How to Become a Freemason: An Honest Beginner’s Guide | Freemasonry Matters

The first thing most people ask about Freemasonry is whether we rule the world. We don’t. We can barely agree on what biscuits to serve at lodge.

I’ve been a Freemason for over a decade. I’ve sat through ceremonies that moved me to silence and committee meetings that nearly moved me to sleep. I’ve raised thousands of pounds for charity and eaten hundreds of questionable roast dinners in draughty dining halls. And I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

If you’ve ever wondered what Freemasonry actually is — or how to become a Freemason yourself — this is the guide I wish someone had written for me before I joined.

What Freemasonry Actually Is

Strip away the Dan Brown novels and the YouTube conspiracy videos, and what you’re left with is surprisingly straightforward. Freemasonry is a fraternity — a brotherhood, if you prefer — built on three ideas: brotherly love, relief (meaning charity), and truth.

That’s it. No secret plan for world domination. No hidden treasure under Temple Church. Just a group of men who meet regularly, perform moral allegories drawn from the stonemason’s trade, eat dinner together, and try to be better people than they were last month.

The allegories are the interesting bit. Freemasonry uses the tools of the medieval stonemason — the square, the compasses, the level, the plumb rule — as symbols for moral lessons. The square reminds you to act with integrity. The level teaches equality. The compasses? Keep your passions in check. It’s philosophy dressed up in theatre, performed in a lodge room by ordinary blokes who spend their day jobs as accountants, plumbers, teachers, and retired police officers.

There’s no theology to sign up to. You need to believe in a Supreme Being — however you define that — but Freemasonry itself isn’t a religion. It doesn’t compete with your faith. It sits alongside it.

A Short History (Without the Nonsense)

The honest answer is that nobody knows exactly when Freemasonry started. The dishonest answer involves King Solomon, the Knights Templar, and ancient Egypt. Ignore all of that.

What we do know: in medieval Scotland and England, stonemasons who built the great cathedrals formed guilds. These were working lodges — operative masons who actually cut stone. The oldest documented minutes of a lodge meeting come from the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No.1 in 1599. Real place. Still meets today.

Sometime in the 1600s, these lodges started admitting men who weren’t stonemasons at all. Gentlemen, scholars, curious types. They were called “accepted” or “speculative” masons. By the late 1600s, speculative members outnumbered the actual tradesmen in many lodges.

On 24 June 1717 — St John the Baptist’s Day — four London lodges met at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House near St Paul’s Cathedral and formed the first Grand Lodge. This is the event that launched Freemasonry as we recognise it today. The Premier Grand Lodge of England (later the United Grand Lodge of England, or UGLE) became the mother Grand Lodge of the world.

From there, it spread rapidly. Ireland formed its Grand Lodge in 1725. Scotland in 1736. By the mid-1700s, Freemasonry had reached France, the American colonies, India, and beyond. Benjamin Franklin was initiated in 1731 in Philadelphia. By the time of the American Revolution, lodge meetings were a fixture of colonial life.

Today, UGLE recognises around 200,000 members in England and Wales across roughly 7,000 lodges. Worldwide, estimates put the number at around 2 to 3 million. That sounds like a lot, but it’s actually a fraction of the post-war peak. Freemasonry, like most fraternal organisations, has been shrinking since the 1960s — though there’s been a genuine uptick in younger men joining over the past few years.

How It’s Structured

Think of it as a pyramid — appropriately enough.

At the base is the lodge. This is where everything happens. Your lodge is your home. You’ll know every member by name. Most lodges have between 20 and 60 members, though only a portion turn up to any given meeting. A lodge is led by the Worshipful Master (yes, that’s the actual title — it just means “respected”), supported by two Wardens and various officers: a Secretary, Treasurer, Director of Ceremonies, and so on.

Lodges are grouped into Provinces, each headed by a Provincial Grand Master. Think of Provinces as regional bodies — Cheshire, West Yorkshire, Devonshire, and so on. Above that sits the United Grand Lodge of England, led by the Grand Master. Since 1967, the Grand Master has been HRH The Duke of Kent.

The Three Degrees

The core of Freemasonry is the Craft, and the Craft has three degrees:

1. Entered Apprentice (EA) — Your initiation. This is the ceremony everyone’s curious about. You’re brought into the lodge, taught the first set of symbols, and welcomed as a new member. It’s solemn, slightly nerve-wracking, and oddly moving.
2. Fellow Craft (FC) — The second degree focuses on learning and intellectual development. Historically the least glamorous of the three, but there’s real depth here if you pay attention.
3. Master Mason (MM) — The third degree. This is the big one. It involves the legend of Hiram Abiff, the master builder of King Solomon’s Temple. It’s dramatic, it’s powerful, and it’s the degree that ties the whole Craft together.

Once you’re a Master Mason, that’s it for the Craft. You’re a full member. But Freemasonry being Freemasonry, there’s always more to explore. The Royal Arch (which UGLE considers the completion of the third degree), Mark Masonry, Rose Croix, Knights Templar — there are dozens of additional orders you can join. None of them outrank the Craft. They’re side degrees, extras, appendant bodies. The Craft is the foundation, always.

What Actually Happens at a Lodge Meeting

Right, let’s kill the mystery.

A typical lodge meeting runs like this. Members arrive, usually between 5 and 6 in the evening, at a Masonic hall or centre. You’ll change into your regalia — a dark suit, white gloves, and an apron. The apron is the most recognisable piece of Masonic kit. New members wear a plain white lambskin apron. As you progress, the apron gets more ornate.

The lodge room itself is laid out in a specific way. The Worshipful Master sits in the East. The Senior Warden in the West. The Junior Warden in the South. There’s a chequered carpet in the centre (the “mosaic pavement”), two pillars, and various symbolic items. It looks odd the first time. After a few meetings, it feels like home.

The meeting opens with a formal ceremony. Minutes of the last meeting are confirmed. Correspondence is read. Then comes the main business — usually a degree ceremony for a candidate, a lecture, or lodge administration. Degree ceremonies are performed from memory, not read from a script. The senior members who deliver these rituals have often spent months learning them word-perfectly. When it’s done well, it’s genuinely impressive.

After the lodge is closed, everyone heads to dinner. This is the Festive Board — and honestly, for many members, it’s the best part. Formal toasts, songs (in some lodges), speeches, and a lot of conversation. The food varies wildly. Some lodges serve three-course meals that would hold their own in a restaurant. Others serve something that could charitably be described as “institutional”. You learn to manage expectations.

There’s always a charity collection. Every meeting. Sometimes it’s modest. Sometimes lodges raise extraordinary sums. The Masonic Charitable Foundation is one of the largest grant-making charities in England and Wales, donating over £40 million a year — and most people have no idea.

How to Become a Freemason

This is simpler than you think, and there’s no mystery to it.

The old tradition says you must “come of your own free will and accord.” Nobody recruits you. Nobody approaches you with a shadowy invitation. You ask. That’s the 2B1ASK1 tradition — “to be one, ask one.” If you know a Freemason, tell them you’re interested. If you don’t know one, contact UGLE directly through their website or reach out to a local lodge.

Here’s what the process typically looks like:

• You make contact. Either through someone you know or through UGLE’s enquiry system. A lodge will be suggested based on where you live or work.
• You meet the members. Most lodges will invite you to a few social events or informal dinners before anything formal happens. They want to get to know you. You want to get to know them. This isn’t a job interview — it’s more like seeing whether you’d enjoy spending time with these people.
• You’re proposed and seconded. Two members of the lodge formally put your name forward.
• A ballot is held. The lodge votes on your membership. This is done by secret ballot using black and white balls (hence the term “blackballed”). In practice, if you’ve been coming to socials and getting on with people, the ballot is usually a formality.
• Your initiation. You attend the lodge for your first degree ceremony. You’ll be nervous. Everyone is. The members will look after you — they’ve all been through it themselves.

The requirements are straightforward. You must be male (for UGLE lodges — there are separate women’s and mixed orders), over 21 in most cases (though some university lodges accept 18-year-olds), believe in a Supreme Being, and be of good character. That’s it. There’s no wealth requirement, no social test, no educational threshold.

Fees vary by lodge. Annual subscriptions typically range from £150 to £400, plus dining fees for each meeting. London lodges tend to be pricier. Provincial lodges are usually more affordable. If cost is a genuine barrier, speak to the lodge — many have benevolent funds specifically for this.

Famous Freemasons (And Why That Doesn’t Really Matter)

Every Freemasonry article includes this list. Fine. Here’s ours — but with context, because names on a page don’t mean much without it.

1. Winston Churchill — Initiated in 1901 at Studholme Lodge No. 1591 in London, aged 26. He was an irregular attender, by most accounts. Freemasonry was one of many things Churchill did. He didn’t define it, and it didn’t define him.
2. Benjamin Franklin — Printer, diplomat, scientist, and Grand Master of Pennsylvania. Franklin used Masonic networks throughout the colonies. His lodge in Philadelphia was a genuine hub of revolutionary thought.
3. George Washington — Initiated in Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 in Virginia, 1752. Took the presidential oath on a Masonic Bible. His Masonic membership is one of the most documented in history.
4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Joined Zur Wohltätigkeit lodge in Vienna in 1784. Composed several pieces for Masonic ceremonies, including the Masonic Funeral Music (K. 477). The Magic Flute is steeped in Masonic symbolism.
5. Rudyard Kipling — Initiated in Hope and Perseverance Lodge No. 782 in Lahore, India, in 1886, aged just 20. His poem “The Mother Lodge” is still read at Masonic gatherings worldwide. It captures the egalitarian ideal of Freemasonry better than any official document.
6. Sir Alexander Fleming — The man who discovered penicillin was a member of several lodges, including Santa Maria Lodge No. 2682 and Misericordia Lodge No. 3286 in London.
7. Edward VII — Grand Master before becoming King. Under his leadership, English Freemasonry grew substantially in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.
8. Duke Ellington — Initiated in Social Lodge No. 1 in Washington, D.C., a Prince Hall lodge. Prince Hall Freemasonry, founded by free Black men in 1775, has its own rich and vital history.
9. Buzz Aldrin — Carried a Masonic flag to the moon. Specifically, the flag of Clear Lake Lodge No. 1417 in Texas. He later “claimed” the moon for his Grand Lodge. Astronauts, it turns out, have a sense of humour.
10. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — Creator of Sherlock Holmes. Initiated in Phoenix Lodge No. 257 in Southsea in 1887. The irony of the world’s most famous fictional detective being created by a member of a “secret society” is not lost on us.

Here’s the thing, though. Freemasonry doesn’t — or shouldn’t — trade on famous names. The bloke sitting next to you in lodge who drives a taxi and has been quietly visiting elderly members every week for twenty years matters more to the fraternity than any historical luminary. That’s the whole point.

Common Myths, Quickly Dealt With

“Freemasonry is a secret society.” No. It’s a society with secrets. The difference matters. Masonic halls have signs outside. UGLE has a website. The Freemasons’ Hall on Great Queen Street in London runs public tours. The “secrets” are the modes of recognition — handshakes, passwords, signs — used in ceremonies. These aren’t guarding state secrets. They’re symbolic. They’ve also been published in books since at least 1730, so they’re not terribly secret either.

“Freemasons control the government / banks / police.” If Freemasons controlled the government, council planning applications would go through a lot faster. This conspiracy theory has roots in genuine historical anti-Masonic movements — particularly in Catholic Europe and post-revolutionary America — but in 2024, it’s nonsense. Freemasons are explicitly forbidden from using their membership for professional advantage.

“You have to roll up your trouser leg and be blindfolded.” Well… yes, actually. Parts of the initiation ceremony do involve this. It’s symbolic — representing a state of darkness before receiving light (knowledge). It feels strange at the time. Afterwards, you understand why it’s done that way. Every Freemason has been through the same experience. That shared vulnerability is part of what bonds members together.

“Women can’t be Freemasons.” Women can’t join UGLE lodges, that’s true. But there are two well-established women’s Masonic orders in England: the Order of Women Freemasons (OWF) and the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (HFAF). They work the same rituals and degrees. UGLE formally recognises them as regular Masonic bodies, though the two don’t share lodge meetings.

What You Actually Get Out of It

Nobody joins Freemasonry for the networking. Or they shouldn’t. If you’re after business contacts, join a chamber of commerce. It’ll be cheaper and you won’t have to memorise ritual.

What you do get is harder to quantify but more valuable.

Friendship. Real, tested, lasting friendship. The kind that forms when you’ve spent years working alongside people toward a shared purpose. My closest friends are men I met in lodge.

Charity. Not just writing cheques (though there’s plenty of that). Hands-on work. Visiting members in hospital. Supporting widows. Raising money for local causes. English Freemasonry donated over £51 million to charity in 2022 alone.

Personal development. Learning to speak in public. Memorising and delivering ritual. Chairing meetings. Managing a lodge’s finances. Taking on responsibility. The progressive offices in a lodge — from Junior Steward up to Worshipful Master — are a genuine leadership development programme, though nobody would ever call it that.

Self-reflection. The rituals aren’t just performance. They’re designed to make you think about how you live your life. What does it mean to act on the square? To meet on the level? These aren’t idle metaphors if you take them seriously.

Belonging. This is the one nobody talks about but everyone feels. In a world that’s increasingly fragmented and isolated, walking into a room where people are genuinely glad to see you — where you have a place, a role, a purpose — that matters. More than I expected it to when I first knocked on the door.

Ready to Find Out More?

If anything in this guide has sparked your curiosity, the next step is simple. Visit the United Grand Lodge of England website and use their lodge finder. Or search for your local Provincial Grand Lodge. Most run open days, social events, and information evenings specifically for people who are curious but not yet sure.

You don’t need to know a Freemason to start the conversation. You just need to ask.

And if you’re wondering about the biscuits — it’s usually custard creams. But that, genuinely, varies by lodge.

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