"Freemasonry can never be fully understood by someone who has not himself knelt where Hiram knelt. An outsider, however diligent his or her work is, without the benefit of actually undergoing the various degrees that take us on our own individual path of inner reflection that is the Craft, only sees the shadow cast by Freemasonry and not Freemasonry itself."
Chris McClintock
(author, The Craft and the Cross, excerpted from The Masonic Service Association: www.msana.com)
Chris McClintock
(author, The Craft and the Cross, excerpted from The Masonic Service Association: www.msana.com)
The absolute requirements for becoming a Mason are:
- You can afford the initiation fees and the annual dues without hardship to yourself or your family.
You should come to Masonry "of your own free will and accord," to learn to improve yourself and to enjoy the company of other good people; not because someone keeps pestering you to join or because you think it will help you "get ahead" in business.
To join, all you have to do is ask a Mason:
- Be a man [Note: there are other branches of Masonry that accept both men and women, or women only];
- In Georgia, you must be at least 21 years old [Note: outside of Georgia, some lodges and some jurisdictions make exceptions for 18-year-olds, sometimes for those who are sons of Masons, sometimes for university students];
- Have belief in a Supreme Being (of any faith. No particular religion or faith is required or excluded. All are welcome.)
- You should be someone who does, or wants to learn to, enjoy the company of other men from all different social classes, faiths, backgrounds, races, countries, etc. Masonry is universal in its ideals.
- If you are a family man, Masonry considers that your family obligations come FIRST, so you must be sure that:
- You can afford the initiation fees and the annual dues without hardship to yourself or your family.
You should come to Masonry "of your own free will and accord," to learn to improve yourself and to enjoy the company of other good people; not because someone keeps pestering you to join or because you think it will help you "get ahead" in business.
To join, all you have to do is ask a Mason:
- Preferably someone you know or at least who lives or works nearby, or...
- If you think you may not know any Masons in your area, you could post to the netnews group alt.freemasonry and ask that anyone who lives in your general area reply to you, or...
- You can find nearby lodges listed in your phone book. (White-pages listings for lodges may be under "Masons", "Freemasons", "Masonic Apartments", or "Masonic Temple," and the Grand Lodge would probably be under "Grand Lodge of Masons"), or...
- Find your state's Grand Lodge in this list of U.S.A. Grand Lodges. Call them and ask to speak to someone in the office of the Grand Secretary.