Freemasonry
is one of the world's oldest secular fraternal societies. The society
is made up of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Freemasons
are taught its precepts by a series of ritual dramas, which follow
ancient forms, and use stonemasons' customs and tools as allegorical
guides.
The secrets of Freemasonry are one of the main elements discussed
by those outside the fraternity. They are concerned with its traditional
modes of recognition used by operative freemasons as proof of their
qualifications and skill. Freemasonry is not a secret society, since
all Freemasons are free to acknowledge their membership and will
do so in response to enquiries for respectable reasons. The constitutions
and rules of Freemasonry, which are followed by all Freemasons,
are openly available to the public via Grand Lodges. There is no
secret about any of Freemasonrys' aims and principles which are
also available through the Grand Lodges of the world. Like many
other societies, Freemasonry regards some of its internal affairs
as private matters for its members alone and therefore has "closed"
meetings which only Freemasons may attend.
A Freemason is encouraged to do his duty first to his God (by whatever
name he is known) through his faith and religious practice; and
then, without detriment to his family and those dependent on him,
to his neighbour through charity and service.
None of the ideals promoted by Freemasonry, and followed by Freemasons,
are exclusively Masonic, but all should be universally acceptable.
Freemasons are expected to follow them.
The links above take you to brief snippets of information relevant
to their topic within Freemasonry, from these pages you can enter
micro-sites for more indepth and detailed information.. The links
below take you to the main areas of Freemasonry Universal, there
are more so be sure to look around. |