freemasonry

/free"may'seuhn ree/, n.

1. secret or tacit brotherhood; fellowship; fundamental bond or rapport: the freemasonry of those who hunger for knowledge.

2. (cap.) the principles, practices, and institutions of Freemasons.

[1400-50; late ME fremasonry. See FREEMASON, -RY]

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Teachings and practices of the fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society.

Originating with the guilds of medieval stonemasons, the organization became an honorary society in the 17th and 18th century, adopting the rites and trappings of ancient religious orders and chivalric brotherhoods. The first association of lodges, the Grand Lodge, was founded in England in 1717, and Freemasonry soon spread to other countries in the British Empire. Freemasons took an active role in the American Revolution and later in U.S. politics, and in the 19th century popular fears of their influence led to the Anti-Masonic movement. Membership is extended only to adult males willing to express belief in a Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul. In Latin countries, the lodges have often attracted freethinkers and anticlerical types; in Anglo-Saxon nations, membership has mostly been drawn from white Protestants. Freemasonry has also given rise to social organizations such as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Noble Mystic Shrine, or Shriners.

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▪ secret organization

      the teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society. Spread by the advance of the British Empire, Freemasonry remains most popular in the British Isles and in other countries originally within the empire.

      Freemasonry evolved from the guilds of stonemasons and cathedral builders of the Middle Ages. With the decline of cathedral building, some lodges of operative (working) masons began to accept honorary members to bolster their declining membership. From a few of these lodges developed modern symbolic or speculative Freemasonry, which particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, adopted the rites and trappings of ancient religious orders and of chivalric brotherhoods. In 1717 the first Grand Lodge, an association of lodges, was founded in England.

      Freemasonry has, almost from its inception, encountered considerable opposition from organized religion, especially from the Roman Catholic Church, and from various states.

      Though often mistaken for such, Freemasonry is not a Christian institution. Freemasonry contains many of the elements of a religion; its teachings enjoin morality, charity, and obedience to the law of the land. For admission the applicant is required to be an adult male believing in the existence of a Supreme Being and in the immortality of the soul. In practice, some lodges have been charged with prejudice against Jews, Catholics, and nonwhites. Generally, Freemasonry in Latin countries has attracted freethinkers and anticlericals, whereas in the Anglo-Saxon countries, the membership is drawn largely from among white Protestants.

      In most lodges in most countries, Freemasons are divided into three major degrees—entered apprentice, fellow of the craft, and master mason. In many lodges there are numerous degrees—sometimes as many as a thousand—superimposed on the three major divisions; these organizational features are not uniform from country to country.

      In addition to the main body of Freemasonry derived from the British tradition, there are now a number of appendant groups that are primarily social or fun organizations, which have no official standing in Freemasonry but which draw their membership from the higher degrees of Freemasonry. They are especially prevalent in the United States. Among those known for their charitable work are the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the “Shriners”). Female relatives of Master Masons may join the Order of the Eastern Star; boys, the Order of DeMolay and the Order of Builders; and girls, the Order of Job's Daughters and the Order of Rainbow. English Masons are forbidden to affiliate with any of the fun organizations or quasi-Masonic societies, on pain of suspension.

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