The Varieties of Fraternal Experience -By Michael Douglas, PGP WA

Every lodge is unique. That’s one of the wonderful things about the fraternal experience. We get to experience a variety of versions of a common core of practices and beliefs. Different lodges bring out different aspects of the tradition. I’d like to explore how I’ve come to think about these differences by classifying lodges into different types. Of course, any real lodge will be a combination of these. Even a “paper lodge” usually gets together for a meeting sometimes.

Is Your Lodge a Sanctuary? -By Ian Love-Jones

Odd Fellows, how well do you understand sanctuary? I ask because lodges that serve their members to the fullest, provide some forms of it. Depending on your age or circumstances your introduction to sanctuary could look very different. At 44 years old, my earliest memory of the word came from two different movie versions of Quasimodo swinging into church and calling for protection against persecution, and violence.

The Lodge as a Microcosm of a Positive Society -By Torbjörn Andersson

The lodge as a microcosm of a positive society.

Within the quiet atmosphere of the lodgeroom, something remarkable takes shape.
Through ceremony, symbols, and fellowship, the lodge becomes far more than a meeting place. It becomes a reflection of society as it could be at its very best: a microcosm of a positive society built upon tradition, dignity, respect, truth, and brotherhood.

Secret Society, Public Society – By Ian Love-Jones

Have you ever wondered why your fraternal Order is sometimes called a “society”?

One simple explanation is that your lodge mirrors a model community, with all of its key roles and interdependent functions.

Tiers of Transformation -By Ian Love-Jones

What stands out to you about degrees in fraternalism? Is it the regalia? Is it downloading large amounts of new information into your brain? Maybe it’s memory work and recitation, or theatre? When I think of degrees in fraternalism and in life overall, I can’t help but think about transformation. I think about the degrees of difference between a block of ice, and a cloud of vapor in the sky – one solid and unyielding, one soaring and expanding.

What does it mean to do FLT? -By Aiden Brink

For those uninitiated, FLT, or Friendship, Love and Truth is the motto of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. They make up the three links of Oddfellowship, its most important symbol. That being said, why do these principles hold such a high importance in the order? How do we actually do FLT?

Lesser Known Lessons From the Encampment -By Ian Love-Jones

Have you noticed that the main symbol of the Encampment is not a hulking impenetrable fortress made of stone? Instead, the emblem is a humble tent. The tent may sit on solid ground but the shelter itself is changeable, moveable, and built for constant progress. It reminds us that we are all travelers in motion, on life’s roads.

Through the Door -By Ian Love-Jones

If you’re like me, you might have grown up with stories about magical doors where wonder, and transformation waited on the other side of the threshold: Alice In Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and others. In those early days, I hadn’t yet been through many doors of my own. So, I enjoyed those tales without knowing life’s many gateways where travelers are changed by passing through.

Beyond the Threshold – A Passage – By Torbjörn Andersson

There are moments in life that arrive in silence yet remain long within us. Within the lodge, the crossing of a threshold forms such a moment. It appears simple, almost ordinary, yet it carries a depth shaped by tradition, intention, and shared experience. A threshold marks a turning.

The Way and the Why -by Ian Love-Jones

Lately my work has opened my eyes to how easily practices are either misunderstood, missing from formal writings, or disconnected from practical use as time passes. In my frequent reviews of written texts and oral-accounts, I find myself asking meaningful questions. Questions like: how did we get here, is this official, should we still be here, and sometimes, what might it take to get to something that serves us better?

The Way of Things -By Torbjörn Andersson

Before each meeting, the lodge room waits in silence. The altar stands prepared. Candles rest unlit. Chairs form the room open and expectant. For a moment, the hall feels like sacred ground, as if time itself has slowed its pace.Then footsteps arrive. Quiet greetings. The soft rustle of regalia. And the work begins.

Assembling Speaking and Taking Action -By Ian Love-Jones

I’m always impressed by the sheer volume of support that can come out of just one Odd Fellow’s lodge. Support for not only members but for the larger community.

My lodge provides communal space for dance, music, theatre, and martial arts classes. We have a museum of local history centering influential Odd Fellows. We award laptops to high school seniors who actively give back to their community. We donate to relieve the distressed and to support humanitarian causes. We raise money for local PTAs with an annual Halloween carnival, and much more! And that’s all in addition to the support that we Odd Fellows offer to one another inside the lodge. I’ve seen first hand how we render aid to our members in need. Members that have gone through everything from strain and sickness, to the loss of a job, or a loved one.