Freemasonry: An Introduction

What Freemasonry Is

Learning objectives

Describe Freemasonry in clear terms as a fraternal and initiatic society with moral and spiritual aims.
Explain the meaning of the classic description of Freemasonry as a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
Identify the main aims that Freemasons pursue, both as individuals and as members of a lodge.
Distinguish Freemasonry from things it is often confused with, such as a religion, a political movement or a business network.

Freemasonry is one of the oldest and most widespread fraternal societies in the world. It brings together adults who meet in local groups called lodges, where they take part in ceremonies, share a meal, and form lasting friendships. Its members use the tools and customs of the medieval stonemasons as a framework for moral reflection and personal growth. Today there are several million Freemasons on every inhabited continent, organised under hundreds of independent governing bodies. Yet for many people the society remains unfamiliar, and it is often surrounded by curiosity, rumour and misunderstanding. This first lesson offers a careful and balanced answer to a simple question: what is Freemasonry?

A first definition

A useful working definition is the following. Freemasonry is a fraternal and initiatic society that uses the symbolism of the builder's craft to encourage its members to live better lives and to become better people. Each part of this sentence matters. The word fraternal means that Freemasonry is a community of brothers, or in some branches of sisters, who treat one another as equals regardless of their position in the outside world. The word initiatic means that a person enters Freemasonry through a ceremony of initiation, and then progresses through further ceremonies, called degrees, each of which marks a stage on a path of understanding.

The word symbolism points to the method. Freemasons do not build cathedrals or castles. Instead, they take the working tools, the materials and the building plans of the operative stonemason and give each of them a moral meaning. The rough stone represents a person in a natural, unfinished state. The smooth, finished stone represents a person who has worked on their character. The building as a whole represents both the individual life and the wider human community. This method of teaching by image and comparison runs through every part of Masonic life.

Historians generally agree that modern grew out of the organisations of working stonemasons in Scotland and England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Over time, men who were not builders by trade were admitted to the lodges, and the emphasis moved from the practical craft to its moral and philosophical meaning. The precise route of this change is still debated, and some scholars give more weight to other intellectual currents of the period. What is clear is that by the early eighteenth century Freemasonry had become a society of gentlemen and thinkers rather than of builders. The history of this development is treated in its own module of this course.

A system of morality veiled in allegory

English-speaking Freemasons have long described their society as a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. The word peculiar is used here in its older sense of “particular” or “distinctive”, not “strange”. The phrase therefore says that Freemasonry offers a distinctive way of learning and practising morality. It does not claim to have invented a new morality. The values it teaches, such as honesty, kindness, justice and self-control, are shared by the great moral traditions of humanity.

An allegory is a story in which persons, places and events stand for ideas. When the meaning of a story is “veiled”, it is not stated openly but must be discovered by the listener. This is a deliberate choice. A truth that a person finds for themselves usually makes a deeper impression than a truth that is simply announced. Masonic ceremonies therefore present the candidate with dramatic scenes, objects and words, and leave much of the interpretation to the candidate's own reflection over the following months and years.

Symbols play a similar role. A symbol is an object or image that points beyond itself to a larger meaning. The , for example, is an ordinary instrument used to test right angles, but in the lodge it also stands for fairness and honest dealing. Because a symbol can carry several layers of meaning at once, it can speak to people of very different backgrounds and stages of life. A young candidate and an experienced member may look at the same symbol and each find something true and useful in it.

The aims of Freemasonry

The aims of Freemasonry can be described at two levels. At the of the individual, its central aim is self-knowledge and self-improvement. Freemasons often express this as working on one's own rough stone. Through ceremony, study and reflection, the member is encouraged to recognise faults, strengthen virtues and grow in wisdom, tolerance and inner balance. This work is never complete, and Freemasons regard it as a lifelong task.

At the of the community, Freemasonry aims to create a place where people who might otherwise never meet can come together in mutual respect. Members differ in religion, profession, nationality, political opinion and social class, yet in the lodge they meet as equals. The Constitutions published by the in London in 1723 expressed this ideal in a famous passage.

Thus Masonry becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among Persons that must else have remain'd at a perpetual Distance.

A third aim, which follows from the first two, is service to society. A Freemason who has worked on their own character is expected to show that work in daily life, as a good citizen, a reliable colleague, a caring family member and a generous neighbour. Masonic charity, which is discussed in a later lesson, is one visible expression of this aim. Most Freemasons, however, would say that the most important result of their membership is not any particular charitable gift but the quality of their ordinary conduct.

What Freemasonry is not

It is equally important to understand what Freemasonry is not. First, it is not a religion. It has no theology of its own, no sacraments, no doctrine of salvation and no clergy. Most regular Freemasons are expected to believe in a Supreme Being, but the lodge does not tell them how to understand or worship that Being. Members remain committed to their own faith, and many say that Freemasonry has helped them to practise that faith more sincerely.

Second, Freemasonry is not a political movement. Discussion of party politics is traditionally not permitted in the lodge, and Masonic bodies as such do not support candidates, parties or programmes. Individual members hold every kind of political opinion. Third, Freemasonry is not a business network or a means of personal advancement. Using membership to obtain commercial or professional advantage is regarded as a serious breach of Masonic conduct.

Finally, Freemasonry is not a secret society in the sense often imagined. Its existence, its meeting places, its governing bodies and its general aims are public. In many countries lodges open their buildings to visitors on special days, and publish information about themselves. What Freemasons keep private are certain traditional modes of recognition and the details of their ceremonies, so that new members may experience them freshly. This distinction between secrecy and privacy is explored more fully in the lesson on Freemasonry in society.