Becoming a Freemason

Well the story of becoming a freemason is simple and complex all at the same time, and I am not really sure what happened. Firstly, I had been studying part time for eight years in civil and structural engineering and that had all come to a close, whilst I was married and had a family, there was a part of me that was not happy, you see I get bored quick, I can take on information and retain it, get to a level that I am happy with then get really very bored. So I had no studying, work was totally stultifying and within my kung fu and door work I had just decided to call it a day. You might say I really needed something in my life but I did not know it at that time.

Had I ever heard about freemasonry? – yes. I knew that my dad had been asked if he would like to come along and be involved, I also knew for some reason that he had declined. For what reason I do not know, and to this day, I havent asked! I also knew that somebody dad worked for was writing a book, allegedly exposing the masons for all their dark deeds. My exposure therefore was little and prejudiced shall we say.

At that time, my wife’s stepfather became a freemason through good friends he worked with, and we were all then involved in a wonderful series of events, Ladies Nights, charity functions etc. I had never been to anything like this before and the people were thoroughly engaging. What I could tell from the outside was that they were all very close but also welcomed me into that fold of care and brotherhood. I still wasn’t interested in becoming a freemason at all, I still did not know what they did apart from charitable work. My wife then was very interested in that scene of balls and outings and ceremony. Once the seed was sown by her stepfather asking me I began to consider at length what this freemasonry was all about. Some of you who may know me, will know that I am very considered and will try to be honest and fair rather than make a rushed decision, but from the facts that were available to me at the time I was unable to make a fair judgement as to whether I wanted to be a part or not.

I also came across a predominantly large amount of information which was against freemasons, which intrigued me beyond belief. How could a fraternity which had existed for so long, have so much bad press and very little good press. If it was so bad why had it not been discontinued ages ago. I made my decision. I wanted to be a part, use my education (honours degree) to research from within and find my way round and see what this was all about. I had to fill in some paperwork, about my life and then await an interview.

At that interview I was asked many questions, which I presupposed were to establish the kind of person I was, very unusual questions in modern life, but interestingly deep. I looked around the table as I gave my answers, and whilst I could see some people were along with my answers, the rest were not really following what I was saying in response. I was very lucky I suppose in that interview that I knew many of the people from previous events I had attended. I was told, that they were happy to recommend me to the Lodge for becoming a mason and I would duly hear back.

I did hear, and I had been accepted, and my “Initiation” date was given and set. At that point, it became quite surreal, people within and without freemasonry were winding me up about the initiation. I figured, from what I had been told, everybody no matter their standing would go through the very same initiation, I would manage and resolve not to be scared or worried. I also was keen not to be tricked, so no matter what happened at the initiation I would be fully aware and taking extreme notice of every detail, watching all of the fine print and taking on board as much information as I could get. I also did not bother trying to find out what would happen, I simply let it be so.

The initiation night happened (I wont go into any details) but at the end I was smiling, there was nothing sinister or dark, and from what I could see there were many religious connotations and formality that had indeed, piqued my interest into the journey I had set upon. I was happy to find, that there was much I could study, and that freemasonry could be whatever I as an individual wanted to be, but most of all, I learnt about the fundamental good in people, the trust we place in each other and how by trying to be a better person I would feel better about everything. Actually I was really looking forward to whatever happened next.

Sadly on my journey shortly after that period my wife and I split leaving me in a difficult situation, I had moved many miles away and it was very difficult to attend my lodge regularly, so I found one, very fortunately near where I lived, I shall talk about that transition next.

But what about you, if you are a freemason, how did it all come about, if you are not a freemason, what do you know about it? Please do comment on this page and I will look forward to your comments.