Episodios

  • Put On Your Apron: Becoming the Mason You Were Raised to Be

    Put On Your Apron: Becoming the Mason You Were Raised to Be
    May 23 2025

    In this episode, we revisit the Hiramic Legend—not for its historical allegory, but as a mirror for our modern emotional lives. What does it mean to stand in the moment of overwhelm and choose accountability? Freemasonry doesn’t promise control over life’s chaos—it teaches us how to respond when we’ve lost it.


    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • The Hiramic Legend models how to face moments beyond our control with honor.
    • Emotional discipline is a Masonic virtue, not just a personal struggle.
    • The apron symbolizes readiness—not to know everything, but to choose rightly.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “There will perpetually be situations beyond your control—and you have choices.” — [00:01:30]
    “You get about a second, maybe a second and a half, to be overwhelmed by your emotions.” — [00:01:42]
    “We are not allowed to tend toward dark, violent, awful things. We have to process them as men.” — [00:02:14]
    “What does that teach us about the Masonic tools and lexicon?” — [00:01:23]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    • The Trowel and the Limits of Patience
      A reflection on care, discernment, and how compassion can go too far.
    • One of the Twelve – An Invitation to the Real Work of the Craft
      Explores the internal transformation symbolized in the Hiramic journey.
    • The Tuxedo and the Trowel: Wearing the Symbol, Living the Labor
      Examines the symbolic significance of Masonic dress and the embodiment of labor.

    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    7 m
  • One of the Twelve: An Invitation to the Real Work of the Craft

    One of the Twelve: An Invitation to the Real Work of the Craft
    May 21 2025

    In this cornerstone episode, we explore the Hiramic legend as a metaphor for self-awareness and moral choice—focusing on the twelve Fellowcrafts who step back from destruction and choose integrity over ego.

    The episode introduces a teleological framework to help Masons examine their own behavior: not just what we do, but why we do it—and what unconscious value that behavior might be delivering. This is an invitation to become one of the Twelve—to stop conspiring against your own growth.


    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Avoidance is not weakness—it’s often a signpost to unresolved value conflict.
    • To become one of the Twelve is to choose alignment over sabotage—again and again.
    • The real work of the Craft begins when we stop lying to ourselves.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “This episode is about being one of the Twelve in the Hiramic legend.” — [00:00:28]
    “Twelve of them recant and step away from that plan. And so you are one of the twelve… Everything you do is from the perspective of that choice.” — [00:00:46]
    “Whatever the behavior that you are doing that is not furthering your work is delivering a value to you… that facilitates you in not delivering that work.” — [00:03:22]
    “A teleological approach… helps you understand your behavior through the value it’s delivering, even if that value is escape or avoidance.”
    — [00:01:33]
    “Why am I doing this, and how do I stop?” — [00:06:04]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 79 – Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On
    Unpacks the gap between ritual performance and transformational practice—where real value work begins.

    🎧 Ep. 82 – The Trowel and the Limits of Patience
    Explores the tension between compassion and accountability—especially in the context of growth and discomfort.

    🎧 Ep. 69 – The Grammar of the Lodge: Structure, Symbol, and the Spoken Word
    Symbolically reframes communication as a structural mechanic for inner and outer alignment.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    8 m
  • The Tuxedo and the Trowel: Wearing the Symbol, Living the Labor

    The Tuxedo and the Trowel: Wearing the Symbol, Living the Labor
    May 19 2025

    In this episode, we reflect on the ritual and symbolic role of Masonic dress—especially the tuxedo—not as a marker of status, but as a signal of readiness, humility, and inner alignment.

    The conversation invites us to examine why we wear what we wear, how discomfort can support presence, and how the most meaningful moments often come not from polished appearances, but from shared effort, learning, and care.

    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Masonic dress is not about impressing—it’s about intention and alignment.
    • Discomfort in attire can become a tool of mental focus and symbolic presence.
    • The Trowel reminds us: care isn’t always visible, but it’s always shared.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “Back as you are… as you're reinvested with all of your clothing… I think it's important to kind of look at this in a lot of ways…” — [00:01:00]
    “It helps me put my right frame of mind on so I can go to lodge… Now that said, the tux itself may not be the most comfortable…” — [00:01:41]
    “There are going to be folks that work off of a hand-me-down suit from the Goodwill—and that’s okay too.” — [00:03:13]
    “The quality of my tux, or your tux, relative to somebody else's… there's a price range for all of those things.” — [00:02:10]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 82 – The Trowel and the Limits of Patience
    A meditation on care, discomfort, and holding space for members at different levels of development.

    🎧 Ep. 41 – Charity Starts Where?
    Focuses on inward-directed charity and how symbolic tools guide compassionate behavior.

    🎧 Ep. 45 – Journaling Your Way to Clarity and Insight
    Explores how personal reflection deepens the inner work behind outward ritual.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    6 m
  • The Unspoken Symbol: Beneath the Degrees, Behind the Work

    The Unspoken Symbol: Beneath the Degrees, Behind the Work
    May 16 2025

    This episode explores a symbol never named directly in the degrees, yet present everywhere in the Masonic experience: curiosity. It’s the force beneath every inquiry, every tool, every ritual. And while it may never be etched in stone or inscribed on a tracing board, it animates the Craft from within.


    We reflect on how curiosity fuels the pursuit of symbolic knowledge, transforms discomfort into growth, and keeps Masons aligned with their deepest purpose—even when the work is hard to explain.

    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Some of Freemasonry’s most powerful symbols are never named—they are felt.
    • Curiosity is the engine of symbolic work—it drives exploration, insight, and transformation.
    • Becoming an agent of change starts with a willingness to uncover what lies beneath the surface.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “It’s swimming under the water of the entire craft… that concept that is implied by Freemasonry is curiosity.” — [00:00:35]
    “Covers off of things and finding out how they work… that kind of approach to the Craft is implicit.” — [00:00:57]
    “The tools are designed to help you become an agent of change in the world—and curiosity is a fundamental component of that.” — [00:04:40]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 60 – Thinking in Symbols
    Explores how symbolic insight emerges not from answers, but from asking better questions.

    🎧 Ep. 73 – Geometry as truth between things
    Discusses curiosity as a tool for exploring structure, space, and relationship.

    🎧 Ep. 69 – The Grammar of the Lodge: Structure, Symbol, and the Spoken Word
    Examines how linguistic structure reflects the search for meaning and intentional communication.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    7 m
  • The Trowel and the Limits of Patience

    The Trowel and the Limits of Patience
    May 14 2025

    In this episode, we reflect on what it means to apply the Trowel—the Masonic tool of compassion and connection—when our patience is tested by behavior we don’t yet understand.


    The conversation centers on how to hold space for members at different stages of development, and what happens when immaturity, frustration, or emotional volatility surfaces in the lodge. The Trowel is not about indulgence or appeasement. It’s about disciplined care—meeting others where they are, while still safeguarding the space.


    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • We all grow differently in different ways and you can't see the stone another brother is working.
    • Masonic growth means tolerating discomfort while staying anchored in principle.
    • The Trowel reminds us: care is a practice, not a posture.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “Our brethren deserve compassion in those conversations. The application of the Trowel is our responsibility.” — [00:03:01]
    “That compassion was once given you, hopefully in your life… The application of the tools of Freemasonry are in context.” — [00:04:10]
    “For our younger brethren—and that’s really who this world is for when you think about it—a lot of them have different experiences.” — [00:01:56]
    “What qualifies as toxic masculinity… a lot of folks don’t really understand what it means.” — [00:01:04]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 55 – The Trowel and the Practice of Care
    A focused reflection on applying care within and beyond the lodge using Masonic working tools.

    🎧 Ep. 79 – Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On
    Explores why rote approaches or symbolic performance aren’t enough—especially when emotional intelligence is required.

    🎧 Ep. 41 – Charity Starts Where?
    Investigates how real charity begins with emotional self-awareness and grounded presence.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    7 m
  • The Silence Around the Center: Freemasonry and the Question of God

    The Silence Around the Center: Freemasonry and the Question of God
    May 12 2025

    In this episode, we explore the symbolic and cultural hesitation around discussing God inside the Masonic lodge. While Freemasonry references the Grand Architect of the Universe, the tradition stops short of dictating belief or engaging in formal theology.

    This conversation wrestles with that boundary—asking what it means to operate within a moral structure that depends on spiritual gravity, yet refuses to name it. Is that silence a strength, a limitation, or an invitation?


    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Freemasonry offers moral tools, but no theology—they must be applied within your own belief system.
    • The Grand Architect is a reference point, not a doctrine.
    • The symbolic center is left intentionally undefined—demanding self-honesty.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “All of the tools of the craft that we have are designed to be applied in the context of a belief structure that Freemasonry does not teach.” — [00:01:02]
    “Freemasonry isn’t a spiritual practice. It’s more of a moral framework. A religion is a path to get to your spiritual awakening.” — [00:02:13]
    “There is no disconnection for a Mason who is working with the Grand Architect of the Universe between what we do and how we’re informed by that belief.” — [00:03:06]
    “Even the meditative reflections of the lodge itself aren’t particularly about connecting with the divine. They’re about understanding the plan by which you work.” — [00:01:39]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 80 – The Pavement and the Void
    Explores the symbolic duality of the pavement and how it relates to spiritual presence, stillness, and non-attachment.

    🎧 Ep. 60 – Thinking in Symbols
    Considers the symbolic mechanisms Masons use to explore meaning, structure, and belief without dogma.

    🎧 Ep. 41 – Charity Starts Where?
    Frames inner work and personal alignment as the real root of Masonic moral behavior.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    8 m
  • The Pavement and the Void

    The Pavement and the Void
    May 9 2025

    In this episode, we conclude our series on The Book of Five Rings with the final chapter: The Book of Emptiness. Paired symbolically with the Pavement—the Masonic emblem of duality—the Void reminds us that mastery is not accumulation, but release.

    Where the Earth Book grounds us and the Fire Book activates us, the Void calls us to stillness. To operate within the Void is to move without attachment, think without fixation, and hold symbol and self in equal clarity.

    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Emptiness is not absence—it’s freedom from fixation.
    • The Pavement reminds us that duality exists only until we transcend it.
    • Masonic mastery requires letting go of symbolic clinging, not adding more.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “And in Masonic parlance, probably the most appropriate symbol for us to reflect on when it comes to the Book of Emptiness… is actually the pavement, believe it or not.” — [00:00:41]
    “But that non-dual perspective… is central to the Book of Emptiness, where you don’t lean too far in one direction or the other.” — [00:01:52]
    “You don’t leave your mind vaguely at awareness… It’s not peripheral, it’s not focused. All of those things kind of fall at the same time.” — [00:02:07]
    “You’ll study it for the rest of your life perhaps—but a sitting or two should get you through.” — [00:04:07]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 76 – The Square and the Sword: Lessons from The Book of Five Rings
    Begins the symbolic alignment between Musashi’s text and Masonic tools—grounded, structured, and action-oriented.

    🎧 Ep. 77 – Flow and Form: The Water Scroll and the Fellow Craft
    Explores how adaptability and real-time awareness shape personal growth and symbolic mastery.

    🎧 Ep. 79 – Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On
    Critiques performative mastery and reinforces clarity, presence, and directness.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    6 m
  • Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On

    Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On
    May 7 2025

    In this episode, we continue our symbolic reflection on The Book of Five Rings by exploring the Wind Scroll—Musashi’s fierce critique of illusion, distraction, and reliance on superficial technique.


    This conversation draws parallels between martial philosophy and the Masonic journey, revealing that both traditions demand clarity of purpose, internal discipline, and rejection of showmanship. The work is not in the flourish—it’s in the sustained attention to transformation.


    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Musashi warns that technique can become a distraction from true mastery.
    • Freemasonry also rejects illusion—favoring direct experience and inner alignment.
    • The path requires clarity, not cleverness.

    💬 Featured Quotes

    “Including Musashi’s own school regarding the long sword… if you're focusing on the techniques, you're focusing on the wrong thing.” — [00:00:59]
    “Of the shortcomings and challenges of the other schools… people with longer swords, people with different kinds of techniques…” — [00:00:29]
    “As you're evaluating kind of your cognitive processes… it's really easy to pick the easy-to-grab-onto concepts… as if that's going to be the keystone.” — [00:04:35]
    “The work is the work. It’s always been the same. The right behavior is going to get you the right outcomes.” — [00:04:55]

    🔗 Explore Related Episodes

    🎧 Ep. 76 – The Square and the Sword: Lessons from The Book of Five Rings
    Introduces the symbolic alignment between Musashi’s elemental texts and Masonic working tools.

    🎧 Ep. 73 – Geometry as truth between things
    Focuses on structure and relationship as deeper truths—not surface patterns.

    🎧 Ep. 69 – The Grammar of the Lodge: Structure, Symbol, and the Spoken Word
    Explores the symbolic function of structure and intention in all communication.


    Creators & Guests

    • Brian Mattocks - Host
    Click here to view the episode transcript.
    Más Menos
    7 m
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