GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (44 page)

I’d better go and help him
...
.

**********

The sunlight
set
unusually early
;
the building was in darkness as clouds gather
ed overhead.
T
he weather had been gradually worsening during the latter part of the afternoon. The time was approaching ten o’clock on the eve of the last day
of
the month.
This meeting was going to be one of the most important of the year!

The building
was a light
-
coloured
,
two storey
house
with dark
-
green wood shutters
closed tight against the chill
.
Above the doorway
,
roman numerals were etched into stone
, reading:
MDCLXXXV.
A little below this was a small stone eye
,
set within a small triangular shape.
Th
e
all-seeing eye stonily watched everything
that approached the house
.
Worn
by the centuries, the
esoteric insignia was no
longer
easy to perceive.
But those who knew it, knew it well.

Two
solidly-
built bald men stood outside on the worn
,
bevelled stone steps at either side of the entrance to the old stone hall.
The men
were
as
massive
as
body builders
,
and they easily blocked the closed doorway
.
D
ressed in light faun chinos and smart casual light brown blazer jackets with black
-
and red
-
peaked
,
spotted handkerchiefs
, t
hey
spoke
casually to each other and laugh
ed
a little while keeping vigil on the premises.
Anyone brave enough to leave the busier roads might wonder why these giants
stood guard
in an empty
,
dead
-
end road
.
But they would not stick around to wonder for very long.
Both men were armed and very, very dangerous.

A solitary
,
small man wearing a pinstripe suit entered into the quiet lane and began walking towards the two henchmen as they studied hi
s
casual
approach.
They bowed slightly as he shook
their
out
-
stretched
,
monstrous hands in a mutual bonding. The
guards’
hands were immense compared to the man’s delicate
ly
sculpted fingers.
The visitor
’
s grip
,
however
,
was uncannily firm
,
surprising
both giants. They greeted him
,
then,
with much respect.

The handshake
was the first sign of
their
ancient and secret fraternity.
The man
was the Grand Master of this and many other Holy Orders
of
Italy.
This was
a
very special and meticulously
-
planned visit
,
and the man knew exactly who would be in attendance on this
e
ve.

The responsibility of the Worshipful Master and every other Freemason is to uphold the craft and the Grand Master with a reverential attitude
—
not for the sake of the man in that elevated office
,
but for the maintenance of
the office’s
absolute
significance
.

When
the Grand Master
visits a lodge, it is not he, the person
,
who
should be
honoured
,
but
the nobility
of his title
. The
honour
that is paid to the Grand Master is to this office, the highest
that
freemasonry
can
impart upon any of its members and yet one which carries with it the heaviest responsibilities.

The
Order
w
as
a
ssembled
inside
,
waiting
...
.

The man in dark pinstripes moved slowly inside the open entrance as the doors shut behind him.
He moved into a large
,
empty hallway
.
I
t was a bare and inhospitable place
,
lit with
many flamed torches
that were
periodically anchored into the stone walls.
The building was a dim and deserted shell with a peculiar
,
colour-shifting
stone floor.
The place appeared abandoned.

He changed in a private anteroom near the rear of the hall,
pulling over his head
a long gown made of black
, coarse
material
and strapping
a leathern girdle
about himself
as an emblem of humility and poverty
.
The girdle was distinguished with the initials GM engraved in a black metal square,
accompanied by a compass medallion. His chest was strapped with a red sash, covered in esoteric symbols.
He carried
a staff,
hung with
rosary and cross,
in one hand,
and a
scrip
in the other
.

The Grand Master descended the rainbow spiral stone stairs at the far end of the hall.
Beneath him he heard the
low muted noises and distant murmur of voices and
whiffed the
strange smell of incense.

Everyone in attendance was dressed in black as they bowed briefly in recognition of his status, moving apart as the Grand Master travelled between his brethren. He seemed to glide smoothly along the floor as if on a bed of air, moving towards the altar.

A large Masonic symbol was oil
-
painted above
,
covering the whole ceiling in this lower level of the building.
Every faith was represented inside
the symbol—
even some members of the Catholic Church were freemasons
,
and this lodge meeting tonight was no exception to that. Some of the members attending had no faith at all
beyond
the “only
faith
”
—
the “fraternity
of
the brethren”.

The Worshipful Master of the Grand lodge MDCLXXXV was already in attendance and
watching
intimately
as the
Grand Master
approached
.
The Grand Master Mason soon stood up beside the Worshipful Master Mason on a light marble
a
ltar.

The early part of the Worshipful Master’s ceremony was finished
,
and now he welcomed this distinction with the
Order’s
unique handshake and greeted the Grand Master with his extended hand and
the
real grip of
a
Master Mason.

Anyone watching
in ignorance
would think
the
grip
to be an odd practice
.
More peculiar
on this night
for the brethren
was the realisation
that the Masters were not using their
right
hands to grip
,
as would be expected
.
The Masters
interlaced the
thumbs of
their
hands
, and
t
he Worshipful Master pressed the top of his fingers against his fellow Master as it united with the left hand. The
Grand
Master simultaneously pressed his fingers against the other Mason
’
s hand and fingers
in a similar fashion
.

This strong Lions Paw grip w
as also
given at the graveside after a candidate had been raised.
The men gripped with their firm strong hands and held each other in a strange embrace of the five points of fellowship
,
w
ith right arm
s
embracing over the
f
ellows
’
left shoulder
s
.

Left foot to left foot,