The small town I lived in as a child (we had TWO stop lights!), like just about every other town and city, held an annual Fourth of July parade. Every year, while my friends were excited to see the fire trucks, I was waiting for something else. I was waiting to see the guys who drove around the little go-karts and wore the funny looking maroon hats.

Shriner by Michael Krueger

I am, of course, talking about the Shriners. Besides wearing the funny hats they are the organization that fund raises for and maintains the Shriners Hospitals, which provide pediatric care for a wide range of conditions, regardless of the ability of that child’s family to pay. You often still see them out in local parades and in more than just the go-kart “units”. What often isn’t known by most people is that every Shriner is a Freemason! You know, those guys that are perpetually taking over the world and keeping the metric system down? We do still exist and I hope by writing this, some of the misconceptions about our fraternity can be dispelled.

You’re probably guessing by now that I am a Freemason, which is the case. I am a Freemason, and have been since 2007. Seeing the Shriners and their karts were only part of the reason I joined. Another reason was growing up in the small town I lived in, I interacted frequently with many of my Grandfather’s friends, who I grew up knowing to be pillars and good men in our community. Another reason I eventually decided to join was seeing a certain set of Nicholas Cage movies, you may have seen them, and even seen a certain meme that grew out of said movie.

Nicholas Cage doing Nicholas Cage things

While the National Treasure movies depict Freemasons as the keepers of some ancient treasure hidden beneath a church in New York City, the truth of the matter is we’re just not THAT exciting, and there aren’t any physical treasures, at least that I’m aware of…yet. Among other things that are said about Freemasons is that we’re a “secret society” (some in the Craft would say “we are a society with secrets”), we hold back the electric car (uh hello, Tesla?) and that we throw a mean pancake breakfast (jury is still out on this one). While these are obviously tongue and cheek statements, in most cases we roll with the punches (pancake breakfasts) and appreciate the attention (The Simpsons and National Treasure). In many cases the attention can be welcome, and we end up getting inquiries and a few new members from it, but they can certainly create some misconceptions that we have to discuss. At our core, we are a fraternity of men who profess a belief in something greater than us (more on this later) who are trying to improve both ourselves, and our communities we reside in.

It first probably helps to understand how one joins a Masonic Lodge. There really are only two requirements to join a Masonic Lodge: (1) belief in some “Supreme Being”, which we call the Grand Architect of the Universe, and (2) you must ask to join, we do not solicit for membership. It is said that Freemasonry grew out of the operative stonemason guilds that built Europe’s cathedrals in the 15th and 16th centuries, and parts of the obligations that bound those stonemasons grew out of that association and were kept when non-stonemasons joined Lodges during the Age of Enlightenment. These obligations (taken on the Holy Book of that person’s particular faith) were kept, but expanded to include faiths other than Christianity and Catholicism. We don’t ask a man what faith or sect he belongs to, only that he believes in something greater than himself, otherwise we believe any obligation taken is an empty obligation.

Scottish Rite House of the Temple Altar

Our members also come from various walks of life; tradesmen, public servants, doctors, IT professionals, you name it. Our members are older (largely), and younger (in my area average age is dropping) and while numbers are down from their highest levels post World War II, there is a resurgent interest among the millennial generation in joining. There are even youth organizations for both boys and girls based on Masonic principles of truth, kindness, charity, respect, and responsibility. Our members interests within the Craft are just as diverse as our careers. Some Masons spend their time learning our ritual and teaching it to others, many go to the Shrine and help raise money for the hospitals or help out in many ways with the families. One of the areas we’re seeing a resurgence in interest though (thank you millennial Masons!) is the education and research side. Freemasonry is slowly but surely making its way online. From Lodge websites and Facebook pages, to groups and sub-Reddits dedicated to just about every Masonic topic Freemasonry is adapting to the online world in which we all exist. There are blogs, podcasts and more offering information to those seeking to join, and scratching the various itches Masons are looking to scratch. We may not entirely be a 21st Century organization, but we’re making strides as fast and as best we can.

So what do we get out of being a Mason?

Pancake Time by Dita Margarita

OK, not just pancakes, but most of the time the pancakes are really good. This is really another loaded question like being asked about the typical member. The true answer is we all largely get something different out of it. The most important thing I’ve gotten out of being a Mason is many close friends, and the fact that I have a network of people I can call upon at a moments notice if I need something, even if I’m away from home on travel. Masonry has had a profound effect on my reading habits which has in turn has helped me with my spirituality. I’ve always been a voracious reader, but until I became a Mason I found myself reading lots of fiction novels, “not that there’s anything wrong with that”. But when I became a Scottish Rite Mason in 2010 I happened to pick up a correspondence course that drew from Albert Pike’s writings and ritual of the Scottish Rite Degrees. Pike’s inspiration for the Degree’s came from a broad range of religion’s and going through his readings and taking these courses has helped me better appreciate religion and faith. I always struggled with some of the stories of the bible, but Masonry has helped me solidify and be comfortable with the fact that Jonah and the Whale and Noah’s Ark don’t have to be actual events that happened. The lessons and teachings of those stories are just as impactful when taken as an allegory. Note It is quite alright to believe these events actually happened. My interpretation of the Bible is not meant to say “this is how everyone else should interpret the Bible”. The story of humanity is one of attempting to understand just where we fit in within the universe as a whole, and as our knowledge and understanding of the universe grows, it has only created a greater number of questions of just where we fit in. At its core, religion helps us be comfortable when confronted with the unknown, and I’ve found it quite enjoyable digging in to other religions just to learn more about them; Christianity, Islam, Druidism and more are all faiths and teachings Pike talks about in his Scottish Rite texts. It may sound like I’m speaking for myself here, but there is a resurgent interest in this kind of education among those men seeking to join our ranks these days. While helping run a Lodge, learning everything you can about our ritual, or even focusing on the Shrine are all acceptable paths to take in Masonry, this is really an area where we are seeing hungry appetites to learn.

Like anything, we’re not a perfect organization. We certainly have our fair share of things we can work and improve upon. In fact, that could in all likelihood be a post in and of itself. We tend to move slowly when it comes to making changes and adapting to the next generation of men who will be walking through our doors. We’re always looking for good men intent on improving themselves to join our ranks and help make a difference. So if you like pancakes, and stealing the Declaration of Independence, and really just Nicholas Cage movies in general, find your local Lodge or Grand Lodge online and reach out. We’ve been doing pretty well for the past 300 years, but we could use someone like you to keep us going strong for another 300 years. (Disclaimer: This is not a solicitation.)