THE
SECRECY OF MASONRY
by Bro. Carl H. Claudy
The Master Mason - July-August 1924
IN the
ordinary sense of the word, Masonry is NOT a "secret"
society! Don't let anyone tell you it is. Secret
societies are societies which are secret ; that is, which do not
acknowledge their existence to the public, or in which men do
not acknowledge membership. Everyone knows of the Masonic
Fraternity; its members are proud to be known as Masons. There
is nothing secret about the membership list; anyone can
ascertain from Grand Lodge records and from printed lodge
reports who is and who is not a Mason. So there is nothing
secret about the organization. It possesses and imparts to its
members certain information which Masons are required to hold
sacred, and thus "secret" from the profane. It is a society
which possesses "secrets," but is not itself secret. The
secret organization may be, and often is, at least a potential
menace to society; at those times of the world's history when
secret societies have done great good, they were a menace to the
rotten social organization which brought them forth. In days
when the social organization is the best the world has seen, the
secret society menaces that which is good, even though its
members do not so intend. Thus, the anarchistic societies of the
old regime in Russia had only Russia's good at heart, yet their
deeds have made the word "anarchy" anathema to all good
citizens. "But why have any secrets at all? If you possess
knowledge of value and secrets of power, why not give them to
the world? Why make a mystery of them?" If we only could
give them to the world! Masonry wants to tell her knowledge; she
is anxious to bring to all men the message which she has. And so
fast as they are fitted for it, she does so. No good man and
true need be denied the blessings of Masonic knowledge; he need
but to ask to receive. But to give it to those who do not want
it, or those who are unfit to receive and use it, would be to
cheapen it, to make it of no effect, to injure its power for
good among others. The teacher of mathematics is willing
and anxious to tell the "secrets" of geometry to any student who
wishes to learn. But if a ten-year-old child begs for those
"secrets," is the instructor able to convey them? How may a
ten-year-old understand that the sum of the squares of the two
sides of a right angle triangle is equal to the square of the
hypothenuse ? Before he can comprehend, he must know common
arithmetic, and understand square and cube root! With the best
will in the world to tell, the teacher cannot, because the child
cannot understand. Masonry would like to spread her gentle
teachings before all men, but if a man have no love for his
fellows in his heart, if he possess not the charitable instinct
and the love of God, how shall she make him comprehend what she
knows and how she teaches? The "secrets," so called, of
Masonry are few in number and valuable only to her membership. A
few modes of recognition, a few solemn promises made by each of
us to all of us, a few ways of teaching knowledge which was old
when the pyramids were built, and you have encompassed most of
the Masonry that may not be told. True, the Order has elaborate
ceremonies of initiation, teaching, at times with costume and
scenic investiture, just as some churches use low lights,
incense, and beautiful music to aid in conveying the religious
lessons. The methods are kept from profane knowledge not that
their spreading before the world would harm Masonry, but would
undermine its power for good. Men are men the world over.
That which is hidden is sought; that which is forbidden is
desired; that which is secret is studied; that which is rare is
held valuable. We hunt for gold, not common rock; we scale the
high mountains and disdain the hill; one by one the scientists
dig out of the great unknown the secrets of nature, only to pass
to another when this one is found, Masonry, keeping her
teachings for those who seek them; Masonry making it difficult
to become of her elect; Masonry, holding herself apart and
unostentatious from the world, makes men desire her. What a man
desires, that will he have. When he finds that there is one and
only one road by which he may win from Masonry those teachings
she guards so well, that road will he take. He will be a good
man and true, and pay the price of study, application, patient
waiting, and don the bonds of fraternity to prove himself fit.
And, once he is fit, he becomes the material Masonry wants and
she gives him of herself with both hands! As a young Mason
you may be much distressed at finding in a book shop a so-called
"expose" of the secrets of Masonry, in which there is much that
is correct, even if more that is nonsense. But let not your
heart be troubled! You can go to any Masonic library and find
dozens of them! They have never done any harm, nor can they do
harm; and for just the reasons set forth above. Those who are
not fit to receive Masonic teachings are neither interested in
these so-called "revelations" nor able to understand them. Good
Masonic material will never waste time reading them; such want
Masonry at its source. Indeed, were it possible that a complete
stenographic report be made of any degree, and published in the
newspapers the next morning, few would read it, fewer would
understand it. For it would not be Masonry, but merely its husk,
its shell. The real secrets of Masonry are never told, not
even from mouth to ear. For the real secret of Masonry is spoken
to your heart, and from it to the heart of your brother. Never
the language made for tongue may speak it; it is uttered only in
the language of the eye, in those manifestations of that love
which a man has for his friend, which passeth all other loves,
even that of a woman. back to top
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