After Montyand Fear Itself mentioned that some lodges do in fact have windows, I did an image search and it seems to me that a lot of the older lodges (e.g. in England) did have windows, and the ones without windows, which look like a concrete monolith, are the newer ones (mostly in the US, from what I can tell)
So, I don’t think it’s based on historical reasons.
Yes, but if you want to keep even your membership secret or you’ll be killed, it doesn’t make much sense to build a building with no windows. That would be an obvious give-away for people who want to find you and kill you.
This fits my observation above that the older lodges did in fact have windows, while the ones that don’t have windows seem to be the newer ones.
Basically, there are some masonic lodges and shriners lodges that are big windowless buildings (I used to live near one in Houston) and I always wondered why.
I understand that they have secrets they want to keep, but going windowless is a bit extreme. Many companies and organizations have secrets but I don’t see many other companies or organizations going so far as to have windowless buildings.
(maybe the NSA or CIA?)
It’s not uncommon for a lodge to meet in a room on the top floor of a building that has other uses (see The Lodge Room Over Simpkins Store) so many older lodges didn’t build their meeting place. Yet when a lodge has the means to build a dedicated building, they would naturally make it as windowless as local building codes allow. Sometimes the building will have windows but the meeting takes place in an inner and windowless room, sometimes the windows on the second floor are high/curtained/small/deep/frosted, but I’d be a little surprised to be able to see into any lodge room from outside.
There is no reason to include windows in the temple itself and many to exclude them. As every lodge is a representation of an ancient and (as far as we know) windowless room they should thus be the same.
Which secrets are you referring to with this example? Both of these societies put out books that give a fairly detailed description of what they’re about.
Because the ancient Googlemasons didn’t meet in secret nor hold ceremonies which they didn’t wish to share with the public. Christians invite random people to attend their ceremonies. Microsoft probably has a little ID badge to gain entrance to their sanctum sanctorum. I betcha most of those have at least one room that is not visible to the random Joe walking down the street, tho.
That’s one answer. If you don’t like the other answers and this one makes you feel complete, go with it.
Modern Googlemasons do have meetings where they discuss things they don’t wish to share with the public. Yet they have no windowless buildings (AFAIK).
Agreed, but again, I don’t think they go so far as to construct windowless buildings.
Why do the Masons feel the need to do so?
Do they feel their secrets are more “special” than other groups’ secrets, and to such a degree that windowless buildings are necessary?
Since you don’t like any of the answers thus far, I demand a cite that Masons do in fact feel the need to construct windowless buildings to a greater extent than any other group.
Enough nonsense! The lodge rooms with windows are in lodges that either were built for other purposes (such as stores) or those that share the building with other regular businesses. For example, the first lodge in Madison, Indiana met in the upstairs dining room of a tavern. Every mason knows how to operate shades and curtains.
There are very few real secrets about the masons’ ceremonies. Any bookstore can sell you a nearly complete set, except for the grip, sign, and password of each degree. You can walk into any lodge, and they’ll gladly show you a complete membership list, going back several generations.
However, tradition dictates that the Tiler (or Tyler) stands at the door to let in only masons to a meeting or ceremony. He’s to keep away cowans (those who don’t know the “mason’s arts”) and eavesdroppers. Some lodges hold outdoor lodge in the summertime, and they need some extra tilers for that. Lodge meetings were held in wartime, with improvised props and furniture. This was true in WW II, and back to the American Revolution. I suppose it happens today, but I don’t know for sure.
A disclaimer: I am no longer a mason. We parted friends, though.
The lodge I attend has windows.
For the record…
Masons arn’t a secret society, they are a society with secrets. Quite a difference.
However, like the previous poster said, there really are no more secrets anymore, or nothing you can’t find on the net or a book store.
Right, it just makes a lot of sense to hold your meetings in other buildings that naturally have few windows, (storage buildings or buildings with heavily curtained rooms ) Later on when people are no longer hunting you and your “brothers” down you might just carry on the tradition of “no outside eyes can see us” by constructing a lodge that has fewer visual access points.
I’m not sure why you are resistive to the thought of tradition being the cause of the windowless masonic building. The necessity of the secrecy in its origin has evolved into windowless buildings.
Why do people put up Christmas trees in their homes? The need to stay warm in the dead of winter got mixed in with religious beliefs so people burned a yule log. The tradition eventually evolved into the form of a Christmas tree. There is no longer a practical need or use for a Christmas tree yet it carries on as a tradition.
The Masons no longer need to hide yet, by tradition, they continue to keep their meetings secret.
