Past Grand Master, The MW Grand Lodge Of Washington

Memento Mori

Most Freemasons are probably familiar with the Chamber of Reflection. Unfortunately, very few, in our Jurisdiction at least, get to experience it as a part of receiving their Degrees.

In my view, having space and time in which to reflect on one's life thus far, to consider parts of one's self that should be improved, and to be reminded that the time within which change can be made is short, is a vital part of the initiatory experience.

A handful of Lodges in Washington do make the effort to provide time within the Chamber of Reflection to the candidate prior to his Degrees thus giving the candidate at least the opportunity to seize what can be an extremely meaningful experience. It is my hope that as time moves on, more of our Lodges will dedicate the needed space to this, and begin including it as a part of their candidate preparation process.

Looking beyond our Lodges, I think that this is something that many Masons might want to consider as a regular part of life.

Certainly it is important to remind oneself that life is short, and that the time to do that which we seek to do is extremely limited.

It is important that we honestly take stock of ourselves, and our life, so that we might identify those things about ourselves that disappoint us, and hopefully make a commitment to ourselves to amend ourselves.

Finally, it is always important that we consider our future, and who we want to become, internally as well as externally.

Perhaps we build ourselves our own physical Chamber of Reflection, in the historical model.

Or, perhaps we create something different, something that better reflects our own personalities.

The traditional Chamber largely utilizes symbolism that Freemasonry inherited from Alchemy. Other traditions with other reminders of the inevitability of death exist and can be mined for their own truths as well.

For those of us seeking more light in Masonry, might I suggest that a little darkness may help?

#ChamberOfReflecton #MementoMori #Light

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey
Past Grand Master
The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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