A Laudable Pursuit: Masonic Memory and Self Improvement in Early English Freemasonry

Shotokan Karate Lodge is honoured to host a talk entitled, “A Laudable Pursuit: Masonic Memory and Self Improvement in Early English Freemasonry”, to be presented by W. Bro Martin Faulks, of Burlington Lodge No. 96 and Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076, and Managing Director of Lewis Masonic, at our forthcoming meeting on Saturday 14th October 2023 at Freemasons Hall.

If you were able to travel back in time and meet an 18th-century gentleman who was a Freemason and ask him about his craft, what would he tell you?  Perhaps you would like to know how he viewed the ceremonies? What purpose would he give for their performance, and why would he tell you it was important for a Mason to memorise them? What advice would he give a fellow Mason on practical matters? What method could he recommend for memorising words for performance, or for remembering the names and ranks of brothers in the lodge? And what of the festive board, how much importance would he place on the social aspects of the fraternity? 

In this talk, Masonic author and memory expert Martin Faulks aims to allow such a meeting to take place by drawing on contemporary Masonic writings, memory manuals and diaries. Having practiced the methods of the day himself and applied them to his own Masonry, this talk will not only offer a fascinating insight into the history of Freemasonry but also give a few practical tips that you too can use from time-tested memory methods.