The Worshipful Master: Entering the Executive Function

This episode introduces the Worshipful Master as a role you can consciously step into, both within the lodge and as a mental posture in your own life. The focus is on understanding the Worshipful Master as the executive function — the place where responsibility, uncertainty, and direction converge.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Freemasonry enables intentional roleplay as a method of insight.
• The Worshipful Master represents the executive function of the lodge.
• Authority is paired with responsibility, not certainty.
• Purpose often becomes clear only after stepping into responsibility.
• The role emphasizes discovery rather than control.

💬 Featured Quotes

• “One of the coolest things about Freemasonry and how it works is the implied ability… that you have to roleplay.” (0:00–0:11)
• “You can take on a role in the craft and in that process answer questions as if you’re sitting in that chair.” (0:11–0:19)
• “What would the Worshipful Master do?” (1:06–1:09)
• “The Worshipful Master does not come with this complete concrete handbook about how to proceed.” (4:54–5:02)

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Creators and Guests

Host

Brian Mattocks

Host and Founder of A Mason's Work - a podcast designed to help you use symbolism to grow. He's been working in the craft for over a decade and served as WM, trustee, and sat in every appointed chair in a lodge - at least once :D

What is A Mason's Work?

In this show we discuss the practical applications of masonic symbolism and how the working tools can be used to better yourself, your family, your lodge, and your community. We help good freemasons become better men through honest self development. We talk quite a bit about mental health and men's issues related to emotional and intellectual growth as well.

One of the coolest things about Freemasonry and how it works is the implied ability or understanding

that you have to roleplay, to take on a role in the craft and in that process, answer

questions as if you're sitting in that chair or sitting in that role.

It's very similar to, if you're familiar in the, I guess the early 1990s or late 1980s,

there was this emergent trend called the, like, the, what would Jesus do bracelets?

And the implication there of these little bracelets, these friendship bracelets was that when

confronted with a difficulty or a challenge, you would ask a question, what would Jesus

do?

Which is kind of like an implied roleplay.

If I were Jesus, how would I behave in this situation?

The same thing is true in Freemasonry.

We can take on these individual roles and ask questions, what would the junior deacon

do?

What would the Werschfeld Master do?

What would the treasure do?

What would the secretary do?

And in the context of this roleplay, you get a different insight on how to solve problems

and how to approach your given situation.

In this week's episode, we're going to talk about the Werschfeld Master, which is largely

the probably the strongest and most important function that you will ever, or roleplay,

you'll ever take on as an individual.

The Werschfeld Master in a traditional setting or in a regular lodge is the executive function

of that lodge.

That person is deciding all of the things.

Now all your secretaries listening right now are probably going, yeah, yeah, yeah, tell

me all about it because the secretary is end up doing a lot of work on behalf of the

Werschfeld Master and sometimes without actually informing the Werschfeld Master.

But that aggression aside, the implication here is that the Werschfeld Master is literally

the buck stops here kind of person in the lodge.

That there is nothing that is outside of their purview and so long as they're complying

with Masonic Law, whatever that might be in your jurisdiction, they are, their authority

is absolute.

When we approach this conversation as a mental role you can take on in your own life,

you have a lot of options at your disposal.

When I say options because it may not seem that way and we'll get into that in just a

second.

As Werschfeld Master sitting in that function, that executive function for yourself, one

of the things that you will come to grips with fairly quickly is that you do not know

necessarily what it is you're doing.

Not all of us are born understanding that executive function, what we're trying to do, what

our purpose in life is or any of those kinds of things.

It's implied that you know, but when you get the job of Werschfeld Master and if you get

promoted into the East, you may not know what the lodge needs until you get there.

You may not get there the first time you're in the East.

If you end up going into these multiple times, you may not realize what your lodge needs

until you're third at bat as it were.

When we start talking about the Werschfeld Master as that cognitive function, you're going

to sit there in the middle of a lot of uncertainty and you are trying to define the temple or

the object or the alignment that you're trying to create in your lodge, whatever that might

be and in your own sort of headspace in your life.

What is that goal?

What is that objective I'm trying to reach?

And it is important to know that you may never get there.

You may never get a thorough and complete definition of the thing you were trying to create

or the temple you're trying to build.

The Werschfeld Master as a function is the executive function and step one is to try and

identify what you need to know in order to proceed.

That means you throw on your end reprinted Mason's apron as the Werschfeld Master of

the Lodge and start discovery.

You begin that process to learn what you need to learn.

And we'll get into this a little bit more as we move forward and start analyzing it

behaviorally and from a relational perspective or from a systemic perspective.

But for now, it's important to remember that the Werschfeld Master does not come with

this complete concrete handbook about how to proceed with anything in the lodge.

All they have is ritual.

The same thing is true.

All you have as Werschfeld Master internally, as you started using this as a contemplative

practice, all you have is an understanding of what the Werschmessels are trying to suppose

to do and a pile of tools to play with.

All of the working tools of the craft.

Step one is start to get a grip on what that means.

What is it you're trying to do and accomplish?

And that purpose, as you surface it will grow and enhance your ability to execute in time.

So don't worry about getting anything right away when you take on that role.

And again, we'll get into more of this tomorrow.