The dreams of night take us to foreign lands where we travel through a surreal world of symbolism and adventure that defies our normal sense of reality. The great teachers of old taught us that we enter the underworld when we dream. Accordingly, the ancients placed much emphasis on dream interpretation, for dreams were the place where the living could meet and seek the guidance of their ancestors or even the gods and goddesses.

In the twentieth century, Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung used the language of mythology to recast the underworld and dreams in a psychological context. For Freud, the underworld became the unconscious aspect of the individual’s psyche. Freud emphasized the negative and repressed aspects of the unconscious and sought to bring them into consciousness via therapy, or what he called, "the talking cure." Freud and Jung both brilliantly understood the symbolic language of dreams and wrote seminal books on the subject.

Yet there is a special category of dreams that require no interpretation whatsoever, for these dreams are clear and powerful communications from on high. They are unambiguous and command our attention for, even in the dream, we know that something very important is happening. We awaken from these dreams with a start, suspecting that an eminence has visited us in the night. Then the rational mind, that damned empirical referee, steps in and wants to rule the dream a fantasy. This is when we would do better to listen to our intuition rather than the synaptic cynic who lives in our brain.

I came into Masonry by way of two very powerful dreams in which an eminence of some sort recommended the Craft to me. This might seem strange as Masons do not recruit, but in retrospect, I would say two things. First, dreams are in no way obligated to follow the rules of waking reality, for dreams can do whatever they please. Second, and this is a comment I echo from others who have had the same experience, is my sense that I was already a Mason long before I joined and simply did not realize it. I would even dare to suggest that Masonry somehow prepares men to join to it long before they themselves are consciously aware of it. I say this because even two years ago I was not ready to be a Mason in any profound sense. Yet once the call came, I was ready to serve, although somewhat reluctantly at first.

The phrase, "To become one, ask one," includes the possibility that Masons, acting in the spiritual realm after having taken leave of their bodies, can and do answer those men who pray for guidance and help in their lives. However, in keeping with Masonic tradition, the answer is not an order, but rather a recommendation upon which the supplicant must act. This is what happened in my case, for I had been praying for guidance in my life before the first dream. In order to claim my Masonic inheritance, however, it was necessary that I first act upon the recommendation given to me. Likewise, the recommendation can come from God as an answer to prayer, for God, being committed to the Brotherhood of Man, is just as interested in fraternity as religion. Perhaps those in the invisible world sometimes think that fraternal involvement is better for a certain person than is religious involvement. I think this logic applied in my case because I do not like organized religion, and yet I am social and committed to exploring life's mysteries, making myself a better person, and serving God. 

The First Dream

The first dream was of a powerful winter storm sweeping in off the Pacific. Fierce winds, lightning, and dark clouds tore across the dreamscape as I stood on a pier overlooking the swelling Pacific. I could smell the ocean and feel the cold winds and saltwater spray just as surely as if I were standing on the pier at Newport Beach during a winter storm as I have done many times in the past.

I knew that the approaching storm heralded the coming of an important messenger. The spiritually sensitive will know whereof I speak, for when the invisible world wishes to tell you something in a dream, its preface is unmistakable and dramatic. So there I stood alone on a storm-battered pier, waiting for the messenger as the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled across the ocean.

Throughout my life I have had extremely vivid dreams and have learned to listen to them, for they carry messages, images, and important information. Some of my pen and ink drawings have come from that which I have seen in dreams. Asea in Oceana Mysterium -- the title of the drawing of the ship shown at the top of this article -- is a drawing of a vessel I once saw in a dream. I remember this ship very clearly because of its unusual rigging and sails. I woke up from bed and drew it in a creative fury, for I did not want to lose the image. The small symbol to the bottom right of the ship is the monogram I use to sign my work. It is an abstract rendering of "Augustine" which is my last name.

The dream in which I saw the ship began with me stranded on a godforsaken, desolate island. I was standing on the hot sand looking out over the horizon when suddenly this great ship made out of blazing light sailed into crystal blue sky above the island. It had been sent to take me over the horizon. The choice presented to me in the dream was to risk sailing over the horizon into an unknown death or to die alone on the island. The choice of which death I preferred was all I could chose. The dream maddeningly ended before I could make a decision.

After reflecting on the dream of the ship, I realized that the ship symbolized a spiritual voyage I was taking into a very esoteric realm. I had become afraid because the particular inner work I was doing at the time had gotten scary. I knew what was required next, and I was not sure if I could do it. After I drew the ship, I realized that the dream had given me a mandala, for the ship was a symbol I could meditate upon as I wrestled with my choice. Upon reflection, it occurred to me that the ship was that which I needed to get off the island and travel over the horizon. I did go over that particular horizon in my life, and, rather than plunging off the edge of the world into the abyss, I emerged from certain of my fears in totally unexpected way and was even given a boon. The ship symbolized the faith in the unseen I needed to demonstrate before I could be carried beyond my fears and given a boon.

____

Before the dream of the storm and the pier, I had been praying for direction in my life. A book I had been working on for years was nearing completion and was gaining coherence and attention. Without realizing it, the symbolism in my book had taken on a Masonic cast. For example, I had created this symbol before the first dream:

The symbol is named "The Dream Flower" and serves an important purpose in my cosmology. Because the All-Seeing Eye is archetypal, one cannot escape it if they are writing about secrets and God, and so it was that I created this symbol.

My book is entitled The Third Option and offers an alternative to the models of Creationism and the Big Bang. It is another way to think about how God brought the Universe into existence. Science and religion have been in a battle over our origins ever since Darwin first challenged Genesis. In my book, I argue that humanity remains locked in this battle because we have limited ourselves to only two ways of thinking about how the Universe could have begun. The book is an attempt to expand the horizons of human thought in a way that affirms freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and emphasizes morality and decency. My book is speculative in nature, which is an oft-used word in Masonry. So even before I was a Mason, I was exhibiting signs of the emergent Masonry rising within me rising into my consciousness.

Before the first dream, I had never thought about becoming a Mason and did not know much about the Craft other than the proverbial Men in Little Cars. Beyond wondering if the little cars ever tipped over if they were turned too sharply, I did not think about Masonry until the dream storm blew in.

___

As I stood on the pier awaiting the messenger, the howling storm quickly made landfall as the sun was setting. The wind and waves battered the pier and soaked me with to the bone with freezing water. The clouds darkened in the surreal purple sunset and began to speak with even more  lighting and thunder:

I was surrounded by the storm and there was no escape. I thought the pier was going to collapse under my feet as it shook and shuddered under the raging, surreal twilight sky and the pounding surf. Yet a strange calm pervaded me for I knew that I was to stand and wait. Then came the unmistakable sense that I was in the presence of an Eminence who had traveled on the wind.

What followed was a clear and simple recommendation that I should join the Masons. It was not a voice per se, but rather a distinct psychic impression made by an unseen and unknown personage. There was simply the clear impression in my mind that Masonry was a good thing and that I should join. The advice came with the authority of an elder. There was no doubt in my mind about the message: It was a recommendation from an Eminence.

That the Masons do not recruit makes this dream seem somewhat curious. Yet, dreams, as we know, need not obey the rules of waking reality. Moreover, I had asked for guidance. I had not asked a Mason to become a Mason, but I had asked God for guidance. I realized that this recommendation, therefore, had come as the result of my request.

Why the Masons?

I awoke in both awe and puzzlement.

Why the Masons?

Of all the things that could come to me in a dream, the suggestion that I join the Masons was perplexing. Masonry had never occurred to me as something I should join. Not only was I ignorant of Masonry, but as an outsider I had no idea of either its intrinsic value or antiquity. Masonry had never been a factor in my life or thinking and so for it to have been introduced to me in this way made the Fraternity seem all the more enigmatic to me.

Why not a group that was more exotic or dramatic, I asked myself. I had been a member of one of the more intense human potential groups of the 1980’s. I had been the "Formal Friend" and student of a very famous spiritual Adept. I had even been a Jesus Person in high school and had listened to "Papa Chuck" Smith preach at Calvary Chapel when it was in the tent. Masonry seemed to me quaint by comparison and I did not associate it with the high-wattage displays of Spirit to which I had become accustomed.

I admit it: I crave spiritual intensity. I have even experimented with certain dangerous, edge-of-your-sanity, enlightenment techniques when I was younger. And why not? I had nothing to lose and everything to gain when I was young. Although I am older now, I am still not one to set and warm a pew when there are so many ghosts to photograph, UFO’s to search for in the desert nighttime, and mysterious, potent old books to be discovered in dusty used book stores.

I do not think myself atypical, for in the modern era, serious spiritual seekers crave psychic adrenaline. People do not want to be more than pew-warmers. They are looking for the real mysteries and sources of power. 911 drove home the need to be connected to God, for the terrorists have reminded us that death can come unexpectedly at any time and in any number of ghastly ways.

It is as if the Universe itself has upped the ante, for while the Universe has allowed we moderns an unparalleled access to heretofore hidden knowledge, it has also asked far more from seekers in exchange. I suggest that to find truth nowadays require a greater commitment than it did in earlier times. Truth must now be sought in the face of an information deluge, rampant materialism and greed, the prevailing cynicism towards spirituality exhibited by hostile atheists, and the belief that science, rather than God, is our salvation. It is, as the saying goes, a curse to be born in an interesting time.

Despite its dogmatic strictures on human thought and political hubris, the Religious Right has succeeded in large part because of its vibrant worship services. Go into most Evangelical churches and you will find full-bodied worship services that meet people’s innate need to connect with Spirit-Power. The immediacy of such worship experiences, of being able to celebrate in the vibrant presence of God, draws people in legions. That so much of the "Spirit" is actually generated by theatrical lighting and surround-sound systems does not occur to the hungry masses.

The pompadoured men and weepy, big-haired women who inhabit the baroque slums of religious television have realized that they can get rich by offering what appears to be a direct experience with God. In addition, those 1-900 psychic hotlines allow you to see into the future for only $3.99 a minute. The need for psychic and spiritual adrenaline trumps tradition and those who know this have made millions of dollars thereby. Even when the experience seems dubious to the outsider, for example, when we see men and women being "slain in the Spirit" as the healer in white blows on them, we must recognize that these are real people who hunger for God.

After the dream, I went online and read about Masonry. While it seemed to be a very good group, I found that Masonry did not claim to heal the sick or raise the dead. The Fraternity also made no claims to communicate with extraterrestrials or channel disembodied entities. Masonry was not even on a rampaging quest to recruit new members, as were so many other groups. All Masonry seemed to have was its simple, basic symbol:

The beautiful Square and Compass that encased the letter "G" is a symbol that even non-Masons recognized. Even I knew that it was a Masonic symbol, this although I had no idea what it symbolized. Later, after I had joined the Craft, the realization of a symbolic resemblance between my work creation and that of the Compass and Square would absolutely jolt me. 

Masonry made absolutely no sense to me at this point, and yet having been prompted by a very impressive invisible one, I went online until I found the California Grand Lodge website. I sent an e-mail asking to be contacted. A few e-mails and phone calls later, Worshipful Bruce Ivie and Worshipful Billy Bowles of Old West #813 in Newhall, California, were seated in my living room discussing Masonry with my wife and I. We were very impressed with these fine men. I wanted to pursue the matter and so they agreed that others on the investigating committee would soon contact me.

The visit of the investigating committee brought Worshipful Nicholas Blanchard and another brother of Old West to my home. I could relate to these men and knew that I wanted to be a Mason. After the meeting, I called Worshipful Bowles and asked for a petition. I drove to his house and he gave me the necessary paperwork. I took it home and laid it on my desk. Then I started to have doubts again.

Why Masonry?

I considered Masonry’s decency and civility to be rare commodities in this age of attack-dog-mean political and religious movements whose fires are continually fanned for ratings by an utterly cynical media. However, I was having doubts about what possible place I could have in the Craft. I wrote to a friend of mine in Texas who is a Master Mason. This man is as fine and educated a fellow as you could ever hope to meet. While he had good words to say, he obviously could not disclose much and left me to make my own decision. So the application and the little envelope languished on my desk while I continued my writing and everyday life. Despite the powerful dream, I had allowed my stereotypes of Masonry to cloud my judgment, for I was sure that my personality was not suited to Masonry.

_____

My writing continued with a renewed focus and clarity of mind. I also become increasingly and intensely curious about the Masonic connections in my work, some of which were glaring . For example, before the first dream, I had created this symbol, which would prove to be a prototype, to explain one of the central mysteries of the alternative cosmology I offer in my book:

This was undeniably a modification of the Masonic pyramid:

Despite the overwhelming correspondence in symbolism, I never moved the petition from its place on my normally busy desk. My office is in my home and there is always work to do. The petition and the little dues envelope stared at me while I worked. I felt their rebuke and then would wipe it from my mind. I wondered why I was not doing what had been recommended. Time soon got away and I began to forget that I should join the Masons. Other things, things like work and my family occupied me.  Deep in my heart I was afraid of unleashing something I neither understood nor could control.

The Dream Redux

This did not please a certain somebody, for he returned on the winds of a storm in an almost identical dream some eight weeks later. This time the storm was far more intense, the winds faster, the seas higher, and the clouds darker. This time the waves rose and broke around me on the pier. I could not escape, for there was nowhere to run in this lucid dream. 

I thought I knew how to handle very intense dreams for the guru had taught me not to react to whatever arises, not even in dreams. However, this dream was of a different magnitude and order, for it was not a dream so much as it was an awesome procession conducted by someone with very considerable power. The pier shook so hard that I thought there was an actual earthquake occurring and I tried to wake myself up from the dream. You know how it is when you are in a frightening dream and you try to try to wake yourself up to escape it, but you just cannot. It was like this and I could not wake myself up or even get my body to move.

The storm suddenly broke and I found myself standing atop the edge of a lush, green valley. In the distance, I saw a row of three large white buildings in the valley. The quiet, impressive architecture of these three identical buildings spoke to me of a superb architect. I say this not to be Masonic, for I was not, but because I know architecture from having worked in architectural lighting and having drawn abstract architecture such as the ship that is seen at the beginning of this article.

These three white buildings were beautiful and the valley was peaceful. It was impressed upon me in the dream that special workers of some kind lived in these buildings. I envied these workers, whoever they were, for being able to live in abodes of such great beauty in a magnificent valley.

The sound of talking drew my attention to another building immediately behind me. I turned and saw a large castle surrounded by elegantly planted terraces. There were people eating refreshments. The sense was that there was a break from their work. I walked up to a young man. He offered me water. I took it and told him that the castle was magnificent. He looked at me and said, "It’s too bad that you can’t come in." He then walked away with the others and went into the castle. I felt deep pangs of regret that I would not be able to enter the castle, for I thought that it must contain great secrets. I turned to look at the white buildings again and saw that the sun was setting.

What happened next was very uncomfortable and awkward. I very clearly had the impression of the eminence saying to me, "I will not tell you again." The tenor of the words was that of someone who was upset that they had done me a favor and I had been ungrateful. I was embarrassed for myself.

I woke up, completed filling out the petition and wrote a check. I had a very busy work schedule that day that I cut short in the afternoon. I drove over to the Lodge hoping to find someone there, but no one was in. I wrote down the Secretary’s number and called him from the parking lot on my cell phone. I told him that I wanted to drop by my petition and check and he invited me to drop by his home that afternoon, which I did.

I was soon was initiated a Fellowcraft and began my life in Masonry. I was raised to the Sublime Degree on November 12, 2002, at Old West #813. I now realize that Masonry is the answer to the questions I had been asking. Having had the experience of being visited by one so much greater than myself, I also know that Masonry will play an important part in my life and destiny.

_____

I close with a most unusual postscript to my story. For twenty years now, I have used the following monogram to sign my art:

The monogram is my abstract shorthand for my last name, which is "Augustine." You can see the non-colorized version of it in the drawing of the ship. About six weeks ago I was posting some art work on my website when I noticed that my monogram contains a square and a compass. The exception is that the Square in  my monogram  has parted on one leg as if to admit the square. One essential esoteric aspect of my book involves just such a "Disunification" in which the One divides into two and then closes.  One possible Masonic interpretation of my monogram is that as the Square approaches from the East, the Compass parts so as to admit the Square. Once the Square enters and takes its accustomed place in the South, the Compass will close, and Square and Compass will be locked in a union. When so locked, the "G" can manifest itself in the sacred internal enclosure of the Square and Compass, which enclosure also speaks to the GAOTU manifesting in a Mason's heart after it has been first parted to admit the mysteries of the Craft and then locked by his sacred oath and trust. 

Mind you, my monogram is twenty years old. I first created it in 1983 to launch my first art show at the Whittier Art Museum. I now sometimes lay awake at night and wonder what the future holds for me in Masonry. I have a very definite idea, but who would believe a dreamer?