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Freemasonry

Freemasonry's Square & Compasses logo

Freemasonry, a worldwide fraternal organization, often calls itself "a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." Its members are joined together by high ideals, of both a moral and metaphysical nature (and, in the majority of branches, by a common belief in a Supreme Being). Freemasonry is an "esoteric art," in that certain aspects of its internal work are not generally revealed to the public. Masons give numerous reasons for this, one of which is that Freemasonry uses an initiatory system of degrees to explore ethical and philosophical issues, and this system is less effective if the observer knows beforehand what will happen.

Table of contents

1 Membership 2 Criticism and Repression 3 Ritual and Symbols 3.1 Lodges 3.2 Freemasonry in the language 4 Organizational Structure 4.3 Freemasonry's "appendant bodies" 4.3.1 Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 5 History of Freemasonry 6 Women in Freemasonry 7 Prince Hall Masonry 8 The Two Great Schisms of Freemasonry (1753 and 1877) 9 External links

Membership

Freemasons are expected to exhibit the utmost tolerance both in "Lodge" (the meeting place of a group of Freemasons) and in their daily lives. Freemasonry will thus accept members from almost any religion, including all denominations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and so forth. Exactly how far this goes depends on the particular branch or "jurisdiction" of Freemasonry one is dealing with. Deists have traditionally been accepted. In Lodges derived from the Grand Orient of France and in certain other groups of Lodges, atheists and agnostics are also accepted, without qualification. Most other branches currently require a belief in a Supreme Being. But even there, one finds a high degree of non-dogmatism, and the phrase "Supreme Being" is often given a very broad interpretation, usually allowing Deism and often even allowing naturalistic views of "God/Nature" in the tradition of Spinoza and Goethe (himself a Freemason), or non-theistic views of Ultimate Reality or Cosmic Oneness, such as found in some Eastern religions and in Western idealism (or for that matter, in modern cosmology). In some other (mostly English-speaking) jurisdictions, Freemasonry is not as tolerant of naturalism as it was in the 18th century, and specific religious requirements with more theistic and orthodox overtones have been added since the early 19th century, including (mostly in North America) belief in the immortality of the soul. The Freemasonry that predominates in Scandinavia, known as the Swedish Rite, accepts only Christians.

Generally, to be a Freemason, one must:

1. be a man, if joining the majority of Masonic jurisdictions, or a woman, if joining a jurisdiction with women's Lodges (unless joining a co-Masonic jurisdiction with no gender requirement),
2. believe in a "Supreme Being", or, in some jurisdictions, a "Creative Principle" (unless joining a jurisdiction with no religious requirement),
3. be at least the minimum age (18-25 years depending on the jurisdiction),
4. be of sound mind, body and of good morals, and
5. be free (or "born free", i.e. not born a slave or bondsman).

Freemasonry upholds the principles of "Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth" (or in France: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"). It teaches moral lessons through rituals. Members working through the rituals are taught by "degrees". Freemasons are also commonly involved in public service and charity work, as well as providing a social outlet for their members. There is considerable variance in the emphasis on these different aspects of Masonry around the world. In Continental Europe, the philosophical side of Freemasonry is more emphasized, while in Britain, North America, and the English-speaking parts of the world, the charity, service and social club aspects are more emphasized.

While Freemasonry as an organization does not directly involve itself in politics, its members have tended over the years to support certain kinds of political causes with which they have become associated in the public eye: the separation of Church and State, the establishment of secular public schools, and democratic revolutions (in the United States and France on a smaller scale, but on a larger scale in other places such as Mexico, Brazil, and repeatedly in Italy).

Many organizations with various religious and political purposes have been inspired by Freemasonry, and are sometimes confused with it, such as the Protestant Loyal Orange Association and the 19th century Italian Carbonari, which pursued Liberalism and Italian Unity. Many other purely fraternal organizations, too numerous to mention, have also been inspired by Masonry to a greater or lesser extent.

Freemasonry is often called a "secret society", and in fact is considered by many to be the very prototype for such societies. Many Masons say that it is more accurately described as a "society with secrets". The degree of secrecy varies widely around the world. In English-speaking countries, most Masons are completely public with their affiliation, Masonic buildings are clearly marked, and meeting times are generally a matter of public record. In other countries, where Freemasonry has been more recently, or is even currently, suppressed by the government, secrecy may be practiced more in earnest (again, depending greatly on the particular country). Even in the English-speaking world, the precise details of the rituals are not made public, and Freemasons have a system of secret modes of recognition, such as the Masonic secret grip, by which Masons can recognize each other "in the dark as well as in the light," and which are universally kept strictly secret. (Although these "secrets" have been available in printed exposes and anti-Masonic literature for many years.)

Criticism and Repression

Freemasonry has been a long-time favorite target of conspiracy theorists, who see it as an occult and evil power, often associated with Judaism, and usually either bent on world domination, or already secretly in control of world politics.

Freemasonry is almost universally banned in totalitarian states. In 1925, it was outlawed in Fascist Italy. Allegedly in Nazi Germany, Freemasons were sent to concentration camps and all Masonic Lodges were ordered shut down. German Masons used the blue forget-me-not as a secret means of recognition and as a substitute for the traditional (and too-easily-recognized) square and compasses. Roman Catholics are forbidden to become Freemasons by their church, though Freemasons do not bar Roman Catholics from becoming members. Freemasonry is also discouraged by some denominations of Protestantism.

In modern democracies, Freemasonry is occasionally accused of being a sort of club, or network, where a lot of influence peddling, and perhaps illegal dealings, take place. In the early 1800s, William Morgan disappeared after threatening to expose Freemasonry's secrets, causing some to claim that he had been murdered by Masons. In Italy, in the 1970s, the P2 lodge was investigated in the wake of a financial scandal and a suspicious death. As a result, the lodge was expelled from Italian Masonry (although it continued to function independently). In Nice, France, the head prosecutor accused some judges and other judicial personnel of deliberately stalling or refusing to elucidate cases involving Masons. In the 1990s in Britain, the Labour Party government tried unsuccessfully to pass a law requiring all public officials who were Masons to make their affiliation public.

See also: Anti-Masonry, United States Anti-Masonic Party.

The Freemasons rely heavily on the architectural symbolism of the Medieval "operative" Masons who actually worked in stone. One of their principal symbols is the "square and compasses", tools of the trade, so arranged as to form a quadrilateral. The square is sometimes said to represent matter, and the compasses spirit or mind. Alternatively, the square might be said to represent the world of the concrete, or the measure of objective reality, while the compasses represent abstraction, or subjective judgment, and so forth (Freemasonry being non-dogmatic, there is no written-in-stone interpretation for any of these symbols). The compasses straddle the square, representing the interdependence between the two. In the space between the two, there is optionally placed a symbol of metaphysical significance. Sometimes, this is a blazing star or other symbol of Light, representing Truth or knowledge. Alternatively, there is often a letter "G" placed there, usually said to represent "God and/or Geometry".

The square and compasses are displayed at all Masonic meetings, along with the open "Volume of the Sacred Law (or Lore)" (VSL). In English-speaking countries, this is usually a Holy Bible, but it can be whatever book of inspiration or scripture that the members of a particular Lodge or jurisdiction feel they draw on--whether the Bible, the Koran. In many French Lodges, the Masonic Constitutions are used. In a few cases, a blank book has been used, where the religious makeup of a Lodge was too diverse to permit an easy choice of VSL. In addition to its role as a symbol of written wisdom, inspiration, and sometimes as the revealed will of the Deity, the VSL is what Masonic obligations are taken upon.

Much of Masonic symbolism is mathematical in nature, and in particular geometrical, which is probably a reason Freemasonry has attracted so many rationalists (such as Voltaire, Fichte, Goethe, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and many others). No particular metaphysical theory is advanced by Freemasonry, however, although there seems to be some influence from the Pythagoreans, from Neo-Platonism, and from early modern Rationalism.

In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being (or God, or Creative Principle) is sometimes also referred to in Masonic ritual as "the Grand Geometrician", or the "Great Architect of the Universe". Freemasons use a variety of labels for this concept, often abbreviated "G.A.O.T.U.", in order to avoid the idea that they are talking about any one religion's particular God or God-like concept.

There are three initial "degrees" of Freemasonry: (1) Entered Apprentice, (2) Fellow Craft and (3) Master Mason. One works through each degree by taking part in a ritual, essentially a medieval mortality Play, in which one plays a role, along with members of the Lodge that one is joining. The setting is Biblical--the building of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem--although the stories themselves are not directly from the Bible, and not intended to be necessarily Jewish or Christian in nature. Nothing supernatural happens in these stories. The Temple can be taken to represent the "temple" of the individual human being, that of the human community, or of the entire universe.

As one works through the degrees, one studies the lessons and interprets them for oneself. There are as many ways to interpret the rituals as there are Masons, and no Mason may dictate to any other Mason how he is to interpret them. No particular truths are espoused, but a common structure--speaking symbolically to universal human archetypes--provides for each Mason a means to come to his own answers to life's important questions. Freemasons working through the degrees are often (especially in Continental Europe) asked to prepare papers on related philosophical topics, and present lectures.

Mozart was a Freemason, and his opera, The Magic Flute, makes extensive use of Masonic symbolism. Two books that give a general feel for the symbolism and its interpretation are:

1. "Freemasonry: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol" by W.K. MacNulty, Thames & Hudson, London, 1991.
2. "Symbols of Freemasonry" by D. Beresniak and L. Hamani, Assouline, Paris, 2000.

The operative lodges constructed a lodge building adjacent to the work site where the masons could meet for instruction and social contact. Normally, this was on the southern side of the site (in Europe, the side with the sun warming the stones during the day.) The social part of the building was on the southern side, hence the social gathering of the lodge is still called the South.

Early speculative lodges met in taverns and other convenient public meeting places, and employed a Tyler to guard the door from both malicious and simply curious people.

Lodge buildings have for many years been known as a temple. In many countries this term has now been replaced by Masonic Centre. (See also reference to the Shriners and their Temples. Until 2003-4, the Oscars were held at the Shriners temple/auditorium in Hollywood / Los Angeles.)

Freemasonry in the language

Organizational Structure

There are a great many different "jurisdictions" of Freemasonry, each sovereign and independent of the others, and usually defined according to a geographic territory. There is thus no central Masonic authority, although each jurisdiction maintains a list of other jurisdictions that it formally "recognizes". If the other jurisdiction reciprocates the recognition, the two jurisdictions are said to be "in amity", which permits the members of the one jurisdiction to attend closed meetings of the other jurisdiction's Lodges, and vice-versa. Generally speaking, to be recognized by another jurisdiction, one must (at least) meet that jurisdiction's requirements for "regularity". This generally means that one must have in place, at least, the "ancient landmarks" of Freemasonry... the essential characteristics considered to be universal to Freemasonry in any culture. In keeping with the decentralized and non-dogmatic nature of Freemasonry, however, there is no universally accepted list of landmarks, and even jurisdictions in amity with each other often have completely different ideas as to what those landmarks are. Many jurisdictions take no official position at all as to what the landmarks are.

There is no tidy way to split jurisdictions into separate camps. For instance, jurisdiction A might recognize B, which recognizes C, which does not recognize A. In addition, the geographical territory of one jurisdiction may overlap with another's, which may affect their relations, for purely territorial reasons. In other cases, one jurisdiction may overlook irregularities in another due simply to a desire to maintain friendly relations. Also, a jurisdiction may be formally affiliated with one tradition, while maintaining informal ties with the other. For all these reasons, labels like "Anglo" and "Continental" must be taken only as rough indicators, not as any kind of clear designation.

The ruling authority of a Masonic jurisdiction is usually called a "Grand Lodge", or sometimes a "Grand Orient". These normally correspond to a single country, although their territory can be broader or narrower than that (in North America, each state and province has its own Grand Lodge). The oldest jurisdiction in the Anglo branch of Freemasonry is the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), founded in 1717. Its headquarters are at Freemasons Hall, Great Queen Street, London. The oldest in the Continental branch is the Grand Orient de France (GOdF), founded in 1728. At one time, these branches recognized each other, but most jurisdictions cut off formal relations with the GOdF sometime after it started accepting atheists in 1877. In most Latin countries, the French style of Freemasonry predominates. The rest of the world, accounting for the bulk of Freemasonry, tends to follow the English lead.

Freemasonry's "appendant bodies"

There are also certain youth organizations (mainly North American) which are associated with Freemasonry, but are not necessarily Masonic in their content, such as the Order of DeMolay (for boys aged 12-21), the Job's Daughters and the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls (for girls 11-20).

Scottish Rite of Freemasonry

33° Inspector General

• Supreme Council

• Consistory

• Council of Kadosh

• Rose Croix

• Lodge of Perfection

• Blue Lodge or Craft Lodge

Main article: History of Freemasonry

Freemasonry has been said to be an institutional outgrowth of the medieval guilds of stonemasons (1), a direct descendant of the "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem" (the Knights Templar)(2), an offshoot of the ancient Mystery schools(1), an administrative arm of the Priory of Sion(3), the Roman Collegia(1), the Comacine masters(1), intellectual descendants of Noah(1), and to have many other various and sundry origins. Others will claim that it dates back only to the late 17th century, and has no real connections at all to earlier organizations. These theories are noted in numerous different texts, and the following are but examples pulled from a sea of books:

1. In "A History of Freemasonry" by H.L. Haywood and James E. Craig, pub. circa 1927
2. In "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, pub. 1982
3. In "Born in Blood" By John Robinson, pub. 1989