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 Andrew Skidmore and Mike Murphy of thefreemason.com What is Freemasonry? I looked through much of the written information I had easily at hand and compared it with Wikipedia. As a Preceptor of a local lodge of instruction, I thought I would try to supply the newer Brethren with a definitive answer, backed by as much reference information as possible. This is the result of my brief endeavours. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization with millions of members. It exists in various forms worldwide, with shared moral and metaphysical ideals and in most of its branches requires a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. Freemasonry is administratively organized into Grand Lodges that govern a particular jurisdiction made up of subordinate lodges. Grand Lodges recognize each other through a process of landmarks and regularity. There are also appendant bodies, which are organizations related to the main branch of Freemasonry. Freemasons define Freemasonry as ‘a system of morality’, using the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical background of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what is most generally defined as ‘a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.’ Included within the above were at least 15 ‘drill downs’. Each drill down offers a deeper explanation and understanding of various words and terms used, enabling the questioner to answer the seeker with more convincing and qualified conviction. Wikipedia.org is the place to go when looking for more than just an opinion or brief. There’s a website showing the potential to challenge Wikipedia, once it sorts out its technical and image issues. A simple site where various articles can be easily accessed, masonicpaedia.org is a true challenge for the discerning masonic researcher. Other sites worth a mention are The Hull Old Grammarians’ Lodge, which can be found at www.5129.karoo.net where Stephen Jordan has taken on the Mastership of the lodge and the website. freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/ideal. html is the url for The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. It has a good selection of essays and papers and it’s also refreshingly up to date. And finally ‘Welcome to Lodge Awatea!’ That’s the message you are greeted with when you navigate your way to Lodge No. 258 in New Zealand. A superb lodge website – if you want a nice clean lodge website then you could do worse than to emulate theirs. www.lodgeawatea.org.nz. If you know of any other sites we should take a look at email us at online@thefreemason.com
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