The Pilgrim Conspiracy

Fay had told him that the Freemasons spoke of God as the Master Builder of the whole universe. They saw themselves as rough building blocks that needed to be smoothed and dressed so that they could become part of the Temple of the Great Architect of the Universe. The Freemasons’ entire philosophy was based on the pursuit of self-improvement.

Lying on top of the cube was an old book – a Bible, Peter assumed – on top of which was what looked like a carpenter’s set square, and a pair of compasses. On the floor, which was divided into black and white squares like a giant chequerboard, were a rough block of stone and what looked like a heavy mallet.

Running along both sides of the hall was a double row of chairs where the guests sat with their backs to the wall, facing the open space in the middle of the room.

Peter chose a chair on the front row so that he would have an unobstructed view of the proceedings. Before he sat down, he picked up the evening’s programme that had been printed out on A4 paper and placed on the seat.

Because Fay was taking part in the ritual that was going to be performed that evening, she wouldn’t be able to sit next to him. Peter saw her come into the temple, but she was staring straight ahead so intently that he couldn’t make eye contact.

Classical choral music filled the room, which, according to the programme, was an excerpt from The Magic Flute by Mozart.

Zum Ziele führt dich diese Bahn,

Doch musst du, Jüngling, männlich siegen.

Drum höre unsre Lehre an:

Sei standhaft, duldsam und verschwiegen.

Sitting directly opposite Peter were Sven and Erik, and a few chairs away from them was Tony Vanderhoop, who had taken off his cap.

Above them, tiny, subtle lights had been inserted into holes pricked in the vaulted ceiling. The room’s walls were panelled in wood and painted green, and the signs of the zodiac had been painted on them at regular intervals.

Peter’s eye was drawn to the motto painted over the door, KNOW THYSELF, the Ancient Greek maxim that was inscribed over the entrance of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. The concept behind it was that all humans possess innate wisdom: you already know everything that you need to know, but you would only find that knowledge by looking inside yourself.

The woman next to him whispered – a little too loudly, as though she wanted everyone to know that she was already very well-informed about Freemasonry – that the man and woman next to the entrance were the Senior and Junior Warden who acted as the Worshipful Master’s left and right hand.

At the far end of the temple, another table and a chair stood on a platform where the Worshipful Master had taken his seat. The All-Seeing Eye was carved in relief on the wall behind him.

Like a king sitting on his throne, he stared impassively out over the temple, occasionally stroking his full, grey beard with his right hand.

Just before the doors were closed, the lady who had caused the commotion downstairs came into the temple followed by the man who had calmed her down again. They sat on the chairs furthest away from the chairman, near the door.

The music faded gently away, and the chatter in the hall died down.

The lights were dimmed, transforming the ceiling and its little lights into a starry night sky.

That would look good in my bedroom, Peter thought.

He recognised the constellations Orion and Ursa Major. It reminded him of a night he had spent on the banks of the Sea of Galilee with a group of backpackers he had met in Jerusalem. It had been much colder than he had been expecting and he had slept badly. Even with all his clothes on, he had shivered in his damp sleeping bag. He hadn’t been able to sleep for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but what a view he’d had of the night sky and its countless stars. It had been an almost mystical experience.

The Worshipful Master opened the meeting with a sombre rap of his ceremonial gavel, which was immediately followed by raps in turn from the gavels of the Senior and Junior Wardens.

Worshipful Master: ‘I give notice that I am about to open this lodge. All rise. Brothers and sisters, adopt the sign of fidelity.’

The members of the lodge stood up and placed their right hands over their hearts.

Worshipful Master: ‘Brother Senior Warden, why have we come together this evening?’

Senior Warden: ‘Worshipful Master, you have convened us with our guests for this special meeting, this special lodge.’

Worshipful Master: ‘Brother Senior Warden, on what basis are we gathered tonight?’

Senior Warden: ‘On that of mutual respect and that of Brotherhood, Worshipful Master.’

Worshipful Master: ‘Sister Junior Warden, for what reason have we invited our guests?’

Junior Warden: ‘Our wish is to make them aware of our Craft.’

Worshipful Master: ‘Sister Junior Warden, what does our Craft entail?’

Junior Warden: ‘Continuous work on the self in order to develop as a harmonious person truly fit to become a living stone in the Temple of Humanity.’

Worshipful Master: ‘With these thoughts in mind, let us work together to make this evening a fruitful one. Brother Senior Warden, Sister Junior Warden, assist me in supporting this work by lighting the Three Lesser Lights and allowing the Three Great Lights to shine.’

Worshipful Master: ‘Wardens and Director of Ceremonies.’

The wardens and Fay, who was the Director of Ceremonies, stood up and walked towards the Worshipful Master, who lit a taper on the Master’s Light and gave it to her. This would be used by the ‘Triangle’ – the Worshipful Master and the two wardens – to light the three candles, known as the three Lesser Lights, one by one.

Fay had gone over the basics of the ritual with Peter the night before, so he was already familiar with some of the Masonic terminology.

The Junior Warden lit the first candle, the Pillar of Wisdom.

Junior Warden: ‘May Wisdom guide the construction.’

The Senior Warden lit the second candle, the Pillar of Strength.

Senior Warden: ‘May the temple be established in Strength.’

The Worshipful Master lit the third candle, the Pillar of Beauty.

Worshipful Master: ‘May it be adorned in Beauty.’

Then the Worshipful Master, the two wardens and the Director of Ceremonies gathered next to the Perfect Ashlar on top of which lay the square and compasses. The Worshipful Master opened the book and placed the square and compasses on its pages.

Peter knew that the compasses symbolised the spirit and that the square represented the material world. The position of the compasses indicated the different degrees within Freemasonry. When the lodge was working in the first degree, Entered Apprentice, the compasses lay underneath the square: man’s spiritual nature was still hidden by physical matter, trapped in the material world. At the second degree, Fellow Craft, one arm of the compasses was placed under the square: man’s spirit was overcoming his physical nature, wrestling itself free from the material world. During the third degree, Master Mason, the compasses lay on top of the square: the spirit now reigned over the physical and had separated itself from the material world.

Worshipful Master: ‘I thank you, brothers and sisters. With this gavel, I duly declare this special lodge open.’

Once again, the rap of the Worshipful Master’s gavel was echoed by both wardens.

Worshipful Master: ‘This lodge is now open. You may all be seated.’

The eagerness in this room to hear what’s about to be said is almost tangible, Peter thought.

He looked at Fay. The look of concentration she had worn as she carried out her duties was still visible on her face. She stared down at the floor like she was afraid a spell would be broken if she looked at anyone.

The music started again. Peter recognised it as baroque. It was a beautiful piece, the sort of music he could play on Spotify while he was working without being distracted by what he was listening to.

When the last notes of the music had died away, the Worshipful Master spoke again.

‘Esteemed brothers and sisters, honoured guests, dear people …’ he began. ‘What a pleasure it is to be able to speak to you this evening. I must be perfectly honest with you and tell you that I feel that I have been charged with no small task tonight. Let me explain. When we, as brothers and sisters, were preparing for this open evening, we decided that the programme should include a concise introduction to some of the symbols we work with as Freemasons. Of course, that’s a very nice idea in principle, but in practice, not quite so simple. And why is that? Because what characterises Freemasonry is its use of a very wide range of symbols. It would be quite a challenge to choose just a few of those to give you an initial impression of Freemasonry, while still honouring the rich diversity of symbols that are important to us. Nevertheless, I hope that we have succeeded in creating a meaningful selection that will lift the veil a little for you and hopefully pique your curiosity. May it lead to the planting of a seed that spurs you to further exploration. And if it indeed does, please know that we would be delighted to assist you as you discover the possible meanings behind this wonderful symbolism.’

Fay looked up at last. She smiled at Peter, and an intense feeling of love flowed through him.

‘However, I shall refrain from launching straight into a description of the major symbols,’ the Worshipful Master continued. ‘To begin, I would like to speak briefly about meanings and interpretations. I’ve given this presentation a title, and with good reason. The title is: “Wisdom, Strength and Beauty: Feeling with your mind, thinking with your soul …” Certainly, Freemasonry has a rich tradition of symbols. I can share the meanings behind some of them with you and, of course, I will do just that, but I would first like to make you aware of the fact that Freemasonry has no dogmas. Freemasonry gives everyone complete freedom to carry out the search for meaning in their own way. And while Freemasonry provides tools and symbolic sustenance for the journey, it has no universal truth or truths. The search for meaning is entirely personal. It’s up to us as individuals to find the meaning or meanings that will help us to achieve deeper insight – into ourselves, into the world around us and into what moves us, especially in our interactions with others. The search for meaning is a challenge that requires bravery. Perhaps it requires a disposition and an openness that we rarely achieve in our daily lives, too. It might also ask us to take a different approach from what we are used to. That is why I speak of feeling with your mind and thinking with your soul. Because that is how we might be able to reach other, deeper layers. Layers which are still uncharted territory – terra incognita – but within which we may well find insights that will help us to become better people …’

The absence of dogmas was precisely what had initially attracted Fay to Freemasonry. Peter could understand why. She had been raised in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a branch of Catholicism based entirely on doctrines that had been set in stone centuries ago.

Her father and pregnant mother had fled to the Netherlands during the Prague Spring and brought their ancestral faith with them. Fay had struggled to leave her Orthodox upbringing behind her. The agonising suffering and eventual death of her husband Petr had been the final push she had needed to be able to let go.

‘Does this mean that, as Freemasons, we stand utterly alone?’ the chairman asked, looking out over the room. ‘Certainly not. We are part of our lodge, part of a close-knit community of brothers and sisters who travel with us, who search with us, and who join together to try, little by little, to make the world a better place. We are part of what we like to think of as a universal chain of brothers and sisters that spans the entire globe.’

The Worshipful Master gave a friendly nod to Tony Vanderhoop, who smiled and nodded back.

‘Each of us is a unique and, at the same time, essential link in the chain,’ he continued. ‘And so ultimately, we form a whole that is many times greater than the sum of its parts. Please keep this in mind later when you hear me speak about symbols. Perhaps my words will be the prelude to a personal search for what they might mean to you. And before I begin, let me give you one more piece of context. I’m sure you already know that we work with and within a threefold progressive degree system of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. When a Freemason has made enough progress on their journey in the Craft, they’re allowed to advance to a higher degree. I would like to emphasise that this is a process of continuous development. By no means is it so that the Master Mason possesses absolute wisdom and can end their search once they have been raised to the third degree. We remind ourselves constantly that we must never stop learning. This means that the process of finding meaning in the symbols we work with can be a unique, ongoing, and ever-expanding developmental path. That might be one of the most wonderful aspects of becoming and being a Freemason …’

Peter saw that a few people were smiling like they couldn’t wait to join the Freemasons’ ranks. Or perhaps they were already members of the lodge.

Fay often spoke in glowing terms about the brotherhood and sisterhood of Freemasons, but Peter imagined that you would feel a similar sense of belonging in any other community that you were enthusiastic about and dedicated to, like a sports association or a chess club.

In his speech, the chairman expounded on the meaning of some of the Masonic symbols, although he was very careful to reiterate more than once that everyone was always free to interpret them in their own way.

‘What we’re actually trying to do is chisel away at the rough stone to free the perfect block from within, to reveal it in all its glory.’

Peter thought that this was a beautiful idea. How did that famous quote from Michelangelo go again, he wondered. When he was asked how he created such magnificent sculptures from marble, he replied, ‘Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it …’

The act of freeing oneself from unnecessary ballast in order to find out what really mattered … or to find God. That was a recurring theme in all belief systems, from Hinduism to Buddhism to the Abrahamic religions.

Hadn’t Jesus told people not to store up treasure for themselves on earth? ‘Where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

Ultimately, it wasn’t about the physical world, nor about the earthly possessions that you couldn’t take with you, but about your immortal soul that needed to be freed from the mire of material things.

Peter was suddenly startled by the music that came unexpectedly from hidden loudspeakers, and he realised that he must have been lost in thought for quite some time.

When the music ended – Maurerische Trauermusik in C minor (K. 477) by Mozart – the Worshipful Master concluded his talk.

‘And so, we reach the end of this short presentation. I have, of course, only been able to touch on a just a few points, give you only a brief insight into a much larger subject. But I hope that I have given you an impression of all the wonderful tools that Freemasonry can offer. And of course, I would be delighted if it has left you wanting more. I’d like to thank you for coming along and listening this evening. After this lodge has closed, you’ll have an opportunity to share your questions, thoughts and insights with us and with each other. Allow me to end this talk in the traditional way: so mote it be – I have spoken.’

The Worshipful Master let his gavel fall, which was echoed by the Senior and Junior Wardens.

A third piece of music was played. A magnificent choir singing in what sounded like French. Peter recognised the tune and could even hum along. He looked at the programme and saw that it was Pavane, Op. 50 by Fauré. He closed his eyes. The power and intensity of the music rose to a crescendo and then ebbed away. The sound washed over him like the waves of a calm ocean. It was hypnotic.

When the music ended, the Worshipful Master spoke again.

Worshipful Master: ‘I give notice that I am about to close this lodge. All rise. Brothers and sisters, adopt the sign of fidelity.’

The members of the lodge stood up to make the sign of fidelity. The Worshipful Master and the two wardens closed the book and placed the square back on top of it.

Junior Warden (She extinguished the candle on the Pillar of Wisdom): ‘May Wisdom guide us.’

Senior Warden (He extinguished the candle on the Pillar of Strength): ‘May Strength support us.’

Worshipful Master (He extinguished the candle on the Pillar of Beauty): ‘May Beauty reside in our hearts.’

They all returned to their former positions.

Worshipful Master: ‘Thank you, Brothers and Sisters. How should Masons meet, act and part?’

Junior Warden: ‘By the principles of the level, the plumb and the square, Worshipful Master.’

Worshipful Master: ‘What are these principles, Brother Junior Warden?’

Junior Warden: ‘To meet in harmony, to act according to the highest law, and to part as equals, Worshipful Master.’

Worshipful Master: ‘So should we ever meet, act and part, so that our labours may progress. Brother Senior Warden, have we come closer to our goal?’

Senior Warden: ‘Our desire was to share knowledge with our guests and that the evening would be fruitful. It was good.’

Worshipful Master: ‘Then let us return, well contented, to whence we came. With this gavel, I declare this special lodge duly closed.’

The rap of his gavel was repeated by the wardens.

Worshipful Master: ‘This lodge is now closed. I wish our guests a safe journey home.’

After a moment of hesitation – it appeared that no one wanted to be the first to leave – a few people all stood up at once.

Soon, ten or fifteen people had gathered around the Worshipful Master’s chair, waiting to ask him questions.

Peter saw his student Sven among them, together with his brawny friend who had been in the garden earlier that evening. They hung back from the others but looked like they were listening in on the conversation. The American visitor, Tony, was there too, patiently waiting his turn.

The only people still in their seats were the man and woman who had come into the temple after everyone else.

One by one, the visitors shuffled out of the room. Someone gave Peter’s hand a gentle squeeze. It was Fay. He hadn’t noticed that she had come to stand next to him.

‘And?’ she asked softly.

‘You did brilliantly,’ Peter said. ‘And I thought it was wonderful, really special.’ He decided that it would better to keep the fact that he had drifted off for some of it to himself.

Chapter 5

Downstairs, a handful of guests were already putting on their coats – a bitterly cold wind gusted through the entrance hall each time one of them opened the door to leave – but most of the people who had come to the open evening stayed for the drinks reception in the function room.

In the cramped space behind the bar, four volunteers bustled around, smiling and apologising every time they bumped into each other. Peter eventually managed to order two glasses of red wine.

Fay’s cheeks were flushed, but Peter couldn’t tell whether it was from the warmth of the room or from relief that she had acquitted herself well.

He took a sip of wine.

It was of an exceptionally good quality, something he hadn’t expected at such a simple event.

Noticing the look of pleasure on his face, Fay said, ‘The Worshipful Master is a wine expert. He’s won prizes in international wine tastings. He’s even beaten renowned French tasters. The wine here is always excellent.’

‘I am the true vine,’ Peter said, quoting the words of Jesus from the Gospel According to John, ‘and my Father is the vinegrower.’ He took a second sip of the wine, swirling it around in his mouth appreciatively, like an experienced connoisseur.

‘Yes,’ Fay said, ‘Jesus did rather like a tipple.’

Peter smiled.

‘He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make it bear more fruit,’ he said, finishing off the quotation. ‘It would be a good motto for the Freemasons.’

‘It could be,’ Fay said. ‘That scripture is about examining yourself critically, getting rid of your bad character traits, of your nasty habits, of your ballast. Pruning here and there so you can reach your full potential and really thrive. But if I recall correctly, there’s a bit that comes after those verses that’s about the punishment for people who don’t follow Jesus, isn’t there?’

‘There is,’ said Peter. ‘It goes on to say: “Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”’

‘Yes, exactly,’ Fay said. ‘That’s what I meant. And that’s why I never felt like I belonged in the Christian Church. That idea that you deserve eternal punishment for not following someone else in the right way. And the fact that other people are allowed to point out your faults, to tell you that you’re doing it wrong, and then shove a book in your face and show you a passage that explains how you haven’t been acting in accordance with doctrine. What I like about Freemasonry is that everyone can give their own meaning to the symbols. Nobody ever says to you, “Look, you’ve got it all wrong, and actually, it’s like this or that.” That’s why I feel so comfortable here. There’s no judgement.’

The room was still busy with clusters of people standing here and there, all talking animatedly to each other. The American Tony Vanderhoop was at the centre of a small group that appeared to be hanging on his every word. Jenny was sitting in a far corner, engaged in what looked like a serious conversation with the people around her.

‘What did you think of it?’ Fay asked.

‘It was really interesting, amazing to watch,’ he answered. ‘How do you think it went?’

‘It went okay, mostly. My part, I mean. I only made a couple of little mistakes.’

‘Mistakes?’

‘Hardly worth mentioning, really. I took too many steps here and not enough steps there. It wasn’t quite right. Concentrating too hard, I think. There was one bit where I presented the candle a moment too soon, but it’s all minor details. I’m not unhappy with how I did, but I want to do it better next time.’

‘I thought it was fascinating,’ Peter said. ‘I realised that I knew much more about it all than I thought I did, because of you. I hardly heard anything new tonight, but I still enjoyed listening to the chairman’s talk. I mean the Worshipful Master’s, sorry. He explained everything clearly, made it easy to understand.’

Peter saw Sven and Erik come into the room. They went to the bar and then headed straight for the garden with their beers.

‘Would you be interested in becoming a—’ Fay began, but she didn’t get a chance to finish her question.

The man with the bow tie who had greeted them at the front door came over and stood next to them.

‘So,’ he said simply, and then went silent.

Not exactly the best opener, thought Peter.