Six Myths About Freemasonry, Answered Honestly

I petitioned last year, so I had every one of these thrown at me while the answers were still fresh and clumsy in my mouth. Your partner asks. Your mother asks. A friend sends a link to a video with a thumbnail of a goat. And then you ask yourself at two in the morning. Here are the six that come up most, with answers you can say out loud without sounding rehearsed.

§Myth 1: It is a secret society

Lodges are listed publicly, buildings are marked with square and compasses, membership is rarely hidden and Grand Lodges publish their constitutions. What is private is the ritual and the modes of recognition. The usual formulation is that it is a society with secrets, not a secret society, and that distinction holds up.

If someone in your life is convinced otherwise, hand them the Wikipedia article on Freemasonry rather than arguing. Neutral third party sources land better than a defensive explanation from the man who wants to join.

§Myth 2: It is a religion

Freemasonry requires belief in a Supreme Being but prescribes no doctrine, no salvation, no clergy and no worship. Men of many faiths sit in the same lodge. Religious debate is barred at the meeting itself, precisely so that it stays that way.

§Myth 3: It is about business favours

Using the lodge for commercial advantage is expressly discouraged and, in many jurisdictions, a disciplinary matter. Men who join looking for leads usually leave within two years, disappointed and slightly resented.

What you do get is a room of men across forty years of age range who know you well enough to be honest with you. That is worth considerably more than a referral, but it is not what the myth promises.

§Myth 4: It costs a fortune

Costs vary widely by jurisdiction and by lodge, but for most lodges you are looking at a one time joining fee plus annual dues in the range of a decent gym membership, with dining costs on top. Regalia is an additional one off outlay.

• Ask about the joining fee and the annual dues in the same sentence
• Ask whether dining is included or billed separately
• Ask what regalia you are expected to buy and when
• Ask what a typical year costs a member all in

Ask early. A good lodge will answer plainly and will never let cost quietly push a good man away.

§Myth 5: You have to be invited

The opposite. In most jurisdictions a Mason may not solicit you. You have to ask. That single fact is the reason so many interested men wait years for an invitation that, by rule, is never coming.

Nobody is going to tap you on the shoulder. The first move is yours and it always was.

§Myth 6: It is dying out

Numbers fell for decades, and in many places they still are. But lodges that run well, teach properly and look after new members are growing again. The decline was never uniform, and the difference between a lodge losing men and a lodge gaining them is almost entirely about how the first year is handled.

Which is exactly why choosing the right lodge matters far more now than it did for your grandfather. The scoring approach in Your First Visit to a Lodge is built around that one point.

§The question behind the questions

Most of the time, the myth being raised is not the real objection. The real objection is usually one of three things: time away from the family, money, or a quiet worry that you are joining something you will be embarrassed to explain. Answer those directly and the myths tend to evaporate.

If the conversation at home is the part you are dreading, the family conversation guide inside The First Step Roadmap gives you tested wording for all twelve of the usual concerns.

And when you are ready to stop researching and start moving, How to Join a Masonic Lodge is the step by step.