Archive for July, 2008
At the age of 20, George Washington the first President of the United States was brought into the lodge in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He became an entered apprentice on November 4, 1752. He earned his Fellowcraft degree on March 13, 1753. He was eventually raised to the degree of Master Mason on August 4, 1753. Although worthy of becoming the first Gand Master of the Lodge of Virginia in 1778, he was not available. On April 29 or 1788, he was appointed the Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge #22. During that period of time George Washington was inaugurated as President of the United States. I have been looking for a picture of the Masonic Ring that George Washington wore if indeed he did wear one.
Contrary to popular mythology, Freemasonry is not a secret society. Meeting are held in lodges and like many meetings of different organizations, the meetings are not open to the public. They are only open to their members. Freemasons make no secret of their membership in the fraternity. Lodges have phone numbers and street addresses that are a matter of public record. Some lodges are currently providing information about there various organizations through the internet. The Masonic Ring worn by many Masons is a symbol of their membership.
Freemasonry is not a religion. A Mason must believe in a Supreme being. This is an essential requirement for membership in the fraternity. Freemasonry does however; encourage its members to practice their individual faiths. Freemasonry has no political agenda, nor is the discussion of politics allowed in a lodge meeting. The 3rd degree Masonic ring is a symbol of a members pledge to the fraternity.
As a Mason, I travel quite a bit and am continually impressed with some of the magnificent achitecture that I see in some of the Masonic Lodges, Shrine Temples, and Scottish Rite buildings that I see not only here in U.S. but around the world. Masonry is not limited to just the U.S. There are many lodges located thruout the world. I am thinking about adding a page to this blog that would allow our brothers and sisters from all Fraternal organizations around the world to add pictures of their organizations. The picture shown above is actually of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, PA. At this point in time, I would like to see only pictures that exhibit the magnificent architecture of some of these buildings. It would be nice to be able to share some of these pictures with the rest of our brothers and sisters around the world. It would also be nice to see some examples of antique Masonic rings, Scottish Rite Rings, York Rite Rings, Knights of Columbus Rings etc., but I will add that feature after I see what kind of response that I get in looking for examples of Fraternal architecture.