24 Ιανουαρίου 2011

V.I.T.R.I.O.L.


In previous posts we have attempted to address various issues which deal with the desired role of Freemasonry in modern Society. You see, a large number of Brothers are anxious to establish an effective and viable role for our Fraternity, so that we shall not end up as a peculiar middle-aged gentlemen’s club with funny aprons and handshakes.

This urge, which, to my opinion, is very encouraging, emanates from the comparison each one of us makes, between the practices and behaviors adopted within our Craft and those of the uninitiated society. It is only natural for each brother to wonder whether those moral rules and conduct could be applied in the society, since something like that would dramatically improve the attitude between our fellow humans. Is it so difficult to expect love, humility, acceptance, kindness and solidarity outside our Lodges? And if such an achievement is so difficult, what could we, as Freemasons, do to improve the situation?

Unfortunately, my friends, any recipe given to us by any other man, would be doomed to fail and please allow me a chance to explain myself:

Each one of us, who chose to become a member of the Freemason’s fraternity, did it on his own accord and for himself. Agreed, the Masonic experience is a personal issue and if I was able to paint a picture for you, I would depict millions of individual paths, followed by each one of us, leading to a common direction, towards the Light. This is our Polar Star and this is the point each one of us strives to reach, with a greater or lesser degree of success. And we achieve it by “descending to the depth of our conscience, observing the natural phenomena and attuning ourselves with the universal rhythm”.  In short, by making ourselves part of the collective Soul of Freemasonry.

The Alchemists of the middle Ages used the word V.I.T.R.I.O.L., the initials of which refer to the Latin phrase «Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem», meaning “Visit the interior of the Earth and by improving yourself you shall discover the hidden Philosophers’ Stone”. This was nothing else than an invitation to the searchers for the Truth to descend to the depths of their own conscience, to know their own Self, their soul which emanates from the Immortal Word springing from within and connecting them with the Divine Creation.

However, my dearest and sole Reader, whoever has not already burned out his little gray cells, in his attempt to decide which color he should choose for his new Beemer, is capable to realize that this invitation calls for a very tiring, lonely and soul-wrenching process which shall be fruitful for only a very small number of our brothers. For those very selected and unique people, the real Masons, this trial honors and enlightens their Human nature. Their lives are enriched by Truth, Love, Humility and a huge capacity to accept and to give these virtues to all humanity.

By converting in this manner their human nature, they connect with the Light. “Only then, the real Kingdom of the Divine Word becomes visible to the supremely evolved Human, with Love and Justice bestowed upon him. With the release of his capacity to choose, from its constant fight with his heredity and his needs for survival”.

It is only natural for a man to ask “How is it possible for such an advanced human being, to change society?”

As History has taught us, my dearest friend, it was never simple.

The actions, decisions and moral directions of such an enlightened human being are not clearly visible to those who have not followed the same spiritual path, as such a human being has followed. Furthermore, History has taught us that those great men were never in a position to alter their social environment, simply by transfusing their wisdom to it, but they achieved this social change by offering a life example. They chose to enter their personal Jerusalem on top of a little donkey and they offered their lives in exchange for the spiritual improvement of their fellow men, the same men who put them on the cross or gave them the hemlock to drink. History has to offer a multitude of such examples through its course. Of course, not all of those people were Freemasons, but our Fraternity follows similar spiritual paths, therefore, a certain degree of generalization is allowed.

Since, my dear Reader, we, as humble and lowly brothers of such enlightened and great men, can do nothing more than strive to approach a dim reflection of the Light (and never the Light itself), I am certain that we cannot have either the power or the inspiration to alter our society by ourselves. The best we can hope is to give our fellow men a humble example of what could be a little better in their lives.

If I achieve this, for just one other man around me, I shall regard my choices as justified. The rest of our society can wait…