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Freemasonry
Principles and activitiesFreemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization that aims to “make good men better.” It upholds the principles of “Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth” (or in France: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”). Freemasonry teaches moral lessons through rituals—tools and implements of ancient architectural craftsmen are used symbolically in a system of instruction designed to build character and values. Benevolence and charity are basic principles of Freemasonry. This tradition is claimed to date back to the Middle Ages. Each lodge of operative masons, who built the cathedrals, abbeys and castles, maintained a charity chest to help widows and orphans, or members in distress. In addition, masons would help each other in times of need by providing a day’s work or a means of traveling to the project of a neighboring lodge. Today, the organization is widely involved in charity and community service and also provides a social outlet for its membership.
Religion and politicsFreemasonry is not a religion nor a substitute for religion but aspects of it are spiritual in character. Applicants must believe in a Supreme Being; their exact religious affiliation is considered irrelevant. Masonry’s compatibility with organized religion is highly controversial outside of the fraternity. It’s practice has been both denounced and promoted by religious figures. In some places, especially Continental Europe and Mexico, Freemasonry has at times taken on an anti-Catholic and anti-clerical overtone. 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: the separation of Church and State, the replacement of religiously-affiliated schools with secular public schools, and democratic revolutions (such as the United States and France, as well as revolutions in Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Poland and repeatedly in Italy). Stonecutters originsUntil the Elizabethan era “stone masons” were engaged almost entirely on cathedrals, churches, abbeys and castles which often took an inordinate time to complete. While each building site was under the direction of a Master Builder or Master Mason, the stone masons were also organised under the protection of craft guilds which had arisen as guardians of the interests of the skilled workers—a kind of medieval union. In the seventeenth century, lodges of stone masons which controlled their trade began accepting men who were not stonemasons (non Operatives) and called them “accepted” masons. Over the subsequent years, the numbers of accepted masons grew and transformed the Operative lodges into Speculative lodges. A secret society?Freemasonry is often called a secret society, and in fact is considered by many conspiracy theorists to be the very prototype for such societies. Some Masons say that it is more accurately described as a “society with secrets” while others reject the idea all together noting that lodges are clearly marked, Masonic symbols are openly worn by members and meeting times are generally a matter of public record. In English-speaking countries, most Masons are completely public with their affiliation. In countries where Freemasonry has been more recently (or even currently) suppressed by the government, secrecy may be practiced more earnestly. 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 grips (by which Masons can recognize each other “in the dark as well as in the light”); however, Masons acknowledge that these secrets have been widely available in printed exposés and anti-Masonic literature for, literally, centuries. Ritual and symbolismThe Freemasons rely heavily on the architectural symbolism of the medieval operative Masons who literally 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). Often 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. Sometimes, more frequent in older images, the “G” will be entwined outside the Square and Compasses. The square and compasses are displayed at all Masonic meetings, along with the open Volume of the Sacred Law (Lore or VSL). In English-speaking countries, this is usually a Holy Bible, but it can be whatever book(s) of inspiration or scripture that the members of a particular Lodge or jurisdiction feel they draw on—the Bible, Qur’an, or other Volumes. A candidate for a degree will normally be given his choice of VSL, regardless of the Lodge’s usual VSL. 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 spiritual revelation, 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, George Washington, 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 Geometer, or the Great Architect of the Universe (GAOTU). Freemasons use a variety of labels for this concept in order to avoid the idea that they are talking about any one religion’s particular God or God-like concept. DegreesA degree is a stage or level of membership. It is also the ceremony by which a man attains a new level of membership. The three initial degrees of “The Craft” are Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. Although the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry has 33 degrees, most never get past the 3rd degree. Master Masons may decide to join the York Rite or continue with the Scottish branch. 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. Especially in Europe, Freemasons working through the degrees are asked to prepare papers on related philosophical topics, and present these papers in an open Lodge, where others may judge the suitability of the candidates’ ascension through the higher degrees. References
Further reading
This article is licensed under the Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Freemasonry.”
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