My grandfathers Mason apron

reply to post by felonius


Thank you for this response. My grandfather was an amazing man, one of the kindest men I've known. He was working hard for some type of promotion when then occurred. I guess the main answer I was looking for was did my grandmother violate any type of code. Also I am not a fan of secrets - this is my own burden from being in the military and "knowing" things, I hate the burden of. I was asked why this memory surfaced and why it bothered me and it is probably more tied to my own issues.

I just know to many the Masons seem like this big secret organization, and I did not want to go through life with this event having some subliminal or determental purpose. I appreciate your response.

reply to post by LittleBirdSaid

I guess the main answer I was looking for was did my grandmother violate any type of code. Also I am not a fan of secrets - this is my own burden from being in the military and "knowing" things

You can rest easy, there are no secrets we have that would be a burden to you, or your Grandmother, and the Apron is worn publicly at times. Feel free to learn all you can about your Grandfather and his secrets, he would be proud to know you are interested.

Originally posted by JoshNorton

Originally posted by pez1975
The aprons are given when you pass the 3rd degree and become a Master Mason the highest level of Masonry at a Blue Lodge.

Originally posted by AugustusMasonicus
Actually, you receive it as an Entered Apprentice in the 1st degree in my jurisdiction, its presentation being accompanied by a brief lecture. You are then taught to wear it by the Senior Deacon.

Originally posted by network dude
actually, it's given to you when you are innitiated and get your first degree. It's a beautiful speach that is given at the time it's presented.

See, here's where Masonry differs a bit from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In my state, in the first degree you're taught how to wear it by the Sr. Warden, but you aren't actually given your own, nice, ceremonial apron until after you've gotten the lecture at the end of the Master's degree. The apron worn by the candidate in the first two degrees is either a regular cloth lodge apron, or an old leather apron that is kept with the working tools and other props needed for the degrees.

This is why I posted, because it is hard to decearn from the internet, and there is loads of BS out there I am sure. What I remember is he was Scotish Rite? The apron was rather plain itself, but it was ornately kept in a scarlet velvet case. The apron was white, with small embordered symbols, and it was tied up with a small book and if I remember correctly tiny tools. It was kept in a special place of its own. I don't know why it felt like a secret when I was shown. Maybe it was the ceremony he was to go through that was secretive. I know that I heard about this, saw that it involved great work - and wanted to know this fuss about the apron. So I was shown. I expected - well - something quite different from this rather humble apron, especially in light of how it was stored. I really appreciate these responses. It is helping to understand, that there may have been misunderstanding on my part.

Originally posted by JoshNorton

Originally posted by Sauron
and we have a fully stocked bar too

Bastard. On the other hand, we've got brothers who are bar owners, and it's generally nicer to get my refreshing beverage served to me by a cute waitress at one of their establishments than by Bro. Bubba.

edit on 2011.9.10 by JoshNorton because: (no reason given)

This is probably why this whole ordeal was not embraced by grandma! LOL

reply to post by getreadyalready


Yes, he was in fact buried in his apron.
He was a wonderful man, Thank you for your response.

reply to post by LittleBirdSaid

It is helping to understand, that there may have been misunderstanding on my part.

I don't think there was any misunderstanding on your part, except the guilt you felt. I'm sure that was unintentional.

The "rather humble" white leather/lambskin apron is something to be highly regarded and cherished. It is humble on purpose, and for Masons, there is no higher honor than earning that first Apron. Most Mason do keep it in a safe place, and choose to wear a simpler cloth apron when in lodge.

Here is a GREAT thread from a Moderator on ATS that is also a Mason, and it should be very informative to you about how Masons regard their aprons, and how they treat their aprons.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I will tell you that despite what is sometimes in the media about the Masons due to misunderstandings - that the three men I knew in my life, my 2 uncles and my grandfather - that were Masons - they really were amazing men. Hard working, excellent citizens. The kind of men you want showing up when the town has an emergency. My grandfather long ago played for the first professional football team, the Canton bulldogs. He was a humble, good man - much like the Atticus Finch chracter in To Kill a Mockingbird. I learned much from him. He had quite a soft spot for me and always had peppermints.

I think he was very serious and dedicated to most he did in life, and this would extend - or was because of his Masonary (is that correct in term?) I think that his apron was very special, and maybe the nervousness on my grandmothers part was more about messing with his stuff - perhaps she felt he should have shown it but that I wouldn't wait with all my questions, and it was her concern about that sort of boundry violation.

My grandmother - who I loved with all my heart - was a character! I do think - I did want to know all about his ceremony though and there are things you probably don't share, much less with ever questioning children. I was absolutely facinated with the whole ordeal as I was staying with them one summer when this event was going to take place. It was to be a big deal. I probably quite pestered Gramdma till she was like, OK, come here I'll show you quick, now drop it . . . and really, it should probably been his place to do so.

Originally posted by LittleBirdSaid
Note to mods, I did the best I could to determine how to go about posting. I couldn't choose the forum. If you could redirect if needed I would appreciate it.

This has long bothered me. I thought these were secretive items.
My grandmother unwrapped and showed me my grandfathers Mason apron when I was a child - maybe 11 or 12. I am a female. We did it as a "secret" and she was a nervous wreck we would be caught. This event happened when he was preparing for ceramony, or promotion??

Why would she have done this and what did it mean?
I know little of the Mason world since my grandparents passed long ago - and I don't know a Mason to ask, or even if this is a controversial question. If anyone would share the meaning of this I would appreciate it. I am now 46 years old, and I will admit this memory has surfaced and begun to bother me.

edit on 9-9-2011 by LittleBirdSaid because: (no reason given)

There is nothing sinister about a Freemason's apron.
It's presented to him in Lodge and has no secrets other than a "moral" to live by.
Perhaps, if you still have it, take it to the nearest Lodge. They will be pleased to receive it.

Mothers and grandmothers do this kind of thing.

It's to groom you to take a Mason for a husband. The husband would reassure you that there's nothing to worry about or something, but until then mental image of the apron is supposed to remind you of your grandfather.

reply to post by czqjtohypmdu


So, if a Grandmother is married some decades to a Mason, and he is a good and respectful husband, father, and grandfather, and then she shows his apron to his granddaughter, it is something nefarious?

And, the granddaughter having known 3 men in her life that were Masons, and good men, and she thinks possibly other Masons are like them, it is nefarious?

And, the mere glimpse of an apron is supposed to affect her psychologically somehow?

*
*

You know, I did read some idiot account of how you can hypnotize your date to ensure sex. He claimed if you made a simple gesture such as a smile and nod, or a shaking of the salt shaker each time you asked your date a positive and feel good question that elicited a positive response, then you could condition your date over the course of an evening to always say yes to the question combined with that movement. At the end of the night, you know exactly how to ask for sex in a way that will get a positive response, LOL!

I suppose Grandmothers and Masons have been in cahoots for centuries with this knowledge to corrupt young women, LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by czqjtohypmdu

 

So, if a Grandmother is married some decades to a Mason, and he is a good and respectful husband, father, and grandfather, and then she shows his apron to his granddaughter, it is something nefarious?

And, the granddaughter having known 3 men in her life that were Masons, and good men, and she thinks possibly other Masons are like them, it is nefarious?

How do you know that he was good, respectful, etc.? Only because he was a Mason?

I don't know what the grandmother showed her the apron. Maybe she was trying to diffuse her own anxiety about secrets. I was only suggesting one possibility.

The rest of the post was silly and disrespectfully off-topic.

reply to post by czqjtohypmdu


Yes, because he was a Mason, and also because she (the OP) said so, and apparently because the Grandmother also thought so.

And no, it wasn't off-topic, it was an example parodying your accusation that women are somehow conditioning younger women by showing them these aprons. Your accusation was ridiculous, and my response was both a factual recount of a real situation where conditioning supposedly happens, and my opinion that it is ridiculous in both instances.

reply to post by czqjtohypmdu

Is he naturally nefarious because he's a Mason? To say showing an apron means something sinister or nefarious is simply irrational and illogical.