Freemason

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I officially became a Freemason on 11th January 2018 at The Freemasons' Hall in Park Street. My initiation into Freemasonry was by invitation. In Freemasonry membership is by invitation only. My Lodge is The Templar Lodge No. 3618 (English Constitution) under the District Grand Lodge of Bengal. That day Brother David from Canada was present there and we all had a gala time at the dinner table. 

I have been going to Park Street regularly since the year 2000. I always wanted to peek inside the Freemasons' Hall at 19 Park Street but was never allowed by the security guards. They told me that only members were allowed inside. I was always very curious about this Freemasonry since my teenage days. I have read about Freemasonry a lot and always wanted to be its member but never knew whom to approach.

Luckily around 2017 I became friends with a man who was already a member at the Freemasons' Hall in Park Street. He invited me to become a member. I had to pay a one time membership fee of ten thousand rupees. Moreover there was also an annual fee too which members have to pay at the beginning of every year. I instantly agreed to pay the money. It was a real honour to become a Freemason.  

The Freemasons' Hall in Park Street is a heritage property. On the ground floor there are lovely rooms and a huge ball room too. On the first floor we have our Freemason Temples. The initiation ceremony is a secret ceremony. I cannot share the details here. We have our own secret rituals, hand grips, signs, words, phrases and literature. We cannot share them with non-Freemasons. Women are not allowed to become members of our Lodge.  

The members of my Lodge used to meet on the last Tuesday of every month. We used to gather together between 6:30 to 7 p.m. At 7 p.m. sharp we used to go to our Temple on the first floor and have our secret rituals. There are various degrees or levels in Freemasonry. Around 8 p.m. we all used to come downstairs and gather around the dinner table. Then we used to have a lavish dinner along with alcohol.

Freemasonry is the oldest club in the world. It started from the time of King Solomon. It went through various phases and various ups and downs over all these years. The Head Quarters of Freemasonry is at London now. Freemasonry has spread throughout the length and breadth of this world. In India too there are many Masonic Lodges in various cities. I have a desire in my heart to visit all the Lodges in India.  

    

Once I became a member things went on smoothly for two years. We members were supposed to meet once every month but we all ended up meeting almost eighteen times in 2018 and nineteen times in 2019. Then from 2020 this horrible chinese communist corona virus entered our lives and really screwed up our lives and turned our lives into hell. We had to stop our meetings. The last meeting we had was on 25th February 2020. After that corona took a violent turn and then we had the lockdown. Since then I have not stepped inside our Lodge...

P.S. Narendranath Dutta a.k.a. Swami Vivekananda was a Freemason. He was initiated into Freemasonry on 19th February 1884. He was a member of the Lodge Anchor and Hope No. 234 (English Constitution). He passed on to the degree of Fellowcraft on 15th April 1884 and was raised to the degree of Master Mason on 20th May 1884. Long live the Brotherhood of Freemasons...   

        

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