A Mason's Work

The hoodwink is one of the more uncomfortable symbols to sit with, precisely because most Masons only experience it once and then move on. Brian Mattocks, building on the operative method detailed in his book A Mason's Work, starts here by placing the hoodwink in the hands of the guide — the person who walks a candidate through preparation before anything else happens. That framing shifts the symbol away from ceremony and toward a direct question: who are you following, and have you chosen them consciously?

Willful blindness shows up in mentoring relationships more than almost anywhere else. It is easy to overlook serious character flaws in a mentor when you are impressed by their accomplishments or hungry for what they can offer. The hoodwink, understood conceptually, names that pattern. But it also works in the other direction — there are situations where the right move is to deliberately set aside what irritates you about a person and let yourself be guided anyway, because the skill or knowledge they carry is real and you need it. Neither application is instinctive. Both require practice.

The physical experience of the hoodwink tends to crowd out its conceptual use. Once you separate the two, the symbol becomes a practical lens for examining how and where you have chosen not to see — in the people you trust, the doors you refuse to open, and the emotional content you would rather leave unexamined.

• The guide role as a framework for examining mentoring relationships
• Willful ignorance versus chosen blindness — and why the distinction matters
• Overlooking a mentor's serious flaws due to admiration or ambition
• Deliberately setting bias aside to learn from someone you find difficult
• The hoodwink as a symbol of both unchosen and self-imposed ignorance
• Moving from the physical ritual experience to conceptual daily application

This is the opening frame for a week-long examination of what changes when you hand the same symbol to a different role — and what each role reveals that the others cannot.

Free Lodge Resource: Download the A Mason's Work Discussion Guide - a free, printable discussion guide for your lodge education night. No signup required.

Ready to go deeper? A Mason's Work - the operative method in full. Or bring Brian to your lodge: Virtual Lodge Education Session - $250.

• Tim Dedman
• Jorge