How AMC Installed a Lodge in Every TV in America, & We Missed It -by Ryan Sumner

I didn’t even realize the show existed, until we were several episodes into the season. I was shocked,”How did we not hear about this? How were Lodges not involved in the marketing? How did our Grand Lodge not notify us of it? Every great movement in history always has echoes in art, fashion, media and lifestyle. The West is in the midst of a revival in Fraternal Orders and we must capitalize on the awareness and exposure!” I had to check it out.

The All Seeing Eye and Objective Consciousness

Although pop culture (like the AMC show LODGE 49) idolizes lodge symbolism in general, there is absolutely no way those on the outside can ever understand our symbolism unless they are members of the Order of Odd Fellows. Because no matter how hard they try, they always miss the exact things to which our symbolism points. […]

I Have Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken

King David holds sway over Odd Fellowship, much as King Solomon, David’s son, holds sway over Freemasonry. David is represented in both our Initiatory and First Degrees. In the Initiatory Degree, many believe the Warden plays the role of King David. Others believe the Warden is simply the archetypal wise man. He is old, hard […]

It’s Time To Bring Back the Axe -by Joseph Dowdy

In the 1800s, any man entering Odd Fellowship, or today, man or woman, should be aware that if we are to avoid disaster (as our order is very much in danger of collapse in the near future as we all know), we must recognize the part of our human nature which allows the “trees and herbage in the soil of our nature that brings not forth good fruit” and to labor to destroy it. In other words, we must not just recognize what there is to work on in ourselves, but also that we work on it vigorously.

Odd Fellows’ Code of Ethics -By Louie Blake Sarmiento

Odd Fellows’ Code of Ethics By Louie Blake Sarmiento, M.A. Odd Fellows believe in a Supreme Being. They base their thoughts and actions on healthy philosophical principles. They know that life on earth is temporary. They are aware of the vanity of earthly things, the frailty and inevitable decay of human life and the fact […]

Excerpts from DDGM Instruction Manual – by Michael Greenzeiger

Beyond our core principles, there are infinite possibilities for how a lodge can be. One may think of it as a platform for holding whatever social, fraternal, or service activities fit the desires and interests of its members – so long as those activities are in harmony with our principles. Lodges have been successful in many different ways: through shared meals and parties, through putting on activities, through sharing in hobbies, through serving the local community in whatever capacity, through raising money to give to good causes, through practicing and performing the Ritual of the Order, through studying the deeper meanings of Odd Fellowship and its rituals, or through engaging with our history.

Katy Perry, Polarity, and Problem Solving

Hermes Trismegistus, an Egyptian mystic and philosopher, stated that all things have polarity or two sides. My grandmother used to say “there are two sides to every story.” And it’s true that every event, every position, every direction, has two sides, two aspects, or has an opposite. Front and back, on and off, hot and […]