found those topics of conversation I clicked on with members of the clergy (of all faiths and religions.) Now I've met men of a serious nature in masonry who fill this void in my life. Sometimes I still can't believe how close it all was while I was standing out there in the cold rain.


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## Beathard (Feb 24, 2011)

I would have to say ritualist. Since my goals are district instructor and maybe someday being a member of the committee on work, ritualist would have to be it. But I believe I am a little bit of each type.


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## coachn (Feb 25, 2011)

I'm a Mason who likes to _Travel, Work, Earn _and _Contribute_. 

I _Travel_ to all sorts of foreign lands and learn as much as I can.
I apply what I learn, _Working_ and _Earning_ commensurate with my skill.
I give back to those whom are worthy on my _Contribution_.
Most of all, I like to _Build_ for myself and others which I believe are all reflections of the Creator. To do this, all four are necessary. 

I guess that makes me a "_Builder_" type of Mason.

Bro. Coach N


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## JTM (Mar 21, 2011)

broken frames are bad, mmkay.


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