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THE LETTER OF THE Master of the Lodge

 

KAIROS 2

 

Dearest Brother,
I remembered having an old book somewhere dedicated to kairòs, and in fact I found it: "Kairòs, apologia for due time" by Giacomo Marramao. The author quotes Bienveniste who: "associates the term kairòs (deriving from the Indo-European root * krr-) to the meaning of the [Greek] verb κεραννυμι (kerannymi)," to mix "," to temper ". So far from being resolved in the meaning of "instantaneous moment" or "occasion" [...] kairòs thus comes to designate [...] an extremely complex figure of temporality: a figure that refers to the "quality of the agreement" and the " appropriate mixing "of different elements, just like the weather" (1).
Mind you, this is one of the possible etymologies, but this sentence struck me because it adds an interesting point to our discourse, and prompted me to return to this letter, to explore it together: a certain moment would be the right one for action, the kairòs, because in that moment there is the right mix of the elements involved or, if you prefer, there is the right harmony, the right rhythm.
How to recognize if harmony is just the right one? Perhaps a special inner quality is needed, which experiences a kind of resonance, like when at the end of a particularly lived ritual one exchanges a quick round of satisfied glances: we are not clear what exactly was different, but something was different. it was, and it made us feel good.
Let's face it: it does not always happen, and in fact when it occurs we realize it, we understand that it is a moment that has given us a privileged experience. It is better this way, otherwise we would be robots with aprons!
I want to go further and say that probably the essence of initiation is precisely this quality of perceiving the kairos, inside and outside the temple.
For the layman, time flows in one direction and acquires thickness when there are peaks of emotion (happiness or pain), while for the initiate, time is almost a mysterious musical instrument, which plays notes that are sometimes incomprehensible, yet fascinating and irresistible, and with multiple shades. But the difference between the profane and the initiate, if the initiation has had any effect, is that the initiate knows how to listen to this music.
Soon!

 

S&F

 

W.M. M.B. Master of Lodge

 

(1) Marramao Giacomo, “Kairòs, apologia del tempo debito”, pagg. 99-100, Laterza, Bari 1992