What Is Freemasonry?

Compiled by W.Bro. David Bellamy, P.Pr.J.G.W.

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

Freemasonry means different things to each of those who join. For some, it’s about making new friends and acquaintances. For others, it’s about being able to help deserving causes – making a contribution to family and society. But for most, it is an enjoyable hobby.

Freemasonry is one of the world’s oldest and largest non-religious, non-political, fraternal and charitable organisations. It teaches self-knowledge through participation in a progression of ceremonies.

Members are expected to be of high moral standing and are encouraged to speak openly about Freemasonry. The following information is intended to explain Freemasonry as it is practised under the United Grand Lodge of England, (U.G.L.E.), which administers Lodges of Freemasons in England and Wales and in many places overseas.

Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its principles (moral lessons and self-knowledge) by a series of ritual dramas – a progression of allegorical two-part plays which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge – which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons’ customs and tools as allegorical guides.

Freemasonry instils in its members a moral and ethical approach to life: its values are based on integrity, kindness, honesty and fairness. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but, importantly, Freemasonry also teaches concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A LODGE MEETING?

The meeting, which like those of other groups, are open only to members, is normally in two parts.

First, there are normal administrative procedures such as:

• Minutes of the previous meeting

• Proposing and balloting for new members

• Discussing and voting on the annual accounts

• Masonic news and correspondence

• News about charitable work

Second, there are the ceremonies for:

• Admitting new members

• The annual installation of the Master of the Lodge and his officers

WHY DO FREEMASONS TAKE OATHS?

New members make solemn promises concerning their behaviour both in the Lodge and in society. Members also promise to keep confidential the way they recognise each other when visiting another Lodge. Freemasons also promise to support others in time of need but only so far as it does not conflict with their family and public obligations.

ARE FREEMASONS EXPECTED TO GIVE PREFERENCE TO FELLOW MEMBERS?

Certainly not. This would be unacceptable and may lead to action being taken against those involved. On joining, each new member states that he expects no material gain from membership.

WHO DO THE MASONIC CHARITIES DONATE TO?

Whilst there are Masonic charities that cater specifically, but not exclusively, for Masons or their dependants, others make significant grants to non-Masonic organisations.

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH RELIGION?

All Freemasons are expected to have a religious belief, but Freemasonry does not seek to replace a Mason’s religion or provide a substitute for it. It deals in a man’s relationship with his fellow man not in a man’s relationship with his God.

WHY DO SOME CHURCHES NOT LIKE FREEMASONRY?

There are elements within churches who misunderstand Freemasonry and its objectives. They confuse secular rituals with religious liturgy. There are many Masons in churches where their leaders have been openly critical of the organisation. Masonry has always actively encouraged its members to be active in their own religion.

DOES FREEMASONRY ACCEPT ROMAN CATHOLICS?

Yes. Four Grand Masters of English Freemasonry have been Roman Catholics. Today there are many Roman Catholic Freemasons.

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH POLITICS?

Freemasonry, as a body, will never express a view on politics or state policy. The discussion of politics at Masonic meetings has always been prohibited.

IS FREEMASONRY AN INTERNATIONAL ORDER?

Freemasonry exists throughout the world. However, each Grand Lodge is sovereign and independent. There is no international governing body for Freemasonry.

ARE THERE WOMEN FREEMASONS?

Yes. Whilst the United Grand Lodge of England, following the example of medieval stonemasons, is, and has always been, restricted to men, women Freemasons have two separate Grand Lodges, which are restricted to women.

WHY DO YOU WEAR REGALIA?

Wearing regalia is historic and symbolic. Like a uniform, the regalia indicates the rank of the wearer in the organisation.

HOW MANY FREEMASONS ARE THERE?

Under the United Grand Lodge of England, there are over a quarter of a million Freemasons.

There are Grand Lodges in Ireland, which covers both Northern Ireland and Eire, and Scotland which have a combined total of approximately 150,000 members.

Worldwide, there are approximately six million Freemasons.

HOW MANY DEGREES ARE THERE IN FREEMASONRY?

Basic Freemasonry consists of three degrees:

• Entered Apprentice

• Fellow Craft

• Master Mason

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BE A FREEMASON?

It varies from Lodge to Lodge. Anyone wishing to join will find a Lodge to suit his pocket. There is an initiation fee on entry and in due course regalia will have to be bought. The meeting is normally followed by a dinner, the cost depending on the venue. There is, in addition, an annual subscription.

Members are invited to give to charity but this should always be within their means and it is entirely up to the individual how much they wish to contribute.

ABOUT the UNITED GRAND LODGE of ENGLAND

The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales and the Channel Islands. Its headquarters are at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ.

MEETINGS - The United Grand Lodge of England meets in Quarterly Communication on the second Wednesday in March, June, September and December. The Annual Investiture, which is followed by the Grand Festival, is held on the last Wednesday in April.

ADMINISTRATION - The United Grand Lodge of England currently has over two hundred thousand members meeting in 6,800 Lodges, which are grouped as follows:

Lodges meeting in London (an area generally within a 10-mile radius of Freemasons’ Hall), are administered by the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London, which is headed by the Metropolitan Grand Master.

Lodges meeting outside London, and within England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, are grouped into 47 Provinces, whose boundaries often correspond to those of the old Counties, with each headed by a Provincial Grand Master.

Lodges that meet outside England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are grouped into 33 Districts, with each headed by a District Grand Master, five Groups (i.e. currently too small to make up a District), with each headed by a Grand Inspector, and 12 Lodges abroad which are directly administered by Freemasons’ Hall.

PUBLICATIONS - The United Grand Lodge of England publishes a Masonic Year Book annually which lists all committees and boards, details for all of its administrative groupings, and all Grand Officers and senior Provincial and District Officers. It also publishes triennially the Directory of Lodges and Chapters, which lists all lodges and their meeting dates and places. Both publications can be purchased from Freemasons’ Hall.

The Book of Constitutions (rule book) has been in the public domain since the first edition was published in 1723 and can also be purchased from Freemasons’ Hall. The Book of Constitutions is also available online.

History of Freemasonry

The origins of Freemasonry are subject to scholarly debate. Organised Freemasonry, as we know it today, began with the founding of the first Grand Lodge on 24 June 1717 at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St Paul’s Churchyard.

It was formed by the agreement of four London Lodges, the oldest of which was thought to have existed in 1691. Evidence of the movement’s existence prior to 1691 is sparse, so the true origins remain a mystery.

Freemasonry neither originated nor existed in King Solomon’s time. Many historians have tried to prove Freemasonry descended from the mysteries of classical Greece or Rome or was derived from the religion of the Egyptian pyramid builders.

Other theories include that Freemasonry:

• Sprang from bands of travelling stonemasons acting by Papal authority.

• Evolved from a band of Knights Templar who escaped to Scotland after the order was persecuted in Europe.

• Derived from the shadowy and mysterious Rosicrucian Brotherhood which may have existed in Europe in the early 1600s.

The honest answers to the questions when, where and why did Freemasonry originate, are that we simply do not know.

That said, there is general agreement amongst historians and researchers that Freemasonry developed, either directly or indirectly, from the medieval stonemasons – otherwise known asOperative Masons – who built the great cathedrals and castles.

Those who favour the theory say there were three stages to the evolution of Freemasonry:

• The stonemasons gathered in huts or Lodges to rest and eat.

• These Lodges gradually became meetings for stonemasons to regulate their craft.

• Eventually, and in common with other trades, they developed primitive initiation ceremonies for new apprentices.

There is general agreement amongst historians and researchers that Freemasonry developed, either directly or indirectly, from the medieval stonemasons.

As stonemasons were accustomed to travelling all over the country and as there were no trade union cards or certificates of apprenticeship, they began to adopt a private word which they could use when arriving at a new site to prove they were properly skilled and had been a member of a hut or Lodge.

It was, after all, easier to communicate a secret word to prove who you were and that you were entitled to your wages, than it was to spend hours carving a block of stone to demonstrate your skills.

It is known that in the early 1600s these operative Lodges began to admit non-stonemasons. They were Accepted or Gentlemen Masons. Why and what form the ceremony took is unknown.

As the 1600s drew to a close, more gentlemen joined the Lodges, gradually taking them over and turning them into Lodges of free and accepted, orspeculative Masons. The Lodges no longer had any connection with the stonemasons’ craft.

This theory is based on information from Scotland where there is ample evidence of Scottish operative Lodges – geographically defined units with the backing of statute law to control what was termed The Mason Trade.

There is also plenty of evidence that these Lodges began to admit gentlemen as accepted Masons.

There is no evidence, so far, that these accepted members were other than honorary masons, or that they in any way altered the nature of the operative Lodges. Furthermore, no evidence has come to light, after a hundred years, for a similar development in England.

Medieval building records have references to stonemason’s Lodges, but after 1400, apart from Masons’ guilds in some towns, there is no evidence for operative Lodges.

Building a better society theory

It is in England that the first evidence of a Lodge completely made up of non-operative Masons is found. Elias Ashmole, the antiquary and founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, records in his diary for 1646 that he was made a Free Mason in a Lodge held for that purpose at his father-in-law’s house in Warrington. He records who was present at the meeting: all have been researched and found to have no connection with operative Masonry.

English evidence through the 1600s points to Freemasonry existing separately from any actual or supposed organisation of operative stonemasons.

This lack of evidence for the existence of operative Lodges but evidence for Lodges of accepted masons has led to the theory of an indirect link between operative stonemasonry and Freemasonry.Those who support the indirect link theorise thatFreemasonry was brought into existence by a group of men in the late 1500s or early 1600s.

This was a period of great religious and political turmoil and intolerance. Men were unable to meet together without differences of political and religious opinion leading to arguments. Families were split by opposing views and the English Civil War of 1642 to 1646 was the ultimate outcome.

Those who support the indirect link believe the originators of Freemasonry were men who wished to promote tolerance and build a better world in which men of differing opinions could peacefully co-exist and work together for the betterment of mankind. In the custom of their times, they used allegory and symbolism to pass on their ideas and principles.

As their central idea was the building of a better society, they borrowed their forms and symbols from the operative builders’ craft and took their central allegory from The Bible. Stonemasons’ tools provided them with the multiplicity of emblems to illustrate the principles they were putting forward.

A more recent theory places the origins of Freemasonry within a charitable framework. In the 1600s there was no welfare state, so anyone falling ill or becoming disabled had to rely on friends and the Poor Law for support. In those days many trades had what have become known as Box Clubs.

These grew out of the convivial gatherings of members of a particular trade during meetings of which all present would put money into a communal box, knowing that if they fell on hard times they could apply for relief from the box.

From surviving evidence, these box clubs are known to have begun to admit members not belonging to their trade and to have had many traits of early Masonic Lodges. They met in taverns, had simple initiation ceremonies and passwords and practiced charity on a local scale. It is possible that Freemasonry had its origins in just such a box club for operative Masons.

Whatever the origins, after 1717 and the establishment of the Premier Grand Lodge (as it was known), Freemasonry grew in popularity, spreading across much of the world (expanding as the British Empire grew), attracting many famous and notable personalities.

When Grand Lodge was formed in 1717, Anthony Sayer was elected as the first Grand Master. Initially, the Grand Lodge was an annual feast at which the Grand Master and Wardens were elected. But in 1721 other meetings began to be held and Grand Lodge began to be a regulatory body. In 1723, as the membership grew, Grand Lodge produced a Book of Constitutions which outlined the rules and regulations governing Freemasonry.

By 1730 Grand Lodge had more than 100 Lodges under its jurisdiction, including one in Spain and another in India. It had begun to operate a central charity fund and had attracted a wide spectrum of society into its Lodges.

Some London Lodges disagreed with these Constitutions and in 1751 a rival Grand Lodge was formed by disaffected Masons. Its founders claimed that the original Grand Lodge had departed from the established customs of the Craft and they intended practising Freemasonry “according to the Old Institutions”.

Confusingly, they called themselves the Grand Lodge of the Ancients and dubbed their senior rival the Moderns. It included many London Lodges and was known as the Ancients or AtholGrand Lodge, after the third Duke of Athol who became its first Grand Master.

United Freemasonry

The two rivals existed side by side, neither regarding the other as regular or each other’s members as regularly-made Masons. Attempts at a union of the two rivals began in the late 1790s but it was not until the Duke of Sussex became the Grand Master of the Moderns and his brother the Duke of Kent became Grand Master of the Ancients that progress was made.

Eventually, the Union of the two rival Grand Lodges took place on 27 December 1813, under the Grand Mastership of HRH Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of King George III.

The Book of Constitutions

The Book of Constitutions has been reprinted and gone through many editions since its initial publication, but the fundamental rules laid down in 1723 still apply today.

Are you thinking of becoming a Freemason?

Our fraternity has a wonderful history, which dates back more than three centuries. It is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternities, a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Founded on the three great principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, it aims to bring together men of goodwill, regardless of background and differences.

People might think that to become a Freemason is quite difficult. It’s actually straightforward.

The essential qualification for admission is that you have a belief in a Supreme Being. It is usual for candidates to be “mature men of 21 years and over”, but through the Universities Schemecandidates from the age of 18 can be admitted.

Contact David Bellamy, the Secretary of Môr Hafren Lodge for further details.

Email​morhafrensecretary@gmail.com