Now and then, me and my Odd brother Torbjorn consider topics that we’d like to explore in writing, each from our own perspective. This time around we got excited about the subject of fraternal degrees. So here are my thoughts, and questions:
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.
Degrees are meant to be measures of transformation. Degrees quantify how far we have come from our starting point. They don’t call it degree work for no reason; you are meant to participate in your journey of growth through a combination of study, practice, and meditation, from one milestone to the next. It takes effort to transform – just look at the caterpillar eating hungrily, building enough energy to shed its former self, to tightly swaddle in something new, and to eventually grow wings.
Your degree is a reminder to yourself and to others, not just about the information you’ve been exposed to, but of how much you have interacted with and lived by those lessons learned. Think of the martial artist: they do not receive a new belt because of a simple lecture series, the practitioner has received knowledge, applied it, and folded it into their being. At higher degrees, they think differently, and are capable of things that they could not, or did not do before.
If we arrive at a new degree and don’t immediately think or operate differently, that is not a failure to grow. The truth is, real degree work happens after the ritual and ceremony – outside of secret halls, and in the full daylight of our everyday lives. A new degree invites us to dig deeper into the study, practice and meditation of the lessons, and to find those connection points that speak to us – leading eventually to some positive transformation.
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