What was the original intent of Freemasonry?

And what was the original intent of the first strongmen?

In EP 119 of Masonic Muscle, I introduce a website every Mason should visit and explore: the Masonic Restoration Foundation. The MRF describes itself as an educational organization providing news, research, and analysis connected to Freemasonry’s heritage.

This episode asks:

How can Masons restore the value of the Craft if they do not understand what Freemasonry was originally trying to produce in a man?

We discuss:

• the Masonic Restoration Foundation
• Observing the Craft by Andrew Hammer
• original intent in Freemasonry
• original intent in old-time physical culture
• early strongmen and simple hard training
• Brotherhood, standards, education, and observance
• why simple does not mean easy
• mindset, transformation, and discipline
• a shout-out to Johnny Malloy from Australia and his band The Order of Owls
• the email of the month from a Brother in Alaska

The Masonic Restoration Foundation is a strong resource for Brothers interested in improving the lodge experience, serious Masonic education, and recovering the deeper purpose of Masonic labor. Its “Documents of Interest” page includes material connected to Andrew Hammer and Observing the Craft, which has become an important work in the modern Masonic restoration conversation.

The Southern California Research Lodge has also described Observing the Craft as one of the most important books in contemporary Masonic education and a must-read for Freemasons interested in restoring and protecting Freemasonry’s greatness.

The same question applies to physical culture.

What were the original strongmen trying to build?

Not just show muscles.

Strength.
Capability.
Discipline.
Durability.
Self-command.

That is the bridge.

Freemasonry should not merely produce members.

It should produce better men.

Strength training should not merely produce appearance.

It should produce stronger, more capable men.

If we lose the original intent, we start worshiping the tools, titles, costumes, numbers, and appearances while forgetting the man we were supposed to build.

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Have a Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, lodge problem, or want to come on the show?

Write to me at:

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What is the basic principle of exercise?

In EP 118 of Masonic Muscle, I return to the foundation: effort, consistency, hard work, and doing things the right way.

I recently watched a short video from the YouTube channel Natty Life, called “Modern Lesson from Early Bodybuilders.” It was only 6 minutes and 13 seconds long, but it hit the main point hard:

Great results come from effort and consistency.

That is free.

No gimmicks.

No excuses.
No hiding behind genetics.
No whining about testosterone levels.
No obsessing over the “natty limit.”
No pretending that the newest fad will save you.

This episode asks:

How can Masons build stronger bodies, stronger minds, and stronger lodges if they keep looking for an easy way around the work?

We discuss:

• Natty Life and early bodybuilding history
• Bronze and Silver Era bodybuilding lessons
• effort and consistency
• why genetics and testosterone excuses can become distractions
• bodybuilding as becoming more capable and versatile
• keeping training simple and effective
• eating healthy without turning nutrition into a religion
• Dwight L. Smith’s Why This Confusion in the Temple?
• Chapter 12: “The Hard Way Is the Masonic Way”
• why there is no effortless way to do the work of Freemasonry
• guarding the West Gate at every stage
• high standards inside the lodge
• building lodges that become magnets for serious men
• Manly P. Hall’s The Occult Anatomy of Man from 1929
• whether inner work, physical work, and Masonic work are connected

Dwight L. Smith said it plainly:

There is no quick way and no easy way to erect temples within the hearts of men.

That is the whole episode.

The gym works the same way.

You do not build strength by collecting routines.

You build strength by training hard, eating well, recovering, and staying consistent long enough for the body to change.

The lodge works the same way.

You do not build a strong lodge with slogans, titles, weak programs, or lazy fellowship.

You build it by guarding the West Gate, raising standards, doing meaningful work, practicing real education, and creating an experience so valuable that men do not want to leave.

Maybe that is one of the mysteries of Freemasonry.

Not a secret hidden in a vault.

A truth hidden in plain sight:

The work must be done the hard way, or it avails nothing.

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Have a Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, lodge problem, or want to come on the show?

Write to me at:

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Who owns the history of Freemasonry?

In EP 117 of Masonic Muscle, I argue that the origins, history, traditions, customs, and symbols of the Craft belong to all serious Masons willing to study, question, compare, and do the work.

Masonic history does not belong only to scholars, academics, or self-appointed experts.

It belongs to the Brothers willing to read.

This episode asks:

How can Masons strengthen the Craft if they refuse to study the history, controversies, exposures, and difficult questions that shaped Freemasonry?

We discuss:

• why Masonic history belongs to all Masons
• pagan history and possible connections to Freemasonry
• Spartacus, discipline, resistance, and strength
• declaring war on laziness, apathy, and complacency
• physical training as a fight against weakness
• Freemasonry as a fight against mental laziness, superstition, and ignorance
• three authors who wrote about Freemasonry in the 1830s and caused controversy
• exposed Masonic material and why Masons should read it for themselves
• The Devil’s Pulpit by Rev. Robert Taylor
• The Lodge Manual
• Anacalypsis by Godfrey Higgins
• The Meaning of Masonry by W. L. Wilmshurst
• becoming a pillar of strength for yourself and your lodge

When you begin a serious exercise routine, you declare war on laziness.

When you join Freemasonry, you should declare war on mental laziness.

That means you study.

You read the old books.
You compare the claims.
You test the sources.
You prepare yourself.
You show up with value.
You become useful to your lodge.

The road to success is always under construction.

Where value is clear, decisions are easy.

But there is a price to action when you join Freemasonry.

You cannot stay the same man and honestly claim you are doing the work.

Be a pillar of strength.

For yourself.

For your family.

For your lodge.

For the Craft.

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

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Have a Masonic question, old document, origin theory, book recommendation, fitness transformation story, lodge problem, or want to come on the show?

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      Did the Ancient Mystery Schools shape Freemasonry?

In this episode of Masonic Muscle, we examine the connections people often make between Freemasonry, ancient mysteries, pyramids, sacred geometry, ancient temples, Atlantis theories, the Eye of the Sahara, and the deeper question of where Masonic symbolism may have come from.

This is the kind of topic that attracts curiosity fast — but it also demands discipline.

If Masons are going to talk about ancient temples, pyramids, mystery schools, sacred geometry, Atlantis, and hidden knowledge, then we have to define our terms and separate evidence, symbolism, speculation, and fantasy.

This episode solves one Masonic problem:

How can Masons explore ancient mystery traditions without becoming careless, gullible, or dismissive?

We discuss:

• ancient mystery schools
• what may have been taught in mystery traditions
• pyramids around the world
• the pyramids of Egypt
• sacred geometry
• Randall Carlson and alternative-history research
• Bright Insight and popular ancient mystery content
• the Trivium and Quadrivium
• definitions and why words matter
• Dwight L. Smith and Masonic education
• Anderson’s Constitutions
• ancient temples
• Atlantis theories
• the Eye of the Sahara
• how to think critically about speculative Masonic origin claims

This episode is not about proving every ancient mystery theory true.

It is about learning how to investigate.

A Mason should be curious, but curiosity without discipline becomes nonsense. The Trivium gives us a way to slow down, define terms, test claims, and communicate clearly.

That is how Masonic Muscle approaches the mystery

Have an origin theory, Masonic question, old document, book recommendation, lodge problem, or research lead?

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What is the real cost of rebuilding a Masonic lodge?

In EP 115 of Masonic Muscle, we continue Part 6 of the Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 rebuild story. This episode takes us to August 2022, right before one of our regular Executive Committee meetings, and explains why we wanted to record these conversations in the first place.

Some points repeat because the issues overlap. That is what happens when lodge problems are not isolated. Leadership, finances, rental agreements, appendant bodies, communication, trust, and Grand Lodge involvement all begin to collide.

This episode asks:

What happens when the work of rebuilding a lodge brings Brotherhood, conflict, burnout, and institutional pressure into the same room?

We discuss:

• Palm Springs Lodge No. 693
• Executive Committee meetings every 4–6 weeks
• meeting at Jeff Gibson’s house
• complaints against lodge leadership
• a concordant body wanting to rent the building again
• why the Symbolic Blue Lodge is King
• pressure to “play nice” so problems would go away
• January 28, 2023
• the Master receiving an email from Grand Lodge
• the Master being removed from office
• the lodge charter being suspended
• alleged financial improprieties
• alleged violations of Masonic procedures
• officers resigning
• concerns about Grand Lodge being less than fully transparent
• accusations of a secret account
• the broader condition of California Masonry
• parallels with issues seen in Texas Masonry
• whether Brothers will stand up or sit on the sidelines

This episode is not just about one lodge.

It is about what happens when a group of Brothers tries to rebuild something, raise standards, protect the lodge, and keep the Blue Lodge at the center of Masonic life.

That kind of work creates friction.

Some people will not like it.
Some groups will push back.
Some Brothers will burn out.
Some leaders will quit.
Some will resign on principle.
Some will stay silent.
Some will wait to see who wins.

That is not leadership.

That is cowardice dressed up as patience.

If you believe the Blue Lodge matters, then at some point you have to decide whether you are going to help carry the weight or just watch other men get crushed under it.

Listen to the episode and decide for yourself.

Will you stand up?

Or will you sit on the sidelines and expect someone else to fight the fight?

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Have a lodge story, Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, or want to come on the show?

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What does it mean when a Masonic lodge gets its charter suspended?

This episode turns a serious lodge crisis into a case study about standards, authority, leadership failure, responsibility, and what can happen when problems inside a lodge are not handled properly.

This is not gossip. This is a warning.

Write to [email protected] with your questions about lodge leadership, standards, or Masonic accountability.

#Freemasonry #MasonicLodge #LodgeCharter #MasonicLeadership #MasonicMuscle

Is the skull and bones an evil symbol?

In EP 113 of Masonic Muscle, Darkness and I get a good workout while watching Monday Night Football between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos, and that somehow leads me to an article on the skull and bones.

That is how Masonic Muscle works.

Training, football, symbolism, and Freemasonry.

I read an article titled “The Symbol of the Skull and Bones and Its Masonic Application” by Sir Knight P. D. Newman and ask what this symbol actually means inside a Masonic context.

This episode asks:

Can Masons explain the skull and bones symbol clearly, or do we allow outsiders to define our symbols for us?

We discuss:

• working out with Darkness
• Monday Night Football
• Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos
• the skull and bones symbol
• Sir Knight P. D. Newman’s article
• whether the symbol is evil
• Masonic symbolism and mortality
• death, reflection, and transformation
• whether Masons can give a valid explanation for the symbol
• the Chamber of Reflection
• Grand Lodge of California guidance
• the use of the Chamber of Reflection in California lodges
• why symbols require explanation, not fear

The skull and bones scares people because they do not understand it.

But that is the problem with symbols.

If you do not define them, someone else will.

To the shallow mind, the skull means danger, evil, or darkness.

But to a Mason, it can point toward mortality, reflection, humility, preparation, and the serious truth that life is short and the work must be done.

That is why the Chamber of Reflection matters.

It is not a haunted-house prop.

It is not theatrical decoration.

It is supposed to force a man to pause, reflect, and consider the seriousness of the step he is about to take.

Symbols are not toys.

They are tools.

And if Masons cannot explain their tools, they should not be surprised when the world misunderstands them.

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Have a Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, lodge issue, or want to come on the show?

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Why do Masonic lodge rebuilds fail?

In EP 112 of Masonic Muscle, we continue Part 5 of the Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 rebuild story and move into one of the biggest disruptions any lodge had to face: Covid-19.

On March 18, 2020, our lodge leadership held an emergency meeting after hearing that New York lodges were locking down and that other jurisdictions would likely follow. Soon after, the Grand Master of California issued an edict locking down all California lodges.

And just like that, everything changed.

This episode asks:

How does a lodge rebuild survive when the entire Masonic world is forced to stop, adapt, and figure out who is really committed?

We discuss:

• the March 18, 2020 emergency leadership meeting
• Covid-19 and the lodge shutdown
• the Grand Master of California’s edict
• Masons questioning Grand Master authority
• anger, confusion, and uncertainty among Brothers
• losing family during Covid
• not being able to be present when loved ones passed
• regular Zoom meetings
• wellness checks
• Grand Master toasts
• why Zoom has a place in Freemasonry
• using Zoom to plan for the future
• Grand Lodge creating virtual scripts so lodges could pay bills
• strange things happening during lodge Zoom meetings
• Zoom meetings being hacked
• Brothers not wearing pants on Zoom
• virtual installation ceremonies
• whether lodge rooms were already built for social distance
• accusations of secret clandestine meetings
• the first stated meeting after Covid
• why we refused to do double degrees
• how our degrees became different
• the Trivium Discussion Group picking back up
• why toilet paper became part of pandemic survival

This episode is not just about Covid.

It is about pressure.

Pressure reveals commitment.

Before Covid, everyone had opinions.
During Covid, everyone had excuses.
After Covid, every lodge had to face the truth.

Who stayed connected?
Who checked on Brothers?
Who kept planning?
Who adapted?
Who disappeared?
Who came back ready to work?

A lodge rebuild does not fail because of one crisis.

It fails because the crisis exposes the lack of commitment that was already there.

But a strong lodge can adapt.

It can use Zoom without becoming a Zoom lodge.
It can pause degrees without lowering standards.
It can keep Brothers connected without pretending virtual Masonry replaces real Masonry.
It can come back stronger if the men are serious.

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Have a lodge story, Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, or want to come on the show?

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Were any of the early strongmen from the 1900s through the 1950s Masons?

In EP 111 of Masonic Muscle, I ask listeners to help investigate whether any of the old-time strongmen, physical culturists, lifters, and Iron Game pioneers had Masonic connections.

If you know something, send it to me.

Then I read a small portion of the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Freemasonry from 1910 and share what it says about the Craft. Even though the article is over a century old, it is serious, detailed, and well-written according to the documentation available at the time.

This episode asks:

How can Masons study outside criticism, old encyclopedias, and forgotten physical culture history without becoming defensive or lazy?

We discuss:

• early strongmen from the 1900s–1950s
• old-time physical culture
• possible Masonic strongmen
• the Iron Game and Freemasonry
• listener research leads
• the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Freemasonry
• Catholic views of Masonry in 1910
• why outside sources matter
• Universal Manual of Freemasonry by Hanbach
• Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
• Coil’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
• Masonic origins and source comparison

A serious Mason should not be afraid to read what critics wrote about Freemasonry.

He should read it carefully.

Define the terms.
Check the sources.
Compare the claims.
Look for bias.
Look for useful facts.
Look for what is being emphasized and what is being ignored.

The same goes for old-time strength history.

If there were early strongmen who were Masons, that is worth knowing. It helps connect physical culture, discipline, Brotherhood, self-improvement, and the Masonic Muscle philosophy.

If you know whether any early strongmen were Masons, write to me at:

[email protected]

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What is the hidden work required to rebuild a Masonic lodge?

In EP 110 of Masonic Muscle, Rain Man and I continue Part 4 of the Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 rebuild story. This time, we get into the work most people do not see: meals, officers, meaningful degrees, member experience, financial responsibility, and the problem of wearing too many hats.

Rain Man explains how many roles he carried during the first two years of our return to Palm Springs Lodge and what it took to help rebuild a lodge in our image.

This episode asks:

How can a lodge create real value if nobody is willing to do the hidden work that makes the experience meaningful?

We discuss:

• Rain Man wearing too many hats
• quality three-course stated meeting meals
• charging $20 and making the meal worth it
• why good food lifts lodge morale
• having a host escort Brothers and visitors to their seats
• prospects, visitors, and Brothers helping serve and clean up
• Rain Man and the chef arguing before dinners
• Brothers stepping up and locking shields
• what meaningful degrees mean to Rain Man
• pitfalls of the progressive line
• solemnity and decorum during degrees
• why mystery matters
• Jeriel Smith and South Pasadena Lodge No. 290 observing a First Degree
• creating a meaningful member experience
• the magnet that holds lodge culture together
• members being invested in lodge success
• why every lodge needs its own 3–5 year plan
• whether Masons are really “volunteers”
• financial responsibility
• Covid stalling lodge progress
• why one Past Grand Master would have been blackballed if he tried to affiliate

A lodge does not become excellent because someone says “we need excellence.”

It becomes excellent when men care enough to handle the details.

The meal matters.
The greeting matters.
The degree matters.

The silence matters.
The solemnity matters.
The cleanup matters.
The budget matters.
The member experience matters.

If you want men to come back, give them something worth coming back to.

Not noise.

Not chaos.

Not lazy ritual.

Not cheap food with no intention behind it.

Give them value.

Give them mystery.

Give them Brotherhood.

Give them a reason to say, “This is worth my time.”

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

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Have a lodge story, Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, or want to come on the show?

Write to me at:

[email protected]

Subscribe and follow Masonic Muscle on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.