What’s a Mason?
That’s not a surprising question. Even though Masons (Freemasons)
are members of the largest and oldest fraternity in the world, and even
though almost everyone has a father or grandfather or uncle who was a
Mason, many people aren’t quite certain just who Masons are.
The answer is simple. A Mason (or Freemason) is a member of a
fraternity known as Masonry (or Freemasonry). A fraternity is a group
of men (just as a sorority is a group of women) who join together
because:
- There are things they want to do in the world.
- There are things they want to do “inside their own minds.”
- They enjoy being together with men they like and respect.
(We’ll look at some of these things later.)
What’s Masonry?
Masonry (or Freemasonry) is the oldest fraternity in the world. No
one knows just how old it is because the actual origins have been lost
in time. Probably, it arose from the guilds of stonemasons who built
the castles and cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Possibly, they were
influenced by the Knights Templar, a group of Christian warrior monks
formed in 1118 to help protect pilgrims making trips to the Holy Land.
In 1717, Masonry created a formal organization in England when the
first Grand Lodge was formed. A Grand Lodge is the administrative body
in charge of Masonry in some geographical area. In the United States,
there is a Grand Lodge in each state. In Canada, there is a Grand Lodge
in each province. Local organizations of Masons are called lodges.
There are lodges in most towns, and large cities usually have several.
There are about 13,200 lodges in the United States.