An Explanation of the First Degree Ceremony

The First Degree in freemasonry. The most important Ceremony in a freemason’s life; it

being their initiation, and one of the most unexplained events that a mason will ever

experience.

The following are just some of the interesting elements of the First Degree that seldom get

explained to an initiate.

During their initiation a candidate will be asked over eighteen questions; he only answers

two, himself. All the other answers are given to him by the Junior Deacon. Those he

answers himself are when he is asked if he feels anything when the poignard is presented

to his naked left breast, and later, when he is asked if he is willing to take a solemn obligation.

So why do we ask so many questions that an initiate will not know the answer to?

Let us start at the beginning. The candidate is outside the door of the Lodge with the Tyler

who makes the candidate, dress in a peculiar manner. He’s got a sword and asks the

candidate for money and metallic substances, and then blindfolds the candidate. Why? What

is the point of being dressed in this manner, and why divest the candidate of money and

metal?

Taking these one at a time, the candidate is dressed in this manner for the following reasons:

Slipshod – The heel is bared and the foot slipshod because the ground is deemed

consecrated ground. In olden times the practice was to remove one’s shoes when walking

on holy ground.

With trouser leg rolled up – To show the candidate is a free man and to show there are no

marks from leg irons or shackles.

With knee made bare – So that there is nothing between our flesh and the earth on which

we take our inviolable obligation. It signifies the seriousness of the obligation we all take.

With Left Breast Laid bare – So that the points of the poignard and the compass can be felt

against the heart, symbolising sincerity; and, to prove the candidate is not female.

With right arm laid bare – This was to symbolise that the candidate is not carrying a

concealed weapon to disturb the harmony of the Lodge.

With cable tow placed about the neck – As explained by the Worshipful Master at his

pedestal, to control the candidate’s movements, but also as a symbol of servitude or

bondage which comes from ignorance. Some say it is removed after a mason has taken his

obligation as a sign to show the newly made mason is free.

The Hoodwink – This is worn for two reasons. Firstly, so that if the candidate wouldn’t take

the solemn obligation, he could be removed from the Lodge without discovering its form;

and secondly to symbolise the darkness before birth and education, and to demonstrate our

reliance on others.

The reasons we are divested of metallic substance is twofold: Firstly to enable the charity

challenge to be a success. Secondly, to prevent the candidate bringing anything offensive,

such as a knife or a sword, into the Lodge and thus disturb the harmony of the Lodge.

So properly prepared, the Tyler knocks three times on the door. Why three times, why not

just once? The answer can be found in the Volume of the Sacred Law, where a passage of

scripture tells us that 'Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be

opened’. The door is opened and after confirming that he felt the poignard presented to his

naked left breast, he enters the Lodge room. Here, at the beginning of his masonic journey,

as in life, our reliance on others so perfectly demonstrated. The candidate does not know

who has taken him by the right arm but must trust him because he can’t go anywhere or do

anything without him.

He is then faced with three challenges. The first being the poignard presented to his naked

left breast. He is then asked if he feels anything, and the presentation of a pointed instrument

to his heart is ample demonstration that he is about to enter something serious and solemn.

The second challenge is ‘Are you Free?’ In this sense it relates to the bygone days of

operative masons when, if the candidate was already an apprentice or promised to another

trade, he could not become a freemason apprentice.

Almost immediately the third challenge is made; ‘In whom do you put your trust’. Why ask

this question? It was to confirm that which the candidate had declared earlier, his belief in

a Supreme Being. It also relates back to earlier times when freemasonry had a Christian

association, rather than the all-encompassing religious association that it has today.

The candidate, still blindfolded, is then led on a journey around the Lodge room, leading

from the darkness of the West and the North, to the place of light in the East, past the Sun

at its meridian, before returning to the place of darkness, until later in the ceremony, moving

to the light in the East.

On his return to the West he is presented and prompted to answer questions regarding his

sincerity and honesty. As before, the Junior Deacon provided the answers.

The enquiry mind might question why the Junior Deacon answers for the candidate? It is

an example of the candidate’s early reliance on others to help him on his way, to help

educate and guide him through his entry into freemasonry. He is also blindfolded and cannot

see who is asking this question and is assisted by the Junior Deacon to demonstrate he can

trust those whose company he is about to join.

The candidate then advances to the pedestal by three steps, the beginning of his journey to

the East, or light, in Freemasonry. He stepped off each time with his left foot. Where the left

side was considered the weak side, it was also seen as representing evil, and with each

step it was symbolical of putting down evil. Each step was a little longer than before,

representing your growing confidence.

Reaching the pedestal, he enters into an obligation of concealment. On his knee before all

the assembled brethren, he vowed to hele and conceal what he might learn. Both words

have the same meaning, namely, to cover over. The word 'hele' is derived from the Anglo-

Saxon language used in England before the time of William the Conqueror. The word

‘conceal’ comes from the Norman French. Both words are used to ensure that the vow of

secrecy was clearly understood. He kneels on his left knee while taking the obligation. The

left side of the body was always considered the weaker side, and some say that this is the

reason why we kneel on our left knee in the first degree, to show that our knowledge of

freemasonry is weak.

He was made a Freemason in the body of a Lodge "just, perfect and regular". ‘Just’ because

the Volume of the Sacred Law was open on the Master's pedestal; ‘perfect’ because there

were seven or more regularly made Freemasons in attendance; and ‘regular’ because the

Lodge has a Warrant from the United Grand Lodge of England, which gives it the authority

to perform the ceremony.

Being restored to material light, he was informed of the three great, though

emblematical lights, or guides, in Freemasonry: The Volume of the Sacred Law, the Square

and the Compasses. He received light at the pedestal facing East, symbolising birth and

became a Brother among Masons.

Later in the ceremony the candidate is placed in the North East corner of the Lodge, body

upright, feet in the form of a square, representing the foundation stone of a new building,

the building of a new Masonic life. The candidate is taught to be upright in life, deal with

every man on the square and continue to look to the East for learning.

On this foundation he is challenged, ‘to raise a superstructure perfect in all its parts’ and

every one of us will remembers that day we were introduced into freemasonry, poor and

penniless, in a state of darkness and how it has changed our lives for the better.