The Brn. being upstanding, the R.W.M. begins the proceedings by asking the W.J.W. (carefully addressing him by name, and not using the title of his office) the characteristic question which is the keynote of every Masonic meeting: “What is the first care of every Freemason?” and receives the traditional reply: “To see the Lodge close tyled.” He continues: “Direct that that duty be done.” The W.J.W. passes on the command to the I.G., who goes to see that the T. is at his post, and reports that he is, this report being at once passed on to the R.W.M.
To guard consciousness (one's own "lodge") against entry of undesired influences?
Here is what Bishop Leadbeater had to say on the subject...
What is the symbolism here? The first requisite when we are about to do a great piece of work is to concentrate upon it, and in order to do that we must be free from interruption; so the fortress of Mansoul (to adopt John Bunyan’s picturesque terminology) needs a strong wall all round outside, and our entrance must be well guarded. Therefore the Spirit calls to the intelligence, which is its link with the lower worlds; the intelligence asks the etheric double, who in turn signals the dense physical body to know how things look from the outside, and receives the satisfactory reply that all the defences are in order, so that the Spirit is reassured on the important point that the Lodge may labour in safety.
Then there is the W L Wilmshurst thoughts on the subject..
The modern Mason, however, is left entirely without any cosmologic instruction and to such hazy notions on the subject as he may happen to hold . It becomes difficult, therefore, in regard to this and many other matters of Masonic moment, to speak of the disciplina arcani to those who may be either not interested in it or who would treat the information with incredulity as something about which nothing certain is known or perhaps knowable. Skepticism, freedom and independence of thought about matters of a more or less occult nature have their undoubted place and value in the outer ways of the world . But they are foreign to, and inconsistent with the mental attitude appropriate to those who, on entering a hall of Initiation, are supposed to tyle the door to the outside world and its conceptions, and, divesting - themselves of all ideas there preacquired, to offer themselves as humble teachable pupils of a new and authoritative order of knowledge . Where every one claims to be already possessed of a sufficiently satisfactory explanation of the Universe and his place in it, or is content to get along without one, and in either case prefers his private judgment to any other that may be offered him, the soil for making Initiates in any real sense is distinctly unfavourable. For such, however, these pages are not written. They are offered only to the minority of Brethren eager to learn what Masonry has to teach them upon matters in which they earnestly seek knowledge and guidance.
This is an interesting topic as spiritual protection is also spiritual isolation from that level on which the protection exists.
Thus lots of protection equals lots of isolation.
Perhaps the real issue is to ensure that none but brethren are present. Thus the lodge may be pure and remain connected to the rest of Creation.
Just revisiting some older posts and came across this... we must have posted at the same time and I missed this response from you.
Are all Brn, Brn? Every order has its share of non brotherly types, even if it is only on the odd occasion. Some of the 'Brn' one comes across on forums are most ungentlemanly (to put it nicely).
Re 'protection' - a surgeon wears gloves when he does surgery, a person wears suitable clothing for the weather or venture at hand.
I can't see into the more subtle realms, but our ritual indicates that there is more there than meets the eye, and at lower levels, mischievous? Then we have the Guardian Wall... what is that protecting us from?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Pentagrams of course make it easy to access the 5 elements and those are closely related to the structure of humans. Hence right relationship with the 5 elements and elementals is critical to human stability.
There are however other geometries. In lodge we work with a fourfold geometry to establish our connection to the planetary surface flows - using inner and outer guards and blessings from on high to protect.
