FAQ

Freemasonry is the world's oldest fraternal organization.  It is comprised of men of good character, coming from a wide variety of social, economic, religions, and ethnic backgrounds to devote themselves to self-improvement, as well as improving each other, their families, and the communities in which they reside.

One of the most common misconceptions about Freemasonry is that it is a religion.  This is absolutely NOT true.  Freemasonry requires all members believe in a higher power, deity, or god, but - in most jurisdictions, including Illinois - does not require that belief be of any particular faith, or an organized religion at all.  Nearly all religions are welcomed within Freemasonry, and it is one of the few places where men of many faiths will come together in prayer, with mutual respect for one another's faiths.

While Freemasonry holds charity to be one of our most critical and noble outward acts, charity in and of itself is not our primary purpose.  Masons regularly perform acts and provide donations of charity, ranging from such items as scholarships for local students, participation in the Grand Lodge of Illinois' Bikes for Books program, and the Illinois Masonic Family Identification Program, to programs of the Masonic appendant bodies, such as the Scottish Rite Learning Centers, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, and the highly lauded Shriners Hospitals of Shriners International.

Truthfully?  No, we are not.  We have a website, a Facebook group, a contact page, a building whose address we readily advertise...if anything, we seek to make ourselves more known to the world, not less.

Freemasonry is said to be "not a secret society, but rather a society with secrets."  Even that might be something of a stretch.  We have certain secrets we keep, so as to identify ourselves to one another, but, honestly, it is more about proving we can keep the confidence of one another and uphold the oaths we take, more than keeping anything from the public.

Virtually everything we are said to keep secret has long been disclosed to the public, either by word of mouth, in print, on video, or - more recently - on the web.  Perhaps the best statement about this is, "you can readily discover all of the purported secrets of Freemasonry without ever stepping foot in a Lodge, but you cannot discover them from me."

With the amount of material being produced for social media and video sites, such as YouTube, today, it is virtually impossible to review them all and offer opinion.  A great deal of valid, legitimate, and accurate material is certainly out there.  Obviously, that which is produced by Masons - either individual Masons of good repute or from Masonic jurisdictions, such as a Grand Lodge or appendant body - is much more likely to be accurate...and much less interesting or outright dull, as it will not include some of the truly fantastical stories that have popped up over the years.

Material that includes references such as the Illuminati, a new world order, "higher degrees" (above the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite appendant body), lizard people, world domination, religious occultism, or any of the far more bizarre or outright heinous acts that we occasionally are asked about...all of these are indicative of conspiracy theory, uninformed conjecture, and highly industrious imaginations, lacking any foundation in truth.

In truth, we have never debated any sort of global strategy nor any such foolishness, but we have had some very lively debates on whether to hold a pancake breakfast this month or next. 

A common question, and one whose answer is incredibly complex, as one might expect for an institution that is older than our nation.

The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois, under which our Lodge operates, practices what we  refer to as Regular Freemasonry, the oldest, most traditional form of Freemasonry, and that which the vast majority think of when you refer to "Freemasons."  Our traditions do require that all Freemasons be gendered male, as they have since time immemorial.

That said, within our jurisdiction, women do participate in orders such the Order of the Eastern Star and the Order of the Amaranth for adults, and the Order of the Rainbow for Girls and Job's Daughters for young women.  Each have their own requirements and traditions, separate from the male Masonic Lodges.

Beyong Regular Freemasonry, however, there are different forms of the fraternity, which we term Irregular Freemasonry.  Some forms of these may include male and female participants, such as Le Droit Humain (the most common variety in the United States of America) or jurisdictions of Continental Freemasonry (frequently practiced in Europe and other portions of Europe).  Other forms are exclusive to women, such as the Order for Women Freemasons and the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (Freemasonry for Women), whose work, ritual, and styles are identical to their British counterparts, with whom they work closely.

Indeed, entire books have been written, exploring the topic and the various intricacies.  Needless to say, the short answer is, women ARE involved in Freemasonry, just not within the Blue Lodge settings of our jurisdictions.