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The Blue Lodge is the
beginning of Freemasonry.
It is the foundation on which all other
Masonic organizations are built. Many Masons believe that the
Fraternity has its origins in the building of King Solomon's Temple
and that the three degrees represent the three classes of workmen,
the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. In
fact, these are the names of the three degrees of the Blue Lodge.
Others believe that
the Fraternity was born from the guilds of stone masons who build
the castles and cathedrals of medieval Europe.
Other
"popular" theories claim that the Fraternity originated by
the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt or as a place for the Knights Templar
to hide after the purge by Phillip of France and Clement V in 1307.
What we do know for
sure is that organized Speculative Freemasonry began in 1717 when
four London lodges came together at the Good and Gridiron Ale House,
St. Paul's Churchyard, and formed themselves into a Grand Lodge.
Masonry in the United
States can be traced back to early colonial times. By the
American Revolution, there were an estimated 250 lodges in the
colonies. Many Masons of the time including George Washington,
Nathaniel Green, and Henry Knox were staunch patriots. Many
claim that the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights
were documents founded upon Masonic Principles.
In the United States,
each state and the District of Columbia is organized independently
under its own Grand Lodge. Individual Lodges are charted by
the Grand Lodge and work under that charter.
Masonry teaches good
men to become better, not better than others, but better than
themselves. It teaches life's lessons through a progressive
series of degrees. Symbolic, or Blue Lodge Masonry is composed
of the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master
Mason. It is the foundation upon which all other Masonic
orders are based. The prescribed ritual is taught using
symbolism and allegories, the interpretation and value of each is
unique to each brother Mason upon his own experiences.
The three golden
tenants of Masonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.
The Mason comes to
realize that he must do more than attend the meeting of his Lodge if
he is to truly appreciate the value of Freemasonry and understand
the principles underlying its teachings. |
