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Freemasonry is a fraternal organization. Members are joined together by shared ideals of both a moral and metaphysical nature and, in most of its branches, by a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. Organisationally, Freemasonry is governed on a geographic basis by independent, Sovereign Grand Lodges which may, or may not, be in a state of mutual recognition.

Freemasonry is an esoteric or occult society, in that certain aspects of its internal work are not generally disclosed to the public. Although Freemasonry denies it is a secret society, it is generally considered to be the archetype of one.

Organizational structure

There are many jurisdictions within Freemasonry, each sovereign and independent of the others, and usually defined according to a national or geographic territory. There is no central Masonic organizational structure or authority, and in any event many practices are determined by Lodge custom, so any general description will inevitably be inaccurate in respect of some places.

The authority in any Masonic jurisdiction is vested in a Grand Lodge, or sometimes a Grand Orient.

Subject to the size of the Grand Lodge the geographic area of coverage may be sub-divided into Provinces, each governed by a Provincial, District or Metropolitan Grand Lodge.

The first Grand Lodge jurisdiction in Freemasonry was the Grand Lodge of England, founded in 1717 when four existing Lodges met to form the governing body. A competing Grand Lodge formed in York claiming that the Grand Lodge in London had broken with a number of traditions and was divergent from the principles of Freemasonry. The Grand Lodge became known as the Moderns and the York Grand Lodge became known as Antients. The two reunited in 1813, to become the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). It is today the only regular Craft jurisdiction in England, and generally considered to be the oldest Grand Lodge jurisdiction in the world.

The oldest jurisdiction in the European Continental branch, and the largest jurisdiction in France, is the Grand Orient de France (GOdF), founded in 1728. At one time, the two branches bilaterally recognized each other, but most jurisdictions cut off formal relations with the GOdF around 1877. The Grande Loge Nationale Francaise (GLNF) is currently the only French Grand Lodge that is in regular amity with The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), and concordant jurisdictions. In most Latin countries, and in Belgium, the GOdF style of European Continental Freemasonry predominates. The rest of the world, accounting for the bulk of Freemasonry, tends to follow the lead of the English UGLE, and concordant juristictions.

So, Freemasonry is often said to consist of two different branches:

• the UGLE and concordant tradition of jurisdictions (termed Grand Lodges) in amity and,
• the GOdF European Continental tradition of jurisdictions (often termed Grand Orients) in amity.

Regularity

Regularity is a mechanism whereby Grand Lodges afford one another mutual recognition allowing formal interaction and the opportunity for members to inter-visit within the ritual context.

Regularity is based around a number of Landmarks which are not fixed and subject to the interpretation of individual Grand Lodges. As there is no global governing body in Freemasonry this list of Landmarks is not fixed.

Grand Lodges which afford mutual recognition and allow intervisitation are said to be in amity.

Notwithstanding formal recognition of regularity many Grand Lodges continue informal relations and a number of vehicles for this exist.

The Masonic Lodge

A Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge in Constitutions, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry. Every new Lodge must be warranted by a Grand Lodge, but is subject to its direction only in enforcing the published Constitution of the jurisdiction. A Master Freemason is generally entitled to visit any Lodge in any jurisdiction in amity with his own. He is first usually required to check, and certify, the regularity of the relationship of the Lodge - and be able to satisfy that Lodge of his regularity of membership.

Freemasons meet as a Lodge not in a Lodge, although Masonic premises may be called Lodges, as well as Temples ("of Philosophy and the Arts"). In many countries Masonic Centre or Hall has now replaced these terms to avoid arousing prejudice and suspicion. Several different Lodges often use the same premises at different times.

According to Masonic myth (see below), the operative lodges (the Medieval lodges of actual stonemasons) constructed a lodge building adjacent to their work site where the masons could meet for shelter, instruction and social contact. Normally this was on the southern side of the site (in Europe, the side with the sun warming the stones during the day). Hence the social gathering, (the Festive or Social Board), of the lodge is sometimes also called the South.

An early Speculative Lodge, (including members not actually stonemasons), would meet in a tavern or other convenient meeting place with a private annex. The word Freemason may refer to these masons being "free" from work—as they met to talk about Masonic theory rather than practice—or it could relate to the liberal or "free" arts upon which much of freemasonry is based. It may simply refer to the superior grade of masons working in freestone, as used in early English statutes, or it could mean free to travel about the country from job to job. In the middle ages many craftsmen were bound to a lord of a specific region.

Many Lodges are formed by Masons living within a given town or neighborhood. Other Lodges, particularly in urban areas where there are many Lodges close together, are formed by persons who share a particular interest, particular profession or background - certain schools, universities or military units. There are also specialist lodges of "Research and Instruction" (R&I). Membership in these R&I lodges is typically open only to interested Master Masons of other lodges, as R&I lodges usually do not initiate new candidates to Freemasonry.

Prince Hall Freemasonry

In 1775, an African American named Prince Hall was initiated into an Irish Constitution Military Lodge then in Boston, Massachusetts, along with fourteen other African Americans, all of whom were free born. When the Military Lodge left the North America, the African Americans were given the authority to meet as a lodge, form Processions on the days of the Saints John, and conduct Masonic funerals, but not to confer degrees, nor to do other Masonic Work. In 1784 these individuals applied for, and obtained, a Lodge Warrant from the Premier Grand Lodge of England and formed African Lodge, Number 459 (Premier Grand Lodge of England). When the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was formed in 1813, all U.S. based lodges were stricken from their rolls – due largely to the U.S. and British War, 1812 to 1815. Thus, separated from both UGLE and any concordantly recognised U.S. Grand Lodge, African Lodge re-titled itself as the African Lodge, Number 1 - and became a de facto "Grand Lodge". (This Lodge is not to be confused with the various Grand Lodges on the Continent of Africa). These events led to a tradition of separate and predominantly African American Freemasonry in North America, known as Prince Hall Freemasonry. As with the rest of U.S. Freemasonry, Prince Hall Freemasonry soon grew, and organised on a Grand Lodge system for each State.

Prince Hall Masonry has always been regular in all respects except constitutional separation. Widespread racism and segregation, in the 19th and early 20th century North America, made it impossible for African Americans to join lodges outside of Prince Hall jurisdictions - and impossible for inter-jurisdiction recognition between the parallel U.S. Masonic authorities. Prince Hall Grand Lodges are, presently, recognized by some UGLE Concordant Grand Lodges and not by others, but appears to be working its way toward full recognition . It is now quite usual for non-Prince Hall lodges to have ethnically diverse membership. The majority of Masonic Grand Lodges in the United States now grant at least some degree of recognition to Prince Hall Grand Lodges.

Other degrees, orders and bodies

There is no degree in Freemasonry higher than that of Master Mason.

A number of organisations exist which require one to be a Master Mason as a prerequisite for membership, none of which are considered to have any authority over the Craft. These organisations are considered as additional or appendant, membership being discretionary in order to provide a different perspective on some of the allegorical, moral and philosophical content within Freemasonry. These appendant bodies are administered separately from Freemasonry and within each there is a system of offices which confer rank within that order alone, although frequently these bodies style themselves as Masonic due to the membership requirement that one hold the Master Mason degree.

Examples of these appendant orders include:

• Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (also known as Antient and Accepted Rite), a system of degrees developed in Continental Europe, particularly in France.
• York Rite, Predominantly in the United States of America; a system of degrees which includes three distinct sovereign rites: the Holy Royal Arch, Royal and Select Masters (Cryptic Masonry), and (Masonic) Knights Templar. These orders are wholly distinct elsewhere.
• Royal Order of Scotland
• Societas Rosicruciana
• Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, commonly known as (Shriners)
• Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm (Grotto)
• Tall Cedars of Lebanon.

The Shrine and Grotto, which are mostly located in North America, tend to emphasize fun and philanthropy.

Different Freemasonic jurisdictions vary in their relationships with such bodies, if at all. Some offer formal recognition, while others consider them wholly outside of Freemasonry. This leads to some such bodies not being universally considered as appendant bodies, some being simply as separate organizations that happen to require Masonic affiliation for membership. Some of these organizations have additional religious requirements (e.g. requiring members to profess Trinitarian Christian beliefs), thus putting them beyond the scope of "Craft Masonry".

A number of youth organizations exist, mainly North American, which are associated with Freemasonry, but are not Masonic in their content. These include:

• DeMolay International, for boys aged 12–21;
• Job's Daughters International, for girls aged 10-20 with a Masonic family relationship
• International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, for girls who have Masonic sponsorship.

There are some organisations which are commonly perceived as being related to Freemasonry; some of these benefiting from charitable support by Masonic or appendant bodies. In addition a number of organizations and fraternities such as the Orange Order style themselves along Masonic lines, using similar regalia and ritual. However they are not part of Freemasonry and are not accorded recognition as such.

Membership requirements

A candidate for Freemasonry must apply to a Private (or Constituent) Lodge in his community, obtaining an introduction by asking an existing member. After enquiries are made, he must be freely elected by secret ballot in open Lodge. Members approving his candidacy will vote with "white balls" in the voting box. Adverse votes by "black balls" will exclude a candidate. The number of adverse votes necessary to reject a candidate, which in some jurisdictions is as few as one, is set out in the governing Constitution. Lodges conduct these elections in a number of different ways; a wholly secret ballot where every member is given the means to vote either way, or semi public where members who choose to vote go to the ballot box and cast a secret vote.

General requirements

Generally to be a Freemason, one must:

1. Be a man who comes of his own free will. Traditionally Freemasons do not actively recruit new members.
2. Believe in a Supreme Being, or, in a few jurisdictions, a Creative Principle.
3. Be at least the minimum age (18–25 years depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly 21),
4. Be of sound mind, body and of good morals, and of good repute.
5. Be free (or "born free", i.e. not born a slave or bondsman).
6. Have one or two references from current Masons (depending on jurisdiction).

One must approach an existing member for an application, so Freemasonry is open to all who otherwise fulfill the requirements.

A candidate is asked 'Do you believe in a Supreme Being?', there is no further investigation into the nature of that Supreme Being. Since an initiate is obligated on that sacred volume which is applicable to his faith, a sponsor will enquire as to an appropriate volume once a decision has been made on the applicants suitability for initiation.

A number of Grand Lodges allow a Lewis, the son of a Mason, to be initiated earlier than the normal minimum age for that Grand Lodge.

Being of "sound body" is thought to be derived from the operative origins of Freemasonry, an apprentice would be able to meet the demands of their profession. It is today generally taken to mean "physically capable of taking part in Lodge rituals"; Grand Lodges encourage the use of mechanisms within the ritual to mitigate for difficulty.

The "free born" requirement is moot in modern Lodges; it remains for purely historical reasons. Some jurisdictions have done away with it entirely.

Some Grand Lodges in the United States have a residence requirement, candidates being expected to have lived within the jurisdiction for certain period of time, typically six months. This requirement may be waived in certain jurisdictions for certain situations.

Membership and religion

Freemasonry explicitly and openly states that it is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion. There is no separate "Masonic God," and there is no separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry.

Freemasonry requires that its candidates believe in a Supreme Being, the nature of that being subject to the conscience of the candidate. As the interpretation of the term Supreme Being is left up to the individual members can be drawn from a wide range of faiths; the Abrahamic religions and other monotheistic religions. Some members of non-monotheistic religions are accepted subject to answering Yes to the question asked, these include, for example, Buddhists and Hindus.

In the irregular Continental European tradition, since the early 19th Century, a very broad interpretation has been given to a (non-dogmatic) Supreme Being — usually allowing Deism and naturalistic views in the tradition of Spinoza and Goethe (himself a Freemason), or views of The Ultimate or Cosmic Oneness, along with Western atheistic idealism and agnosticism. This leads some anti-Masonic pundits to suggest that even regular Freemasonry will, in practice, accept certain kinds of atheists — willing to adopt quasi-spiritual language.

In some jurisdictions (mostly English-speaking), Freemasonry is actually less tolerant of naturalism than it was in the 18th Century, and specific religious requirements with more theistic and orthodox overtones have been added since the early 19th Century (mostly in North America), including belief in the immortality of the soul.

The Freemasonry that predominates in Scandinavia, known as the Swedish Rite accepts only Christians..

US Roman Catholic View

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In the letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry , by Cardinal Bernard Law, he states a Roman Catholic definition of (Craft, or Blue Lodge) Freemasonic Jurisdictions from an “American context”:

“We should understand that worldwide Freemasonry shares many beliefs and customs but is not a unified organization; it includes the United Grand Lodge of England; the 50 independent grand lodges in the United States; lodges in Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Prince Hall Masonry; the so-called Christian Masonry of Germany and three Scandinavian countries; the various Grand Orients of Europe and Latin America; co- Masonic bodies; irregular lodges such as the Italian P2 lodge; and others.”

It reiterated the view of the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in a clarification sent in 1981 that Catholics are forbidden to join any Masonic lodges

1. http://www.grandlodge-england.org/pdf/cr-rule-update2-141205.pdf Aims and Relationships of the Craft Para 9
2. http://www.grandlodge-england.org/pdf/cr-rule-update2-141205.pdf Aims and Relationships of the Craft Para 11
3. http://www.grandlodge-england.org/masonry/what-is-freemasonry.htm
4. http://www.grandlodge-england.org/masonry/YQA-secret-society.htm
5. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14071b.htm Catholic Eycylopedia "Secret societies in the true sense began with symbolic Freemasonry about the year 1717 in London (see MASONRY). This widespread oath-bound association soon became the exemplar or the parent of numerous other fraternities, nearly all of which have some connexion with Freemasonry, and in almost every instance were founded by Masons."
6. http://www.bartleby.com/65/se/secretso.html The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.
7. Secret society
8. Freemasons for Dummies, by Christopher Hodapp, Wiley Publishing Inc., Indianapolis, 2005, p.70, sec. "The Grand Orient of France"
9. The Grande Loge Nationale Francaise (GLNF), accessed February 6 2006.
10. Who is Prince Hall?, accessed November 14 2005.
11. Prince Hall Masonry Recognition details, Paul M. Bessel, accessed November 14 2005
12. ^ http://www.grandlodge-england.org/pdf/cr-rule-update2-141205.pdf Aims and Relationships of the Craft
13. Beyond the Craft: The Indispensable Guide to Masonic Orders Practised in England and Wales, Keith B Jackson, ISBN 0853182485, Pub 2005
14. UGLE: Is Freemasonry a religion?, accessed January 21 2006.
15. http://www.mqmagazine.co.uk/issue-13/p-46.php
16. Freemasons for Dummies, by Christopher Hodapp, Wiley Publishing Inc., Indianapolis, 2005, p.65, sec. "Religion and the Masons"
17. U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry, accessed March 14 2006
18. "1) the present canonical discipline remains in full force and has not been modified in any way; 2) consequently, neither the excommunication nor the other penalties envisaged have been abrogated;" CLARIFICATION CONCERNING STATUS OF CATHOLICS BECOMING FREEMASONS, Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith