Prospective Members

What does Craft Freemasonry have to offer?

Standing on the precipice of their initiation, candidates should be completely unaware of everything Freemasonry has to offer them. The journey they are about to embark upon is full of many trials but also contains countless benefits. Here we will address some of these benefits, actual and perceived, and show why Freemasonry is still relevant in today’s modern world. 

Perceived Benefits

Freemasons Rule the World

Freemasons ruling the world is quite a funny perceived benefit in a variety of ways. Firstly, as a candidate, you would ask yourself that if Freemasons truly do rule the world, why am I allowed to join? Would this be a benefit to the candidate or simply an easy means of subjugation? While this could be a perceived benefit to candidate, they must realise, even if they believe this statement, that this would be a detrimental for them. Freemasons do not rule the world. A simple proof of this is most lodges can not even operate contactless payment, let alone control all the world banks.

You can be successful by becoming a Freemason

Another perceived benefit is that Freemasonry will make you successful. The reality is only the individual can make themselves successful. We are reminded of social media influencers telling young people how they can become rich. Sadly, if it was that possible, everyone would have done it by now. The new candidate should hope for success but also not believe this will just happen simply by joining Freemasonry as Freemasonry has no means to make this happen.

Actual Benefits

Fraternity

The word Fraternity will likely conjure imagery of American movies and TV shows to the modern reader. Brushing that aside, Freemasonry is a global fraternal organisation of not just friends but like-minded friends. Once initiated, the candidate can travel far and wide knowing that Freemasonry reaches all comers of the globe and, no mater which path they take, they will have friends to be there with them. As we journey though life, we can struggle to connect with new people. Freemasonry closes any division as each person has common ground with another and will be instantly able to recognise a kinship with them.

Making ‘good men better’

One big tag lines of Freemasonry is that it makes ‘good men better.’ What this really means is that Freemasonry is a path of self-improvement. It can be argued that most of the world’s population looks for a path of self-improvement through wealth, the body, or the mind, to mention a few. Freemasonry provides a great means of self-improvement in developing the mind through knowledge and morals. This will be a great benefit for the modern candidate as we need only to open a social media application to see young men a drawn towards figures touting self-improvement. The main difference between these social media influencers and Freemasonry is that Freemasonry is not trying to sell to, or con, these young men.

Mind

We have already touched on the fact that Freemasonry can improve the mind, but it cannot be highlighted enough that, through Freemasonry, a modern candidate is taught lessons in structure and memory. Through the rituals to come, a candidate can build their own mind palace and establish ways to improve memory. Without the focus of Freemasonry, it would be difficult for a modern individual to continue to develop the mind without repeated guidance and lessons from their peers. As we continue to age without Freemasonry, skills will be lost and the mind less developed. With Freemasonry, however, we always have a structure and a means to keep the mind and memory working while also constantly accessing the vast knowledge a Freemason will gain over their lifetime.

Charity

With the pressures and rush of today, one can argue that the modern man would not think much on charity. They may donate to causes in times of great strife or to those in need in their daily life, but with Freemasonry candidate will be given a means to not only donate what one can, but to donate something more important, time. Being a charitable organisation, Freemasonry will benefit candidates by allowing them a social means of volunteering helping with worthy charitable causes. 

By examining the real and some perceived benefits Freemasonry has to offer to new candidates, we hope that some information has been given that will help new candidates consider continuing their path into Freemasonry. As previously mentioned, these are but a few and Freemasonry has countless benefits to offer all who join for the rest of their lives.