Masonic Muscle

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.

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

Have a Masonic question, old document, origin theory, fitness transformation story, lodge issue, 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.

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.

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

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.

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:

@masonicmuscle

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.

What happens when Masonic lodge leadership breaks down?

In EP 109 of Masonic Muscle, Rain Man and I continue Part 3 of the story of Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 and the hard work a small group of Brothers took on when we committed to helping the lodge get back to health.

This part of the story gets rough.

A microburst hits Palm Springs.
The lodge floods.
Activities stop.
The Grand Lodge project manager gets switched in the middle of the repair process.
The roof problem becomes a symbol of the bigger problem inside the lodge.

This episode asks:

How can a lodge survive when the building, leadership, finances, membership, and culture all begin breaking down at the same time?

We discuss:

• Palm Springs Lodge No. 693
• Rain Man spearheading the flood-repair project
• the microburst that damaged the lodge
• the lodge flooding and activities stopping
• the Grand Lodge project manager being changed
• five Master Masons holding the lodge together
• training other members to take responsibility
• 2016 investigations and charges of unmasonic conduct
• cleaning house
• 2017 and wearing many hats because there were not enough active Brothers
• hard work strengthening friendships
• suspending over 30 members for non-payment of dues
• being audited repeatedly by Grand Lodge
• more suspensions the following year
• being audited over five times in two years
• the Trivium Discussion Group
• prospects asking serious questions
• Rain Man wanting to drop F-bombs
• prospects holding the standard
• separating Trivium night, hall meetings, and lodge work
• Tuesday night as lodge night
• creating a 5-Year Plan

This is not gossip.

This is what lodge rebuilding actually looks like.

It is not clean.
It is not romantic.
It is not easy.

People quit.
Buildings fail.
Members do not pay dues.
Grand Lodge audits you.
Projects get delayed.
Responsibilities pile up.
A small group of men wears too many hats.
And if you are not careful, the same five Brothers burn out while everyone else watches.

That is why leadership matters.

A lodge cannot survive on titles.

It needs men who can manage problems, train successors, build systems, protect the culture, and keep the work moving when everything starts falling apart.

The roof caving in was symbolic.

The building needed repair.

So did the lodge.

Join us for Part 4 next Sunday.

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

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.

How do five Masons begin rebuilding a struggling lodge?

In EP 108 of Masonic Muscle, Rain Man and I pick up where we left off in the story of Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 and the fight to rebuild Masonic culture from the inside.

After a stated meeting, we have a serious conversation in the lodge library. Rain Man tells me that no one wants to serve as an officer if the current Master is nominated again.

That was the moment.

Something had to change.

This episode asks:

Can five committed Master Masons restore a struggling lodge if they are willing to give the time, effort, resources, and discipline required?

We discuss:

• meeting in the lodge library after stated meeting
• the problem of officers refusing to serve again
• why we needed five good Master Masons
• meeting at Gibson’s house to plan the rebuild
• restoring lodge health
• family life, work schedules, promotions, and economic pressure
• why commitment had to be real
• whether five is a magic number
• why we could not abandon the work once started
• the secretary quitting in the third month of 2017
• conferring a meaningful Third Degree
• the special 8-course festive board
• why RSVP matters
• setting the bar high from the beginning
• why value makes decisions easy
• budget myths and Masonic money transparency
• working with the Grand Master, retreats, and Grand Lodge Communications
• why the Inspector was crucial
• moving from Ask One to Be One to the Eight Steps to Excellence
• why the Eight Steps became overwhelming for many officers
• creating excitement and retaining membership
• building a lodge from the heart, not from ego

This is not theory.

This is lodge-building under pressure.

Everybody loves the idea of improving the lodge until the work actually starts.

Then reality hits.

People quit.
Schedules change.
Money gets tight.

Families need time.
Jobs shift.
Officers get overwhelmed.
Plans break.
Grand Lodge becomes more complicated than expected.

So you adjust.

That is leadership.

You do not rebuild a lodge with slogans.

You rebuild it with commitment, planning, transparency, education, ritual, fellowship, standards, and Brothers who refuse to walk away when things get hard.

Where value is clear, decisions are easy.

And from the beginning, the bar had to be high.

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

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.

My pick:

How Five Masons Tried to Save a Struggling Lodge — Part 1

This is strong already. It tells the listener there is a story, a problem, and a fight worth hearing.

How do five Masons try to save a struggling lodge?

In EP 107 of Masonic Muscle, we begin Part 1 of the story of Palm Springs Lodge No. 693, the good years, the decline, the chaos, the Brothers who cared, and what happened when a small group of Masons tried to stop the lodge from falling apart.

We introduce Rain Man and hear him describe what the lodge was like back in 2001: who was there, what events were happening, what kind of men were leading the lodge, and how the leaders of the Symbolic Blue Lodge were often also the leaders of the Shrine, Scottish Rite, Eastern Star, and nearly everything else happening around the building.

This episode solves one Masonic Muscle problem:

How can Masons understand lodge decline if they are unwilling to tell the truth about what happened, who stepped up, and what standards had to be rebuilt?

We discuss:

• Palm Springs Lodge No. 693
• Rain Man’s view of the lodge in 2001
• strong lodge leadership in earlier years
• Brother Arthur Riccelli keeping his word
• my application process
• horrible catered meals
• white pants and polo shirts in summer
• the curmudgeon who sat in the North
• the U.S. Army donating the lodge building after World War II
• 45 to 50 degrees per year
• Past Master’s Night and ritual precision
• the 2008 recession
• White Rivers Lodge in Arizona
• “Pay your dues, Brother!”
• the chaotic 2015 stated meeting
• a Brother demanding the Master resign
• a degree so bad Grand Lodge placed the lodge on degree probation
• Masonic controversy
• the Grand Master choosing probation instead of arresting the charter
• officers refusing to serve another year under the current Master
• the lodge continuing to deteriorate
• two Past Masters being given 60 days to learn two long-form lectures totaling more than 50 minutes
• setting a new standard for future Masters of the lodge

This is not gossip.

This is a case study.

Lodges do not collapse overnight.

They decline through bad habits, weak standards, poor leadership, sloppy ritual, neglected education, personality conflicts, and Brothers refusing to confront what is happening right in front of them.

But lodges can also be rebuilt.

Not by slogans.

Not by wishful thinking.

Not by pretending everything is fine.

They are rebuilt by men who show up, tell the truth, raise the standard, do the work, and refuse to let the lodge die quietly.

Stay strong.

Keep exercising.

Keep studying the mysteries of Freemasonry.

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]

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

Follow Masonic Muscle on Facebook.

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

What happens when Grand Lodge politics, Masonic law, and lodge integrity collide?

In EP 106 of Masonic Muscle, I read and discuss a Facebook post attributed to Texas Past Grand Master Brad Billings, describing alleged charges, internal conflict, and tension among Texas Masonic leadership after the excitement generated by the 2022 team.

This episode is not just about Texas.

It connects directly to what we are experiencing at Palm Springs Lodge No. 693.

This episode asks:

How should Masons respond when leadership says one thing publicly but appears to conduct business as usual behind the scenes?

We discuss:

• Texas Freemasonry
• Past Grand Masters and Grand Master conflict
• alleged charges against Brad Billings
• R.W. Rumsey
• Masonic law
• Grand Lodge politics
• public unity versus private conflict
• why some leaders resist change
• why excitement and renewal can threaten old power structures
• Palm Springs Lodge No. 693
• speaking truth without fear
• Dwight L. Smith’s warnings in Whither Are We Traveling? and Why This Confusion in the Temple?
• why these problems are not new

My thoughts are simple.

First, this kind of conflict has probably been going on much longer than most Brothers realize.

Second, this is not just a Texas issue. Similar stories are happening in other jurisdictions.

Third, too many Grand Lodges talk about unity, improvement, and leadership while quietly continuing business as usual.

And what does “business as usual” often mean?

Get more members by any means possible.

But numbers without standards do not save the Craft.

They weaken it.

This is why Dwight L. Smith still matters. He warned the fraternity decades ago about confusion, weak leadership, shallow programs, and the danger of not knowing what Freemasonry is supposed to be.

That warning still applies.

So yes, we are going to talk about this.

We are also going to publish episodes about the history of Palm Springs Lodge No. 693 — the good, the bad, and where we are now.

Listen.

Share.

And do not be afraid to speak the truth.

Stay strong.
Keep studying the mysteries of Freemasonry.
Stand your ground.

If you want to come on the show or write in, reach me at:

[email protected]

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

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

Power Trip Day One is here.

In EP 105 of Masonic Muscle, I talk about motivation, exercise, study, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Anderson’s Constitutions, and the ancient genealogy found in one of Freemasonry’s most important documents.

This episode begins with a simple message:

Train your body.
Study the Craft.
Keep improving.

That is Masonic Iron Works.

Pumping Masonic iron.

Strengthening our understanding one rep and one page at a time.

This episode solves one Masonic Muscle problem:

How can Masons stay motivated to train, study, adjust, and keep moving even when the day does not go exactly as planned?

We discuss:

• Power Trip Day One
• Iron Maiden
• heavy metal, music, food, beer, and tailgating
• getting to the parking lot early
• the long trek to the venue
• making adjustments as the day wore on
• bringing the guys on later to give honest opinions about Power Trip
• shout-out to Cacho / Troy going to trade school in San Diego
• Masonic Iron Works
• Anderson’s Constitutions
• ancient genealogy in Anderson’s legendary history
• George Smith and the Sumerian Tablets
• whether Sumerian material can shed light on ancient origin traditions
• Julian Dorey Podcast episodes 153 and 154 with Matt LaCroix
• true origins, secret writings, and ancient-world claims

Anderson’s Constitutions gives a legendary genealogy and ancient history of Masonry.

The question is:

Can later discoveries like the Sumerian Tablets help us better understand the kind of ancient stories Anderson was working with — or are we forcing connections that are not really there?

That is where Masonic Muscle lives.

Not blind belief.

Not lazy dismissal.

Disciplined curiosity.

We train the body.

We test the claims.

We read the documents.

We ask better questions.

If you have a Masonic question, origin theory, old document, book recommendation, fitness transformation story, or want to come on the show, write to me at:

[email protected]

Follow Masonic Muscle on Instagram:

@masonicmuscle

Follow Masonic Muscle on Facebook.

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