Freemasonry or simply Masonry includes various fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Freemasonry is the oldest fraternity in the world and among the oldest continued organizations in history.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the Droit Humain, it is a concordant body and oversees all degrees from the 1st to 33rd degrees, while in other areas, a Supreme Council oversees the 4th to 33rd degrees.
The history of Freemasonry encompasses the origins, evolution and defining events of the fraternal organisation known as Freemasonry. It covers three phases. Firstly, the emergence of organised lodges of operative masons during the Middle Ages, then the admission of lay members as "accepted" or "speculative" masons, and finally the evolution of purely speculative lodges, and the emergence of Grand Lodges to govern them. The watershed in this process is generally taken to be the formation of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717. The two difficulties facing historians are the paucity of written material, even down to the 19th century, and the misinformation generated by masons and non-masons alike from the earliest years.
The Swedish Rite is a variation or Rite of Freemasonry that is common in Scandinavian countries and to a limited extent in Germany. It is different from other branches of Freemasonry in that, rather than having the three self-contained foundation degrees and seemingly-endless side degrees and appendant bodies, it has an integrated system with ten degrees. It is also different in that, rather than moving through the offices or 'chairs', progress in the Swedish Rite is based on moving through the ten degrees. A fundamental difference is the Swedish Rite's position on religious affiliation: Anglo/American 'Regular' Masonry requires a belief in any theistic religion and Continental 'Liberal' Masonry does not require belief in any religion, whereas Swedish Masonry is specifically Christian, and requires a Christian trinitarian belief in all its members. Nonetheless, the main Swedish Rite constitutions are all recognised as regular by the United Grand Lodge of England, and stand in full amity.
The relationship between Mormonism and Freemasonry began early in the life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith's older brother, Hyrum, and possibly his father, Joseph, Sr. were Freemasons while the family lived near Palmyra, New York. In the late 1820s, the western New York region was swept with anti-Masonic fervor.
The International Order of Freemasonry Le Droit Humain is a global Masonic Order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity.
The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple, the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, officially The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdictions Thereunto Belonging, sometimes referred to as Freemasons of Pennsylvania, is the premier masonic organization in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Grand Lodge claims to be the oldest in the United States, and the third-oldest in the world after England and Ireland, having been originally established as the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1731. This claim is disputed by both the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
This is a general survey on the historical and modern presence of Freemasonry in countries located in Asia.
In Craft Freemasonry, sometimes known as Blue Lodge Freemasonry, every Masonic lodge elects or appoints Masonic lodge officers to execute the necessary functions of the lodge's life and work. The precise list of such offices may vary between the jurisdictions of different Grand Lodges, although certain factors are common to all, and others are usual in most.
The Grand Lodge of New York, officially the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York, is the largest and oldest of several organizations of Freemasons that are based in the U.S. state of New York. The offices of the Grand Lodge are located at Masonic Hall in New York City.
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of the Commonwealth of Virginia, commonly known as "Grand Lodge of Virginia", is the oldest, continuous, independent masonic grand lodge in the United States with 25,000 members in over 276 lodges. Both the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts dispute this claim, each claiming to be the oldest Grand Lodge in the United States. A Pennsylvania Grand Lodge was probably working as early as 1727, or slightly before the one that was next formed in Massachusetts, circa-1730. However, both of those older grand lodges did not last, and both bodies had to be re-formed later in the eighteenth-century. The Grand Lodge of Virginia was constituted on 30 October 1778, with its first headquarters in Williamsburg, Virginia. The grand lodge relocated its offices to Richmond, Virginia, in 1784, where it remains to this day.
The Grand Lodge of Ohio, formally known as the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio, is the governing body of the largest group of Masonic lodges in Ohio. The Grand Lodge of Ohio follows the Anglo-American tradition of Freemasonry that is common in the United States. In 2023, the Grand Lodge reported a total membership of 75,000 Master Masons.
Freemasonry in Scotland in lodges chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland comprises the Scottish Masonic Constitution as regular Masonic jurisdiction for the majority of freemasons in Scotland. There are also lodges operating under the Scottish Masonic Constitution in countries outside of Scotland. Many of these are countries linked to Scotland and the United Kingdom through the Commonwealth of Nations and prior colonies and other settlements of the British Empire although there are several lodges in countries such as Lebanon, Belgium, Chile and Peru, which do not have such connections.
The Grand Lodge of New Zealand (NZGL) is the governing body for the freemasons within New Zealand under that constitution. Its full name is "The Grand Lodge of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of New Zealand". The Grand Lodge of New Zealand was constituted on 30 April 1890, however Freemasonry operated in New Zealand since at least 1837 under the older English, Irish, and Scottish constitutions.
The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free And Accepted Masons of New Mexico is the oldest and largest of the two regular Masonic Grand Lodges in the State of New Mexico. It was founded on August 7, 1877, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Operative Masonry or The Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers or simply The Operatives is a fraternal guild claiming a history of hundreds of years over which customs, traditions, knowledge and practices were developed and handed down. It is an invitation only, Masonic society dedicated to preserving the history, rituals, and traditions of medieval operative stonemasons guilds in England and Europe that were the precursors to modern speculative Freemasonry.
Zion Lodge No. 1 of Free and Accepted Masons, commonly known as Zion No. 1, is a Masonic lodge, or Blue Lodge, that confers the three degrees of Freemasonry, specifically: Entered Apprentice (EA), Fellowcraft (FC), and Master Mason (MM).
Three dots (∴) also known as "tripunctual abbreviation" or "triple dot" is a symbol used all over the world in Freemasonry for abbreviations, signatures, and symbolic representation. The dots are typically arranged in a triangular pattern and carry multiple layers of meaning within Masonic tradition. The (∴) is used only for Masonic abbreviations, any non-masonic abbreviations must be written with a simple dot, as an example a date on a Masonic document could be written 6024 A∴L∴/2024 A.D.
![1812: Official document bearing the signature of the Grand Secretary of the Louisiana Grand Lodge, marked with the traditional three dots in triangle ([?]), a Masonic symbol. GLOL-SIGNATURE.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/GLOL-SIGNATURE.jpg/220px-GLOL-SIGNATURE.jpg)
![M[?]W[?]Grand Lodge of F[?] and A[?] Masons of the State of Louisiana, at its Fifty-fifth Annual Communication, held at New Orleans, February 11, 1867. Using the three dots. Proceedings1867.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Proceedings1867.jpg/220px-Proceedings1867.jpg)
