What is Freemasonry?
Freemasonry aims to promote Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love among its members. It is, by definition, a fraternity; comprised of men from every race, religion, opinion, and background who are brought together as Brothers to develop and strengthen the bonds of friendship. With over 3 million members, Freemasons belong to the largest and oldest fraternal organization in the world. Freemasonry proposes to “make good men better” by teaching – with metaphors from geometry and architecture – about building values based on great universal truths. To request membership information, please click here.
Freemasonry under the United Grand Lodge of England is the UK’s largest, secular and fraternal and charitable organisation. Freemasonry teaches moral lessons and self-knowledge through participation in a progression of allegorical two part plays which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge. Freemasonry offers its members an approach to life which seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Freemasonry also teaches its members to regard the interests of the family as paramount but importantly also teaches and practices concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.
Freemasonry is a post collegiate male fraternity dedicated to the spiritual development of the initiate into a broader sense of the self, and the initiates as he relates to the divine and their relative place in the world. It conveys this message through a series of progressive degrees initiating the candidate into a deeper level of membership. Ultimately, the raised Master Mason is given the metaphorical tools to further work on and develop their Masonic intuition.
The main tenets of Freemasonry include Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Its purpose is to promote a way of life that binds like-minded men through the teaching of these principles. Freemasonry is not a secret society. On the contrary, its meeting halls are often the centers of our communities. Members make no effort to hide their affiliation, often wearing emblems of the Craft. Well-known personalities throughout the histories of the nation and world have belonged. Men such as George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Paul Revere have joined Mozart and Lafayette. The worldwide brotherhood transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social, and educational barriers, and strives to serve God, family, country, and community.
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest Fraternity. Its history and tradition date to antiquity. Its singular purpose is to make good men better. Its bonds of friendship, compassion, and brotherly love have survived even the most divisive political, military and religious conflicts through the centuries. Freemasonry is neither a forum nor a place for worship. Instead, it is a friend of all religions which are based on the belief in one God. Freemasons are respectable citizens who are taught to conform to the moral laws of society and to abide by the laws of the government under which they live. They are men of charity and good works. They remain unchallenged as the “world’s greatest philanthropy”. Only individuals believed to be of the finest character are favorably considered for membership. Every applicant must advocate his belief in the existence of a Supreme Being (atheists are not accepted into the Fraternity). In most Masonic Jurisdictions, one must ask a Masonic friend to
