How to Find a Real Masonic Lodge (and Avoid the Fake Ones)

There is a trap in front of every beginner and almost nobody warns him about it. Not every organisation calling itself Masonic is recognised as such, and a man who joins an unrecognised body in good faith can find himself permanently barred from the lodges he actually wanted. It is one of the few mistakes in this process that is genuinely difficult to undo.

The word for what you are looking for is regularity, and once you understand it the whole thing takes about twenty minutes to verify.

§What regularity means

Freemasonry has no single global authority. It is governed by sovereign Grand Lodges, each with jurisdiction over a territory, which recognise one another under a set of long standing principles: belief in a Supreme Being, the volume of sacred law open in lodge, initiates being men, no discussion of religion or politics, and descent from a legitimate Masonic body. A Grand Lodge that meets those and is recognised by the wider network is regular. Lodges under it are regular. Everything else, however sincere, is not.

§The twenty minute verification

1. Identify the recognised Grand Lodge for your state, province or country
2. Open that Grand Lodge's own website, not a search result about it
3. Find the official lodge directory on that site
4. Confirm the lodge you are considering appears in it by name and number
5. Check the lodge's stated meeting place matches the directory entry
6. If anything does not match, email the Grand Secretary and ask

Note the order. You start with the Grand Lodge, never with the lodge. A convincing website, a hall with square and compasses on the door and a friendly man at the end of an email prove nothing whatsoever on their own.

§Warning signs worth taking seriously

• It invites or recruits you, especially online or by direct message
• It offers degrees quickly, by post, or for a single large fee
• It cannot name the Grand Lodge it works under, or names one you cannot find
• It claims a special ancient lineage that other Masons supposedly suppress
• It advertises business networking or influence as the benefit of joining
• It admits both men and women and describes itself as regular, which no regular jurisdiction does
• It pressures you for a decision rather than inviting you to visit twice

The recruiting sign is the strongest of all. In regular Freemasonry a Mason may not solicit you. If somebody is selling, that alone tells you most of what you need. The rule and its consequences are set out in Do You Have to Be Invited to Join the Freemasons?.

§Bodies that are not fake but are not for you either

Precision matters here, because a good deal of loose talk online is unfair. Some organisations are entirely genuine and long established but sit outside the mainstream recognition network. Co-Masonic and women's Grand Lodges are the obvious examples, and continental bodies such as the Grand Orient de France are historically significant and perfectly serious. They are simply not in amity with the Grand Lodges most English speaking candidates are aiming at, and membership of one closes the other. The Wikipedia entry on regular Masonic jurisdictions sets out the criteria clearly.

The question is not whether a body is sincere. The question is whether the lodge you actually want to sit in would recognise it.

§Prince Hall, and a common misunderstanding

Prince Hall Freemasonry is regular and is recognised by the great majority of mainstream Grand Lodges, with a small number of historical exceptions that have been steadily disappearing. If you are considering a Prince Hall lodge, verify recognition in your own jurisdiction exactly as you would anywhere else, and do so without the assumption that it is somehow a lesser question. It is the same question.

§Once you have a verified shortlist

Regularity gets you a list of real lodges. It does not tell you which one suits you, and those two things are entirely separate. A regular lodge can still be the wrong lodge: too far, too formal, too quiet, or run by men who will not look after you in your first year. Choosing between them is covered in Signs a Masonic Lodge Is Right for You, and the visit itself in Your First Visit to a Lodge.

• Shortlist three verified lodges within a realistic drive
• Email each secretary and ask about visiting, using a short courteous note
• Visit at least two before you form a preference
• Only then ask about a petition

If the email is the part that stalls you, What to Say When You Contact a Masonic Lodge gives you the wording, and the practical realities of the office you are writing to are well described at MasonicLodgeSecretary.com.

The verification checklist, the shortlist worksheet and the secretary emails are all inside The First Step Roadmap, along with everything that follows them.

And if you are not yet certain you want to petition anywhere, start with How Do You Know If You're Ready?.