Introduction to Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a said to be a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by signs and symbols:

Morality – has been described as ’’Faith in full blossom.’’
Allegory – an Allegory is a story with a lesson, a metaphor, a veiled representation often illustrating exemplary conduct.(the Biblical Parables are perhaps the most familiar examples) Despite seeing and hearing we sometimes don’t pay full attention or fully understand and therefore miss the real message. We must seek out those hidden meanings.
Symbols – a Symbol is a visible or graphic representation of an object to convey a certain concept or idea.eg road signs, numbers or letters.

The idea of teaching by allegories and symbols is not new. Many great teachers have followed this method. The symbolism of Masonry is the soul of the Craft. Every symbol in the lodge is a teacher and it is in the knowledge of their true meanings that the eminence of Freemasonry exists.

The elementary principles of Freemasonry are exemplified in the three degrees worked in every regular masonic lodge throughout the world. These ceremonies have existed for hundreds of years. In your progress through Freemasonry you will be ‘Initiated’ as an Entered Apprentice, ‘Passed’ as a Fellow Craft, and ‘Raised’ as a Master Mason.
Your first duty is to approach each ceremony calmly and solemnly, with mind and spirit attentive to the lessons which will be imparted.

Your obligation in each of these ceremonies will not conflict with the duties and responsibilities you owe beyond the Craft.
Freemasonry is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternal societies. The Grand Lodge of Scotland is the corporate body governing Freemasonry in Scotland and Scottish Masonic Lodges in many other parts of the world.

Freemasonry is also practiced abroad under other Grand Lodges which set the same standards and promote the same principals as the Grand Lodge of Scotland. However, there are some Grand Lodges and other bodies which claim to be Masonic that do not meet these standards. For example some, do not require a belief in a Supreme Being, others permit their members as such to participate in political matters. For these reasons such bodies cannot be considered to be masonically regular and Scottish Freemasons can have no Masonic contact with them.

Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts by a series of ritual dramas, which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons’ customs and tools as allegorical guides.