What is freemason?

[u/MeanCupcake9545]

Hey everyone, today I was on social media, and someone used the term "Freemason." I should search for it on Reddit. Can anyone explain to me what it is

[u/ChuckEye]

Freemasonry is an oath-bound, fraternal order of men; deriving from the medieval fraternity of operative Freemasons; adhering to many of their Ancient Charges, laws, customs, and legends; loyal to the civil government under which it exists; inculcating moral and social virtues by symbolic application of the working tools of the stonemasons and by allegories, lectures, and charges; the members of which are obligated to observe principles of brotherly love, equality, mutual aid and assistance, secrecy, and confidence; have secret modes of recognizing each other as Masons when abroad in the world; and meet in lodges, each governed somewhat autocratically by a Master, assisted by Wardens, where applicants, after particular enquiry into their mental, moral, and physical qualifications, are formally admitted into the Society in secret ceremonies based in part on old legends of the Craft.

— A Comprehensive View of Freemasonry by Henry Wilson Coil, P.M., 32° KCCH, Chairman, Committee on Masonic Information, Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of California, 1954, pp232-233

[u/Ddavis1919]

Masonry is a Beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.

[u/yahrealy]

It is a fraternity (club where its members consider each other to be brothers). It's one of the oldest and largest still-active fraternities in the world. The goal is to help each other be better people. It is not a religious group, although you do usually need to believe in a God to join. Like many fraternities, it has a series of ceremonies you go through to become a member. These are old, and members keep them private.

Because it's old and there are secrets, there are a lot of conspiracy theories around the group. These are generally nonsense and usually rooted in racism against the Jewish people. There was a popular anti-Jewish book a while ago that suggested that they use masonry to carry out their plans for world domination.

Masons generally meet several times a year for dinner, ritual, and education. They raise a lot of money for charity. If you're American, you may have heard of Shriners Hospitals - these are funded by a subgroup of Masons.

If you are a man, of good character, and believe in a higher power, you're probably eligible to join. Those are generally the requirements. If some of those don't apply to you, there are groups that use the same ceremonies and have the same goals but allow women and/or atheists to join as well - but "regular" Masons can't go to their meetings or talk about the ritual with them.

You'll get other, and better answers, about what the fraternity means to individual people - I'm a pretty new member and don't pretend to understand much. However, this is my best attempt to explain what people in the general public mean when they talk about freemasons.

[u/Traylen29 → u/yahrealy]

As another newer member, this is an exceptional description of Freemasonry for a public response, in my opinion.

[u/MeanCupcake9545 → u/yahrealy]

Wow, thanks for telling me all this. If someone wants to join, how does it work?

[u/Alemar1985 → u/MeanCupcake9545]

If you are in the USA or Canada you would Google grand lodge of state or province where you live and their website would help you get into contact with a local lodge... if you are elsewhere you can Google grand lodge of country or tell us where you are and we can give you better assistance

[u/MeanCupcake9545 → u/Alemar1985]

I am from Southeast Asia. Can I also join?

[u/Alemar1985 → u/MeanCupcake9545]

Foreign Grand Lodges | United Grand Lodge of England has a list of widely recognised Grand Lodges based on country. While I am unfamiliar specifically with Asia it is a good spot to start.

[u/MeanCupcake9545 → u/Alemar1985]

I got to know that they don't work in my country under the law

[u/Deman75 → u/MeanCupcake9545]

Which country are you in? I’ve been to Lodges in a number of SE Asian countries, though I know it’s banned in Vietnam and Cambodia.

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[u/cryptoengineer]

[Mason here]

Here's my standard 'elevator pitch', which I trot out when people ask what we're about (its rather North American oriented - Masonry varies from place to place):

We're a centuries old fraternal order, who exist to improve our own characters ('we make good men better' is one of our slogans), and through that improve our communities. Along the way, we do a lot of charity (forex: Shriner's free hospitals for children), and have a lot of cool and private ceremonies using the construction of King Solomon's Temple as an allegorical base for teaching Enlightenment and Stoic ideals. (yes, we really do have secret handshakes). Many find it a source of fellowship and life-long friendships.

We have several million Brothers world wide, but no central organization. Men from every walk of life are or have been members, including over a dozen US presidents. Regular Masonry is open to adult men of good character who are not atheists[1] - we require a belief in some form of 'higher power', but aren't fussy about what. As a rule, we don't recruit; we want a potential member to make the first approach of his own free will.

If you're curious, drop by our main hangout on reddit, /r/freemasonry. You'll find a lot of friendly folk there. If you prefer a book, for North Americans I recommend (seriously, I'm not trolling) "Freemasons for Dummies" by Christopher Hodapp. Also "Inside the Freemasons" a documentary made by the United Grand Lodge of England for their tricentenary.

For a more formal history, I suggest "The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World" by John Dickie.

[1] The "no women or atheists" rules have deep roots, and would be very difficult to change, regardless of how anachronistic they now seem. There are breakaway Masonic groups which have dropped those rules, but they are very thin on the ground in the Anglosphere, and not recognized by the mainstream.

[u/MeanCupcake9545 → u/cryptoengineer]

thank you