Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. Members are joined together by shared ideals of both moral and metaphysical nature and, in most of its branches, by a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. Organisationally, Freemasonry is governed on a geographic basis by independent, Sovereign Grand Lodges which may, or may not, be in a state of mutual recognition. Aims and Relationships of the Craft Para 9

Freemasonry is an esoteric society, in that certain aspects of its internal work are not generally disclosed to the public Aims and Relationships of the Craft Para 11, but it is not an occult system. Masonry's critics however say that many of the most well known occultists have been Freemasons, and that in fact Freemasonry is at the very center of the occult. Freemasonry: Midwife to an Occult Empire. Masonry says in recent years, it has become less and less a secret society and more of a "society with secrets." http://www.grandlodge-england.org/masonry/YQA-secret-society.htm Freemasonrys critics say that there has been no change and that Freemasonry is as it has always been, a secret society. Freemasonrys critics say that there has been no change and that Freemasonry is as it has always been, a secret society. Freemasonry Watch Masons say that therefore, the private aspects of modern Freemasonry deal with elements of ritual and the modes of recognition amongst members within the ritual. Emulation Ritual ISBN 0 85318 187 X pub 1991, London Freemasonry's critics maintain that the oaths taken by Masons require them to keep all secrets of Masons, including knowledge of activities of other Masons that take place outside the Lodge. Inside the Brotherhood, Martin Short

Organizational structure

Main article: Grand Lodge

There are many jurisdictions within Freemasonry, each sovereign and independent of the others, and usually defined according to a national or geographic territory. There is no central Masonic organizational structure or authority, and in any event many practices are determined by Lodge custom, so any general description will inevitably be inaccurate in respect of some places.

The authority in any Masonic jurisdiction is vested in a Grand Lodge, or sometimes a Grand Orient. Each jurisdiction maintains a list of other jurisdictions that it formally recognizes as meeting its requirements for regularity based on a number of Landmarks. If the other jurisdiction reciprocates the recognition, the two jurisdictions are said to be in amity. Being in amity means that the members are able to attend meetings bilaterally. In keeping with the decentralized and non-dogmatic nature of Freemasonry, there is no universally accepted list of landmarks, although a number of core principles exist. Jurisdictions in amity with each other may have very different ideas as to what those landmarks are, with some taking no official position at all

A number of bodies style themselves along Masonic lines, using similar regalia and ritual however they are not accorded recognition.

Membership requirements

A candidate for Freemasonry must apply to a Private (or Constituent) Lodge in his community, obtaining an introduction by asking an existing member. After enquiries are made, he must be freely elected by secret ballot in open Lodge. Members approving his candidacy will vote with "white balls" in the voting box. Adverse votes by "black balls" will exclude a candidate. The number of adverse votes necessary to reject a candidate, which in some jurisdictions is as few as one, is set out in the governing Constitution. Lodges conduct these elections in a number of

General requirements

Generally to be a Freemason, one must:

1. Be a man who comes of his own free will. Traditionally Freemasons do not actively recruit new members.
2. Believe in a Supreme Being, or, in some jurisdictions, a Creative Principle Aims and Relationships of the Craft.
3. Be at least the minimum age (18–25 years depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly 21),
4. Be of sound mind, body and of good morals, and of good repute.
5. Be free (or "born free", i.e. not born a slave or bondsman).
6. Have one or two references from current Masons (depending on jurisdiction).

One must approach an existing member for an application, so Freemasonry is open to all who otherwise fulfil the requirements.

A candidate is asked 'Do you believe in a Supreme Being?', there is no further investigation into the nature of that Supreme Being. Since an initiate is obligated on that sacred volume which is applicable to their faith a sponsor will enquire as to an appropriate volume once a decision has been made on the applicants suitability for initiation.

A number of Grand Lodges allow a Lewis, the son of a Mason, to be initiated earlier than the normal minimum age for that Grand Lodge.; Grand Lodges encourage the use of mechanisms within the ritual to mitigate for difficulty.

The "free born" requirement is moot in modern Lodges; it remains for purely historical reasons. Some jurisdictions have done away with it entirely.

Some Grand Lodges in the United States have a residence requirement, candidates being expected to have lived within the jurisdiction for certain period of time, typically six months.

See also: List of famous Freemasons

Membership and religion

Freemasonry explicitly and openly states that it is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion. There is no separate "Masonic God," and there is no separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry, accessed January 21 2006..

Freemasonry requires that its candidates believe in a Supreme Being, the nature of that being subject to the conscience of the candidate. As the interpretation of the term Supreme Being is left up to the individual members can be drawn from a wide range of faiths; the Abrahamic religions and other monotheistic religions. Some members of non-monotheistic religions are accepted subject to answering Yes to the question asked, these include, for example, Buddhists and Hindus.

In the irregular Continental European tradition, since the early 19th Century, a very broad interpretation has been given to a (non-dogmatic) Supreme Being — usually allowing Deism and naturalistic views in the tradition of Spinoza and Goethe (himself a Freemason), or views of The Ultimate or Cosmic Oneness, along with Western atheistic idealism and agnosticism. This leads some anti-Masonic pundits to suggest that even regular Freemasonry will, in practice, accept certain kinds of atheists — willing to adopt quasi-spiritual language.

In some jurisdictions (mostly English-speaking), Freemasonry is actually less tolerant of naturalism than it was in the 18th Century.

The Freemasonry that predominates in Scandinavia, known as the Swedish Rite accepts only Christians.Freemasons for Dummies, by Christopher Hodapp, Wiley Publishing Inc., Indianapolis, 2005, p.65, sec. "Religion and the Masons".

Women and Freemasonry

Main article: Co-Freemasonry

The position of women and Freemasonry is complex, although traditionally, only men can be made Freemasons, in Regular Freemasonry.

A supposed exceptional, (very irregular and perhaps unique), account of a woman being admitted to Freemasonry in, 18th century, is the case of Elizabeth Aldworth (born St. Leger), who is reported to have viewed the proceedings of a lodge meeting held at Doneraile House - the private house of her father, first Viscount Doneraile - a resident of Cork, Ireland. In the early part of the 18th century, it was quite customary for lodges to be held in private houses. This lodge was duly warranted for use by Lodge number 150 on the register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

Apparently, she removed a brick and saw the ceremony in the room beyond. After being discovered, Elizabeth's situation was discussed by the lodge. It was decided that she should be initiated into Freemasonry. The story is supported by other accounts of her being a subscriber to the Irish Book of Constitutions of 1744. She frequently attended, wearing her Masonic regalia, and gave entertainments, under Masonic auspices, for the benefit of the poor and distressed. She married Mr. Richard Aldworth of Newmarket, and it is reported that when she died she was accorded the honour of a "Masonic" burial.

The systematic admission of women into International Co-Freemasonry began in France in 1882 with the initiation of Maria Deraismes into the

In North America, women cannot become Freemasons per se, but rather join an associated separate body with its own traditions. Order of the Eastern Star (OES) was created in the United States in the mid-19th Century for female Masonic relatives and Master Masons. Its members are mainly the wives and daughters of Master Masons.

In the Netherlands, there is a completely separate, although masonically allied, sorority for women, the Order of Weavers (OOW), which uses symbols from weaving rather than stonemasonry.

The GOdF and other jurisdictions, in the Continental European tradition, give full formal recognition to Co-Freemasonry and women's Freemasonry. The UGLE, and other jurisdictions concordant in that regular tradition, do not formally recognize any Masonic body that accepts women. The UGLE, has stated - since 1998 - that two local women's jurisdictions are regular in practice, except for their inclusion of women, and has indicated that, while not formally recognized, these bodies may be regarded as part of Freemasonry, when describing Freemasonry in general.

Principles and activities

Freemasonry is described as a System of Morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbol. There is a growing movement of lodges thorughout the anglophone world tending towards the more philosophical and spiritual aspects of the craft, which see it as an occult and evil power. Often associated with the New World Order and other "agents", such as the Illuminati - the fraternity is seen, by conspiracy theorists, as either bent on world domination, or already secretly in control of world politics.The Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge and the Antients Grand Lodge called on the Prime Minister William Pitt, (not a Freemason) and explained to him how Freemasonry was a supporter of the law and lawfully constituted authority and was much involved in charitable work. As a result Freemasonry was specifically exempted from the terms of the Act, provided that each Private Lodge's Secretary placed with the local "Clerk of the Peace" a list of the members of his Lodge - once a year.

Due to the appearance of secrecy, and the possibility it might be implicated in rebellion In fact this has historically been the cause of Grand Lodges calling others irregular. No evidence was ever brought forward, however. This is actually officially and explicitly deplored. Accessed February 23 2006. An individual must ask freely and without persuasion to become a Freemason in order to join the fraternity. Accessed February 23 2006.

In Italy, the illicit and irregular

The UK Labour Government attempted, in the 2000s, to require all members of fraternal organisations who are public officials to make their affiliation public.

Christian religious opposition

Main article: Christianity and Freemasonry

Although sections of other faiths cite objections, in general, there are three doctrinal objections to Freemasonry cited in common by Christian denominations:

• Syncretism; in that the religious aim of Freemasonry is the creation of a new 'super' or 'universal' religion created by combining various deities and teachings, many of which are pre-Christian.

• Esoteric gloss put onto Masonic ritual, cited as being synonymous with Gnosticism. In 1948 this emblem was adopted as an official Masonic emblem at the first Annual Convention of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons. Two UGLE Lodges, with services connections to Germany, are named after the flower. Accessed February 6 2006.

  Charitable effort

  Freemasons collect a considerable amount of money internally which is attributed to charitable purposes. A number of structures exist within Freemasonry to disburse this money, a considerable proportion of which goes to non-Masonic charities either locally or on a provincial or national basis.

  Masonic charities include

  • Homes http://www.grandlodgescotland.com/glos/FMH/info.html which provide sheltered housing or nursing care.
  • Education with both educational grants which provide sheltered housing or nursing care.
  • Education with both educational grants or residential education which are open to all and not limited to the families of Freemasons.
  • Medical assistance

  Contemporary challenges

  As with other fraternal organisations in the 21st Century, Freemasonry in some districts of the United States, the UK and other jurisdictions has been losing members, faster than it can replenish them. In contrast, the number of Masons is generally on the rise in South America and Continental Europe

• A return to a more natural level following an unsustainable increase in membership following WWII.

Many Grand Lodges in the U.S. have tried a variety of, often-controversial, measures to address declining membership. These have included "one-day ceremonies" of all the three degrees for large groups of candidates, (as opposed to individual degree conferrals taking months or years to complete); advertising on billboards, and even active recruitment of new candidates by members, (as opposed to the tradition of considering only those who actively seek membership for themselves). Some Masons object to the traditions and principles of Freemasonry being diluted by these changes, feeling that the Fraternity has survived centuries of social change without changing itself; others cite a need for Freemasonry to modernize and make itself relevant to new generations.

Cultural references

• Rudyard Kipling used Masonic symbols and characters in some of his writings, most notably The Man Who Would Be King, which was later made into a film. Two adventurers are taken to be Masonic representatives of Alexander the Great.

• One of the main characters in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado is a Freemason.

• One of the main characters in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace becomes a Freemason.

• The plot of the opera "Die Zauberflöte" ("The Magic Flute") contains several references to Masonic ideals and ceremonies. Mozart and his librettist Emanuel Schikaneder were in the same Masonic "Lodge of the Nine Muses".

• Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion was a Freemason, as were the first five presidents of the Church: Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow.

• The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a society founded by at least one Mason who also was a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (a research and study group focusing on symbolic alchemy, the mystical kabbalah, tarot, and Christian Symbolism). The Golden Dawn was never a Masonic body, and was open to membership from non-Masons and women.

• The graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore, (and the movie based upon it) - feature as their basic premise - a conspiracy theory linking "certain Freemasons" to the Jack the Ripper murders. The story is that "Freemason" Sir William Gull, the then British Royal Household's physician, covered up a child of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence born to a Catholic shop girl - "by killing her, and all the women who knew about the baby". The story depends on the assumption that such figures as the Marquess of Salisbury, Sir William Gull and Sir Robert Anderson were Freemasons - but there is no actual record of their initiation into Freemasonry in any Lodge.

• Freemasons feature heavily in Robert Shea's and Robert Anton Wilson's satire, The Illuminatus! Trilogy.

• John Cleese, and other Cast members, portray spoof Freemasons in the How to recognise a Freemason sketch of the satire Monty Python's Flying Circus.

• The Freemasons are spoofed in an episode of The Simpsons as The Ancient Society of Stonecutters, a secret organisation that controls everything from NASA to the Academy Awards (thereby securing Steve Guttenberg's stardom).

• Another episode of The Simpsons has a scene where Mr. Burns, obsessing with germs and becoming a "Howard Hughes"-like recluse, sees germs on Smithers' face. The germs chant "Freemasons run the country."

• Dan Brown's novels, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code and The Solomon Key draw heavily on supposed Masonic and Christian lore and symbolism.

• Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco also deals with Freemasonic themes.

• The Cremaster Cycle films by Matthew Barney use Masonic imagery.

• The plot of the 2004 movie National Treasure revolves heavily around the Freemasons and is somewhat unusual in that it depicts them in a benign light.

• In The Baron in the Trees Italian writer Italo Calvino includes Masonry lodges branching out into the lands of Ombrosa with the protagonist of the novel, Cosimo di Rondo, mysteriously and supposedly involved with them.

• Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris use Freemasonry in their series The Adept, most notably in The Adept Book Two: The Lodge of the Lynx, and in Kurtz's American Revolution historical novel Two Crowns for America, which links Freemasonry and Jacobitism.

• In John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden Adam Trask, the main character, is mentioned as becoming a Freemason later in life.

Appendant bodies

• York Rite
• Royal Order of Scotland
• Scottish Rite
• Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (Shriners)
• Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia in England
• Societas Rosicruciana in Scotia in Scotland
• Swedish Rite

Organizations with Masonic affiliations

• Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots
• Daughters of the Nile
• DeMolay International
• International Order of Job's Daughters
• International Order of the Rainbow for Girls
• Ladies Oriental Shrine of North America
• National Sojourners
• Order of the Eastern Star
• Order of the Amaranth
• The Philalethes Society
• Tall Cedars of Lebanon

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