THE VARIOUS PATHS TO THE MYSTIC EAST
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
It’s now Year 2005 but the Craft reckons it four centuries earlier by calling it Masonic Year 6005. And to the Chinese who reckons their calendar by multiples of twelve, this is the year of the rooster and the start of its reign will still be on February 9. Now, how they reckon their calendar in terms of progression of a hundred years is beyond the mind of this writer but might as well, for it is not at all the subject of this article that he is about to tell.
January starts the month of installation although there were a few lodges who did it last December. Maguindanao Lodge No. 40, for example, installed WM Chito Olifernes in impressive ceremony last December 11, and surely there must have been another lodge at the GLP who must have concluded theirs before the year ended.
But this article is not about the newly-or-soon to be installed masters of the lodge. Their individual exploits must have been amply recorded in the hearts of the brethren hence no longer need to be retold. This article will instead give the reader a bird’s eye view of the newly elected light that is to occupy the station in the South, narrating unique examples on how they manage to reach the post that in three years will earn for them the chair we all call the mystic East.
If we are to rely on the premise that the ways of the Craft has already honed our traditions to perfection, then elections to the light or progressions to the chair will be as predictable and boring as the sun daily setting in the western horizon. But in Masonry, is this really the case? Do we elect officers in more or less the same fashion among lodges? Maybe so, but consider these situations.
Out there at Laong Laan Lodge No. 85, it is almost certain that the Senior Deacon is elected Junior Warden of the Lodge when election time comes. Bro. Sonny Regala, worthy son of an illustrious father and brother named WB Sergio V. Regala, Jr. of Quezon City Lodge No. 122 has recently elevated Junior Warden leaving his post as Senior Deacon of the lodge.
Does this mean therefore that all one needs is to have himself appointed Senior Deacon to earn the Junior Warden’s norm? Well, in a way yes; but you must fall in line a little farther to get this title. Bro. Albert Encarnacon, the Secretary, for example, had to relinquish the plume to fall in line and act the role of Marshal so that he hopefully can be at a striking distance later for the coveted JW norm.
Out there at another lodge where he hold honorary membership, the elected Junior Warden’s name is not familiar and so it can be inferred that that brother was initiated only when the lion has already transferred to his new den in Bohol.
The selection for Junior Warden of another lodge the lion knows may be considered exceptional. Lacking the depth of brethren who can ably fill the post, a newly-raised brother (May 2004), was elected to the Juior Warden’s chair. Chess experts call this zugswang or forced move, but when there is no other brother who can, what other option can the lodge avail of except elect someone rather than not to fill the post at all?!
At Perla del Oriente Lodge No. 1034, it is told that the progression to the master’s chair takes a full seven years starting from being appointed Junior Steward. Now, the lion does not have a way at having this checked, but it may just be so, for it is a lodge where every mason of note, including several PGM’s of our Grand Lodge, are members of this lodge that owe allegiance to the Scottish jurisdiction.
The lion’s elevation to the post of Junior Warden in 1993 may be considered unique in itself. Not the least aspiring to become master of his lodge, he honed himself in the ways of the Craft by memorizing the lectures of the three degrees, thinking that being a lodge lecturer is already an accomplishment one can already aspire for. Too late did he realize that when the 1992 year-end election transpired, he was the ultimate choice to become Junior Warden of the lodge!
And here’s a matchless trek to the Junior Warden’s chair.
WB Ellis Mills, currently installed Junior Warden of his mother lodge at Star Lodge No. 187 F. & A. M. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio USA, was raised in that lodge on May 1963. His job at the United States Air Force took him to Okinawa and various places and while at Okinawa served as Worshipful Master of Coral Lodge No. 142 in 1970, which lodge later merged with Loo Choo Lodge No. 172 and still much later with Okinawa Lodge No. 118.
A true traveler in the literal sense of the word, he finally returned home like a homing pigeon and once again rekindled ties with the members of his mother whose listing contained hardly the same names that he had known before. But of course, for what can one expect after a lapse of forty years. But no doubt, wanting to become master of the lodge where he first saw Masonic light is a dream that one mason can no doubt aspire for in the mystic ways of this ethereal brotherhood
Many of you out there must have your own sterling experiences to tell but this writer is afraid not to solicit your experiences for surely it will set an avalanche of anecdotes worth telling; and while the almost infinite space of this wonderful world we call the Internet may have the capacity to accommodate narrating these events, it is the limited vocabulary of this writer that surely will not last and will be put to the test.
And on that he wouldn’t dare!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
It’s now Year 2005 but the Craft reckons it four centuries earlier by calling it Masonic Year 6005. And to the Chinese who reckons their calendar by multiples of twelve, this is the year of the rooster and the start of its reign will still be on February 9. Now, how they reckon their calendar in terms of progression of a hundred years is beyond the mind of this writer but might as well, for it is not at all the subject of this article that he is about to tell.
January starts the month of installation although there were a few lodges who did it last December. Maguindanao Lodge No. 40, for example, installed WM Chito Olifernes in impressive ceremony last December 11, and surely there must have been another lodge at the GLP who must have concluded theirs before the year ended.
But this article is not about the newly-or-soon to be installed masters of the lodge. Their individual exploits must have been amply recorded in the hearts of the brethren hence no longer need to be retold. This article will instead give the reader a bird’s eye view of the newly elected light that is to occupy the station in the South, narrating unique examples on how they manage to reach the post that in three years will earn for them the chair we all call the mystic East.
If we are to rely on the premise that the ways of the Craft has already honed our traditions to perfection, then elections to the light or progressions to the chair will be as predictable and boring as the sun daily setting in the western horizon. But in Masonry, is this really the case? Do we elect officers in more or less the same fashion among lodges? Maybe so, but consider these situations.
Out there at Laong Laan Lodge No. 85, it is almost certain that the Senior Deacon is elected Junior Warden of the Lodge when election time comes. Bro. Sonny Regala, worthy son of an illustrious father and brother named WB Sergio V. Regala, Jr. of Quezon City Lodge No. 122 has recently elevated Junior Warden leaving his post as Senior Deacon of the lodge.
Does this mean therefore that all one needs is to have himself appointed Senior Deacon to earn the Junior Warden’s norm? Well, in a way yes; but you must fall in line a little farther to get this title. Bro. Albert Encarnacon, the Secretary, for example, had to relinquish the plume to fall in line and act the role of Marshal so that he hopefully can be at a striking distance later for the coveted JW norm.
Out there at another lodge where he hold honorary membership, the elected Junior Warden’s name is not familiar and so it can be inferred that that brother was initiated only when the lion has already transferred to his new den in Bohol.
The selection for Junior Warden of another lodge the lion knows may be considered exceptional. Lacking the depth of brethren who can ably fill the post, a newly-raised brother (May 2004), was elected to the Juior Warden’s chair. Chess experts call this zugswang or forced move, but when there is no other brother who can, what other option can the lodge avail of except elect someone rather than not to fill the post at all?!
At Perla del Oriente Lodge No. 1034, it is told that the progression to the master’s chair takes a full seven years starting from being appointed Junior Steward. Now, the lion does not have a way at having this checked, but it may just be so, for it is a lodge where every mason of note, including several PGM’s of our Grand Lodge, are members of this lodge that owe allegiance to the Scottish jurisdiction.
The lion’s elevation to the post of Junior Warden in 1993 may be considered unique in itself. Not the least aspiring to become master of his lodge, he honed himself in the ways of the Craft by memorizing the lectures of the three degrees, thinking that being a lodge lecturer is already an accomplishment one can already aspire for. Too late did he realize that when the 1992 year-end election transpired, he was the ultimate choice to become Junior Warden of the lodge!
And here’s a matchless trek to the Junior Warden’s chair.
WB Ellis Mills, currently installed Junior Warden of his mother lodge at Star Lodge No. 187 F. & A. M. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio USA, was raised in that lodge on May 1963. His job at the United States Air Force took him to Okinawa and various places and while at Okinawa served as Worshipful Master of Coral Lodge No. 142 in 1970, which lodge later merged with Loo Choo Lodge No. 172 and still much later with Okinawa Lodge No. 118.
A true traveler in the literal sense of the word, he finally returned home like a homing pigeon and once again rekindled ties with the members of his mother whose listing contained hardly the same names that he had known before. But of course, for what can one expect after a lapse of forty years. But no doubt, wanting to become master of the lodge where he first saw Masonic light is a dream that one mason can no doubt aspire for in the mystic ways of this ethereal brotherhood
Many of you out there must have your own sterling experiences to tell but this writer is afraid not to solicit your experiences for surely it will set an avalanche of anecdotes worth telling; and while the almost infinite space of this wonderful world we call the Internet may have the capacity to accommodate narrating these events, it is the limited vocabulary of this writer that surely will not last and will be put to the test.
And on that he wouldn’t dare!
Comments
W. Bro. Galarosa
W. Bro. Ellis Mills has forwarded me a no of articles which you have written and sent him.
He has further advised me that I should read out those articles in open Lodge only if you give me the go ahead. Common coutesy demands that.
I did send you a New Years Greeting Card wishing you and your family a Happy New Year and making that request.
Maybe my card and request got lost with all the other good wishes which you may have received bringing in the New Year.
Have a good 2005 W. Bro. Galarosa.
S & F
Bro. Percy M. Aga
Bro. Percy Aga:
You must have received already my email conveying my willingness to have the articles that I periodically send to be read in your lodge. This willingness also extends to subsequent articles that I will send copy of which WB Mills will be provided copies.
Kindly extend my regards to WB Mills.
Sincerely,
Bro Jun