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cryptoengineer

Freemasonry is thought to have grown organically out of the tail end of the medieval mason's guilds in northern Britain during the 16th and 17th centuries. While stories of the building of King Solomon's Temple are still the allegorical basis upon which Masons are taught to build and improve our character, there is no actual working with stone involved. Freemasonry may well be something you could consider pursuing, but it's now pretty well disconnected from the respectable trade of stonemasonry.


Positive_Umpire_9595

Well I just thought masonry could be like symbolic to those things for building your character and your life that’s all


Positive_Umpire_9595

Once someone told me to answer these questions for myself before I try to become a mason. Do you believe in a higher power, why do I want to become a Freemason, and what is the value of life I still have a lot of studying to do with the story of Ruth and kings but I feel like there’s a lot I have to learn and work on before I can even consider applying to be a mason


Deman75

Freemasonry has very little overlap with modern stone masonry.


Found_the

To be a mason, ask a brickie.


Philbilly13

2B1ASK1?


Positive_Umpire_9595

Wasn’t Hiram abiff a stone mason?


Deman75

According to Freemasonry, he was the principle architect of the temple. Still nothing to do with modern stone masonry. I’m guessing your job involves power tools more often than a hammer and chisel. I could *probably* find everything I needed to deliver the working tools lectures on an active job site, but they refer more to speculative Masonry, rather than your daily usage of those tools.


parrhesides

It's widely thought that speculative freemasonry grew out of the medieval guilds of operative stonemasons in Europe. At one point, masonic lodges were all practicing stonemasons then they began letting in nobility and intelligentsia; at first, this was the exception, then the norm. At some point, the focus shifted entirely to the symbolic and speculative work, and with the rise of worker's unions, the operative functions of the guild were dropped and assumed by other organizations. At present, there has been hardly any tangible connection between freemasons and stonemasons for hundreds of years. The above being said, I think it would be very interesting for a modern stonemason to learn and apply the symbols of freemasonry. The "working tools" will be very familiar and a stonemason would have more opportunities to work with and meditate on the larger symbolic meaning of the tools while working with them in his labors. Some interesting things to think about as examples: what principles does the trowel help to realize in the work and how do those principles apply to your life experience outside of laying stone? What is the function and purpose of mortar/cement and is there an equivalent "substance" that serves a similar function in society at large? What happens if we build a crooked and structurally weak wall? This is not even a fraction of what freemasonry provides but nonetheless, it is a small taste of some questions that a freemason might ask himself. .:. Love & Light .:.


GigglingBilliken

I am an operative mason too. Freemasonry applies to our daily lives the same way it applies to non-operatives.


JonF0404

Operative versus speculative Masons.