You might have been driving and seen a square and compass on the back of a window with a G in the center. You might have seen a TV special about secret societies, or you might even have some family, an uncle, grandfather, etc. that might be a mason. But a lot of people wonder, what exactly is a Mason? I will break this down in the normal thing we learned in school: Ask Questions!
WHO:
Q: Who are these “Masons” and who can be one?
A: To start, a Mason is a member of a Masonic Lodge and, more importantly, a member of the oldest fraternity in the world. The requirements of a Mason are:
- A man
- At least 18 years old
- A morally good person
- You must believe in a singular god. (While there are Jewish Lodges and Muslim Lodges. Our Lodge displays a KJV Christian Bible.)
Many people ask why women aren’t accepted as Masons. Just as there are fraternities that are all male, and sororities that are all female, we encourage women to join the Masonic female-based group of Eastern Star.
Now that we have some general outlines of what is required to be a Mason, maybe you are wondering “Who are some Masons I might have heard of ?”
Here are a few:
- George Washington, Ben Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt, as well as several other presidents and founding fathers. Also, Winston Churchill.
- Musicians such as Mozart, Beethoven, Count Basie, and Nat King Cole.
- Henry Ford, John Wayne, Jesse Jackson, and Harry Houdini
- Simon Cowell, Arnold Palmer, Steve Wozniak, and Shaquille O’Neal.
As you can see, even famous people are from all different walks of life, yet they all share a bond in the Masonic Lodge.
WHY:
Q: Why would anyone want to be one? Sure, all these people I might have heard of are Masons, but so what?
A: Well, men are drawn to our fraternity to try to improve themselves. There always has been a motto of Masons: “Making good men better”. We like to think that is what the fraternity still does. But, why do you want to become a Mason? Maybe it was because you knew a man in your life who exemplified the best qualities, and he was a Mason. Maybe it’s because you feel you want to be more involved in your community and help your fellow man. You might want to join because you want to be around others who desire these same things. Whatever the reason is, most of the time, that reason will be slightly personal to you.
WHAT:
Q: What do Masons do? I heard about meetings, what’s with that?
A: Masons meet once or twice a month, depending on the lodge. Our Lodge meets once a month on the Fourth Saturday. (Eat at 6:30, Meet at 7:30). One thing that has been said, you will never go hungry as a Mason. I have a brother that travels (visits other lodges) frequently. He has dinner made for him about 4-5 times a week LOL. In all seriousness, meals are extremely important because naturally we bond over the breaking of bread. This is great social time for Masons to reconnect with people they haven’t seen in a while, or to talk about a basketball game from the other night.
During our meetings (sometimes called ‘business meetings’), we discuss plans for community service projects, fundraising activities, programs that we want to consider or create, masonic issues that might pertain to our state, district, or lodge, plans for future social events, potential sponsorships of youth groups, and also the general welfare of our lodge and its members.
We also will do degree work (the process of becoming a Mason) during our meeting for new candidates that are joining or new members that are advancing. There are three different “steps” to becoming a Mason:
- Entered Apprentice
- Fellow Craft
- Master Mason
These “degrees” will be conferred by the brothers of the lodge you are joining, sometimes with assistance from other lodges or even grand lodge members.
Lastly, I would like to leave you with this. Someone has famously said “The only secret to the Masonry is there are no secrets.” That is not true. We are very transparent and will be glad to talk with you about many aspects of our fraternity. But there are two things that are secret, that we as Masons promise each other that we will not reveal. Those are:
- How we identify each other – And before you go looking online for how to pass as a Mason, a couple of things. First, if you want to be a Mason, don’t do it. It’s not cool, and it will just make you think you know more than you do. Second, it’s not as easy to pass as a Mason by knowing a secret word or greeting. We know a cowan (person pretending to be a Mason) extremely fast. It’s not something that you want to try to pass off if you aren’t a Mason, because it makes you look foolish.
- A secret of another Mason – If a Mason communicates a secret, something private in nature, as such to another Mason, the other brother will not reveal it. Most people would call this the ability to keep a secret. Masons promise each other that they will keep another Mason’s secret private.
Beyond that, most everything else is wide open. Now there are older guys that won’t want to talk about specific things, and the internet itself has turned into a minefield of rumors and fiction about Masons. Quickly I will dispel these:
Myth: We are the illuminati
Fact: No, we are not.
Myth: We are devil worshipers
Fact: Most Masons are very religious, with most of our lodge’s members being Christians. We have our meetings with an open bible in the center of the room because It is our rule and guide of faith, and a great source of wisdom and knowledge.
Myth: We hurt people when they join.
Fact: We do not.
Myth: I heard someone got killed when they joined.
Fact: No one has died joining our lodge. I have seen a story of a suspended lodge in NY “accidentally” shooting someone. We do not use guns of any sort in our degree work.
Myth: Masons are racist.
Fact: There are people from all kinds of races in Blue Lodges and in Prince Hall lodges. At one time, about 15-20 years ago, Blue Lodges were predominantly white and Prince Hall was predominantly black, and the two did not mix. WMPGM Herman Forrester was intrumental in breaking down that barrier, and years later, they were. Honestly, I haven’t known of a time where we couldn’t communicate with our Prince Hall brothers, but I am a fairly young mason. At our last Grand Lodge session, I had a wonderful conversation with a Prince Hall brother. While they still are two separate lodges, we can and do talk masonically with each other, and we do recognize each other.
Myth: The Masons are a bunch of rich Lawyers and Politicians.
Fact: Our little country lodge has cattle farmers, mechanics of all sorts, businessmen, electricians, accountants, prison guards, tech people, and the Wall Street type. But none of that matters when we meet, We are all brothers on the same level.
If you want to learn more about being a Mason, contact us. If you are interested in joining our lodge, click here to contact us and request a petition to join. If you want to talk to someone over the phone, just provide your phone number and a good time to call. We will give you a call and help you through the process.