I'm a Freemason AMA

[FreemasonAMA]

I will not go into some details, but I will try to answer as many questions as I can.

How was your first initiation ceremony? Did it frighten you?

Do you feel like you fully know what the Freemasons are about yourself now eg, do you feel you could dispel the things thrown around on strange YouTube documentaries completely? Sure you're not serving Satan etc?

Do you feel it's just another path, a western system or is it something different? Eg in the eastern cultures they might focus on chakras/kundalini raising?

Disclaimer: I watch too much YouTube and ex evangelical Christian

I still don’t get the point of it. Why can’t you become a “cubic stone” by pursuing self development and good works outside of the Masons?

And FIL is a very senior mason and is a complete arse. Self centered, no self awareness and manipulative. Not sure how any of this fits with his cubic stone 🤨

Tinlegs in what way?

Can you explain what you actually do?

We gather, enter the lodge, sit. There is the opening ritual. Then there might be an announcement or vote to accept or refuse a candidate, followed by a short speech on a topic relevant to that degree and discussion. Afterwards, there will be a communal meal served in the building where discussions continue more informally.

Is it part of the power elite (shape shifting reptoids?)

I am not at the highest degrees just yet, although I am above Master Mason. I haven't seen any shape shifting reptoids yet

There are many CEOs, doctors, lawyers among Freemasons but there are also housewives and entry-level employees. It is not about world domination, although I am happy to say that many important people who have influenced history like Benjamin Franklin, Churchill, and several prominent figures of the French Revolution were Freemasons.

Are you in the Order of the Eastern Star, or the actual Masons?

Can someone apply to join the Masons or can they only join if a Mason invites them?

Are you also a member of an organised religion?

No.

School in Rickmansworth where I went initially as fee payer (parents lived in Saudi). Parents split and Dad blew all the money. Fees were paid, travel etc. Plus I got a bursary through University and lots of support.

I would have been pulled out of any other school for lack of funds and would have happened at a crucial time in my education.

secret handshakes and such

I have never tried a secret handshake on a stranger and never recognised a fellow Freemason by their handshake.

Usually, Freemasons recognise each other from the words & phrases we use in casual conversation, which we recognise as ideas and symbols from rituals.

Getting other Freemasons off in court for speeding tickets etc? Agreeing planning permission etc.

Never happened to me. You form friendships in a lodge, as you would in a school or a social club, and friends can help you out when you call them but I have never seen this to take an illegal form.

How do you join ?

What do you value most and least about being a Freemason?

I value the intellectual side of it the most, but also recognise how it has made me a better person over the years.

I can't think of a downside.

And how and when did you get into it?*

My grandfather was a Mason. I have always been fascinated by what it is about. How did you become involved? How many women’s Losgesnare there? I thought it was just for men.

Lodges

And how and when did you get into it?

I was in my late 20s. I asked an older acquaintance whom I knew to be a Freemason how I would go about becoming a Freemason. She proposed me as a candidate. Three members of that lodge met and interviewed me. I guess the vote was in my favour, because I was called in for my Initiation, which made me an Apprentice Mason.

The united grand lodge of England website states only men can be freemasons, there is an order of women freemasonry but it's not 'officially recognised' by the grand lodge, but they 'acknowledge the sincerity' of the women's group. Sounds awfully patronising and like they're just humouring the ladies and trying to look a bit more modern and inclusive while the men do the big 'real' stuff. I don't mean to offend at all but this would seriously bother me, what are your thoughts on this? Do you have a male partner/husband and is he a freemason too?

In a month how much time do you devote to being a Freemason and how much does it cost you financially.

Also, do you have a certificate to walk sheep over London Bridge like my grandad had on his wall and what stature did this hold?

You mentioned meeting up with fellow Freemasons, sitting and eating. How often do you meet up & eat together

What percentage of Freemasons are women?

I don't know about overall percentage numbers, but I would assume that most Freemasons are men. Out of the two main obediences (branches) of Freemasonry, "Grand Lodge" is entirely male but "Grand Orient" accepts women into mixed lodges and female-only lodges.

I didn't realise women could join!

I work for the RMBI and most of the men are sexist pigs and the women are widows of freemasons.

Disclaimer I'm not linking the sexism with freemasonry. They are also racist and in a few instances classist.

Are you a member of a women’s only lodge?

Yes.

If so can you say where it is? I’d be possibly be interested in joining.

I won't give that information, sorry. To join a lodge, your best way in is through a Freemason you know. You can still look up your local organisation, plan a visit, and see what they say about the possibility of joining them.

How much time do you give to it in a week/month?

1 evening per week, sometimes 2.

I owe my education to the Freemasons. Thanks for all you do for people like me.

You are welcome

I thought you were required to believe in some sort of religion. Is that not the case?

What happens in a lodge?!

I answered this at 22:26.

"Do you really need levels to be a good person?"

Of course not. Freemasonry is not just about being a "good person", either.

Do you have to wear silly costumes??

No

There are certain accessories that go with different degrees, with their own symbolism. I don't find them silly.

Do the symbols you talk about hold some sort of power, like the law of attraction type of thing? Do Freemasons discuss cosmology/astrophysics/spirituality?