Freemasonry, sometimes spelled Free-Masonry, is made up of groups that began in medieval times with stone masons. Freemasonry is the oldest known non-religious brotherhood, with records and traditions from the 14th century. Today, Freemasonry includes three main traditions:
Each tradition has changed over time from its early form. All three call themselves "Regular" and refer to other groups as "Irregular." The basic group in Freemasonry is called a Lodge. These private Lodges are usually managed by a regional group called a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no single worldwide group that controls all Freemasonry. Each Grand Lodge works independently and may not always agree with others.
Freemasonry has three levels, similar to the ranks in medieval mason guilds: Entered Apprentice, Fellow of the Craft, and Master Mason. Members learn the meaning of symbols, signs, and secret words as they progress through these levels. These levels mix storytelling with lessons. These three levels make up Craft Freemasonry, and members are called Free-Masons, Freemasons, or Masons. After completing the Craft levels, members can join other groups that offer more levels. These groups are usually run separately from the Grand Lodges. The extra levels vary depending on the area or rules in place. In addition, there are other groups outside the main traditions that require someone to be a Master Mason before joining.
Throughout history, Freemasonry has faced criticism and opposition for religious, moral, or political reasons. The Catholic Church, some Protestant groups, and certain Islamic countries or groups have opposed or banned Freemasonry. Some opposition comes from antisemitism or conspiracy theories, and Freemasons have been punished by authoritarian governments.
Lodge activities and meetings
The Masonic Lodge meets regularly to carry out different activities. Although practices differ based on location, tradition, and specific groups within Freemasonry, there are shared elements across all Masonic organizations.
In many areas, Lodges handle regular tasks during meetings, such as reviewing meeting notes, choosing new members, selecting officers, discussing letters, checking financial reports, and planning social or charitable events. However, in some places, the Lodge is considered a sacred space where non-religious tasks are not allowed. In these traditions, administrative tasks are handled before the Lodge officially begins, during separate meetings, or by committees outside the Lodge.
Whether or not business is handled during meetings, all Masonic gatherings include rituals and educational activities. These include:
– Performing Masonic ceremonies
– Granting Masonic degrees
– Learning about Masonic history or rituals
– Reading papers on topics like Masonry, philosophy, technology, or personal interests
– Discussing philosophical ideas
– Researching specific subjects
– Sharing personal Masonic experiences
– Demonstrating skills to earn a higher rank
At the end of meetings, the Lodge may hold a formal dinner, called an Agape or festive board, which sometimes includes toasting and singing. These events often take place in Masonic temples, though other locations may be used.
Most Masonic rituals involve ceremonies that help members join different levels. New members first join as Entered Apprentices. Later, they may advance to Fellow Craft and then to Master Mason. During each ceremony, members take new vows and learn secret knowledge, such as passwords, signs, and handshakes, which are specific to their rank. These symbols are not truly secret, as they are often found in public sources.
Another ceremony is the annual installation of the Lodge’s Master and officers. In some areas, the Master is considered a special rank with unique symbols and titles, and after one year, the Master passes leadership to a new member, becoming a Past Master. In other areas, this rank is not recognized, and no new secrets are shared during the ceremony.
Most Lodges have social events where members, their partners, and non-Masonic guests can meet. These events often include charitable work, such as donations, fundraising, or helping with education, health, and elderly care.
Private Lodges are the basic units of Freemasonry and have the authority to choose new members. They often operate independently and may have special rights in their local areas. Other Lodges may meet for specific purposes, such as hobbies, research, or professional groups. Members who reach the rank of Master Mason may join additional degrees outside the basic Lodge structure.
Freemasonry has many differences because each area sets its own rules. Grand Lodges have limited control over their member Lodges, which are private groups. Rules, rituals, and meeting setups vary by location.
Most Lodge officers are chosen or appointed each year. Every Lodge has a Master, two Wardens, a treasurer, and a secretary. A Tyler, or guard, stands outside the Lodge to ensure privacy. Other roles depend on the area.
Each Lodge follows its own rules and the guidelines of its Grand Lodge. These rules are not the same everywhere and depend on the local area.
Organisation
Grand Lodges and Grand Orients are independent groups that manage Freemasonry in specific countries, states, or regions (called a jurisdiction). There is no one worldwide group that controls all Freemasonry; connections between different jurisdictions depend only on mutual agreement.
In the early 2000s, experts estimated that Freemasonry had between two million and over six million members worldwide.
The organization is divided into separate Grand Lodges (or sometimes Grand Orients), each responsible for managing its own jurisdiction, which includes smaller local groups called subordinate or constituent Lodges.
The largest group in terms of members is the United Grand Lodge of England, which has local groups called Provincial Grand Lodges. Together, these groups are estimated to have about 175,000 members. The Grand Lodge of Ireland reports having approximately 19,000 members.
In the United States, there are 51 Grand Lodges—one in each state and the District of Columbia. Together, they have about 875,000 members, according to the Masonic Service Association of North America.
Grand Orient de France, the largest group in Continental Freemasonry, reports having more than 50,000 members.
Other degrees, orders and bodies
Blue Lodges, called Craft Lodges in the United Kingdom, provide only the three traditional degrees. In most areas, the rank of past or installed master is also given in Blue/Craft Lodges. Master Masons can continue their Masonic journey by joining additional degrees in other groups, whether or not these groups are approved by their own Grand Lodge.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is a system with 33 degrees, including the three Blue Lodge degrees. It is managed by a local or national Supreme Council and is popular in North America, South America, and parts of Europe. In America, the York Rite, which has a similar structure, oversees three groups: the Royal Arch, Cryptic Masonry, and the Knights Templar.
In Britain, different groups manage each order. Freemasons are encouraged to join the Holy Royal Arch, which is connected to Mark Masonry in Scotland and Ireland but is separate in England. In England, the Royal Arch is closely linked to the Craft, sharing many leaders, including Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who serves as both Grand Master of the Craft and First Grand Principal of the Royal Arch. In England, the Knights Templar and Cryptic Masonry share offices and staff with the Mark Grand Lodge at Mark Masons' Hall in London. The Ancient and Accepted Rite, which is similar to the Scottish Rite, requires members to declare belief in the Trinitarian Christian faith and is managed from Duke Street in London. In contrast, the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia is a separate secret organization that requires members to be Master Masons of the United Grand Lodge of England.
In the Nordic countries, the Swedish Rite is the main system. A version of this rite is also used in parts of Germany.
Ritual and symbolism
Freemasonry describes itself as a "beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." The symbols mostly come from the tools used by stonemasons, such as the square and compasses, the level and plumb rule, the trowel, and the rough and smooth ashlars. Each tool is linked to a moral lesson, though the meanings are not always the same. The symbolism is taught through rituals, lectures, and writings by individual Masons who share their own interpretations.
According to scholar Jan A. M. Snoek, Freemasonry is best described by what it is not, rather than what it is. All Freemasons begin their journey in the "craft" by being "initiated," "passed," and "raised" into three degrees of Craft, or Blue Lodge Masonry. During these rituals, candidates learn about Masonic symbols and are given grips, signs, and words to identify their level of membership. The ceremonies use stories and focus on the construction of the Temple of Solomon and the life and death of its chief architect, Hiram Abiff. The three degrees are "Entered Apprentice," "Fellowcraft," and "Master Mason." While different versions of the rituals exist, all Freemasons can recognize the symbols and stories from any location.
In some areas, the main themes of each degree are shown on tracing boards. These painted images are displayed in the lodge and explained to candidates to help them understand the symbolism of each degree.
The idea of Masonic brotherhood likely comes from a 16th-century legal term for "brother," meaning someone who has promised to support another person. At each degree, Masons swear to help and protect their fellow members. In most Lodges, this oath is taken on a Volume of Sacred Law, which is a religious book chosen based on the member's beliefs (often the Bible in Anglo-American traditions). In some types of Freemasonry, books other than religious texts are allowed, which has caused disagreements between different groups.
History
Since the middle of the 19th century, Masonic historians have studied the origins of Freemasonry by looking at a group of old documents called the Old Charges. These documents, which date from about 1425 to the early 1800s, were written for members of groups of working masons. They describe the history of the craft, the duties of different levels within the group, and how members took oaths of loyalty when joining. The 15th century also shows the first signs of ceremonial clothing and symbols used in meetings.
There is no clear way to explain how local trade groups became today’s Masonic Lodges. The earliest known rituals and passwords from working mason lodges around the 1600s and 1700s show a connection to the rituals later developed by speculative Masons. These were members who did not work as masons but still joined the group. The minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No. 1 in Scotland show a history from an operative lodge in 1598 to a modern speculative Lodge. It is believed to be the oldest Masonic Lodge in the world.
In 1803, a German professor named J. G. Buhle suggested that Freemasonry might have developed from Rosicrucianism, an idea later supported by Thomas De Quincey.
The first Grand Lodge, called the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster, was formed on St. John’s Day, June 24, 1717, when four London Lodges met for a shared meal. Over the next ten years, most Lodges in England joined this new organization, which then focused on growing and promoting Freemasonry. New Lodges were created, and the group expanded.
During the 18th century, as aristocrats and artists joined the group, Freemasonry became popular in Europe and the American colonies. Between 1730 and 1750, the Grand Lodge made changes that some Lodges did not support. A rival Grand Lodge, called the "Antient Grand Lodge of England," formed in 1751. This group claimed to follow older traditions and called the original Grand Lodge "Modern." The two groups competed for control until they agreed to merge in 1813, forming the United Grand Lodge of England.
The Grand Lodge of Ireland was formed in 1725, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed in 1736. However, neither group convinced all existing Lodges in their countries to join immediately.
During the Enlightenment in the 18th century, Freemasons formed an international network of men who shared similar ideas. They often met in secret and followed rituals in their Lodges. They promoted Enlightenment values, such as liberty, equality, and fraternity, and spread these ideas across Europe and other regions. British Freemasonry had its own beliefs, rituals, and values. Scottish soldiers and Jacobite Scots brought ideas about fraternity to the Continent that reflected English Revolution ideals rather than Scottish traditions. Freemasonry was especially common in France, where between 50,000 and 100,000 Masons existed by 1789, making it the most popular Enlightenment group in the country.
Jacob argued that Masonic Lodges likely influenced society by creating a model for self-government with rules, elections, and representatives. This was especially true in Europe, where Lodges were sometimes seen as a threat by governments. For example, a Paris Lodge in the 1720s was made up of English Jacobite exiles. Many Lodges across Europe referenced Enlightenment ideas in their rituals. In French Lodges, the phrase "As the means to be enlightened I search for the enlightened" was part of their initiation rites. British Lodges aimed to "initiate the unenlightened." Many Lodges honored the "Grand Architect," a term for the divine being who created the universe.
However, historian Robert Roswell Palmer noted that Lodges operated independently, and Masons did not act as a political group together. American historians mention that Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were leading Masons, but the role of Freemasonry in the American Revolution is debated. Daniel Roche argued that Masonic Lodges were not truly equal, as they mainly included men from similar social backgrounds.
In the long term, historian Norman Davies said Freemasonry was a major force in Europe from about 1700 to the 20th century. It spread quickly during the Enlightenment, reaching nearly every European country and the New World and Asia. Freemasonry became linked with Liberalism in the 19th century and beyond. In Catholic countries, it faced strong opposition from the Church. In the 20th century, it was suppressed by Fascist and Communist governments. Freemasonry attracted royalty, politicians, businessmen, and intellectuals, including figures like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Sir Robert Walpole, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. In the late 18th century, English Lodges were led by the Prince of Wales, Prussian Lodges by King Frederick the Great, and French Lodges by royal princes. Napoleon, as Emperor of France, chose his brother to be the Grand Master of France.
English Freemasonry spread to France in the 1720s, first through expatriate Lodges and later through distinct French Lodges that followed the rituals of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. From France and England, Freemasonry expanded across Europe during the 18th century. The Grande Loge de France was formed under the leadership of the Duke of Clermont, who had limited authority. His successor, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, reorganized the central body as the Grand Orient de France in 1773. French Freemasonry grew again after the French Revolution, first led by Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse, Comte de Grassy-Tilly.
In the 18th century, liberal French politicians met in Masonic Lodges to develop ideas that influenced the French Revolution of 1789. Avner Halpern noted that French Freemasonry played a key role in creating France’s first modern political party in 1901, the Radical Party. This party used two Masonic ideas: the "civil leadership model" developed in late 19th-century France and local Masonic congresses.
Anti-Masonry
Anti-Masonry, also known as Anti-Freemasonry, refers to the opposition to Freemasonry. It includes individuals or groups who criticize or disagree with Masonic beliefs. There has never been a single, unified anti-Masonic movement. People who oppose Freemasonry have come from different backgrounds, such as religious groups, political groups, and those who believe in conspiracy theories, including those that claim Freemasonry is involved in secret plots. Some critics, like Nesta Helen Webster, focused only on "Continental Masonry" and believed "Regular Masonry" was a respectable group.
Many books and reports about Freemasonry have been published since the 18th century. Some of these may not be accurate, outdated, or even fake, such as the Taxil hoax. These writings have often been used to criticize Freemasonry, especially in religious or political ways, or to claim Freemasonry is part of a secret, corrupt group. The term "Anti-Masonry" became widely used in the United States after the "Morgan Affair" in 1826, and it is still used today by both Freemasons to describe their critics and by critics to describe themselves.
Freemasonry has faced criticism from religious groups and governments that believe it challenges religious beliefs or practices. Some groups, like the Catholic Church, have opposed Freemasonry for a long time. The Church argues that Freemasonry teaches ideas that conflict with its teachings, such as a belief in a naturalistic religion, and that certain rituals, like blood oaths, are against Christian values. Some Catholic priests who perform exorcisms believe these oaths can harm the families of Freemasons, though this idea is debated within the Church.
More than 600 official statements from the Pope have been made against Freemasonry. The first was in 1738 by Pope Clement XII, and the most recent was in 2023 by Pope Francis. The 1917 Code of Canon Law stated that joining Freemasonry automatically led to excommunication and banned books that supported Freemasonry. In 1983, a new code of laws was created, but it did not specifically mention Freemasonry. However, in 2003, the Vatican clarified that Freemasonry remains forbidden for Catholics, and Pope Francis reaffirmed this rule in 2023.
Freemasonry has not opposed Catholics joining their group. Some groups that work with the United Grand Lodge of England say Freemasonry does not replace a member’s religion. However, certain rituals require members to reject the papacy, and some Freemasons in government have tried to limit religious freedom for Catholics.
Protestant groups have criticized Freemasonry for different reasons, often claiming it involves mystical or occult practices. Albert Pike, a Masonic scholar, is sometimes cited by Protestants, but his views were personal and not official. In 1993, the Southern Baptist Convention said some parts of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity, but others might be. This topic remains debated within the group.
The Free Methodist Church, founded by B.T. Roberts, opposed Freemasonry in the 1800s, believing it promoted a different religion. Roberts said Freemasonry’s "god" was not the same as the God in the Bible.
Many bishops in the Church of England have been Freemasons, including Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher. However, in recent years, some Anglicans have become more concerned about Freemasonry, especially with the rise of the evangelical movement. In 2003, former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams apologized to Freemasons after saying their beliefs were not compatible with Christianity.
In 1933, the Orthodox Church of Greece declared that being a Freemason is a form of apostasy, meaning a person must stop being a Freemason to receive the Eucharist. This rule has generally remained in place.