Julian Rees on why Freemasonry without spirituality is nothing
Bro. Julian Rees, nearly sixty years a Freemason, talks with Troy Spreeuw about his memoir A Life in Many Colours: National Service, learning ritual word perfect and then understanding it, why he left the United Grand Lodge of England over spirituality, and why the journey is never a straight line.
Episode 55 is live. Bro. Julian Rees, nearly sixty years a Freemason, is back on the show with a memoir, A Life in Many Colours, and this time the subject is Julian himself: a boyhood under the V-2s, National Service, a ritual he learned word perfect and then actually understood, and the day he walked out of the United Grand Lodge of England over a single sentence about spirituality.
Also in this issue: the full conversation on the blog, with the key takeaways up top.
New Episode
Episode 55: A Life in Many Colours
w/ Bro. Julian Rees | A Masonic Memoir
Julian tells me how a nudge from Dr. David Harrison turned into a memoir, and what he found when he went looking at his own life: a sergeant who taught him humility, a stern Anglo-Catholic father, and a ritual that only started working on him once he stopped parroting the words. Then the story behind his exit from UGLE, why he would not go back, and what French laïcité gets wrong about spirituality.
Also: the Harris tracing boards and the blazing star, why the light comes from within, a 96 year old sculptor who quit lodge in 1938 because it never changes, and why the journey is nothing like a straight line.
In Case You Missed It
If you missed it, Episode 53 has Bro. Salman Arif turning the microphones around and asking me the questions guys have been saving up: journals, the 24-inch gauge, lodge politics, and the invisible friend. Before that, Episode 52 is Bro. Lon Milo DuQuette on the three working tools of the Kabbalist. Follow The Mystic Tye on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes land automatically, and browse the full catalog anytime at mystictye.com/episodes.
We are looking to create a directory of Freemasonic events and publications. If you are aware of something coming up please let me know by email. In the meantime check out the Masonic Conferences website.
From the Blog
A Life in Many Colours: Bro. Julian Rees on Ritual, Spirituality, and the Crooked Road of Freemasonry
The full Episode 55 conversation in print, edited only for readability, with eight key takeaways at the top if you want the short version first.
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