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 218 Episodes
The Ruffians Within — Episode 5: Movement, Noticing, and the Refusal to Stand Still
This concluding episode integrates the previous discussions of fear, uncertainty, and doubt into a single developmental insight: the true objective of the Ruffians Wit...
The Ruffians Within — Episode 4: Doubt and the Justification of Inaction
This episode examines doubt as the most subtle and intellectually respectable of the Ruffians Within. Unlike fear or uncertainty, doubt often presents itself as rigor,...
The Ruffians Within — Episode 3: Uncertainty Disguised as Virtue
This episode examines uncertainty as a ruffian that rarely announces itself honestly. Instead, it hides behind socially praised virtues like patience, tolerance, and c...
The Ruffians Within — Episode 2: Fear and the Silencing of Speech
This episode examines fear as the first of the Ruffians Within—not as a villain to be destroyed, but as a psychological function that can either protect or paralyze. T...
The Ruffians Within — Episode 1: Naming the Internal Saboteurs
This opening episode introduces the Three Ruffians as internal forces that quietly undermine growth and agency. Rather than treating them as external villains, the epi...
The World - Part IV: Becoming Part of the Living System
At the systemic level, the world reveals itself as a living structure—moving with you, through you, and without you. This episode explores how the world operates as a ...
The World - Part III: The Social World and the Architecture of Relationship
At the relational level, the world reveals itself as a network of interacting systems—human, cultural, social, and behavioral. This episode explores how we learn from ...
The World – Part II: Behavior, Reality, and the Work of Adjustment
This episode examines the world as the domain of behavioral truth—the difference between what we imagine, intend, or feel and what we actually do. The world reflects o...
The World – Part I: The Field Where the Work Is Tested
In this opening episode, the World is introduced as the place where Masonic ideals encounter friction, resistance, and consequence. The Lodge is where tools are learne...
The Craft Series – Part III: Building the Future Together
At the systemic level, the Craft becomes a framework for understanding how groups build across time. This episode explores how collective work scales beyond individual...
The Craft Series – Part II: The Human Architecture of Collaboration
At the relational level, the Craft reveals the subtle architecture of how people work together—how strengths complement weaknesses, how frictions become information, a...
The Craft Series – Part I: What Working Together Demands of Us
At the behavioral level, the Craft is the body of workers engaged in shared labor—and the habits, reliability, and presence each person brings to that work. In this ep...
The Rough Ashlar Series – Part III: The Philosophy of the Unfinished Stone
At the systemic level, the Rough Ashlar represents the philosophical recognition that imperfection itself is the engine of growth. In this episode, we explore how unfi...
The Rough Ashlar Series – Part II: When Our Roughness Meets the World
At the relational level, the Rough Ashlar is revealed through feedback, friction, and the way our unfinished edges land on other people. This episode explores how to i...
The Rough Ashlar Series – Part I: The Material We Begin With
At the behavioral level, the Rough Ashlar represents the unshaped material of our habits, reactions, and instinctive responses. This episode grounds the symbol in ever...
The Three Knocks Series – Part III: Knocking, Integration & Awakening
In the final episode of the series, we arrive at “knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Here, the focus shifts from external searching and relational asking to an in...
The Three Knocks Series – Part II: Asking and Feedback Loops
In this second episode, we move from seeking into “ask and it shall be given you.” Here, learning becomes relational: mentors, experts, and more capable others enter t...
The Three Knocks Series – Part I: Seeking and the Self
This episode explores the first phrase of the biblical pattern behind the three knocks: “Seek and ye shall find.” We unpack seeking as both a discovery process and a m...
The Master Mason Series – Part III: The Workman and the Work
At the philosophical level, the Master Mason transcends the separation between creator and creation. In this final episode, we explore the systemic view of mastery — w...
The Master Mason Series – Part II: The Stillness of Motion
Relational mastery is not found in control, but in composure. In this episode, we explore how the Master Mason remains centered amid change — resilient, adaptive, and ...