“Blog from a Brother” is a space for brethren of Lodge No. 2 to articulate what Freemasonry means to them, their families and their communities. This blog is meant to serve as a sounding board for the lessons inculcated by the fraternity and how it impacts our daily lives, by allowing members to contemplate, philosophize and advocate their experience in the fraternity. If you’d like to contribute to our blog, feel free to reach out to our Webmaster here.

The Mystique of Freemasonry

Are we a secret society, a religion or a cult, do we worship the devil or are we conspiring to take over the world - a new world order, or are we just a society with secrets ?
Some people think the mystique of Freemasonry involves our secrets and the conspiracies that surround freemasonry.

Our Secrets
When you became a freemason you took an oath of secrecy. You swore and bonded yourself to never divulge anything about Freemasonry to people who were not Freemasons. You were taught that if you were in idle conversation or asked probing questions about Freemasonry to avoid any response. This has worked well for Freemasonry for hundreds of years but it also gave us the reputation of being a secret society. As I mentioned before in other blogs, reputations are easy to get but hard to get rid of. Now, when anyone mentions a secret society the first one they think of is the Freemasons. It is well known that Freemasonry is one of the premier secret societies. Do we really have any secrets? The answer is, of course, 'Yes' we have many secrets. Unfortunately, however, some, passwords and handshakes, have been leaked to the World Wide Web and the people who leaked them have violated their oath.

Conspiracies
There are thousands of conspiracy theories all over the world but not all of them are Masonic. The moon landing, 9/11, the sinking of the Titanic, Area 51, alien abductions, the Bermuda Triangle, just to name a few. I'm sure you know more examples. In my research I have found Freemason conspiracy theories, like most conspiracy theories, are just made up with no facts to back them up. These theorists never have to prove anything. The conspiracy theories seem to be accusations that the theorist wants 'you' to prove if they are right or wrong. These theories are based on supposition, deception, lies, misinformation or some so-called hidden truth. If you are a hammer everything looks like a nail - the theorists just make it up which tells you about them and when faced with the truth they double down, which tells you more about them. Conspiracy theorists never have to prove anything. The Masonic conspiracies are like unicorns, they don't exist. I could go on and on but I think my point is made.

We are not a religion or a cult or a secret society; the real mystique of Freemasonry is what we are, not what we are not. Freemasonry is a moral gymnasium built expressly to 'strengthen' our character where we 'exercise' our judgement by the virtue of our experiences in Freemasonry. Our point of view reaches forward into the 21st. century and our history reaches back to the ancient ages. We become a part of the legacy and whatever we do in life, we do as Freemasons.