Approaching the Portal of Freemasonry

General Information Concerning Freemasonry

Masonry is a unique institution that has been a major part of community life in America for over 250 years. Masonry, or more properly Freemasonry, is America's largest and oldest fraternity and one that continues to be an important part of many men's personal lives and growth.
Many years ago in England it was described as "a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." It is a course of moral instruction using both allegories and symbols to teach its lessons. The legends and myths of the old stonecutters and Masons, many of them involved in building the great cathedrals of Europe, have been woven into an interesting and effective way to portray moral truths.

In Masonry, the old tools and ways of the Craftsmen are used to help dramatically portray those moral truths. Two examples are the 24-inch gauge and the common gavel. Just as the ruler is used to measure distance, the modern Mason uses it as a reminder to manage one of his most precious resources, time. And, as the gavel is used to shape stones, so it is also the symbol of the necessity for all of us to work to perfect ourselves.

One modern definition is: "Freemasonry is an organized society of men, symbolically applying the principles of Operative Masonry and architecture to the science and art of character building." In other words, Masonry uses ageless methods and lessons to make each of us a better person.
Thus, Masonry

• has a basic philosophy of life that places the individual worth of each man high on its pedestal and incorporates the great teachings of many ages to provide a way for individual study and thought,
• has great respect for religion and promotes toleration and equal esteem for the religious opinions of others,
• provides a real working plan for making good men even better,
  is a social organization,
• has many important charitable projects,
• has a rich worldwide history,
• can help to develop both public speaking and dramatic abilities and provides an effective avenue for developing leadership.

Freemasonry stands for some important principles and beliefs.

The primary doctrines of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. Its cardinal virtues are Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. These principles or beliefs cover a broad field, actually supplying the pattern to meet every experience in human life.

In the United States, Freemasonry is a strong supporter of:

• constitutional government;
• quality public education;
• the freedom of religion and expression;
• the equality of all men and women;
• the need for strong moral character; and
• meaningful charity.

Masonry and the organizations that are within the Masonic family contribute over 700 million dollars every year to helping those with sight problems or aphasia, physically and developmentally disabled children, and those with severe burns. Local lodges work to help their communities and individuals within those communities. Masonry's charity is always given without regard to race, sex, creed or national origin.

Masons are men who have joined together to improve themselves. This is accomplished through the principles and ceremonies of the Fraternity. Members endeavor to extend Masonic lessons into their daily lives in order to become positive influences in their homes, communities, nation and throughout the world. They base their efforts on morality, justice, charity, truth and the laws of God. Worldwide, membership encompasses millions of men who believe and support the same fundamental principles.

"The mission of Freemasonry is to promote a way of life that binds like-minded men in a worldwide Brotherhood that transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social and educational differences; by teaching the great principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth; and, by the outward expression of these, through its fellowship, its compassion and its concern, to find ways in which to serve God, family, country, neighbors and self."

Simply put, the overall purpose of Masonry is to provide a way to help each member become a better person. The fraternity does not propose to take a bad man and make him good; rather, to take the good man and make him better. The fraternity places emphasis on the individual man by:

• strengthening his character;
• improving his moral and spiritual outlook; and
• broadening his mental horizons.

Freemasonry tries to impress upon its members the principles of personal responsibility and morality, to give each member an understanding of and feeling for Freemasonry's character, and to have every member put these lessons into practice in his daily life. The aim is to build a better world by building better men to work in their own communities.

Freemasonry believes in universal peace made possible by teaching its doctrine through the Brotherhood of Man and Fatherhood of God.

The local Lodge is a group of Masons granted a Charter by the Grand Lodge of Vermont. There are specific guidelines set by the Grand Lodge as to how this local Lodge may function and what it can and cannot do. These guidelines are set forth in books of constitutions and ritual. The leaders of the Lodge are elected by the Lodge membership each year.

A Lodge is a meeting place for Masons. Masons may use it for regular business meetings, degrees, social activities, other Masonic groups or even community activities. Lodge buildings are prominently marked and are often recognized as special landmarks in the cities and towns of our state.

It is not clear when the Craft was born. Hundreds of Masonic scholars have investigated this question, but no conclusive answer has been found and perhaps never will be. The earliest written record of the term "Master Mason" appears in the Regis Manuscript, written about 1390 and now kept in the British Museum. Its mention of the "Master Mason" refers to the stonemasons of the Middle Ages. The tools of the stonemason date back, of course, to the earliest periods of history and are lost in the mists of time. This is also true of the geometry and geometric symbols used in the craft of building.

Over the ages, Freemasonry slowly took form. It has evolved into a comprehensive and effective form of fraternal teaching of basic morals, truths and personal fulfillment. It ranks the individual's reasoning capabilities highly and encourages the questioning mind.

There are actually two kinds of Masonry: "Operative" and "Speculative."

Operative Masonry and its Lodges can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. Operative Masons formed groups with Lodges and Lodge officers. Men were admitted only after they had served a number of years as apprentices. This is the origin of the first or Entered Apprentice Degree. In Operative Masonry, Masons actually did the physical labor of building. They were the best at their Craft and they kept secret their methods of building.

When the organization became what is called Speculative Masonry, men were accepted into the Craft without being actual builders; that is, they were spiritual builders. Speculative Masonry adopts the terms and concepts of the actual builders, but substitutes men for stone and mortar, and works toward self-improvement rather than the actual construction of buildings.

How did the words "Ancient Free" and "Accepted" originate?

The ancient Craftsmen were very skilled and their Craft was considered to be indispensable to the welfare of both church and state. They were the men who built castles and cathedrals. For this reason, they were not placed under the same restrictions as were other workers. They were "free" to do their work, travel and live their lives in a manner that was in line with their duties.

The Masons organized into "guilds", something akin to a trade union, and individual companies or groups of Masons contracted for specific construction projects. In the England of that time, various Crafts (carpenters, distillers, pewterers, ironworkers, etc.) also organized into guilds, but most of the population worked under bond to the owners of the land on which they lived.

The word "Accepted" also goes back to the time of the Operative Mason. During the later years of the Middle Ages, there were few men educated outside the monasteries of the church. The "accepted" mason was originally a man who, in a Lodge operative in origin or still partly so in character, was, for all practical purposes of membership, accepted as a Mason. From this practice grew, in course of time, the use of the words "Accepted" and "adopted" to indicate a man who had been admitted into the inner fellowship of symbolic Masons. Candidates were "accepted" into Freemasonry no earlier than the mid-seventeenth century. The phrase "free and accepted" first appeared in 1722.

By the late 1600's, the demand for the type of architecture that lent itself to the guild type of operation was declining. Architecture itself was changing; and the number of men, as well as the number of Operative Lodges, was declining. Increasingly, Masonry adopted the legends and habits of the old Operative Lodges for spiritual and moral purposes. As time went on, there became many more "Accepted" members than there were Operative members Sometime in the eighteenth century, the "Accepted Masons" outnumbered the "Operative Masons" and Masonry gradually became exclusively a speculative organization rather than an operative one.

In 1717, four Lodges in London met together and decided to form a Grand Lodge, possibly for no other reason than to strengthen and preserve them. In 1723, they adopted a Constitution. Their success led to establishment of still other Grand Lodges. In 1725, some of the Lodges in Ireland formed a Grand Lodge and a similar body was instituted in Scotland in 1736. Moreover, the Grand Lodge in England did not remain without rivals and at one time in the eighteenth century three Grand Lodges existed in England in addition to the one organized in 1717. Two of these died out without influencing the history of Masonry in general, but the third had a great part in the spread and popularizing of Masonry throughout the world. It called itself the "Ancient" Grand Lodge. The two surviving Grand Lodges were long and vigorous rivals, but they finally united in 1813 into the present United Grand Lodge of England. Thus, from one of these two Grand Bodies in England, or from those of Ireland or Scotland, all other Grand Lodges in the world today are descended.
Masonry was established in France sometime between 1718 and 1725. The first Lodge in Spain was established in 1728. A Lodge was established in Calcutta in 1728, Prague in 1729, and in Naples in 1731. Masonry was established in Poland in 1734 and Sweden in 1735.

The growth of Freemasonry and its ideals and beliefs were not without opposition. Masons are taught that all men are created equal and meet upon the level. Individual freedom of thought and action, as well as morality and ethics, are the concepts and ideals upon which Masonry is founded. The teachings are a condemnation of autocratic governments which, in turn, condemn Freemasonry.

The decision to enter the ranks of Freemasonry is your own without the undue influence of others. That makes your membership in Masonry one of your own choice, which is significant. Men join Masonry for a variety of reasons, each valid and important.

As you consider the information presented here, we encourage you to browse the other pages on the Arkansas Grand Lodge Web Site http://www.arkmason.com. It can provide further information on our fraternity and the many interesting things that are taking place in Masonry throughout our state.