CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT FREEMASONRY
Added on: 6th Aug 2016
FREEMASONRY EXISTS IN VARIOUS FORMS ALL
OVER THE WORLD, WITH A MEMBERSHIP
ESTIMATED AT AROUND FIVE MILLION (INCLUDING
APPROXIMATELY 480,000 IN GREAT BRITAIN AND
OVER TWO MILLION IN THE UNITED STATES)
CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, THE FREEMASONS
ARE NOT A SECRET SOCIETY. A MASON CAN FREELY
TELL PEOPLE THEY ARE A MASON. THEY JUST CAN’T
REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THE ORDER
THE CONVENTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT OF
FREEMASONRY IS USUALLY DATED TO 1717,
WHEN THE GRAND LODGE OF LONDON EMERGED
ON JUNE 24. THE EMERGENCE OF THIS GRAND
LODGE MARKED THE BEGINNING OF GRAND
LODGES GOVERNING OTHER LODGES
FREEMASONRY EMPLOYS THE TOOLS AND
INSTRUMENTS OF STONEMASONRY TO TEACH
A SYSTEM OF MORALITY, FRIENDSHIP, AND
BROTHERLY LOVE, HENCE, THE STANDARD
EMBLEM OF FREEMASONRY IS THE SQUARE
AND COMPASS
MASONIC SYMBOLS ARE USUALLY REGARDED AS
EXISTING BECAUSE OF THE FRATERNITY’S
SECRECY. HOWEVER, IN REALITY, FREEMASONRY
STARTED BEING ILLUSTRATED BY SYMBOLS
BECAUSE AT THE VERY BEGINNING MOST
FREEMASONS COULD NOT READ, SO THE
SYMBOLS SERVED TO REMIND MEMBERS OF
THE FRATERNITY’S TEACHINGS
THE OLDEST MASONIC SYMBOL IS THE SQUARE
AND COMPASS. IT IS ALSO THE MOST UNIVERSALLY
RECOGNIZED SYMBOL OF FREEMASONRY, THOUGH
ITS EXACT SIGNIFICANCE VARIES FROM COUNTRY
TO COUNTRY
A MASONIC “LODGE” REFERS TO THE CONGREGATION
OF PEOPLE WHO MEET THERE, IT’S NOT JUST THE
NAME OF A BUILDING. EACH LODGE GETS A
CHARTER FROM A “GRAND LODGE” BUT THEY
BASICALLY RUN THEMSELVES. THERE’S NO
OVERARCHING RITUAL FOR RUNNING A MEETING;
IT VARIES WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL GROUP
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO BECOME A FREEMASON IF YOU’RE
AN ATHEIST. THE FIRST REQUIREMENT IS THAT
POTENTIAL MEMBERS MUST BELIEVE IN A HIGHER
POWER OF SOME KIND
THERE ARE TWO KNOWN BRANCHES OF
FREEMASONRY. THE REGULAR, GUIDED BY THE
UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND, AND THE
LIBERAL, REPRESENTED BY THE GRAND
ORIENT OF FRANCE
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