# How do I become a freemason? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218 "2024-11-13T21:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/21 "2024-11-13T22:12:07Z")
Ah, if they only existed, I would love to. The books were funny. At least as I remember them, it’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/22 "2024-11-13T22:15:55Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Ah, if they only existed, I would love to They _did_ exist, but only for nine years almost 250 years ago. And besides being too late for them, do you really want to join a _Bavarian_ political organisation? 😉 > **[Illuminati](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati)** > > The Illuminati (/əˌluːmɪˈnɑːti/; plural of Latin illuminatus, 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 May 1776 in the Electorate of Bavaria. The society's stated goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power by monarchs. "The order of the day", they wrote in their general statut... ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/23 "2024-11-13T22:20:50Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The society’s stated goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power. Well, I could look past the Bavarian part if need be. And Bamberg is in Bavaria: good beer! Pity about the accent they speak though. It can verge in incomprehensible. ETA: Of course Bambergers would strongly object to being called Bavarians. They are Franken (Franconians). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/24 "2024-11-13T22:27:59Z")
AFAIK the Illuminati were founded and based in Ingolstadt, in “real” Bavaria. I don’t know how good their beer is, but I’ve heard their cars are the shit. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/25 "2024-11-13T22:32:49Z")
I hear you! In Latin: _Audi_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/26 "2024-11-13T22:36:40Z")
Horch, horch! 😉 > **[Horch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horch)** > > Horch (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German pronunciation: \[hɔʁç\] ⓘ) was a German car manufacturer, which traced its roots to several companies founded in the very late 19th and early 20th century by August Horch. > It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Akt... ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/27 "2024-11-13T22:38:50Z")
🤣 Now this thread is getting silly! Serves me right. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/28 "2024-11-13T22:44:10Z")
I’m sorry (not really) to contribute to the silliness, but I’ve always thought that being a member of a so-called secret society, with ridiculous initiation and other rituals, just to bond in another men’s club, was silly anyway. The Simpsons (of course) had a good episode about it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QoSLiHKrzRU/hqdefault.jpg "We Do (The Stonecutters' Song)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoSLiHKrzRU) ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/29 "2024-11-13T23:00:12Z")
I was a mason for a few years when I was younger. Very similar to the Rotary club, but a lot sillier. When you are initiated, there is a particular ceremony, which involves dressing in a funny costume. Apparently sensing that I was nervous about the whole affair, the old Mason that was handing the ceremony discretely told me, “don’t worry, the goat feels just like a woman.” I was five steps out the door before they started laughing and told me to come back. Most of the meetings were spent talking, usually talking about other meetings, other members, other chapters, etc. I found it not to be worth my time after a while and just stopped attending. They called to encourage me to come back for a few meetings, but that was that. I see you are no longer interested, but they don’t make joining too hard. In the US, there is a website and they run tv commercials trying to get people to join. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/30 "2024-11-13T23:11:10Z")
We Freemasons aren’t allowed to recruit. We are supposed to gain members simply by possible new members’ attraction to the way we comport ourselves in daily life. To become a Mason, one must ask a Mason. Hence the “To Be One, Ask One.” We spell it out in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/31 "2024-11-13T23:11:44Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > We Freemasons aren’t allowed to recruit. We are supposed to gain members simply by possible new members’ attraction to the way we comport ourselves in daily life. To become a Mason, one must ask a Mason. Hence the “To Be One, Ask One.” Thank you for the clarification! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/32 "2024-11-13T23:13:41Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The Simpsons (of course) had a good episode about it: I was all set to answer “be the son of a Mason, or save the life of a Mason.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/33 "2024-11-13T23:18:00Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > We Freemasons aren’t allowed to recruit. We are supposed to gain members simply by possible new members’ attraction to the way we comport ourselves in daily life. To become a Mason, one must ask a Mason. Hence the “To Be One, Ask One.” We spell it out in Georgia. And how does that work if the other person doesn’t know you’re a mason? I’ve met many people I admired in my life, but it never occurred to me to ask them “I like your style and your ways, Are you by chance a mason? Can I join?”. So you must tell them before of your membership, maybe with some information about the organisation, which would count as recruiting in my book. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/34 "2024-11-13T23:26:37Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > OK, there goes another of my plans down the drain. The thread is solved: I no longer want to join them. The religious stuff makes me suspect they are not about structural engineering at all. If they were really based on masonry, rather than “masonry” as a religious metaphor, what’s with (in modern times, at least) the blatant sexism and supreme being stuff? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/35 "2024-11-13T23:29:32Z")
I had an uncle who was a Mason when I was a kid. He was dumb as a box of rocks, and since that was my only personal contact with the organization, I thought he was typical. Didn’t impress me much. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/36 "2024-11-13T23:34:11Z")
Do you have a second hand apron? My dad was a Mason, and a mason contractor which confused me for years. My mom belonged to the Eastern Star, the ladies’ auxiliary of the Masons. Neither were active in their lodges, but I do have my grandpa’s Mason ring. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/37 "2024-11-13T23:35:09Z")
For women, there is the [Order of the Eastern Star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Eastern_Star). Does Europe have anything analogous to the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, or the Fraternal Order of Eagles? > **[Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed for February 25, 1982 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1982/02/25)** > > February 25, 1982 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/38 "2024-11-13T23:39:08Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Does Europe have anything analogous to the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, or the Fraternal Order of Eagles? I can’t speak for whole Europe, only for Germany, but I’ve never heard about it. I know that we have Freemason’s lodges, but I don’t know about any other. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/39 "2024-11-13T23:39:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The Simpsons (of course) had a good episode about it: “Who holds back the electric car?” They seem to be falling down on the job. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218/40 "2024-11-13T23:40:16Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > “Who holds back the electric car?” > > They seem to be falling down on the job. Hey, that episode was from thirty years ago, I think they did a good job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-freemason/1010218.md?page=3)