Good fire …

… And apropos of Br. Major General Henry Knox (segueway from my last post on John Adams in which he has a cameo, hauling the cannons from Ticonderoga) I attended the table lodge of said Lodge. The Grand Masters of Maine and Massachussetts were present, as well as approx. 80 guests. There were a few short speeches, but the main event were the seven formal toasts (with something to eat in between). As a nice surprise, the brothers from Harvard Lodge had volunteered to wait on the tables.

It was a little different from what I am used to. The first thing that jumped at me is how informal it was. I guess overall that is one of the most obvious differences between Danish and American freemasonry, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. But with a Grand Master present (let alone two), I expected a lot more pomp. And when we have a table lodge (”taffelloge”) it is always associated with a special occassion, which means that it follows a full program in the lodge. Also, we wear certain parts of our regalia, so the austerity of the temple is naturally retained at the table. Generally speaking, it is not so centred around the toasts.

You can easily Google up more info on an American table lodge, or go see Phoenix Masonry. There will of course be regional differences; for instance, I attended a dinner with Academia Lodge in CA (Traditional Observance), which was a lot more similar to what we do at home.