"A System of Morality, taught by Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols" In our continuing mission to be beacons of light, we ask you all to "Prepare, Prevail & Prosper" Above all; "Think for Yourself!"
Listen to the Masonic Muscle Podcast. Find Links below. Coming up @ Lodge 693 March 2024 March 5th - Stated Meeting 7:30 pm Suit and Tie From Palm Springs Lodge's Curmudgeon "The Walrus Speaks" It has become apparent to me y’all are on crack. OK, so now that I have your attention, I submit the following for your reading pleasure. Or not. When I joined the fraternity in 1991, I was thirty-six, a young man with goals and dreams of what was to come and anticipated my future with a positive outlook. That was my first mistake (of the year). I felt like nothing could stop me and I had the world by the tail. Turns out it was the other way around. I was made a Master Mason in March of 1992 and had moved to Palm Springs to start my new career. I had a nice girlfriend (or so I thought) and quickly learned otherwise. But I digress. I’m supposed to be writing with my curmudgeon personality but in reality, I became a curmudgeon as a survival tool. You see, I always thought there was more to Masonry than what I learned. But I learned that the concept of “masonic education” was to sit in officers’ chairs, learn the ritual and lectures only to become Master of the Lodge in 1997 and then disappear (like so many other past masters). But not me, I then served the lodge as a junior officer until I was handed the job of Secretary (here’s where the curmudgeon part comes in). As secretary of the lodge, it was “my job” (and it was a JOB. A non-paying JOB) to be "chief” of the following: hand holder, problem solver of every member’s problem, an author, a cheerleader, THE most responsible member of the lodge, a negotiator, an advisor, public information officer, record keeper, reminder of paying your dues, suspending members who didn’t pay their dues…and I think you get the drift. THEN someone would come along with a bright idea expecting me to manage and run THEIR bright idea. At first, I didn’t mind, but after 7 years I began to resent ANYONE coming to me with yet another bright idea, expecting me to “handle it”. So, I became terse, bitter and at times just plain mean (which is where the curmudgeon comes in). This was not who I was, it was a survival mechanism. The only way I could get people to stop coming to me with their so-called bright ideas was to snap at them things like; “oh great, another bright idea” or- “so who do you think is going to handle this?” or- “that’ll never work”. Again, this wasn’t who I was inside, it was my way of warding off any more extra jobs because you see, I already HAD a job. One that paid me and paid me well. These bright ideas cut into my private life (which disappeared within 6 months of being secretary). Eventually and because I am a human, I burned out and became even more surly. Remember, I was handed this job. I didn’t want it even back then, but it seemed there wasn’t anyone who wanted to or couldn’t do it and I became trapped in this JOB I didn’t want anymore. Bottom line, in 2011 I crashed and burned. So henceforth, I was dubbed “curmudgeon” at 56 years old! Now, most of you might think this is me complaining but it’s not. The reason I’m writing this is because once we get back to business as a lodge, you can’t say you haven’t been warned. Watch out! Here comes the curmudgeon!! In my opinion, the reason we can’t run our lodge and haven’t been able to for over a year is due to some BS trumped up excuses where one side of the story MUST be the big dog just to save face. There you go, I said it. Just to save face. The big dog has failed to follow the very rules we, as Masons, are supposed to follow. In fact, and in my opinion, they’ve thrown the rules out the door when it comes to the big dog adhering to the rules. In other words; “Rules for thee, but not for me”. Sound familiar? It should. But remember, these are my opinions and only mine because I can only speak for myself and no one else. One of the things I learned as secretary is in other lodges, the secretary became the “head of the lodge” and in some cases they were referred to as “Worshipful Secretary”. When the secretary of the lodge has been in that position for too many years, they begin to sway opinions, control information, set up rules and just plain become dictators. When a secretary gets to this point it’s up to the lodge to remove them from the office. Not because they aren’t doing their job, but because they’ve assumed and garnered too much influence (power). You don’t want to piss off the secretary because he can make your life miserable and when this happens the membership dwindles. Yet no one will tell the secretary he needs to back off or he’s out of line. Too many members believe the secretary has knowledge of the lodge that no one else does, so they’re considered invaluable. This is so far from the truth because believe me, there were times where I saw I could do this but chose not to. Not one member is so valuable that the lodge can’t succeed without them and not one member (or ANY OFFICER) should be allowed to hold their lodge hostage. So, the big dog becomes omnipotent, and no one will say anything for fear of either losing their membership or “status as a Mason”. Status as a Mason? There is no status of a Mason. We all are supposed to be “ON THE LEVEL”, meaning not one of us is better than the other. We are supposed to be equals in all things. Some of the big dogs actually believe they’re above the rules and regulations that were so carefully written down. Or they’ve lost sight of the meaning of receiving that white apron when they were first made a Mason. We come into the lodge and are presented with a white apron and when we leave the lodge, we’re wearing that very same white apron. So, all y’all need to remember we are a fraternity of men striving to improve ourselves to become better. Better men, better friends, better fathers, better husbands, and better members of our fraternity. Nowhere in this fraternity does it say you’re better than another because you wear a fancy apron. When I was presented with my past master’s apron it went into a carrying case and was seldom worn. I always felt putting it on was communicating to others “Look at me!”. The same goes for another “prestigious award” I received. I’m proud to be a Mason. But I’m not proud of how the big dog is handling our lodge and my brothers. Curmudgeonly. Jeffrey Bayer, PM 1997 If you have something you’d like to share, please send it in an email to the lodge address so we can post it here. VISION
To restore Palm Springs Lodge #693 as a beacon of light in Masonry for all worthy and well qualified men. MISSION Our mission is to lead by example. To provide a sanctuary away from the world at large where Brothers are free to teach, learn and explore the symbols, values, morals, and principles of the Symbolic Blue Lodge that will help us live a righteous noble manhood, "making good men better" Inside The Symbolic Blue Lodge is where every Masonic journey begins. Whether you become a Shriner, Scottish Rite, York Rite or Royal Arch Mason, your search for Light begins and ends...
Inside The Symbolic Blue Lodge. Socrates Cafe/ Trivium Discussion Group
Insightful conversations exploring the key questions of life. We convene every 3rd Tuesday of the month to discuss philosophical questions we ourselves have chosen and to think for ourselves about the life we want to lead. This is open to the public. (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric)- The Trivium. These discussions have been postponed until further notice. Previous questions we have explored: "What is government?" "What is COVID-19?" "What is fear?" "Should we elect anyone?' "What is money?" "What is the occult?" "What is a Secret?" "What is Ritual?" "What is Authority?" "What is Freedom, is it Free?" Elections, does our vote count??? Responsibility, Are we truly responsible? Hypocrisy, Are we all hypocrites? To learn more, click on the Trivium Tab above. "The function of the trivium is the training of the mind for the study of matter and spirit, which together constitutes the sum of reality. The fruit of education is culture, which Mathew Arnold defines as "the knowledge of ourselves [mind] and the world [matter]." Manly Masonic Maxim of the month: |
Symbolism - "Freemason's study symbolism immediately upon their initiation into the craft. Our fraternity's rich and varied symbolic legacy serves as the nexus, or core, of the Mason's quest for truth."
EA Candidate Guide What is Freemasonry? Want some good Masonic reading?See our Links and Books page
February 2024
THE ILLUMINATI DID IT!!! As of this writing, our lodges charter is still suspended, and the Grand Master of California, Sean Metroka came to talk to us about the current situation and what the lodge must do to get the charter back at our January stated meeting. Many Masonic lodges throughout the US struggle every year to get members to commit and dedicate more time to the lodge and take on more responsibility. Or, as I like to say "jump un the breach and lock shields with us". Where is our lodge at as far as achieving the goals that our Grand Master gave us? Are they attainable? Are they realistic? Yes, to all of them, and no to all of them. What do I mean? It will all come down to how much effort they give and what is in their hearts. And I am talking about consistent effort, not, "whenever I get the chance effort". I'm talking about an all-out focused and consistent effort. It will also come down to how focused they become to attain their goals which are our goals. I also believe that if they use the 8 Steps to Excellence as a standard, they will succeed that much faster and with better results and not let just any effort be good enough. Where does the Illuminati come to all of this? They don't. I just used that heading to get your attention and help you to focus. But, when the Illuminati was created on May 1st, 1776, part of their reason was to help fight against the oppression of Church and State which was the Monarchy at that time. They were getting tired of the Church telling them what to believe, and the King giving them certain privileges that could be revoked at any time he pleased. They wanted to start a revolution of the mind and to challenge established ideas of the time and be free to read, write and talk about whatever they wanted to talk about with no repercussions of being censored. They believed that they did have God given rights and if they wanted to study about other religions, they could. If they wanted to talk about political theory, they could and not be afraid that the king would put him jail for expressing his ideas. The founder of the Illuminati knew about the Freemasons and when he finally had infiltrated the organization, he was disappointed. He did not find a group of free-thinking men. He did not find men who were actively fighting against oppression. What he found was the opposite and less than worth his time. This was in 1776-77. Don't take my word for it. Read your history and see what you find. Fraternally Cesar Rubio PM Always RSVP at jrg28@hotmail.com. for dinner and remember to: Pay your dues - $225 for 2024. Love.......The Lodge "A book that all lodges should buy, read, discuss and implement in order to help revive some of what Freemasonry should be."
Masonic Muscle is a unique podcast dedicated to helping put the Mystery back in Masonry by exercising our Masonic knowledge one degree at a time through a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline.
Let us contemplate after lifting heavy weights! Created by Cesar Rubio, PM We give you more light, but no light weights!!! “This is the Way” Support this podcast: Best place to start- Follow me on: Instagram Follow me on: tiktok Find me on Facebook You can listen to Masonic Muscle on Just click on the provider of your choice above to listen to all of the podcasts. If you have any ideas for the podcast, or if you want to be on the show write to me Masonicmuscle357@gmail.com and let me know what you want to talk about and share with the listeners. Thank you for listening |
Our Message to All: Welcome!
Vision Statement: To restore Palm Springs Lodge #693 as a beacon of light in Masonry for all worthy and well qualified men.
Mission Statement: Our Mission is to lead by example. To provide a sanctuary away from the world at large where brothers are free to teach, learn, and explore the symbols, values, morals, and principles of speculative Freemasonry that will help us live as righteous and noble men.
Masons meet "on the level." No matter your profession or your economic status (some financial responsibilities required), when our Lodge is in session, we're equals where outside worldly titles and social status disappear while we are in the pursuit of our Masonic labors. We are a sacred society, or band of brothers formed in a centuries-old tradition.
What's Freemasonry all about? Freemasonry is refinement in everything we do. From the way we dress, speak, prepare for our meetings, interact with one another, and share meals, it's all about challenging work. That work is work we do internally, True, there's a lot more to the vast tapestry of our Craft. Learn more here.
Masons do not solicit new members. Interested men must approach of their own initiative. However, first a friend, then a brother. All prospective members are vetted over a 6-to-12-month period. No one is guaranteed membership, not every man should be a Mason, and not every Mason should be a member of our lodge.
Don't know Mason? No problem. Lodge 693 welcomes inquiries! Contact us here.