Master Mason

From

From the degree of Fellow Craft to the degree of Master Mason

I am

That I might receive the secret of a Master Mason whereby I might be enabled to travel in foreign countries, to work and receive Master wages, the better to support myself and my family, and the better to contribute to the relief of worthy distressed Master Masons, the widows, and the orphans of Master Masons

Within the body of a just and lawful Lodge of Master Masons

I was divested of all minerals and metals, was neither naked nor clothed, barefoot nor shod, but was hoodwinked with a cabletow three times around my body and was clothed as a Fellow Craft

That as I advance in Freemasonry my duties and obligations become more binding upon me

By three distinct knocks

To the three jewels of a Master Mason

Friendship, morality, and brotherly love

Who comes here?

Brother Abbott, who has been initiated as an Entered Apprentice and passed to the degree of Fellow Craft and now seeks to be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in order that he may obtain further light in Freemasonry

If I come of my own free will and accord; if I was worthy and well qualified; if I was duly and truly prepared; if I had made the necessary proficiency in the preceding degree and if I was properly avouched. All of these being answered in the affirmative, I was asked by what further right or benefit I expect to obtain so important a privilege.

By the benefit of a pass

I had it not but my conductor gave it for me

To wait a time with patience until the Worshipful Master could be informed of my request and his answer returned

Let the candidate enter and let him be received in due form

Upon the points of the compasses extending from my naked left to my naked right breast. This was to teach me that as the vital principles of life are contained within the breast, so are the most excellent tenets of our institution -- friendship, morality, and brotherly love -- contained within the points of the compasses.

I was conducted three times around the lodge to the Junior Warden in the South, the Senior Warden in the West and the Worshipful Master in the East where the same questions were asked and like answers returned as at the door

I was ordered to be reconducted to the Senior Warden in the West who reassign me to advance by three upright regular steps, my feet forming the angle of a square, my body erect and facing the East

He made me a Master Mason in due form

Kneeling at the altar upon my naked knees, my body erect, both hands resting upon the holy Bible the square and the compasses, in this due form I took upon myself the solemn oath or obligation of a Master Mason which is as follows

I, Curtis Abbott, of my own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and this Worshipful Lodge of Master Masons, erected to God and dedicated to the holy Sts. John, do hereby and hereon, in addition to my former obligation, solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will always hail, forever conceal, and never reveal any of the secret mysteries of Freemasonry attached to the degree of Master Mason to any person or persons under the canopy of heaven, except it shall be within the body a just and lawful Lodge of Master Masons or to a well known brother or brothers of this degree and not unto him or them until after due trial, strict examination, or by lawful information, I shall have found him or them to be as justly and lawfully entitled to the same as I am myself

I furthermore promise and swear that I will answer and obey, if within the length of my cabletow, all due signs and summons sent to and received by me, from within the body of a just and lawful Lodge of Master Masons, or communicated to me by a well known brother or brothers of this degree

I furthermore promise and swear that I will help, aid, and assist all distressed Master Masons, the widows and the orphans of Master Masons so far as I can do the same without injury to myself or family, they making due application to me as such and I finding them worthy

I furthermore promise and swear that I will keep a Master Mason's secret as my own, when given me in charge as such, murder and treason only excepted

I furthermore promise and swear that I will abide by and support the By-laws of this Lodge of Master Masons of which I might hereafter become a member, the constitution and the edicts of the Grand Lodge under which the same is holding, and the general regulations of Freemasonry so far as the same shall come to my knowledge

I furthermore promise and swear that I will not be present at the making of a woman a Mason, an old man in his dotage, a young man under age, an atheist, libertine, a mad man or a fool knowing him to be such

I furthermore promise and swear that I will not hold illegal carnal communication with a Master Mason's wife, daughter, mother, sister, or any member of his household

I furthermore promise and swear that I will not wrong a lodge of Master Masons or any brother or brothers of this degree or suffer or allow it to be done by others if in my power to prevent it, but will apprise them of any approaching danger so far as the same shall come to my knowledge, neither will I visit a clandestine lodge nor hold Masonic communications with clandestine members knowing them to be such

I furthermore promise and swear that I will not strike a Master Mason in anger or offer him personal violence except in the necessary defense of my my person, family, or property nor will I deprive him of his good name nor supplant him in any of his lawful undertakings.

I furthermore promise and swear that I will not give the Grand Masonic word attached to this degree in any other manner than that in which I might hereafter receive it

To all of this, I solemnly and sincerely promise and swear with a firm and fixed resolution to keep and perform the same without any equivocation, mental reservation or secret evasion of mind in me whatsoever, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body split in twain, my bowels taken thence, my body quartered and burned to ashes and the ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven sooner than I would knowingly or wilfully violate this, my Master Mason oath or obligation, so help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same. As a further token of my sincerity, I was required to kiss the holy writings which lay open before me.

What I most desired

Further light

I did by order of the Worshipful Master

Both points of the compasses elevated above the square this was to imply that I should never lose sight of those moral applications of the vital Masonic Implements which teach friendship, morality, and brotherly love

The Worshipful Master approaching me from the East under the due guard and the sign of a Master Mason and, in token of the continuance of friendship and brotherly love of the Lodge, he presented me his right hand and with it the pass and the token of the pass of a Master Mason, ordered me to arise and go and salute the Junior Warden and the Senior Warden as a Master Mason

I was reconducted to the Senior Warden in the West who taught me to wear my apron as a master mason

With the top and the corner turned down

The working tools of a Master Mason

All the tools and implements of masonry indiscriminate but especially the trowel

SEE BOOK

I was ordered to be reconducted to the place whence I came, caused to be invested with that of which I had been divested and await the further will and pleasure of the Worshipful Master

I conceal

All the secret mysteries of Freemasonry except from him or them to whom of right they may belong

A grip

The grip of an Entered Apprentice

It has

I did not so receive it neither can I so impart it

I will letter or syllable it with you

No you begin

a B o Z Boaz

From

From the grip of an Entered Apprentice to the pass grip of a Fellow Craft

The pass grip of a Fellow Craft

It has

I did not so receive it neither can I so impart it

I will letter or syllable it with you

No you begin

Shi Bo Leth -- shibboleth

From

From the pass grip of a Fellow Craft to the real grip of the same

The real grip of a Fellow Craft

It has

I did not so receive it neither can I so impart it

I will letter or syllable it with you

No you begin

a J c H i N Jachin

From

From the real grip of a Fellow Craft to the pass grip of a Master Mason

The grip of a Master Mason

It has

I did not so receive it neither can I so impart it

I will letter or syllable it with you

No you begin

tu BAL cain. Tubalcain