Who is EA

When a candidate receives the First Degree, he is said to be entered, signifying his admission or introduction into the Order 1. Standing symbolically in the Northeast corner of the lodge—midway between the darkness of profane ignorance and the light of the symbolic East—he takes his position as a just and upright Mason to receive his initial instructions and working tools 2. Although Entered Apprentices historically constituted the main body of the Fraternity, governance and legislative authority eventually shifted exclusively to Master Masons, placing the First Degree as a preparatory step toward full membership 1.

An Entered Apprentice possesses specific legal and fraternal rights within the Craft. He is entitled to sit in any lodge opened in the First Degree, receive Masonic instruction, converse on subjects appropriate to his standing, and apply for advancement to the degree of Fellow Craft 3. While a lodge retains the right to refuse his advancement on a ballot, he cannot be deprived of his standing, suspended, or expelled without due process 3. Because expulsion forfeits an initiate's Masonic rights and affects his character, such a sentence by a lodge is inoperative until confirmed by the Grand Lodge, to which the Apprentice retains a right of appeal 3.