As I reflected on my recent initiation to the First Degree in Masonry, I remembered a book I had read years ago. In Joseph Campbell’s magnum opus, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, the eternal path of the hero in mythology is laid out. Campbell wrote, “The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation—initiation—return." In the First Degree initiation, the candidate follows that well-worn path of the mythological hero.
Like all the great heroes of folktales, myth, and religion, the candidate being initiated into Masonry travels out of the sphere of the familiar into an expanse of the supernatural. Extraordinary responsibilities are taken on and a significant triumph is won. The hero returns from his mystifying journey with a great boon.
The story of the Great Struggle of the Buddha is a representative example of the typical hero adventure that recurs in cultures all over the world. Prior to setting out on his quest, the young prince dressed himself in the robes of a monk. He then left his fortune behind and began his adventure as a beggar. A candidate begins his quest for light in Masonry neither naked nor clad. Like the Buddha donning humble robes, this is done because Masonry regards no one for his worldly wealth or honors. Just as the Buddha left his fortune behind, a candidate is first divested of anything of a metallic nature, having any intrinsic worth. Like the Buddha and other heroes, the candidate begins his journey in an extremely poor and penniless state – entirely destitute.
A candidate in Masonry prepares himself to leave the mundane world and enter the “Ground Floor of King Solomon's Temple“. This preparation is done in a room adjacent to a regularly constituted lodge of Masons. “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.” The candidate first meets with resistance at the doors, but afterward gains admission to a supernatural space. The space is not of the work-a-day-world, but rather it is a space erected to God. This ends the separation portion of the hero’s journey and the initiation phase begins.
As the moment of the Buddha’s enlightenment drew near, Kama-Mara, the force of love and death, met him with the points of a razor-sharp instrument – a discus. The Buddha responded by reaching out and touching the ground in a prayer to the Divine. His trust being in God, his faith was well founded. His antagonist was overcome and the Buddha could proceed fearing no danger. The parallels in this part of the story are obvious and clear.
Following this success, night fell. In total darkness, the Buddha sat with a firm and steadfast resolution on the Immovable Spot beneath the Bo Tree. He had undergone a strict trial and he had not been moved. As the first light of the sun crept over the horizon, the Buddha experienced perfect enlightenment. The candidate being initiated to the First Degree in Masonry, hoodwinked in darkness, must also obligate himself to be steadfast and unmovable. Following the solemn oath, the candidate is brought to light.
It was not enough for the Buddha to have enlightenment; he then had to “return to the cities of men where he moved among the citizens of the world.” After receiving light, an Entered Apprentice Mason is reconducted to the place whence he came. The return of the enlightened hero to the mundane world is the concluding part of the adventure.
The Buddha’s story is only one of many that detail the hero’s quest. The myth of the Greek Titan Prometheus stealing and returning with fire or the familiar tale of Moses ascending the mountain to receive the rule of his faith are but two more examples. All Entered Apprentice Masons have shared an experience with each other and with the immortal heroes of myth, legend, and the great religions. The path of the hero - separation, initiation, and return - is one that is familiar to all who have been introduced into the first principles of Masonry.
Sources:
· Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 2nd edition, Princeton University Press, 1968.
· Duncan, Malcom. Duncan's Ritual and Monitor. 1.0 edition, Evinity Publishing Inc, 2009.
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