Let’s Find Out…
To be a Freemason is to be a life-long learner…especially in the areas of the Liberal Arts and Sciences…ESPECIALLY in the area of symbols and symbolism.
You find these symbols in everywhere.
Especially in pop-culture.
When you love something, or at least love thinking about and talking (or writing) about something, it is impossible not to make connections and find ways of relating that thing to almost every other thing in your life.
At the very least, this is true for me.
And, at the very least, this is true for me and the now 25 year old TV classic “Lost.”
(On a side-note, the fact that this show is now 25 years old is making this writer feel very old).
Lost is a TV show rich in symbols and symbolism. As a Freemason, I cannot help but think of the ways these symbols connect to Freemasonry.
SPOILERS AHEAD
LIGHT
“Light” plays an important role in Lost, both as a symbol of “goodness” as well as a source of power from which and through which the island setting (on which much of Lost takes place) draws its strength.
In Season Five, this “light” is described as:
- “a massive pocket of energy.” [Episode 5.14]
In Season Six, this “light” is described as:
- “Life. Death. Rebirth. It’s the source. The Heart of the Island.” [Episode 6.15]
One of the character’s describes the light as “beautiful.”
- “what I saw was beautiful.”
The “light” is what makes the island more than a normal piece of land.
“…this was not just some normal piece of land. It could move through time. It was all about the balance of good and bad and light and dark. It was this one-of-a-kind locale that served as the setting for an amazing TV show! And in the middle of it all, Locke claimed to have seen beauty in it, even though it was not always rainbow and sunshine in this place. [https://screenrant.com/10-most-memorable-quotes-from-lost/]”
Whether a “massive pocket of energy” or “life, death, rebirth,” the light at the heart of the island is critical to Lost.
Symbolically, “light” is critical to Freemasonry. It is often referred to as that for which a new candidate or new Freemason is searching.
It is a source of knowledge.
It is a source of wisdom.
It acts as a representation of the supreme being as well as the Lodge’s Worshipful Master.
It originates in the East, and metaphorically illuminates the entire lodge.
Freemasons talk about the “material” of light.
Consider the first word from above: “material.” What is the “material” from which light is made.
Literally, “light” is energy. It is defined as:
- “electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye.”
On “Lost,” the characters are consistently trying to find the light, study the light, contain the light, or just understand the light.
In Freemasonry, we are searching for “light,” AKA wisdom or knowledge. This includes even a better understanding of the greater and lesser lights.
In Lost, the light exists in a pocket of electromagnetic radiation that connects to other pockets around the world. These connections allow for the spread of goodness (or at least the existence of goodness) around the world.
Metaphorically, it is interesting to think of that our Masonic Lodges are also connected by similar “pockets” of light, which connect each of our Lodges and each of our Brethren through an indivisible chain of brotherly love, relief, and truth.
This light also connects our lodges to our historical stonemason forefathers. Even going all the way back to our ancient Egyptian stonemason forefathers.
In Lost, the island itself holds many ancient Egyptian symbols and references, including the “all seeing eye” making an appearance in Season 5 Episodes 16 and 17.
BEING STUBBORN
Recently, within the Masonic online space, discussion has erupted over the question as to whether Freemasonry is on “life-support” and, more specifically, whether Freemasonry will exist past 2040.
The argument(s) as to it being on life-support has been discussed ad nauseam and primarily relies upon the continuing and precipitous drop in masonic membership combined with the increasing number of masonic charges and expulsions seen in recent years.
Whether Freemasonry is (or isn’t) on life support is a discussion for another day.
Whether Freemasonry will exist past 2040 is a discussion for another day.
Sometimes though, even in the face of what can seem like immeasurable challenges, stubbornness can be a very powerful tool!
Consider this quote from Lost’s Season Six.
- “That’s one stubborn tomato. Guess no-one told it it was supposed to die.” [Episode 6.10)
Maybe it is worth thinking of Freemasonry in the same way as that tomato; instead of telling it that it is supposed to die (or will die), let’s be stubborn!
And
LET’S FIND OUT
“Let’s Find Out” is a line from Lost’s finale. Our character’s find themselves in a special place, a place described as:
- “the place that you all made together so that you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you.” [Episode 6.17.2]
This is a place of “the light,” a place where the character’s gather before “moving on” to whatever comes next.
What is interesting about this place is the way time works (or doesn’t work) therein.
- “[w]ell, there is no ‘now’ here.” [Episode 6.17.2]
Lost’s characters meeting in a place without time (or without a “now”) is another symbolic representation of “light.”
- “From the perspective of [light], there is no such thing as time. It’s emitted, and might exist for hundreds of trillions of years, but for the photon, there’s zero time elapsed between when it’s emitted and when it’s absorbed again. [https://phys.org/news/2014-05-does-light-experience-time.html#google_vignette]
When our main character asks what comes next (meaning what comes after our lives have ended and we enter into this timeless “light”) the response is simple yet profound: “let’s find out.”
In Freemasonry, let’s find out what happens if we give it our all.
Let’s find out what happens if we dedicate ourselves fully to being the best Masons (and men) that we can be.
And let’s not forget…”nobody does it alone.”
All opinions expressed are those of Square & Compass Promotions and the guest(s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Windsor Masonic Temple and/or any other Masonic group!
Expressed another way:
“Everyone is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound.”
