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
Appears in 101 Episodes
The Ashlar and the Question of Growth
In a world full of disorder and limits beyond our control, why bother growing at all? This episode confronts that foundational question, exploring the symbolic Ashlar—...
The Oath and the Work: Escaping the Disappointment Trap
Why do so many men leave Freemasonry disillusioned? This episode explores the misunderstanding at the heart of that disappointment: the belief that the Masonic oath is...
The Level and the Deferred Life Plan
This episode confronts the quiet danger of deferral—the belief that fulfillment lies somewhere beyond the present moment. Drawing on the Masonic symbol of the Level, i...
You Are Not Your Results: The Mason’s Paradox
Drawing wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita and the tools of Freemasonry, this episode challenges a deep cultural illusion: that our value lies in our results. By reflecting...
The Gavel and the Temptation to Settle
What begins as well-earned rest can quickly become a barrier to growth. This episode explores the moment when satisfaction turns into stagnation—and how the symbolic G...
The Trowel and the Three Virtues: Building Faith, Hope, and Charity for a Modern World
What do the Masonic virtues of faith, hope, and charity ask of us today? This episode re-examines these foundational values through a modern lens, asking whether their...
We Meet on the Level — But We Are Not the Same
Freemasonry teaches equality at the altar, but we all walk in with different histories, insights, and levels of development. In this episode, we examine how symbolic a...
Find Me a Rock: The Futility of Leading for the Unwilling
In groups where few take ownership, even good leaders get stuck playing a losing game. This episode explores the “find me a rock” dynamic—where complaints are abundant...
Every Complaint Is a Tool - Start with the One You’re Holding
Compassion is vital—but it isn’t passive. In this episode, we explore how frustration, disappointment, and criticism can become instruments of growth. Whether you’re h...
Freemasonry Among the Traditions: The Path, Not the Title
Across spiritual and philosophical lineages—from Bodhisattvas and Sadiqs to Philosopher Kings and Saints—there exists an aspirational identity: the just person, the mo...
The Work of a Master Mason: Governing the Self First
Following last episode’s exploration of insatiable desire, this conversation turns to recovery, regulation, and real compassion. Whether it’s addiction, avoidance, or ...
Desire That Devours: What the Compasses Teach Us
In this episode, we explore the Buddhist realm of Hungry Ghosts - beings tormented by insatiable craving; and its profound parallels with the human condition. Whether ...
The Fellow Craft Apron and the Logic of Compassion
Compassion doesn’t always arise naturally but that doesn’t mean we can’t train for it. In this episode, we explore a protocol for practicing compassion using symbolic ...
Sometimes the Hidden Isn’t Hidden - It’s Just Poorly Explained
What if esotericism isn’t about secret knowledge, but simply about structure and clarity? In this episode, we challenge the idea that Masonic depth is inherently myste...
Why So Many Guards? The Lodge as Mental Fortress
Why are there so many guards in the lodge? This episode reinterprets the symbolic role of Masonic sentinels as cognitive and emotional gatekeepers. In an age where inf...
Freemasonry Without Permission: A Path Beyond the Lodge
Not every lodge is the right soil for growth. In this episode, we explore how to stay on the Masonic path even when your environment doesn’t support it. Whether your l...
Put On Your Apron: Becoming the Mason You Were Raised to Be
In this episode, we revisit the Hiramic Legend—not for its historical allegory, but as a mirror for our modern emotional lives. What does it mean to stand in the momen...
One of the Twelve: An Invitation to the Real Work of the Craft
In this cornerstone episode, we explore the Hiramic legend as a metaphor for self-awareness and moral choice—focusing on the twelve Fellowcrafts who step back from des...
The Tuxedo and the Trowel: Wearing the Symbol, Living the Labor
In this episode, we reflect on the ritual and symbolic role of Masonic dress—especially the tuxedo—not as a marker of status, but as a signal of readiness, humility, a...
The Unspoken Symbol: Beneath the Degrees, Behind the Work
This episode explores a symbol never named directly in the degrees, yet present everywhere in the Masonic experience: curiosity. It’s the force beneath every inquiry, ...
The Trowel and the Limits of Patience
In this episode, we reflect on what it means to apply the Trowel—the Masonic tool of compassion and connection—when our patience is tested by behavior we don’t yet und...
The Silence Around the Center: Freemasonry and the Question of God
In this episode, we explore the symbolic and cultural hesitation around discussing God inside the Masonic lodge. While Freemasonry references the Grand Architect of th...
The Pavement and the Void
In this episode, we conclude our series on The Book of Five Rings with the final chapter: The Book of Emptiness. Paired symbolically with the Pavement—the Masonic embl...
Why Technique Fails: What Freemasonry and Musashi Agree On
In this episode, we continue our symbolic reflection on The Book of Five Rings by exploring the Wind Scroll—Musashi’s fierce critique of illusion, distraction, and rel...
Operating in the Fire: Musashi, Masons, and the Lodge Mindset
In this episode, we explore the Fire Book of The Book of Five Rings and its symbolic alignment with the Masonic lodge as a mental and tactical space. Drawing from Wilm...
Flow and Form: The Water Scroll and the Fellow Craft
In this episode, we continue our symbolic alignment between The Book of Five Rings and Masonic working tools—turning now to the Water Scroll, paired with the Fellow Cr...
The Square and the Sword: Lessons from The Book of Five Rings
In this episode, we begin a new reflection series pairing Masonic symbols with chapters from The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. The Square takes the lead—serv...
What astronomy reveals about motion and becoming
In this episode, we conclude our exploration of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences with a reflection on Astronomy—not as mere stargazing, but as a profound symbolic s...
The emotional intelligence of music in Freemasonry
In this episode, we explore Music as more than melody or ritual ornament—understood instead as a nonverbal system of emotional communication. Continuing our series on ...
Geometry as truth between things
In this episode, we examine Geometry not simply as a spatial discipline, but as a symbolic science of relationships, continuity, and structure. Continuing our series o...