What can you tell me about the Masons, i.e., politics, bylaws, who belongs, etc? I have always assumed they were one of those semisilly men’s associations like the Elks or the Odd Fellows, but occasionally you hear rumors of something more sinister.
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The origins of Freemasonry are obscure. The best guess is that it’s an outgrowth of medieval stonemasons’ guilds that began after the mid-1500s. As construction of Gothic cathedrals ceased and the number of real (or “operative”) masons began to dwindle, some of the guilds began to accept nonmasons, often members of the upper classes. These men, called “accepted” masons, enjoyed the ritual and secrecy that in the Middle Ages had been necessary to transmit the skills of the craft and prevent outsiders from horning in. Eventually there were no operative masons at all and Masonry became a kind of fraternity, retaining such trappings of stonemasonry as the apron worn at formal functions and the familiar compass-and-square symbol.
Over the years an incredibly long-winded Masonic ritual has grown up, full of cornball references to Knights of the Brazen Serpent and the like. There are also “secret” signs and handgrips, which initiates are never supposed to reveal lest they suffer a fate worse than death. (In reality, books on Masonic rituals can be found in many public libraries.) In shaking hands, for example, a Master Mason will press his thumb between the other guy’s second and third knuckles.
