Chapter 2 – The Pripyat Grand Lodge Visit

Since some of you enjoyed the first entry in these series and were eager to see new material come to life, I decided to tell you the story about my Chernobyl visit which took place exactly four years ago (on the day the disaster turned exactly 30 years old).

Before I start, I must tell you that this was an accident, it was not provoked by anyone 100% (I have seen authentic documents provided by high-grade military intelligence officers in Ukraine). They did try to cover it up, like the Soviets did back in the day (nothing is the State’s fault and all that stuff), but when Gorbaciov realized that he could not contain the disaster, he and the Party decided to let the news out. You all know the story, some of you probably read the Nobel Prize award winning book ‘Voices from Chernobyl’ by the Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich, or even saw the great series that aired on the TV (although some gruesome details were not included in the show), so I will not go into the actual disaster story.

However, I would like for everyone to hold a moment of silence for all the brave men and women who lost their lives in that disaster, all the medical staff, the firefighters and the scientist who were capable to contain the disaster on the 4th of May 1986.

Today marks 34 years since that disaster. Let us never forget.

So let me get started with today’s story. I will get back to my Initiation Ritual and what happened after I was made Apprentice at a later stage of this stories. I will not tell them in chronological order because I want you, reader, to be surprised every single time I tell you about my experiences as a Freemason.

Back in 2016, the Lodge that I am still a part of, received an invitation to join the meeting of our brothers in Ukraine, most specifically the Pripyat Grand Lodge which was to be held exactly on April 26th 2016. Of course, the Master and the rest of us were a bit confused because we have never been to that part of Ukraine before and we were a bit scared because we might get irradiated, might get sick, might get eaten by mutants and things like that.

After our usual meeting at the Temple, the Master called his counterpart in Ukraine to see exactly what this was about. Suffice to say that we all agreed to go because we did not felt only obliged, but it was a sign of respect not to refuse the invitation.

About a week later we had three cars come pick us up at the Temple and with the trip being just a bit over 17 hours, we stopped and slept the night at one of our brothers’ hotel in Moldova and the next day we were near the city of Pripyat where we were greeted by our brothers with handshakes and Triple Fraternal Accolades. We got acquainted and they actually prepared a tour for us to visit the surroundings of Chernobyl where we saw Reactor 4 and the DUGA-1 and then we went on to have a typical Soviet lunch like they used to have when the USSR was still a thing. Then we went to visit The Ghost Town and we stopped nearby the Red Forest. We were all equipped with dosimeters and hazmat suits of course. While we were nearing the Red Forest, our Ukrainian brothers told us that we will go somewhere to have our meeting and then we will go and sleep in a secret hotel that only the Masons know about.

After this, military personnel pulled in front of us and escorted us to an underground bunker near the Red Forest. We descended to the -3 floor of the facility where we had the meeting. Our Master had a speech and vice-versa. After the meeting ended, we went on having our normal brotherly banquet. However, this is where things starting getting strange. The food was nothing like I have ever seen before, the wine had multiple colors at the same time, there were some sauteed mushrooms that were a phosphorescent green (similar to Hygrocybe virescens), the meats were very tasty even though they were looking really overcooked (on the inside they were very tender), the potatoes were turquoise and the fish were a very pale pink with crimson tails… and me I was sitting over there thinking: “Is this real food or are they joking? Are we supposed to eat the damned rainbow in here?”

But the most interesting thing was the tea they served at the end. The hot tea was smelling like hot summer mornings, then changing to the smell of petrichor, then to the freezing smell of snow. It was like all seasons were trapped in that cup of tea.

We were of course a little bit scared to eat the food, but our Brothers told us there is nothing to be worried about as this is some ultra rare foods only 333 people in the world know of its existence. After we finished the Master of the Pripyat Lodge raised his glass: “Drink this final glass of wine my brothers and let me lead you to see the greatest secret of Chernobyl. You will now meet Vovkulaka.”

Then we went to the -5 floor where… there was just a cage. Inside it there was a man. “Help me, please! They got me trapped in here!” Of course I was absolutely outraged and I whispered to my professor: What is this non-sense, professor? Why do they torment a man like that?” and even though I whispered the Master heard me and said: “You know I speak your language, right? I know how this looks like, but I can assure you that shortly something that will change the way you see this man will happen.”

Then he started chanting some Latin phrases and he threw some liquid on the man and then… claws started growing out of the tips of his fingers, hair growing everywhere, his clothes were slowly tearing apart. The man seemed to be turning in something else, something not of this world, something unholy, evil and unnatural. Soon razor like teeth started erecting from his mouth, his eyes turning a dark shade of crimson red. His metamorphosis was complete and the man was no longer a man, but a huge, monstrous type of wolf.

“Mortals, one day I will escape this prison and I will kill you all. Mark my words. You had me confined for the last 400 years, since that day were I tore apart your lands. I will escape someday; I will end this world in blood and fire.”

I was absolutely petrified. I stood still for the next 10 minutes or so. My teacher was as calm as they come, meaning that this was something usual for him and I was left wondering how many horrors are in this world, what things exists here, what darkness lives on this earth with us?

The Master took out another liquid, threw it on the creature and it started shrieking, letting out sounds not of this world. After that it turned to that man again and we left. Still in shock I asked, almost crying: “What was that?! Why you don’t just kill it???”

The Master looking disapprovingly at me said that this was an 850 years old werewolf and since his capture, the Masons have been trying relentlessly to alter his mind, using certain substances (which I know nothing about) and make more creatures like this, eventually turning them into armies for future wars. Yes, I know that we have all this technology now and we could make robots and whatnot but these guys have a lot of secrets. If they kept him for so long, it must be very valuable to have them. Maybe immortality, who knows?

After this we… sort of fainted and woke up next morning in a hotel which did not look like a hotel, but like an apartment building that felt like it was constantly moving (no I wasn’t hungover).

On the table in my room, I found a note saying that they wish us a great trip back home, thanking us for accepting the invitation and hoping that we can meet again, sooner rather than later. Also there was a bottle of that tea wrapped as a present. To this day, I never opened it.

Until next time, stay safe and take care, reader.