With their own terminology, structures and practices, each masonic Order is different from the next. Freemasonry Today breaks down the origins, requirements and organization of the Royal Order of Scotland. One of the most historic Orders in Freemasonry, The Royal Order of Scotland’s ritual traditions reach back 700 years to Robert the Bruce.
With their own distinctive terminology, structures and practices, each Masonic Order is different from the others. The Grand Lodge of England breaks down the UK origins, requirements, and organization of Royal and Select Masters.
Since 1850, the Masonic Temple at 55 East State Street has been the central hub of York Rite Freemasonry in Bucks County. With over 570 members, Doylestown is one of the largest and most active fraternal lodges in the state of Pennsylvania. As the old saying goes: “My boy, if you are not a Doylestown Freemason, you are strictly NOT IN IT.”
Artist davidohlerking1337 painted a picture of the lodge facade on State Street as part of a impressionism series that includes several Doylestown locations. You can see his other works at https://imgur.com/user/davidohlerking1337
The Ancient and Accepted Rite, or Rose Croix, is one of the oldest Orders, yet many Craft Freemasons in the UK know little about it. The Grand Secretary General of the Grand Lodge of England explains how the Rite has attracted more than a quarter of a million members worldwide.
The world’s first Grand Lodge – looking back to where it all started
Three hundred years ago, in a room in a pub, history was made. Were it possible to travel in time, it would be fascinating to bring back the brethren who came together at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse in London on 24 June 1717, when they elected the first Grand Master and brought into being the first Grand Lodge in the world, writes John Hamill, Director of Special Projects for the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE).
According to James Anderson in the 1738 Constitutions of the Free-Masons, four lodges met at the alehouse in St Paul’s Churchyard. Named after the public houses where they usually met, the lodges were Goose and Gridiron Ale-house in St Paul’s Church-yard; the Crown Ale-house in Parker’s Lane off Drury Lane; the Apple-Tree Tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden; and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel Row, Westminster.
The Economist explains
What is freemasonry?
Misinformation and conspiracy abound. Is it a benign organization or one bent on subverting government?
Published Feb 27, 2018
The literature on freemasonry does not offer straightforward explanations. Is it benign or bent on subverting government? Is it a community of knowledge or of the occult? Such questions are not new. Since its development in the 18th century, freemasonry has drawn the ire of the Catholic church, right-wing politicians and, more recently, Britain’s Home Office. (Fearing that masons in the police and judiciary were giving preferential treatment to other masons, the Home Office between 1998 and 2009 required judicial appointees to disclose their membership.) Freemasonry can appear incomprehensible because it contains no coherent ideology or doctrine, and is defined instead by a commitment to universal brotherhood and self-improvement. Nor does a single governing body exist. It is made up of a loose network of groups, known as lodges, that fall under regional and national grand lodges. What, then, is freemasonry all about? Continue reading →