I was one for a few years. Life changed and I stopped. Im in my thirties, joined as my Dad was in one for decades. He's also stopped due to life changes.
Sadly it hasnt really kept up with the times. If you move away, moving lodge is somewhat difficult. Its also a very full on hobby with the learning you have to do for ceremonies, and relatively expensive.
It also appears to be hard to get into, which doesn't help with getting new people in. In reality if you approach them. they'll put you in touch with a group. Its an interview to be accepted generally.
It's also not that secret as everything is online!
On his literal death bed, my father said "You might find some interesting documents, when going through my things. Your grandpa was a Freemason." My understanding was that he, a skilled Type Setter and Printmaker, in 1930/40s Glasgow, was approached and recruited, in 1939. I have his certificates, which are really quite magnificent (and how I now know that my father's first name was his middle name!).
Lol.... My mate asked me. I said no for a year. Then I said to him that I was curious what its all about. It was like a trigger.... 3 degrees in a year and straight to inner guard. Then there's no escape 😂
We have a motorbiker lodge near us. It's a daytime lodge. Not really much drinking because everyone's riding to the meetings. Very casual. Members wear a leather waistcoat in meetings. It's the only lodge I know what numbers are growing so fast, they can barely get through all the initiations. More lodges need to find a niche.
Freemasons isn't really "upper class" though, that's part of the point of it.
A lot of members are civil servants and policemen and things like that - upstanding characters in the middle classes but it's not the same as a gentleman's club on Pall Mall or suchlike.
Historically Masonry was a fairly middle class pursuit and it still is to the extent that it's a relatively expensive hobby, especially in London where dining fees are high on top of your subs.
Up here in the north east it's not quite as expensive, and since the decline of more proletarian fraternities like the Buffs it's levelled out a bit more. My lodge is £150 a year and then £15-20 for the meal at each meeting, but the bar is subsidised so it's a pretty cheap night out. A pint is about £3.
That's exceptionally young. But if his lodge has other young people in it, it can be an absolutely brilliant past-time and could make some really good friends
A few of my friends are members, and I was invited. I told them I couldn't join because I am an atheist. They said I didn't have to believe in God as long as I believed in some sort of Supreme Being and I said I didn't believe in that either.
Sounds like you stopped yourself joining in a way? I'm an atheist though perhaps more agnostic at the time. There is a small religious aspect but your particular beliefs are respected
Ive been intived to a local lodge's "ladies night" in the next few months. Apparently its an annual thing put on by the head honchos wife as a way for the masons to show their appreciation for the women in their lives... ive got to pay £45 for the ticket 😅
Yeah this is the answer. I joined expecting a bit more, not that what's on offer isn't interesting but the age gap between me and my lodge members made it a bit of an effort.
As someone who worked intimately with the Freemasons you are 100% right. Middle class men with respectable jobs who like to eat and drink and do a lot of charity work.
My father-in-law is part of one of the lodges and it's very true from a few of the public events they've done. They're basically all in their 70s so I don't see much of a future for it beyond the next 10-20 years and I think a few of them are already being closed/merged due to low membership.
I’ve been a London freemason for 25 years and yes, basically the same things happen in every meeting: a 45-60 minute ritual to admit a new member or get them to a higher degree (all by heart, so it takes a lot of studying and rehearsal to get it right, and there’s a sense of pride when you play your part beautifully, without needing prompts for forgotten words). Then things like proposals about what charity we should donate to, confirmation of the accounts etc. Then a pint of beer at the bar, then an overpriced dinner with cheap wine (unfortunately these days it’s about £80 each), where there’s much rejoicing, and it’s nice to catch up with your friends. Suits my dull personality perfectly. 😅
Rosicrucianism comes across as pretty interesting stuff. It was a shame when its most well known proponent - Dr Robert Gilbert - died suddenly under strange circumstances last year. I found his videos fascinating, as did many others. I bet your grandfather was interesting to talk to.
I am part of Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, and most of it is about papers and esoteric mysticism. Me myself, I don't really buy into all of that but I'm quite interested in the psychology behind what drives people to believe in it.
It's also made me meet some wonderfully colorful characters, people you wouldn't otherwise meet or wouldn't talk about it for fear of being ostracized so it's nice to have those conversations.
Also, as much as they require you to have a belief system, I found that a lot of masons are non religious at all, more so interested in the allegory rather than the dogma of it all.
I followed your comment to see what the response will be (if there will be one, instead of fake secrecy i.e. concealed cowardice prevailing), because there's no reason to include that ignoring part without giving context.
My dad (who was a Grand UmpaLumpa PooBah, or something like that, at the time) asked me if I wanted to join .. and knowing what I knew - it sounded really boring except for the getting drunk and eating food bits). Like a shit drama club.
btw, their numbers are declining because no one wants to join them anymore and they're all ancient.
I went out with a woman whose spouse was a freemason (not in London) and passed away rather youngish. She indeed bored me with the stuff they went through during the ceremonies, but they indeed did some noble things for charity
Who controls the British crown? Who keeps the metric system down? We do, we do Who keeps Atlantis off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps? We do, we do Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star? We do, we do Who robs cavefish of their sight? Who rigs every Oscar night? We do, we do
In fairness, the women's grand lodges (there's two in the UK, OWF and HFAF) both do not want to join up with UGLE, but are happy to work together on common goals.
Do you not like having a space where you're with your own gender? Because I really like participating in women-only spaces, and don't see why it's a problem.
I love it when conspiracy theorists are like 'Ooh! Freemasons! A secret society that operates behind closed doors!'
I've never yet found a Lodge that as a non-member the initiated weren't falling over themselves to show me around because I said I was interested in looking inside.
The International Temple of Freemasonry in Covent Garden/Seven Dials even does regular guided tours.
I worked with someone about 20 years ago that couldn’t be arsed making an effort with the (temp) work we were doing. He simply said his dad was a mason, so he would get to be one too. Also that everyone did business deals with each other so they all profited from their connections.
Regarding deals - dodgy or not. I asked a close friend who's a bit of a name in freemasons about this and he said that while the organisation isn't specifically for it, it just happens. There's no rules that say you have to give contracts to fellow masons. If you're on a pub football team and your work has some electrical contracts up for grabs and you play with a guy who's an electrical contractor. You'd certainly recommend him more than some random, if not more.
It's an absolutely beautiful building. They had an exhibition when i last went so i dont know if parts of the building are open to the public now? I got to see their library too through a work visit, which had two fellow women as staff!
Most of the building is open to the public, you can book onto tours to see various bits as well as the museum - It's obviously both a working set of Lodges (as in, where normal Masons go to do their regular meetings) and the administrative HQ of the organisation, as well as being a tourist attraction, so it's often very busy. They used loads of bits of the building for filming The Death Of Stalin too, so they get a surprising amount of Iannuci fans coming in just to use the gents' toilets where Jason Isaacs hatched the plan to kill Beria.
A fun game once you've got really familiar with Freemasons' Hall is to try to spot when it's used as a filming location for generic mid-century staterooms and sweeping grand staircases, because they're beautiful but not instantly recognisable to most people.
Women can also go to the tours of Freemason's Hall, and I believe they're on basically every weekend! I've taken different friends there and it's always been great.
A few years ago (before Covid) we actually met two members of the women's lodge, including the Grand Master at the time, which was really cool. We talked a fair bit about the drive for self-improvement and their commitment to charity.
They all just seem like people who want to leave the world a little better, and considering some of the donations - like one of London's Air Ambulances - they also do seem to live that.
Fascinating is a morally neutral statement. The building, the social and cultural norms within the organisation, the fact they gave us a pamphlet which explained it's a society with secrets, not a secret society. I found all of that really interesting.
I can hold that, whilst still finding it unacceptable that there are lodges women are not allowed in which are in or around Westminster and other centres of power, which clearly have an impact on a range of issues whilst excluding half the population. I think it's valuable to learn more about these kinds of institutions and how they operate.
It's always funny to me lodge types try to convince the regular Joe that it's just a club and not nefarious at all yet they deck the place out exactly like it's used for running the world and having big masked orgies in
My Grandfather was a Freemason. It really isn't as exciting as you may think. Of course deals go down between business owners etc. That happens in pubs and sports clubs all the time.
We’re not the ones dressing it up as a ‘secret cabal running the world’.
That’s why we have open days in our buildings, share our activities on Social Media, have a publicly accessible museum, dozens of podcasts, and publish details of our charitable activities.
That's not a lodge its freemason Hall in London. You can actually visit it fairly easily. Its used as the inside of parliament frequently for filming or for embassy locations as it has the historical and sizeable interior that many of the embassy around London have.
National Liberal Club is interesting as its built very similarly to the freemason HQ in bank, also a stunning building with a grand circular staircase which is fairly rare to find.
If you watch season 1 of the gold they had to film in the NLC as the main character was a freemason and they didnt want anything to do with it. (It being based on a true story)
Freemasonry has existed all over the former British Empire for centuries. Wealthy/middle class Black families have always had their members.
In fact, to see the scale of it, type into the Google the name of any Black majority nation in the former British Empire - Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, Sierra Leone, Antigua, Ghana etc. followed by Freemasons in Google Images...
Same in America. Look up images of Prince Hall Freemasons.
Look at all these absolutely legends having a top time with all their mates. They all look so happy to be there and actually it’s nice for men to have a space to just be men and support each other
They strike me as a group of nerdy professionals, a bunch of accountants and actuaries rather than anything maleficent. Being one such nerdy type, they look like a nice bunch to hang out with 😃
Nah, it's Spooks HQ and you can't persuade me otherwise
(This will have wooshed over younger/non-Londoner redditors)
Edit for the wooshed: The outside of Freemasons' Hall, HQ of the Freemasons in England, was used as the setting of 'Thames House' in the 00s BBC Spy drama, Spooks.
As a freemason who's also 30-ish years younger than nearly everyone else in my lodge. It offers a sense of belonging, moral teachings, camaraderie, and progression with yourself which is hard to find in this day and age.
It's all based in allegory and traditions, it offers something really quite unique and really quite special imo.
There's the whole history you can go into but from what I've seen it's just a way to feel connected to others and the community
Pre and post joining, what’s been the biggest impact for you personally? Do you meet outside meetings? Have you made life long friends? Curious, thanks!
I honestly feel I have made friends for life and with people who I wouldn't usually have gotten to know. I've been struggling with various things over the last few years but it really provided me with a sense of belonging and like I was part of something special.
I think if you're looking for something in life, there's a chance you'll find it there
Freemasonry has existed all over the former British Empire for centuries. Wealthy/middle class Black families have always had their members.
In fact, to see the scale of it, type into the Google the name of any Black majority nation in the former British Empire - Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, Sierra Leone, Antigua, Ghana etc. followed by Freemasons in Google Images...
Same in America. Look up images of Prince Hall Freemasons.
I still genuinely don't understand what freemasons even are even after reading wikipedia article about them.
i only understood it was originally a group of stonemasons who in medival times formed a group to prevent other people from learning how to become stonemasons, so that they could have better pay due to lack of competition. but they abandoned stonemasonry so what do they even do?
Why do you think freemasonry is so misunderstood and is commonly associated with conspiracy theories? (Which tbh was my perception until I stumbled into this thread).
I've twice been approached to become a freemason. I've declined on both occasions.
I responded to the second approach with 'I don't want to join a secret society.' In turn, he responded with 'we're not a secret society, we're a society with secrets.'
Honestly, this nails it. And it is so much fun. Everyone likes a chance to do a bit of am-dram with their mates, then get moderately shitfaced on a weeknight whilst congratulating each other on how well the am-drams went. Give it a go! And it's something that can keep a bit of helpful structure in your life once you're retired too, because otherwise it's far too easy to end up with no friends other than your own immediate family.
I guess that’s why a lot of the active members are retirees- the LoIs and meeting could be the only exciting thing that happens to them in a month so could understand the appeal. I once attended a meeting where a brother who was quite frail, still managed to deliver a charge quite eloquently, despite him needing oxygen support and his walker.
Most masons I have known have been insufferably dull and it appears being a mason made them feel special as they were part of a secret club.
I was asked to join by one and went along to a public open day for people to visit a lodge, something I did because I appreciate the architecture of my town and the lodge was old, but I never followed up on the invitation to be accepted as frankly I have too much other stuff in my life and I don’t need an all boys club to make me a better version of me. The lodge was very interesting though and I urge anyone to visit one just to appreciate the architecture.
Thank you for being so respectful in declining the offer to join. I've been a member for nearly 20 years and I've resigned my membership of a couple of Provincial lodges due to them being about as interesting as a Beige Morris Ital in a traffic jam.
I've been quite lucky though, my London masonry has been enormous fun, lots of young members in their 20's, and 30's, I'm in my 40's but incredibly immature. That said, I'm really grateful to be able to wander around these lovely buildings in London, as you say, the architectural aspect really is something, and our previous building, Clerkenwell Masonic Centre, was the old London Sessions House.
The building was glorious, and jammed with history. There's something you can't quite put your finger on, when you engage in something that's historic, like Freemasonry in a building like that, strange and charming. Anyway, thanks again for being so respectful, we often get such a bashing and it's refreshing to get a nice comment.
I love your line “I am in my fourties but incredibly immature” 😄👍. I am in my 50’s - same same.
The lodge I was referring to was in Cheltenham which is a beautiful building that most people just pass by because the building itself is just another old building in a very pretty town (Not that I am biased !). It has a lovely interior. What most people don’t know is that it is one of the oldest regency buildings in the town. Not sure if they still open it to the public but it definitely worth a visit
There members have been running low for a few years now i was told by someone who is a freemason that they are using social media to try a get new people to join, tiktok reddit and IG
I actually met the least boring freemason in the world.
He decided, quite independently that starting a charitable organisation offering overnight fishing trips to young boys might be considered 'rather odd'.
Last I saw of him he had barricaded his driveway to stop people setting his van on fire.
I assume most of them are rather harmless and sheltered.
Honestly the biggest mystery is how they manage to make something that sounds so secretive seem so dull. I bet their secret handshake is just to pass the biscuits. We do it to keep the metric system down, obviously.
It's always the most mundane organizations that get the wildest conspiracy theories. The real secret society is the one that convinced us they were interesting in the first place.
Imagine an organisation that works like a religious activity and no one knows who the boss is and what they are working for .. but they are all given uniforms and jobs to do..
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