Freemason is a fraternal organisation that traces its origin to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of masons and their interaction with authorities and clients. The degrees of freemasonry, its gradual system, retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, journeyman or fellow (now called Fellow-craft), and Master Mason.
These are the degrees offered by craft, or blue lodge Freemasonry. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are now administered by different bodies than the craft degrees. The basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the lodge .The lodges are usually supervised and governed at the regional level (usually coterminous with either a state, province, or national border) by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, world-wide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry.
Each Grand Lodge is independent, and they do not necessarily recognize each other as being legitimate. The Masonic Lodge is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. The lodge meets regularly to conduct the usual formal business of any small organisation ( Organize social and charitable events, elect new members, etc.). In addition to business, the meeting may perform a ceremony to confer a Masonic degree or receive a lecture, which is usually on some aspect of Masonic history or ritual.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the lodge might adjourn for a formal dinner, or festive board, sometimes involving toasting and song.The bulk of Masonic ritual consists of degree ceremonies. Candidates for Freemasonry are progressively initiated into Freemasonry, first in the degree of Entered Apprentice. Some time later, in a separate ceremony, they will be passed to the degree of Fellow-craft, and finally they will be raised to the degree of Master Mason.
In all of these ceremonies, the candidate is entrusted with passwords, signs and grips peculiar to his new rank. Another ceremony is the annual installation of the Master and officers of the lodge. In some jurisdictions Installed Master is valued as a separate rank, with its own secrets to distinguish its members. In other jurisdictions, the grade is not recognize, and no inner ceremony conveys new secrets during the installation of a new Master of the lodge.
Most lodges have some sort of social calendar, allowing Masons and their partners to meet in a less ritualized environment. Often coupled with these events is the obligation placed on every Mason to contribute to charity. This occurs at both lodge and Grand Lodge level. Masonic charities contribute to many fields from education to disaster relief. These private local lodges form the backbone of Freemasonry, and a Freemason will necessarily have been initiated into one of these.
There also exist specialist lodges where Masons meet to celebrate anything from sport to Masonic research. The rank of Master Mason also entitles a Freemason to explore Masonry further through other degrees, administered separately from the craft, or “blue lodge” degrees described here, but having a similar format to their meetings. There is very little consistency in Freemasonry. Because each Masonic Jurisdiction is independent, each sets its own procedures.
The wording of the ritual, the number of officers present, the layout of the meeting room, etc. varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The officers of the lodge are elected or appointed annually. Every Masonic Lodge has a Master, two Wardens, a secretary and a treasurer.There is also a Tyler , or outer guard, who is always present outside the
door of a working lodge. Other offices vary between
jurisdictions. Each Masonic lodge exists and operates according to a set of ancient principles known as the Landmarks of Freemasonry.
Masonic ritual and symbolism Freemasonry describes itself as a beautiful system of
morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
The symbolism is mainly, but not exclusively, drawn from the manual tools of stonemasons – the square and compasses, the level and plumb rule, the trowel, among others. A moral lesson is attached to each of these tools, although the assignment is by no means consistent. The meaning of the symbolism is taught and explored through ritual. All Freemasons begin their journey in the “craft” by being progressively initiated, passed and raised into the three degrees of craft, or blue lodge Masonry.
During these three rituals, the candidate is progressively taught the meanings of the lodge symbols, and entrusted with grips, signs and words to signify to other Masons that he has been so initiated. The initiations are part allegory and part lecture, and revolve around the construction of the Temple of Solomon , and the artistry and death of his
chief architect, Hiram Abiff .The degrees are those of Entered apprentice,Fellow craft and Master Mason . While many different versions of these rituals exist, with two different lodge layouts and versions of the Hiram myth, each version is recognizable to any Freemason from any jurisdiction.
In some jurisdictions the main themes of each degree are illustrated by tracing boards .These painted depictions of Masonic themes are exhibited in the lodge according to which degree is being worked, and are explained to the candidate to illustrate the legend and symbolism of each
degree. The idea of Masonic brotherhood probably descends from a 16th century.
written by Ghanaian youngest Business man Mason.
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