1˚ Entered Apprentice

    The Entered Apprentice Degree, first of the three Degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry, is a preliminary degree, intended to prepare the candidate for the higher and fuller instructions of the succeeding degrees.  The candidate is a voluntary applicant for membership in the Lodge, he comes without an invitation from the lodge or from any member of the Order, even though he may have been told by a Mason friend that he would probably become true and tried and trusted material for the Masonic superstructure. 

     Of his own free will and accord he petitions the Lodge, and seeks admission that he may begin his search for Light, the light of divine Truth.  At the threshold of the Lodge he is required to profess a belief in a supreme being, thus repudiating any tendencies to infidelity, polytheism, or pantheism, and acknowledging his faith in the One True and Living God.  He is peculiarly clothed in keeping with the mysteries of the Order into which he is about to be inducted, the symbolic meaning being fully explained to hi as he makes his journey through the requirements of this Degree.

     Although lacking in valuable historical information, the work of the Degree is replete with instructions on the internal structure of the Order, especially in its lectures.  The religious character of Masonry is impressed upon his mind and heart, not only by his confession of "belief in God", but by the recitation of assigned passages of Scripture, by the open Bible upon the altar, and by his own dedication in prayer and meditation before the altar. 

     The entire Ritual is a preliminary revelation of the internal structure of the Institution, and the symbols employed in this Degree are profoundly significant and instructive.  The candidate now learns that a Masonic Lodge is an assemblage of Freemasons, duly congregated, having the Sacred Writings, Square, and Compass, and a Charter, or Warrant of Constitution, authorizing them to work.  It is explained to him that the room or place in which the meeting is held represents some part of King Solomon's Temple.  The lodge is supported by three great columns, Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty which are explained to the candidate; they are represented by the Master, Senior Warden, and Junior Warden.

     In properly comprehending the important lessons of the degree, the course of his movements around the Lodge Room, the significance of the symbols employed, and the lectures given, including every phase of the Ritual, the Entered Apprentice Mason realizes that he has begun a noble pursuit for Truth.  The aspiration of his soul toward the Absolute and Infinite Intelligence is encouraged and strengthened.  The faculties of his mind have been directed toward the Great Architect of the Universe, his own Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor; through the majestic irradiations of thought, meditation, prayer, and sublime comprehensions of instructions given, his soul pierces through the shadows of materialism and earthliness toward the Light for which his search has begun.  He is prepared for his onward and upward course in Freemasonry, and when he has proved his proficiency in the work of the Entered Apprentice Degree, he will be ready for the next Degree of Blue Lodge Masonry.

     The Apprentice is entrusted with certain secrets of the Order, all of them moral, ethical, and wholesome, and is pledged to "keep counsel of all things spoken in Lodge or chamber by any Masons, Fellows, or Free Masons."  He is invested with certain "Secrets," which, of course, he must keep inviolate and communicate them only in accordance with Masonic Law.