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DeMolay Conclave 2015

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I was lucky enough to attend DeMolay Conclave this past weekend. This is an event that is not like any other in the Masonic community. In the state of Nebraska, Conclave includes a state ritual competition, the election and installation of the state officers, and of course, finishes with a banquet and dance.

Conclave was held this year in Grand Island, Nebraska, about two hours away from Omaha. The event started early Friday morning with the ritual competition. Basically, the boys choose a part (or parts) that they want to learn, and then preform them in front of a panel of judges, usually older DeMolays. The parts range from the preceptors, which are a paragraph long, to the flower talk, which encompasses many pages. T is the state ritual director, and so he gets to be in charge of picking all of the judges, and all of the paperwork. The participants are scored on a number of items, including ease, number of prompts needed, words skipped, and dress.

Fun at the waterpark

After a quick lunch, the guys got ready for the long form initiatory and DeMolay degrees. Now, this is something that is done a bit different than the rest of the Masonic organizations. A long form degree requires at least 16 members on the degree team, something that is difficult to accomplish with teens, especially in the busy summer months. So instead, often when a new member wants to join, they will conduct a short form degree, which takes about half of the amount of people. The long form degrees are then conducted at the two major state events, Conclave and Roundup, to any new members that have joined since the last state event. While these degrees are not “public” per se, any advisor or parent is more than welcome to watch them. If you ever get the opportunity to watch a long form degree for DeMolay, I highly recommend it, especially since (at least in our jurisdiction) it is done in full costume.

As a reward for their hard work, they guys were treated to a casino night by the state Sweetheart (a member of Job’s or Rainbow that has been chosen to represent the girls groups in DeMolay). Far after many of the younger members went to bed, the older guys were on their way to a local Lodge building. In our state, we are lucky enough to have a recent re-established chapter of the Chivalric Knights  of the Holy Order of the Fellow Solders of Jacques DeMolay, or Priory, for short. This is a group within DeMolay that is made up of boys over the age of 16. They have their own fun nights, as well as state events, both within and separate from DeMolay events. For Nebraska’s Priory, it is not an advancing line, so every year, their leaders are elected and installed at Conclave. They also initiated new members during this time.

The Sir Knights chosen for Priory leadership for 2015

Bright and early the next morning, the Chapter room was opened for elections for state officers. One of T’s brothers ran, and won! The girls running for state Sweetheart also gave their speeches and answered questions shortly there after. After all of the speeches and voting was finished, a very special honor was given to a select number of DeMolays, the Degree of Chevalier. This is the highest honor that can be given to an active DeMolay for distinguished service to the group. Interestingly, this degree is not given by active DeMolays, but instead by past DeMolays who have also received the honor. T and a number of his friends were able to bestow this honor to three boys, one of whom was one of T’s brothers. Unlike regular degree work, the Degree of Chevalier is a public ceremony, open for anyone to watch.

The boys spent the afternoon at the waterpark, having the opportunity to relax before the banquet. Now, when I was told that there was a banquet Saturday evening, I assumed that meant it was DeMolays, advisors, and parents only. What I didn’t expect was the amount of support brought out by the rest of Nebraska’s Masonic Community. The Grand Master was there, as was the Grand Line for OES, and almost all of the potentates from around the state. There was not a Masonic group that went unrepresented that night. It swells my heart with joy to know that all of these people, many of them well beyond my years, have full support of DeMolay, and all of its members.

The only downside to having that much support, is that every representative is encouraged to bring greetings from their group, which can often end in lengthy speeches. I myself am used to this from other Masonic events….a bunch of teenage boys however, had a much harder time keeping still and quiet. After everyone had their say, the awards for the ritual competition were given out. Unfortunately, Omaha chapter didn’t do so hot. Hopefully next year will be better. After this, the new state officers were installed by former DeMolays who were also state officers in their time. The Priory put on a wonderful arch of steel for this installation. They did a better job than I’ve seen some Templars do.

Installation of 2015 State Officers

After the room was nice and full of antsy teenagers and tired adults, it was time for the dance. I’m not sure how it started exactly, but at every major DeMolay (and I assume every major Job’s and Rainbow) event, there is a dance. Luckily, even though most of them are highschoolers, it tends to be an atypical highschool dance. I think that the fact that there are some songs that have ritualistic dances to go with them helps. Many of the adult leaders and advisors were once in a Masonic youth group, so they often know the dances as well, which helps encourage the teens to be a little less awkward, even if the girls do outnumber the boys three to one.

You many wonder why I often give a report of DeMolay events I attend. This is not to just take up space, or tell you about this fun weekend I had. Kiddos in the Masonic youth groups are the future of Masonry. If we want the groups that we enjoy to continue for years to come, we need to do our best to make sure that we can retain these members as adults. At one point during the banquet, the Grand Master had everyone who was once a DeMolay and is now a Master Mason to stand up. Well over half of the adult men in the room stood. One thing that I haven’t told you about this weekend, we had maybe only 30 active DeMolays attend it. So often do we get caught up in other things that don’t matter, that we push aside the things that do. DeMolay, Job’s Daughters, and Rainbow for Girls teaches extremely valuable life lessons that help guide a youth to lead a good life. Isn’t that all we want for our children? Please, do what you can to support Masonic youth groups, the best thing to donate is your time. Without Masonic youth, Masonry may become a thing of the past in years to come.

Round Up

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This past weekend. T and I helped coordinate and run a statewide DeMolay event called Round Up. I am not certain if other states do this, or anything similar, but this has been an event at least since T was a DeMolay. The entire weekend is a series of sports competitions between chapters. It started as many weekend Masonic events do in Nebraska, with the three hour drive to Kearny with a van full of teenage boys.

After a quick lunch, we headed off to The Big Apple, a family entertainment complex with bowling, go karts, mini golf, and more.

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The first competition was an individual one, billiards. One of T’s brothers actually ended up winning first place!

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The second competition was team volleyball. They ended up doing both Chapter teams, as well as composite teams made up of players from the various Chapters around the state.

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While not a competition, The Big Apple also had go-karts, which the boys were able to race in.

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The final competition was mini golf. The course there was probably one of the coolest I’ve ever played.

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I mean, it was really, really cool.

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Like I would drive out there again just to play there.

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Luckily we are in Kearney fairly often for Masonic events, so we will be back.

All of these competitions ended up taking about 6 hours. So I ended up spending a lot of time in the arcade.

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They had bowling as well, which was supposed to be a competition, but we barely had enough time to do what we did.

We then went back to the hotel, and had a quick bite to eat.

Afterwards, the boys went to the hotel’s volleyball pit, to play a few rounds of Quidditch.

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If you ever get a chance to play, or even watch a match of Quidditch, do it. It is highly entertaining.

The guys then headed over to the local YMCA, for, you guessed it, more sports.

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The games of the evening were soccer and basketball, done the same way that they did the volleyball.

The Y also had a small arcade as well, which some of the nerdier guys preferred.

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They also had a bounce house, which the adult advisers had to test first, to make sure that it was, you know, safe.

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It was about 10pm by this point. I headed back to the hotel for some much deserved sleep.

Some of the guys, on the other hand, headed to a local Lodge for a Priory investiture.

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The Priory is a sub-group of DeMolay for boys 16 and older. Investiture is just a fancier word for initiation. I wish that I had been able to stay awake for it, hopefully next time.

Sunday morning was spent doing a DeMolay long form initiation. See, normally, most DeMolay chapters only do a short form initiation when they welcome new members. There is actually an entire play for the DeMolay degree, similar to the ones done during the Scottish Rite degrees. However, this takes a large degree team that many chapters do not have access to. So, once a year at Round Up, Nebraska Chapters have all of their new members go through the long form initiation so that they are able to experience the entire thing. While any adult adviser (including myself), or parent of a DeMolay can watch the ritual, it is still considered secret work, and so cannot be shared here.

After the ritual, awards were passed out for the sporting competitions. Lets just say that Omaha Chapter is not known for its sporting prowess. We then said our goodbyes, and headed home. All in all, a pretty great, if not a bit exhausting, weekend. The sweethearts had a jail fundraiser for Relay for Life where you could pay to put people in “jail” (no phones, no fun), and ended up raising over $500 over the weekend.

On a completely different note, I have created a Tumblr for the Mason’s Lady. Much of what is here will be reflected there as well, as well as some other extras. You can find it here.

Naviagting Masonic Emblems Part II

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Since our Master’s Ball is this weekend (more on that next week!), I am in a bit of a time crunch, so, I decided to go ahead with the second part of the Masonic emblem series this week. You can read part one here.

The crescent and scimitar

Probably the second most well-known Masonic emblem, after the square and compass, is that of the Shriners. Luckily for us, the Shriners are much more forthcoming as to the meaning of their emblem than anyone else seems to be.  The crescent and scimitar are most often seen displayed on the fez, the hat that a Shriner wears.  The scimitar (the sword) stands for the backbone of the fraternity, which are its members. The two claws that make up the crescent represent the Shriners fraternity and its philanthropy. The sphinx’s head stands for the governing body of the Shriners, the head of the organization. The five-pointed star inside of the crescent represents the thousands of children that the Shriners help through their philanthropy (most notably their hospitals) each year. Occasionally you will also see the phrase “Robur et Furor” on the emblem, which means “Strength and Fury”.

The Eastern Star

Perhaps the most misunderstood Masonic emblem is that of the Order of the Eastern Star. Each point of the star represents a different star point. The blue point with the sword and veil represent Adah, whose lesson is obedience to duty. The yellow point with the sheaf of wheat is for Ruth, whose lesson is adherence to religious principles. The white, with the crown and scepter represents Esther, whose lesson is the virtue of loyalty. The green point with the broken column is for Martha, who teaches us the virtue of endurance in a trial. Finally the red point with the cup is for Electa, who teaches ous the lesson of endurance of persecution. The altar with the book in the middle is exactly what you think it is, it represents the volume of sacred law that sits in the East. The word FATAL is the secret phrase used in OES. Please note: OES was created in the 1850’s, long before the inverted pentagram was associated with satanic ritual around the 1960’s.

The crest of the Order of DeMolay

DeMolay, the organization for young men, is also straightforward with their emblem. The crown  is symbolic of the Crown of Youth, and reminds a member of his obligations and the seven principles of his order. Each of the ten rubies along the sides of the emblem represent the Founder of the organization, and the nine original members. There used to be a mixture of pearls and rubies, with pearls representing living members, and rubies, deceased ones. The helmet on top represents the concept of chivalry, a reoccurring theme within DeMolay. The crescent in the center serves as a reminder to never reveal the secrets of the Order, nor the secrets of a friend. The five-armed white cross symbolizes the purities of ones intentions, and to always remember the motto, “No DeMolay shall fail as a citizen, as a leader, and as a man.” The crossed swords in the background are symbols of justice, fortitude, and mercy, and also symbolize the warfare DeMolays face against arrogance, despotism, and intolerance. The stars around the crescent serve as a symbol of hope, and  remind members of their obligations and duties that one brother owes to another.

The rainbow

Surprisingly, the International Order of Rainbow for Girl’s emblem is the hardest one to find out any information on, much more than any of the Masonic “secrets”. However, from what I can gather, the red, white, and blue stripe represents the flag of the United States; although Rainbow is an international organization, it was created here in the States. The hands below represent friendship. Each of the colors represent a different lesson taught in the organization. Red, love; orange, religion; yellow, nature; green, immortality; blue, fidelity; indigo, patriotism; violent, service.  BFCL stands for bible, flag, constitution, and lambskin, the four symbols of the order. The R in the middle simply stands for rainbow.

Job’s Daughter’s emblem

The emblem for Job’s Daughters is very quite simple. The three women in the triangle represent the daughter’s of Job, and each one holds a symbol important to the organization. The dove stands for peace and purity, the urn of incense represents prayer, and the horn of plenty represents the hope of reward for a job well done. The words “Iyob Filiae” literally means Job’s Daughters in Greek.

These are only the emblems for the most common Masonic organizations. There are many others out there, so occasionally you may come across an emblem that is unknown to you. A little research goes a long way in this case.

As always, have a wonderful week!

Masonic Youth

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Masonry is truly designed to be a family affair. The men, obviously, have their countless organizations, the women have a few, and, not to leave anyone out, there are those for the youth as well.

There are three youth organizations, with some offshoots of each for the younger kids, all with their own individual structure and opportunities. All three focus on leadership and community service.

Rainbow for Girls

Started in 1922 as a counterpart to DeMolay, Rainbow for Girls, or Rainbow, is open to all girls, aged 11 to 20/21. One of the major differences here is that members do not need to be related to a Master Mason to be able to join. This is very nice, because once a girl ages out of Rainbow, she is eligible for membership in Eastern Star, among other organizations. The age out rule is a little bit different- a girl is a member until she turns 20, unless she marries before the age of 20, and is often given the opportunity to continue membership until the age of 21.

Rainbow groups are reffered to as “assemblies”. There are many officers, as you might expect, the Worthy Advisor (a girl, not an adult), is considered the president of the organization, and plans meetings and activities for the group. There are of course, also state officers, referred to as “Grandofficer title“, usually the Grand Worthy Advisor attends all state conferences, including Grand Lodge. There is also a Supreme, international council. All state/international council officers are chosen by election. The ties to DeMolay can be seen very easily, as the seven core virtues are very similar to DeMolay’s, the difference being that in Rainbow they are taught as colors, and referred to as “bow stations”. The stations are as follows:

  • Love (red) In all its forms
  • Religion (orange) The Importance of religion in all its forms (based on love and forgiveness)
  • Nature (yellow) Its Importance in your daily life
  • Immortality (green) The understanding of death is a part of life
  • Fidelity (blue) Emphasis on being honest and reliable
  • Patriotism (indigo) Encouraging citizenship to your country
  • Service (violet) Service to others which bind all the colors together

As with all Masonic youth organizations, there are adult advisors, a “Mother Advisor”, as well as an advisor board helps guide the girls. For the most part, however, the youth run the organization, the Worthy Advisor doing as she sees fit, with the Mother Advisor helping along the way (as is the case with all Masonic youth organizations). Due to the way that it is set up, there is also opportunity for adults that are interested to be involved.

Rainbow Pledge

Not associated with every chapter of Rainbow, there is often a small group of “Rainbow Pledges”, that are too young to join the organization. Pledges are usually 8-10, and can be involved in every fun activity, outing, and charity work, but usually are not involved in business meetings, or ritual work.

Job’s Daughters

Started in the Big O in 1920, Job’s Daughters is a youth organization for girls 10 to 20. The big difference between Rainbow and Job’s is that in order to become a member of Job’s Daughters (referred to often as Jobies), you must be able to prove a relationship to a Master Mason. Quite often, however, girls that can fulfill this requirement will become members of both organizations. Obviously, due to the relationship requirement, all members are eligible for membership in OES and the like. Job’s has a similar age out rule as Rainbow, the difference being that some jurisdictions may allow girls to continue to be involved up until the age of 25.

Job’s Daughters groups are referred to as “bethels”. Again, there are many officer positions available through elections within the bethel, with the “Bethel Queen” acting as president. State officers work a little bit differently in Job’s (so correct me if I got this terribly wrong). There are two state officers that are youth, the Grand Bethel Honoured Queen, and Miss Jurisdiction Job’s Daughter (i.e. Miss Nebraska Job’s Daughter).  The Grand Bethel Honoured Queen is chosen via a drawing, after fulfilling certain requirements, and Miss Jurisdiction (often referred to as Miss Congeniality), is chosen via a pageant. Both of these officers are considered equal co-leaders, and will attend state conferences together. Again, there are also international officers, the Supreme Bethel Honoured Queen, and Miss International Job’s Daughter, respectively.

Virtues taught to Jobies  include a greater reverence for God and the Holy Scriptures (JD is a more Christian based organization than rainbow, but does not require members to be such), , loyalty to one’s country and that country’s flag; and respect for parents, guardians, and elders.

Again, there is a council of adults advising the girls, referred to as the Bethel Guardian Council.

Job’s Daughter to Be/JD2B

Similar to Rainbow Pledges, Jobies to Be get to do all the fun stuff while not attending the business meetings and ritual work. This program is open to 8 and 9 year olds.

Order of the Triangles/Constellation of Junior Stars

There’s not much to be found about either of these groups. I do know that they are for girls ages 10 to 21, and both are only in New York state.

DeMolay

Yes, I am guilty of saving my favorite for last. Started in 1919 in Kansas City, The International Order of DeMolay is open to all boys aged 12 to 21, who profess a belief in a higher power, and strive to be a good person. It is the world’s largest youth fraternity, and the premier youth organization. It serves as a feeder program for masonry, as many of its members go on to become masons. A relationship to a Master Mason is not required.

Local DeMolay groups are called “chapters”. Again, numerous officer positions are available, the “Master Councilor” is elected, and acts as president for all meetings. Often (this also is true for Rainbow, not sure about Job’s), members will start at the bottom and work their way up, similar to the officer line in Blue lodge or an OES chapter. State officers vary from state to state, but will usually at least include a State (or Jurisdictional) Master Councilor, a State Senior Councilor (Vice President), and a State Junior Councilor (Vice, Vice President).  There may be many more state officers in your state or jurisdiction, this is at the discretion of the executive officer (head of state advisory board).

In addition to this, each chapter may have a “Sweetheart”, who serves as a female ambassador to DeMolay, and is usually there to remind the boys how to act in front of girls politely. She is not an officer of the chapter, but will often go on outings with them. She is usually a member of a local Bethel or Assembly, but this is not a requirement. The only requirement is that she is between the ages of 14 and 21.

DeMolay has seven cardinal virtues, you can see the similarities between theirs and Rainbow’s:

  • Filial love (love between a parent and child)
  • Reverence for sacred things
  • Courtesy
  • Comradeship
  • Fidelity
  • Cleanness
  • Patriotism

Each chapter of DeMolay must be sponsored by a local masonic body (our Shrine sponsors the Big O chapter). Again, there is an adult board of advisors to lead the youth (just turned in my application), members of the advisory board are usually referred to as Dad Last Name.

Squires of the Round Table/Order of Knighthood

DeMolay is a little bit different, in that for those that are too young to join DeMolay, there is actually a full on organization for. The Squiresof the Round Table is for DeMolay pledges, ages 10 to 12, their groups are called “Manors”, and they have elected officers, the “Master Squire” acting as president.

Once a DeMolay is 17, he is also eligible for a separate organization within DeMolay, called the Order of Knighthood, for boys 17 to 21. They too, have separate rituals and officers, but act to serve DeMolay. Their groups are called “priories”, and their president is referred to as “Illustrious Knight Commander”. The full name of the order is the Chivalric Knights of the Holy Order of the Fellow Soldiers of Jacques DeMolay.

I highly encourage you to support your local masonic youth in any way that you can, whether it be donating money, time, or being an advisor. If you enjoy masonry and have children, I would encourage them to join any and all of the organizations available to them. All of these programs feed into masonry and its appendant bodies, and we would never hope to have the membership today that we do without their existence.