Dinner” in Jewel Lodge 480 on January 25, where the Grand Master received a Raccoon Skin Hat and was able to eat (or, at least, taste) raccoon meat. This event is actually a district-wide meeting of the 20th Masonic District, and has been going on since 1957. The Ransom Brewer Association, in the 24th

» Think of the Pledge of Allegiance. Is there anyone reading this that does not know it? Yet as a first grader, we were scared and frustrated beyond imagination trying to internalize these 31 words. So how do we evolve from that initial state to where we want to be? Here are some recommendations.

Understand what you are saying. It seems simple, but often we rush into internalizing, without understanding the story we are trying to convey. You need to read the story until you can tell it to someone else, like you would describe a movie you saw to a friend. Ask a brother for help in parts you don’t understand. Use a dictionary. I struggled with a part in the 3rd section of the third degree. I could never get it right. Then one day, I decided to look up the word Seraph in a dictionary. Suddenly the passage made complete sense and the problem was gone.

Repetition (Yes, there is no short cut). I carry the ritual I am learning with me. I will read and say the sentence over and over, and then try to say it without the book. I am working on progressing beyond the “short term” environment. If I stop reciting the ritual piece the first time I get it right, it will quickly fade. So, I repeat it a few more times. And I repeat it all through the day, but as the day goes on, I gradually make the time spaces between the repetitions longer and longer. By the end of day, I am almost completely out of the book and into the “intermediate” zone. As the days go by, the material I learned first gradually becomes part of the “long term” memory. It no longer needs to be reviewed daily. You may ask when do I find time? In elevators, walking into work, while exercising, waiting in line, TV commercials, red lights. There is so much “wasted” time you can fill perfecting your craft.

Chunk it. How do you eat an elephant? One bite a time. It is the same way with ritual. You can NOT learn a 20 minute lecture by memorizing a 20 minute lecture. Try to learn one sentence a day, then build upon it. Add another sentence the next day. At the end of the day, as you start to have internalized that second sentence, go back to the beginning of the first sentence, recite it and flow into the second sentence. It then starts to become natural. You can also use breaks in the ritual like chapters in a book, dividing lecture, charges, and obligations into their own individual blocks, then delivering them in a series.

Use your own mnemonics. Mnemonics is a coding method we use for easy retrieval of information. It sounds complicated, but it’s not. One method is by taking words or letters from the string of words you are trying to memorize, and forming a word or sentence that makes sense to you.

Let me sleep on it. This old saying has stuck around because it is true. How often have we had a problem to solve, and after all day of mulling it over with no solution in sight, we go to sleep and the next morning “Eureka.” The reason this happens is because the brain, like the computer, does not shut down when you walk away. It processes, files and organizes information subconsciously while we are sleeping. After a day of working on your memorized part, go over your ritual in your head as you doze off. When you awake the next morning, try saying it again. It is amazing how much better and easier it recites the next morning.

SO HOW DO YOU INSULT A RITUALIST?

Everyone knows him. It’s the ritualist who is always asked to do the big part, the brother who drives all over the state at a moment’s notice, or the brother for whom the words just roll off the tongue, with no effort whatsoever. And what do some people say, which in my opinion, is the biggest insult in the world? “Oh, it’s easy for him, he has a photographic memory.” There is no such thing as a photographic memory when it comes to ritual. That is a myth. If the ritualist had a photographic memory, he would have impressed you long ago by reciting the whole obligation backwards. The ritualist has spent hours perfecting the craft. Possibly with someone holding a book on him, but usually by himself, staring in a mirror, or sitting in a garage, working on presentation delivery. And when he is finished, he will give the candidate the ideal degree experience, an experience that makes the candidate say “was all that stuff memorized, or was he just talking? Whatever it was, it was GOOD.”

What makes it easier for you, as the ritualist, is PASSION for your work. Passion is what allows the average man to memorize the Bible or other holy writings. It’s what allows the stage actor to play his part and the mechanic to break down an engine. If you enjoy what you are doing, it comes easy. Just try it, you will see.