Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) [1] [2] [3] or simply Masonry includes various fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients.
Freemasonry in the United States is the history of Freemasonry as it was introduced from Britain and continues as a major secret society to the present day. It is a fraternal order that brings men together (and women through its auxiliaries) to gain friendship and opportunity for advancement and community progress.
A Rite, within the context of Freemasonry, refers to a comprehensive system of degrees that hold the capability to initiate and advance a newcomer through various stages of Masonic knowledge and experience. In some cases, a Master Mason can be invited to join a different rite after having reached Mastery to further his knowledge.
The Vatican has confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons, a centuries-old secretive society that the Catholic Church has long viewed with hostility and has an estimated global membership ...
Common to all of Freemasonry is the three grade system of Craft or Blue Lodge freemasonry, whose allegory is centred on the building of the Temple of Solomon, and the story of the chief architect, Hiram Abiff. [3] Further degrees have different underlying allegories, often linked to the transmission of the story of Hiram.
These degrees had previously been administered by Knights Templar Preceptories and some Royal Arch Chapters. In 1923 the Grand Council of Knight Masons was established to support and preserve the Degrees and the Councils that confer them. Irish Knight Masonry is now a worldwide masonic body and is continuing to grow.
National Sojourners is an American patriotic organization of Freemasons who have served in the United States Uniformed Services, or are elected to honorary membership. Members are organized and meet in Chapters.
The operative myth has long been alive in the imagination of Freemasonry, making speculative Masons the heirs of the cathedral builders. According to a fairly simple hypothesis, speculative Freemasons, while no longer using the tools of the operative Masons in a practical way, have inherited them and the symbols, rules and secrets that go with ...