Freemasonry, I admit, has its secrets. It has secrets peculiar to itself, but of what do these principally consist? They consist of signs and tokens which serve as testimonials of character and qualifications, which are conferred after due instruction and examination.
These are of no small value. They speak a universal language and are a passport to the support and attention of the world. They cannot be lost so long as memory retains its power. Let the possessor of them be expatriated, shipwrecked or imprisoned; let him be stripped of everything he has in the world, still their credentials remain, and are available for use as circumstances require.
The good effects which they have produced are established by the incontestable facts of history. They have stayed the uplifted hand of the destroyer; they have subdued the rancor of malevolence and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienation.
On the battlefield, in the solitudes of the uncultivated forest or in the busy haunts of the crowded city, they have made men, of the most hostile feelings and the most diversified conditions, rush to the aid of each other with special joy and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief to a Brother Mason.
Worshipful Brother Benjamin Franklin, 1778
Then there’s this from Adam Gopnik’s piece in last week’s New Yorker on Dan Brown’s latest book, which among other things apparently involves a secretive and powerful Masonic organization:
Well, I must say that I have gained a lot out of it. Much more assurance in memorising and speaking in public, an appreciation for faith and morals that religion had only partially given me, an understanding of how allegory and symbol can be applied to my life, and mixing with people whom I would never have met, let alone associated with, outside of Masonry.
I haven’t yet managed to get past the first 50 pages of Brown new opus–the writing is journalistic and somewhat turgid. My Masonic brethren who have were amazed at how positively the book portrays Masons and Masonry. Can only be a good thing.
As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any secretive and powerful extra-governmental Masonic organisation. Perhaps they haven’t let me in on it yet. As I’m to be Worshipful Master of the Lodge next year, perhaps that’s when they’ll break it to me.
Look up ‘initiation’ in a dictionary and you’ll find that a true initiation requires:
…* acting out a symbolic death;
…* symbolically being reborn into the group; and
…* being entrusted with the secrets of the group.
Masonry may be the only modern social group that has an initiation in the true sense of the word. What the secrets are is trivial; they can be used openly so long as non-members are unaware that they are secrets.
Masonic lodges have three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. Only the third degree is an initiation in the truest sense of the word. You will find, though, that you will receive one more degree before becoming Worshipful Master, perhaps the most curious degree in all of Masonry.