Monday, November 26, 2007

EA Dream

I had an interesting dream last night, in which I was about to take the Entered Apprentice degree. I don't believe I've had any Masonic dreams before, at least none that I remembered.

You'd expect that a dream about an initiation ceremony would concern itself with the actual ceremony, but that wasn't the case. For me, it was all about the preparation. It's all a bit hazy this morning, but key details were:
  • I was expecting to change into the one-sleeved, one-legged getup, but to my dismay the lodge had no such garments, and I was told that I'd have to just undergo the degree in my boxers and t-shirt.
  • Having dutifully stripped to my undergarments, I was asked to step out of the lodge for a few moments, which was inexplicably in a labyrinthine shopping-mall type complex that was totally unfamiliar to me.
  • My parents were in some sort of assembly in a nearby room, and greeted me enthusiastically as they left. I had the impression that they had been watching a "So someone in your family has decided to become a Freemason" presentation, kind of like the pamphlets new petitioners get.
  • When the time came for me to go back into the lodge, they flicked the lights on and off intermission style. It was at this point that I realized I was lost, and I kept trying fruitlessly to find the entrance to the lodge. The sense of urgency grew with each wrong turn and dead end, until finally I woke up from anxiety/frustration.
My armchair analysis, point by point:
  • Clearly, a variant on the classic "naked in front of class" dream.
  • Big labyrinthine spaces have always been a pretty common dream element for me, which is probably why I liked Doom and Quake so much.
  • At Thanksgiving my grandfather asked if I had been initiated yet. My dad, aunt, and brother were within earshot, and I felt vaguely uncomfortable. As excited and supportive as Grampa is, I think that deep down I'm still concerned about other family members' impressions of this whole adventure.
  • I'm anxious about either slipping through the cracks or not being able to make another EA degree ceremony as happened back in September.

3 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Fraternal Greetings Brother-to-be,

I wish you well and hope you will have a wonderful time within the Fraternity when you have finally entered from the west gate.

Fraternally
Bro. E
(Please excuse my anonymity as I usually do not make my involvement known due to the fact that my boss at work frown upon the fraternity greatly due to mis-information)

Radcliffe said...

Hello Brother,
And by now you are one. I find your posting a dream to be very nice. I had a dream recently about a Greek philosopher named Proclus, whom I'd never heard of before, but have since looked him up. light my brother comes from the subconscious sources too.