WHY SECRECY?
by
Roger M. Firestone, 32 KCCH
Freemasonry is usually referred to by outsiders as a secret
society. We have generally objected to this characterization, claiming that we
are not members of a secret society, but rather of a society with secrets. We
allow our members to wear insignia, do not conceal the location of our lodge
buildings, hold public cornerstone laying, and welcome new members from men of
good character who have but to ask to join. Webster's dictionary would agree
with the general public, however, defining the term "secret society" as any of
various oath-bound societies having a secret ritual and so on. The Craft
certainly fits this definition.
Matters of definition aside, the characterization of Freemasonry
by its secrets has caused difficulties for the fraternity for quite some time.
During some periods of history, the keeping of secrets was considered to be
evidence of plotting against the regime or the established Church. Recent events
in Italy, concerning a secret, so-called "Masonic lodge" known as Propaganda Due
and its involvement with highly placed government officials, indicate that this
was not always a far-fetched assumption. Nowadays, with matters once reserved
for the bedroom to be found on television every evening and most government
bodies subject to "sunshine" laws, the keeping of secrets by a social group
seems anachronistic, if not downright suspicious. Many of us have been asked,
"If there's nothing wrong with it, why do you keep it secret?"
Well, why do Masons keep secrets? It is not enough to say that
we have traditionally always done so, or that we are obliged to do so. These
answers simply push the question further back into Masonic history. The
maintenance of secrecy is one of the first duties to which a man who becomes a
Mason agrees. After the Symbolic Degrees, the first degree conferred in the
Scottish Rite, Secret Master, and the last, Master of the Royal Secret, both
indicate by their names that secrecy is a vital part of the Rite. A matter
deemed so important by those who created the Masonic ritual is definitely worth
further examination by all of us.
To be sure, we are perhaps under some kind of delusion if we
think that the ritual secrets of Freemasonry are truly secret. More than one
false brother has chosen to reveal the entire contents of the Masonic ritual to
the public. Although such exposes were more common and certainly more
sensational during the earlier part of Masonic history, complete plain text
copies of our work are available today in shops in many large cities. There is
nothing to prevent any of the profane from purchasing such a volume and learning
the entire contents of the ritual, even the grips, signs, and words. Masonic
jewelry is readily purchased. Only the use of a dues card ensures that we will
not sit in lodge with counterfeits, while we must rely on general honesty of the
population not to be imposed upon in the street by strangers wearing the
appropriate pin. These days, curiosity about Masonry is at a low ebb, and there
does not seem to be much market for such illicit material. (This may, of course,
be related to the current membership problem, but that is a different topic
altogether!)
If, as was once remarked, the secret of Freemasonry is that
there are no secrets to Freemasonry, a dues card seems like a flimsy distinction
between the initiated and the profane. When the entire ritual can be obtained
from a book, there must be something else that distinguishes Freemasons from the
rest of the world and that justifies the emphasis made on secrecy within the
Craft. There are several parts to the answer.
Perhaps the most obvious difference is the nature of the
experience. Becoming a Master Mason is a process that requires effort on the
part of the candidate. He must seek out our institution, have a petition signed,
provide an initiation fee, appear at the proper times for the degrees, and
commit the appropriate information to memory. Someone who merely reads the
ritual is, on the other hand, totally passive.
A psychological experiment in imprinting, the process whereby
young animals come to recognize their mother by following her, is informative:
An experimental group of infant animals was treated with a muscle relaxant
before the imprinting process, while a control group was given a sham treatment.
Normal imprinting took place for the control group. However, the experimental
animals failed to become imprinted on their mother. The muscle relaxant had
prevented the young animals from exerting much effort to follow their mother
about. Without effort, there is no learning. Since the purpose of the Masonic
degrees is to impart useful knowledge, the result of this experiment suggests
that the initiate who puts effort into joining the Fraternity is far more likely
to derive value from the experience than one who only peruses the ritual in a
book.
Another major reason why secrecy is advocated for the knowledge
imparted by Freemasonry is to impart the lesson that our teachings are valuable.
We leave many inexpensive items lying carelessly about our homes and offices,
whereas truly valuable items are kept locked in safe deposit boxes or other
repositories, or are carried with us at all times. In Poe's story, "The
Purloined Letter," many hiding places are searched for the letter; having been
left in plain view, it is overlooked as worthless. Since knowledge, per se,
cannot be locked up physically, keeping it secret is the method used to restrict
its circulation and ownership. If the teachings of Freemasonry were made
available to anyone as a matter of routine, it would indicate to both members
and outsiders that we attach only a modest value to them. Instead, we have spent
centuries of effort keeping the truths of Masonry secret and passing them down
the generations by memory. This should convince us that what we have labored so
hard to possess is valuable indeed.
We should also recognize that secrecy is an integral
characteristic of individuals and groups. Within each of our families we have
information that is ours privately and is not the business of outsiders. The
breadwinner's salary, children's problems at school, the happy experiences of
courtship, the contents of one's last will--all these are things we naturally
choose to keep within the bosom of the family and would not care to have made
public. In the same way, we as Masons refer to ourselves by the family term of
"brothers," and thus the secrets of Masons in Masonry are our right to keep to
ourselves as members of the Masonic family. For outsiders to demand that we give
up our secrets, no less any other of our ancient practices, is as much an
invasion of privacy as would be demanding a videotape of one's wedding night.
One of the more horrifying aspects of the world depicted in Orwell's 1984 is the
total lack of privacy. The Masonic fraternity has too much experience with
totalitarianism in recent years to view such demands and presumptions as benign.
They may well be feared as a first step towards the ultimate suppression of
Masonry, as has happened too often in the past.
A further motivation for the keeping of secrets is that it
promotes a form of mental self-discipline. There is a natural urge to share what
we know with others. Gossiping and idle conversation consume more hours than
perhaps any other human pastime. This tendency is rooted in the evolutionary
origin of the human race, where the ability for one individual to share its
experiences with the other members of the community conferred a significant
survival advantage over non-communicating lower animals. Humans that did not
share information with their fellows experienced negative selection pressure, in
the words of the evolutionary biologist.
Later, as society developed, the selective ability to refrain
from communicating acquired importance. We all know someone who cannot keep a
secret, and such a person usually does not merit our trust in other matters,
either. Keeping the secrets of a brother Master Mason or of the Fraternity as a
whole teaches us responsibility for the property of others and shows that we
merit the trust and confidence of our brothers and fellows. The various Masonic
penalties, although symbolic, should remind us of the seriousness of our
undertakings and reinforce in us the mental toughness to carry them out.
Masonic secrecy is thus seen to be no mere idle device, such as
those secrets with which children may twit their playmates. Rather, it serves
numerous purposes, both to unite the Craft and benefit the individual member. We
gain from secrecy a sense of the value of what we have come to Masonry to learn,
we learn the lessons better for the way in which we learn them, and we develop
worthwhile mental resources from the discipline of keeping the details of
Freemasonry private. When next we are challenged by an outsider on the
"old-fashioned" nature of belonging to a secret society, there is no need to
make excuses for it. Masonic secrecy is not merely an ancient tradition, it is a
vital characteristic of our fraternity that we should cherish and protect. No
less than the democratic tradition of the secret ballot, we should be prepared
to defend our right and duty to keep secret that which is uniquely ours as our
Masonic legacy to those who will follow us.
This article originally appeared in The Scottish Rite
Journal, which is published by the Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the
United States.
back to top |
