The Freemason Fad

By now most of you have heard about the L.A. Times article talking about how hipsters are joining the latest fad called Freemasonry. It occurred to me that I haven't written a specific Freemason themed blog post in a while and I figured this article might spawn some fresh traffic from the general populous; those interested in hearing what this fad is all about.

If you want to know about the latest Freemason fad, then you have come to the right place. I'm not really going to be discussing much here that I haven't covered in previous posts before, but that doesn't prevent me from prattling on about it just one more time.

First of all, let me be clear that Freemasonry has *always* been a fad. The only reason the L.A. Times article is spawning new interest is that the Freemason fad appears to have been recently rekindled. People have always been motivated to join Freemasonry primarily based on their opinion of its members. They joined because their father, or other well respected relative, was a member. They joined because their good friends were members. And that is just as true today as it was back in the 1950's, the 1920's, and even at the time of the enlightenment when so many men joined together in fraternal brotherhood.

What happened to Freemasonry is that it largely skipped a generation. Traditionally membership in Freemasonry was passed down from father to son, but during the counter-culture revolution of the 1960's an entire generation rejected the institutions of their parents as 'being square'. The term 'square', of course, is a direct allusion to Freemasonry.

Another cultural development happened along the way. People began to perceive that they had 'no free time'. Volunteerism went down and memberships in all fraternal organizations collapsed. People began to fill their time with television, internet, video games, and shuttling kids to a seemingly endless stream of soccer matches. Families did feel rushed and stopped even having family dinners at home on a regular basis. With both parents working they began filling every spare moment trying to keep up with yard work, house keeping, and running kids to various activities.

In all of that who can find the time to spend hours away from the home a couple of times a month, as well as volunteer for various charitable activities in the community?

I sympathize, I really do. I just returned from my daughter Lauren's high school graduation. This is my third child to graduate from high school and I have only one left, Alex who is a freshman. As my kids get older and can drive for themselves, I find that I have more free time available than I had before and I can devote it to these fraternal organizations that I have come to love and enjoy so much (DeMolay, Rainbow Girls, Shriners, Lions Club, and Freemasonry).

Yet, this post isn't supposed to be about me. It is about you, the fad seeker, who wants to know what attracts someone to this organization. Why would you want to become involved in this fad? What's in it for you, and why should you stop playing your favorite MMO to join this institution?

Ok, let me get a few things out of the way right away. To make this easy to follow I will finish this post in FAQ form.

Aren't you Freemasons out to control the world? The answer to that is, and always has been, unequivocally yes. We make no bones about it. We are out to control the world exactly one man at a time. The principle purpose of joining Freemasonry is to swear an oath that you will lead your life by the highest standards of morality. It's kind of like Promise Keepers but without all of the religious stuff thrown in.

Another thought I often have is this; if you suspect there is an organization out to control the world, don't you think you ought to join? Isn't it better to be in on the deal than on the outside?

What about all of the secrets of Freemasons, what secrets will I learn? Here is where I will have to disappoint you. There are absolutely no secrets in Freemasonry; sorry about that. The only 'official' secrets of Freemasonry are some passwords and handshakes. Many Freemasons also extend the 'official' secrets to include our ceremony. There certainly was a time when the average person would have had a devil of a time ever learning our handshakes and passwords. Of course, this was all long before the Internet. Today you can find out all of our passwords, handshakes, and even our entire ritual, online on hundreds of websites. Numerous books have been written that discuss our ceremonies in exhausting detail.

The passwords and handshakes themselves are nothing particularity special and knowing them is not going to be some sort of great revelation to you. Neither will you be able to sneak into a Freemason lodge because you know them.

The only other 'secrets' a Freemason might have are if one of your brothers told you something in confidence. This is the same courtesy any honorable man would extend to another.

Are Freemason meetings exciting? If you are pursuing this fad as an idea that this is something wicked cool and fun to be involved in I am afraid, yet once again, I am going to have to disappoint you. I think it is fair to say that most people would consider our meetings extremely boring. I know this to be true as the majority of people who join Freemasonry find the meetings to be so boring they never attend them. No, we don't wear robes, we don't operate as an occult society, we don't ride goats, and we don't share deep dark secrets that are hidden from the profane in society.

Instead we run through a highly repetitive ritual simply to open and close a meeting. We say the pledge of allegiance, we recite non-denominational prayers, we sing (poorly) a couple of songs, and we host a meeting using Roberts rules of order, replete with excruciatingly long reading of the minutes, motions, resolutions, and other minutia of any other business meeting.

If Freemason meetings are so boring why do you even attend? That is an excellent question, I am glad I asked it. For some reason that I really cannot explain ritual is comforting. To me this is really a key mystery about the whole thing. I remember when I first joined I thought the meetings were boring, long, repetitive, and largely pointless. Then, as I was driving home, I would be struck with the thought, "I wonder when the next meeting is..."

I am a rationalist and this attitude seemed entirely irrational to me. What I have come to understand is that there is something about a formalized ritual that is inherently satisfying. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Millions in our culture invest enormous amounts of personal energy engaging in ritual. They engage in ritual by attending Mass or other forms of religious services. They attend sporting events, such as baseball, which has no less ritual than our formal opening and closing ceremony. Once a ritual becomes ingrained then an activity that, objectively, could be viewed as boring or pointless, ends up transforming into a deeply satisfying personal meditation.

I really can't explain it, nor do I understand it. I do not have a degree in psychology and I haven't studied the topic extensively. If anyone reading this post has some good references as to why human beings are so deeply attracted to ritual I would be interested to read them. All I can conclude is that most human beings have some degree of obsessive compulsive disorder and that these little rituals we perform keep our inner Monk at bay.

I do like to tell this anecdote though. After having been a Freemason for a couple of years I joined the Lions club in our community. When I first attended a Lions club meeting the president rapped the gavel, stated 'I call this meeting to order' and, turning to the secretary, asked for the minutes to be read. This entire process took about 10 seconds. Meanwhile, the same exact process in my lodge, when opening on all three degrees, takes half of an hour!

And, what amazed me, was that rather than being relieved that the Lions club did things so rationally and efficiently my emotional reaction was to feel 'ripped off' as if the meeting had no great value because we hadn't invested it with any deep ceremony and meaning.

What makes Freemason ritual different than other forms you might be familiar with? When you attend a Church service it is largely a passive experience. Sure, you do sing some hymns, and you stand and kneel at a few key moments. If you are Catholic or Lutheran you will have a greater degree of involvement as you recite the liturgy and response with the Priest. What makes Freemason ritual unique is how everyone is involved. There can be as many a twenty formal 'parts' or 'roles' to perform. Each is executed, or meant to be executed, with military precision and oratorical perfection. All of the members interact in a tight choreographed exchange that engages both the mind and the body in form.

You are far less likely to get bored when you are an integral part of the formal ritual, as opposed to simply being a passive observer as is the case in many other settings.

When you say 'ritual' just what do you really mean? A ritual is simply any formalized set of actions. Let's say your dog always turns three times before he lays down on the floor. There you go, that is his little ritual. Freemason ritual is as follows.

There are a number of officers in a lodge. Each one has a specific designated role. This role usually involves set speaking parts which are absolutely word for word identical at every single meeting. Some of the parts also involve movement. Some of the officers carry a 'rod', others have gavels, and one has a baton. Some of the ritual with movement involves walking around the lodge room carrying a long rod. These actions are performed with exact precision as to the number of steps you take getting from point A to point B, which foot you start with, and how exactly your turn you feet or hold your rod. Think marching band and you are kind of on track.

Once again, why this is satisfying to do, I cannot really explain but for many of us it is.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture of what we are doing. No, we are not chanting magic spells or performing occult acts. We are simply reciting some set vocal parts, such as stating our job and roles in the lodge, and walking around the room making sure everyone has the correct password. It's all rather silly to be honest and I think most people's reaction would be amazement that this is how grown men spend their time on a Wednesday night.

What is the primary 'thing' you actually 'do' if you are a Freemason? Once again, this is an excellent question. Before I answer, I have to be clear. This is not the same everywhere! In many lodges across the nation the primary activity is community service. The bulk of what many Freemason lodges 'do' is not significantly different than what a Lions or Rotary club might be doing. They are involved in chartable activities in their community and offer scholarships and other projects that make a real difference.

I have attended lodges where this is the case and I have also been to lodges where there is very little emphasis on ritual at all. In these instances I found their opening and closing ceremonies to be remarkably abbreviated compared to what I experience in my own lodge. In my lodge opening takes about 30 minutes and closing about 10. I attended a lodge in Florida where they opened in well under 5 minutes, and closing was very brief as well.

One of the main things all Freemason lodges do is to socialize. Do not ever lose sight of the basic fact that Freemasonry is a fraternity at heart. Our meetings always involve a lot of time for socialization. We usually share a meal, and spend lots of time conversing with our friends. In fact, I would have to say that the the single greatest attraction to Freemasonry is the social bond which is formed. Lasting friendships with individuals of great character are what Freemasonry is largely about and I believe its greatest reward.

Still, socialization alone is not the major thing that we 'do'. In my lodge, and in many others, the major thing that we do is perform the three degree ceremonies. We perform them over, and over, and over again. It is our primary activity and consumes the vast bulk of our time, far exceeding what we spend on other aspects of the lodge.

I have said this on this blog before, but it bears repeating. Remember that while this is not necessarily true for all lodges (some lodges haven't put on a degree ceremony in years), but in my neck of the woods (St. Louis and the surrounding area), it has been our primary activity for the past four years I have been involved.

"Freemasonry is primarily an amateur theater group."


To become a Freemason you must go through three 'degrees'. A 'degree' is simply a play. It is a play that is performed by many members of the lodge who have each memorized their parts word perfect and in exacting detail. It is performed as a group and takes great effort and concentration. The individuals who have invested the time and energy to memorize this play find great satisfaction and pleasure in performing it. Even though it is repeated over and over again, every single time it is brand new to the candidate.

In my neck of the woods it has reached the point that if we show up to lodge and there isn't a degree to perform it is considered a disappointment. On nights when there is no degree work, not many people bother to show up since, all we are doing is that 'boring' business meeting. The real fun and excitement (relatively speaking) is to put on a great degree for a new candidate. To watch him become bewildered and overwhelmed by this massive amount of often bizarre material wash over him is our reward.

"What is a 'degree'?" As I said before, a 'degree' is simply a play that we perform. We have three degrees; they are called 'Entered Apprentice', 'Fellowcraft', and 'Master Mason'. Symbolically these three degrees represent 'youth, 'manhood', and 'old age'. As an 'Entered Apprentice' you come knocking on the door of Freemasonry to learn whatever lessons it has to offer. You will be blindfolded for a large part of the ceremony, which creates a certain amount of disorientation.


I hear Freemasonry is weird, is it? Much of our ceremony is strange, bizarre, and nonsensical! Even after four years and having performed the ceremonies many times there are still parts of it that don't make a damn bit of sense to me. I can't stress this enough. Let me assure you, this strangeness is part of what makes the whole thing special. There is a tradition in human culture of conducting initiation ceremonies along the lines of Freemason ritual. Now, I am not saying that the ancient Egyptians and other cultures 'were Freemasons'. What I am saying is that for all of recorded human history there have been traditions called collectively 'The Mysteries' which involved a series of initiation ceremonies designed to imprint an individual candidate.

Now, personally, I think this is kind of cool. I also think it is cool that when I perform this often strange ceremony that I am doing it word for word the same way it has been done in our jurisdiction for well over a century. I think it is cool that the basic elements of our ceremony were the same experience that George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and many other famous Freemasons throughout history got to share. I think it is very cool that we don't arbitrarily change our strange little ceremony simply to be politically correct or to make it more contemporary.

I also think it is amazing that even though secret initiation ceremonies have existed in human culture for thousands of years that today Freemasons are really the only game left in town.

I honestly believe that the predominant reaction most candidates feel after their first exposure to a lodge is a sense of amazement that a bunch of grown men in their community are performing these strange plays.

The reason I go on about this is that I like to prepare candidates for an expectation that they will find the degree experience strange and far out of their ordinary experience. Even if you read the entire ritual online that will give you no sense of what the experience itself is like.

You see, for those of us who have been doing this for years our ceremonies are so completely normal that we often forget how strange it can seem to a candidate. How many times do we lose a member because their expectations for what Freemasonry was all about didn't match their experience? I like to be blunt about it and state up front that much of our ceremony might be considered 'boring' at first blush and that the initiation experience may seem strange and often not make much sense at all. Realize that the appeal of Freemasonry, as is all ritual, is with repetition and familiarity. I believe most of those who stuck around to get more involved and active in the lodge can attest to how the whole thing kind of 'grows on you' over time.

What's it all 'about'? The answer to this question is so simple that still I don't think people really believe it. We say that Freemasonry 'makes good men better'. We say that because we hope that it is true. The primary purpose/goal of Freemasonry is to take someone of good character who desires, of his own free will and accord, to become a *better* person, and teach them lessons in morality. Our repetition of the ritual in the ceremony primarily serves as an ongoing and continual reminder of that fact. A significant part of each degree is a formal 'lecture' that stresses the meaning of various architectural symbols in terms of morality.

Can I audit Freemasonry? I mean, I want to experience these 'degrees', but I'm not really interested in 'joining' or being involved. The simple answer to this question is 'yes'. I would have to add that you have to meet the basic qualifications first. You have to be a man of good character. You have to be well recommended and vouched for. You have to be sincere in your interest in becoming a better man. As long as you are true to these ideas, then I would hope you could take something away from our ceremonies and teachings.

To be honest, we don't really care that much if you ever attend a lodge meeting again. What really matters is that you live your life by the standards and principles espoused. If you go out into the world and conduct yourself by the highest standards of morality then you are every bit as much, if not more, of a Freemason than the guy who attends every single meeting and has memorized every word of ritual.

I hear Freemasonry is religious, is it? No, it is not. Freemasonry has no dogma, is open to men of all religious faiths, and is only 'religious' in the sense that is concerns itself with morality. The primary teachings and purposes of Freemasonry is to install a high moral standard and encourage charity and strong character in its members. It's really not any more complicated than that and those who try to make it so are rather missing the point.

Should I join this fad? That is really up to you. Did your friends join? Did your Dad join? Your grandfather? Your buddy, your neighbor? Ask them. Are you a man of good character? Do you have friends who will vouch for your character? Can you profess a belief in God (expressing that belief entirely relevant to your personal views on deity)? (Remember that many Freemasons were and are deists or pantheists at heart.) Do you want to meet and make quality new friends? Do you want to improve your social skills? Do you honestly want to make a dedicated effort to become a better man?

If you can answer yes to most of these questions then I can honestly say that this 'fad' might be for you.