I am really curious about Duncan’s Rituals.  Before becoming a mason, I had seen it, but I did take care not to study TOO carefully because I didn’t want to spoil the experience.

But what is the history of this?  Apparently, after looking online, a lot of masons endorse it.  But I cannot imagine that it was anything but scandalous when it came out.  Did Duncan get kicked out of masonry, or it was truly OK for him to publish it?

He claims that you need more than the book to pretend to be a mason, but I am sure a “cowan” could fool a few members with it.

Dear Sanborn90:

I have read some of Duncan’s Ritual, it is a unique book. Personally, I do not accept as official ritual although it does help. I am not sure what the Grand Lodge stance is on it. If you are going through the degrees or about to I would I highly recommend you do not read. It will spoil some of the degree work for you.

At some point I plan to take the Duncan Manual and see how much it matches with our official ritual. Some brothers say it helps them learn ritual, others do not like it because, it puts the ritual in plain English for all to read. I think it is one of those it depends on who you ask.

Interesting subject though, great post Sanborn90.

Fraternally,

Jacob P. Descheneaux

Dear Sanborn

      Most rituals were written by brothers of the Fraternity and were written by observing lodges perform their work as well as any information at the time from numerous Grand Lodges.  Many of them are great for the area of research and in some cases view how Masonic Lodges did do ritual and floorwork at certain times of history.  Rituals date back as far as the early 1700’s, I prefer the Webb Monitor myself and also for enjoyment only, Morgans, FreeMasonry Exposed.
      Most rituals and monitors were not authorized by any Grand Lodge in most cases to be published.  You will also find discrepancies among certain rituals for the reason being of time periods and jurisdictions. Duncan is a good book for research and enjoyment.  Also if you have an early publication hold onto it, the earlier the better, they are rare and can be expensive.

I have both “Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry”’ by Malcom C. Duncan (Third Edition published by David McKay Company, INC of New York) paperback edition ISBN: 0-679-509-626-8
And “Look To The East: A Ritual of the First Three Degrees of Freemasonry” by Ralph P. Lester (published in 2007 by Golem Media of Berkeley; CA) paperback edition ISBN: 1-933993-38-3

These are the only two works containing entire rituals that I’ve obtained so far.  I suggest that petitioners avoid them as they will spoil your progression and as far as using them as study guides…they’ll help, but the differences are more than subtle.

And no…they don’t give away what is considered the most important parts of our fraternity.

Are these two authors in violation of a specific standard set for us long ago?  Yes.  Do these works harm the whole of Masonry? No. I once heard that some Lodges have adopted these rituals as their own when they applied for their charters.  Is this true?  I have no idea, but it sounds feasible.

Thomas,

Duncan’s Ritual is not, and never was, the official ritual of any Grand Lodge. My information is that it was published to be a sort of generic ritual which would help those wanting to learn the ritual used in their lodge, wherever that might be. It supposedly pieces together the wording and floorwork which is most commonly used among various Grand Lodges.

Unlike England, where no standard ritual working is mandated for use by lodges, in the USA every Grand Lodge that I know of has an official working, or ritual, which must be used by all lodges. Moreover, they have an officer, usually called the Grand Lecturer, whose duty it is to see that the standard work is taught and practiced as close to verbatim as possible, which he does through Deputy Grand Lecturers who conduct schools or lodges of instruction.

For instance, the Constitution of the GL of MD states that the ritual working for use in Maryland lodges is that of the Baltimore Convention of 1843. No change in the ritual working can be made or allowed unless this provision of the Constitution is deleted or changed. Hence, in Maryland, we have been using the same work, with no changes, since 1843 and there is no chance that enough GL members could be found to support any change. We have one lodge that works in the German language; they use the same ritual translated very carefully into German.

So the idea of some lodge deciding to use Duncan’s as their ritual is a non-starter. If you want to learn the work as it is practiced in your jurisdiction, Duncan’s won’t be exactly like it and this could cause you to learn what would be incorrect work in your jurisdiction. The only way to learn the work and learn it right is to attend lodge and witness the work as often as possible, paying attention and trying to memorize it as you listen. This can be done; I did it myself as a young officer starting out. When you are advancing through the officer line, you can always polish up and make sure you have it right by enlisting the help of an expert PM or other brother.

REYoung - 13 September 2010 10:39 PM

Thomas,

Duncan’s Ritual is not, and never was, the official ritual of any Grand Lodge.

What about Lesters book?

I’ve heard of Look to the East, but I’m not familiar with it. If it’s published for general distribution and use, then it’s not really different from Duncan’s—i.e., its a generic ritual and not the official work of any Grand Lodge. My objections to it are the same as with Duncan’s. Anyone who wants to learn the ritual should learn the work of his jurisdiction.

The advice from the brothers here, is valid. In the USA, where there is no national Grand Lodge, rituals differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, no one book can hold the rituals for all 51 Grand Lodges. Books such as Duncan’s and Look to the East! have some value as reference only. I would encourage any serious student of ritual, to attend degree work, at lodges in your area of residence, and also in other jurisdictions (when possible). If your state or Masonic district has a ritual school, I strongly encourage you to attend these schools. You should volunteer to help your lodge in degree work, and also volunteer at nearby lodges!