No one knows with certainty how or when the
Masonic Fraternity was formed. A widely accepted
theory among Masonic scholars is that it arose from
the stonemasons’ guilds during the Middle Ages. The
language and symbols used in the fraternity’s
rituals come from this era. The oldest document that
makes reference to Masons is the Regius Poem,
printed about 1390, which was a copy of an earlier
work. In 1717, four lodges in London formed the
first Grand Lodge of England, and records from that
point on are more complete.
Within thirty years, the fraternity had spread
throughout Europe and the American Colonies.
Freemasonry became very popular in colonial America.
George Washington was a Mason, Benjamin Franklin
served as the head of the fraternity in
Pennsylvania, as did Paul Revere and Joseph Warren
in Massachusetts. Other well-known Masons involved
with the founding of America included John Hancock,
John Sullivan, Lafayette, Baron Fredrick von Stuben,
Nathanael Greene, and John Paul Jones. Another Mason,
Chief Justice John Marshall, shaped the Supreme
Court into its present form.
Over the centuries, Freemasonry has developed
into a worldwide fraternity emphasizing personal
study, self-improvement, and social betterment via
individual involvement and philanthropy. During the
late 1700s it was one of the organizations most
responsible for spreading the ideals of the
Enlightenment: the dignity of man and the liberty of
the individual, the right of all persons to worship
as they choose, the formation of democratic
governments, and the importance of public education.
Masons supported the first public schools in both
Europe and America.
During the 1800s and early 1900s, Freemasonry
grew dramatically. At that time, the government had
provided no social "safety net". The Masonic
tradition of founding orphanages, homes for widows,
and homes for the aged provided the only security
many people knew.
Today in North America, the Masonic Fraternity
continues this tradition by giving almost $1.5
million each day to causes that range from operating
children’s hospitals, providing treatment for
childhood language disorders, treating eye diseases,
funding medical research, contributing to local
community service, and providing care to Masons and
their families at Masonic Homes.
The four million Masons worldwide continue to
help men and women face the problems of the 21st
century by building bridges of brotherhood and
instilling in the hearts of men ideals for a better
tomorrow.
Freemasonry is the oldest fraternal organization
for men in the world, and its organizational
structure shows its age. The basic organizational
unit of the fraternity is the lodge. We believe the
term comes from the lodges (shelters) constructed at
the building sites of cathedrals and castles during
the Middle Ages. Masons worked and lived in these
shelters.
Each lodge is headed by an officer called the "Worshipful
Master." "Worshipful" means "highly respected" or "honored."
The term comes from the judicial system of England
and carries no religious implication. "Master" means
"leader," or "best qualified," as in "Concert
Master" or "Master Architect."
Each officer of a lodge has a title that
originated during the Middle Ages. These titles may
vary somewhat from state to state, but in general
the officers and their contemporary equivalents are:
Middle Ages Title
Current Title
Middle Ages Title
Current Title
Worshipful Master
President
Marshal
Master of Ceremonies
Senior Warden
1st Vice President
Deacon
Messenger
Junior Warden
2nd Vice President
Steward
Page
Treasurer
Financial officer
Tiler
Door Keeper
Secretary
Recorder
Chaplain
Chaplain
Until 1717, each lodge of Masons was autonomous.
On June 24, 1717, four of the lodges operating in
London met together to form the first Grand Lodge of
England. It became the first administrative or
policy-making body of Freemasonry.
Masonic lodges still retain autonomy over their
finances, activities, officer election, fundraising,
and joining ceremonies. But administratively, each
State or Province has a Grand Lodge which
co-ordinates activities, serves as a central source
of record keeping, and performs other administrative
and policy functions for the fraternity. The state
president is called the Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge. He has broad powers in overseeing the
progress of the fraternity and while there is no
national spokesperson for the fraternity, within his
own state (Jurisdiction) he is the chief spokesman.
The fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons has
members from every ethnic group and every continent
in the world. Brotherhood is a primary teaching of
Masonry--that each person must be judged as an
individual, on his own merits, and that such factors
as race, national origin, religious creed, social
status, or wealth are incidental to the person's
character.
Freemasonry was brought to North America in the
1700s, a time when racial attitudes were very
different from today. As happened with many churches
and social organizations, these attitudes caused
Freemasonry for African-American men to develop
independently. In 1776 a group of African-American
Masons in Boston began meeting as a Lodge; they were
formally chartered by England in 1784 as African
Lodge #459. African Lodge and its descendants
developed a separate Grand Lodge system, known as
Prince Hall Masonry (after the first Master of
African Lodge). Prince Hall Grand Lodges ascribe to
the same beliefs and rituals of Freemasonry as do
all regular Masonic Lodges throughout the world.
Since a petition for membership in Masonry does
not ask a petitioner's race, statistics on ethnic
breakdowns are not kept by any Grand Lodge.
Collecting such information is considered as
inappropriate as collecting information about a
Brother's financial standing. A lodge is not
permitted to accept or exclude a candidate on the
basis of his race or national origin. To petition
for membership, the petitioner must be "a man of
legal age, good reputation, and possess a belief in
God." While election to membership in the fraternity
is a matter for the local lodge to decide, the
qualifications for membership are standard, and all
Masons are required to observe them.
Basic Principles. Freemasonry is
not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion.
It requires of its members a belief in God as part
of the obligation of every responsible adult, but
advocates no sectarian faith or practice. Masonic
ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and
extempore, to reaffirm each individual's dependence
on God and to seek divine guidance. Freemasonry is
open to men of any faith, but religion may not be
discussed at Masonic meetings.
The Supreme Being. Masons
believe that there is one God and that people employ
many different ways to seek, and to express what
they know of God. Masonry primarily uses the
appellation, "Grand Architect of the Universe," and
other non-sectarian titles, to address the Deity. In
this way, persons of different faiths may join
together in prayer, concentrating on God, rather
than differences among themselves. Masonry believes
in religious freedom and that the relationship
between the individual and God is personal, private,
and sacred.
Volume of the Sacred Law. An
open volume of the Sacred Law, "the rule and guide
of life," is an essential part of every Masonic
meeting. The Volume of the Sacred Law in the Judeo/Christian
tradition is the Bible; to Freemasons of other
faiths, it is the book held holy by them.
The Oath of Freemasonry. The
obligations taken by Freemasons are sworn on the
Volume of the Sacred Law. They are undertakings to
follow the principles of Freemasonry and to keep
confidential a Freemason's means of recognition. The
much discussed "penalties," judicial remnants from
an earlier era, are symbolic, not literal. They
refer only to the pain any honest man should feel at
the thought of violating his word.
Freemasonry Compared with Religion.
Freemasonry lacks the basic elements of religion:
(a) It has no dogma or theology, no wish or means to
enforce religious orthodoxy. (b) It offers no
sacraments. (c) It does not claim to lead to
salvation by works, by secret knowledge, or by any
other means. The secrets of Freemasonry are
concerned with modes of recognition, not with the
means of salvation.
Freemasonry Supports Religion.
Freemasonry is far from indifferent toward religion.
Without interfering in religious practice, it
expects each member to follow his own faith and to
place his Duty to God above all other duties. Its
moral teachings are acceptable to all religions.
Prepared by the Masonic Information Center(12/93)
Revised (9/98)
People sometimes refer to Freemasonry as being a
"Secret Society." In one sense the statement is true.
Any social group or private business is "secret" in
the sense that its business meetings may be open
only to its members. In Freemasonry, the process of
joining is also a private matter, and its members
are pledged not to discuss with non-members certain
parts of the ceremonies associated with the
organization.
Freemasonry does have certain handshakes and
passwords, customs incorporated into later
fraternities, which are kept private. They are means
of recognizing each other--necessary in an
organization which spans the entire world and which
encompasses many languages.
The tradition of using handshakes and passwords
was very common in the Middle Ages, when the ability
to identify oneself as belonging to a building or
trade guild often made the difference in getting a
job or in obtaining help for yourself and family.
Today, Freemasons make the same pledge to every
member that he will be offered assistance if he, or
his family, ever requests it.
Freemasonry can’t be called a "secret society" in
a literal sense. A truly secret society forbids its
members to disclose that they belong to the
organization, or that it even exists. Much of the
Masonic ritual is in books called "Monitors" that
are widely available, even in public libraries. Most
Freemasons wear rings and lapel pins which clearly
identify them as members of the fraternity. Masonic
lodges are listed in public phone books, Masonic
buildings are clearly marked, and in many areas of
the country Masonic lodges place signs on the roads
leading into town, along with civic organizations,
showing the time and place of meetings.
In terms of what it does, what it teaches, who
belongs, where it meets, there are no secrets in
Freemasonry! It is a private fraternal association
of men who contribute much toward the public good,
while enjoying the benefits of the brotherhood of a
fraternity.
In Freemasonry, as in all other areas of life,
women play an important role. The opportunities for
women to participate in Freemasonry are widespread
and meet a variety of needs, from social interaction
in the Orders for both men and women, to the unique
needs met in the "women only" Masonic-related
organizations. The moral and ethical values that
Freemasonry encourages are universal and not
gender-based.
Masonic Lodges maintain today a long-standing
tradition of restricting membership in Freemasonry
to men. This tradition is based on the historical
all male membership of stonemasons guilds. During
the Middle Ages, men traveled far from home and
lived in lodges while constructing great cathedrals
throughout Europe.
However, in the middle 1800s the fraternity took
the progressive step, for that time, of creating
organizations that included women, so that men and
women could share Masonic fraternalism. The Order of
the Eastern Star (the largest of these
Masonic-related groups) was established in 1855, the
Order of the Amaranth in 1873, and the White Shrine
of Jerusalem in 1894.
Two national Masonic-related youth organizations
are for young women: the International Order of
Job’s Daughters, founded in 1920, and the
International Order of Rainbow for Girls, founded in
1922. Rainbow and Job’s Daughters are involved with
local charities, community services, and educational
programs.
Other Masonic-related organizations limit their
membership to women only, such as the Ladies
Oriental Shrine of North America, Daughters of the
Nile, the Daughters of Mokanna, and the Social Order
of Beauceant. These Masonic-related organizations,
like many organizations in North America, both
social and professional, base their membership on
gender. Junior League, P.E.O., National Association
of Female Executives, and Girl Scouts, for instance,
are organizations created exclusively for women,
established to fulfill their unique interests and
specific needs.
While there are several youth organizations
sponsored or supported by the various Masonic
organizations, three are the largest and best known.
The Order of DeMolay is an
organization for young men aged 13 to 21. Young men
do not need to have a Masonic relative to join the
organization. DeMolay was founded in Kansas City,
Missouri, in 1919, and is now international in
scope. Like the other Masonic Youth Orders, DeMolay
Chapters (local groups) usually meet in a room at a
local Masonic Lodge. Adult leadership is provided by
men (usually Masons) known as Chapter Dads or
advisors. The Order takes its name from Jacques
DeMolay, the last Grand Master of the Templars, who
was martyred in the Middle Ages for refusing to
compromise his honor. The Order teaches the virtues
of reverence, love of parents, comradeship,
patriotism, courtesy, cleanness, and fidelity. The
Order provides many social events and activities,
which help to teach social skills and leadership.
The International Order of Rainbow for
Girls is an organization for young women
aged 11 to 20. It was founded in McAlester,
Oklahoma, in 1922. No relationship to a member of
the Masonic Order is required for membership. Local
groups or Assemblies are generally sponsored by
either a Masonic Lodge or a Chapter of the Order of
the Eastern Star. Women known as Mother Advisors
give adult supervision and guidance. Each of the
colors of the rainbow is associated with a
particular virtue or source of inspiration. Like the
other Youth Orders, Rainbow is deeply involved with
local charity and support of education. It teaches
character development, planning, leadership, and
social skills through training programs and social
events.
The International Order of Job’s
Daughters takes its name from a story in
the Biblical Book of Job. It was organized in Omaha,
Nebraska, in 1920. Membership requires the young
woman be related to a Mason. The local organization
is called a Bethel. The teachings of the Order are
Biblically based, and similar virtues are stressed
as in the other Masonic Youth Orders. Job’s
Daughters places special emphasis on community
service. Many Bethels work with drug education
programs and with the Hearing Impaired Kids
Endowment (HIKE) Program. Membership is for young
women age 11 to 20.
The youth organizations are separate and
independent organizations that stress the importance
of character development, community service and
leadership. While members of the youth groups are
free to seek membership in Freemasonry or the
Eastern Star, it is a personal choice and not a
requirement of membership in a youth order.
