Why Lineage is Important to Freemasons

Lineage establishes important legitimacy for Freemason lodges and there are plenty of fake masons out there.  We call them clandestine masons and many of them do not even know they are not real Freemasons.  A real freemason earns the right to travel and visit other real freemason lodges. A Clandestine mason may not even know that he is not a real mason and their leaders typically tell their members that they shouldn’t visit other lodges.

So let’s start with the structure of Freemasonry and the steps to becoming a real Freemason.

Lineage is what separates real masons from fake (clandestine) Freemasons. Click on the image to enlarge.

1. A man requests a petition from a member of a lodge. (Freemasons will never ask you to become a Mason, you must ask us. And yes, this we realize this is a quirky peculiarity for many.)
2. Once he requests and is given a petition by someone who can vouch for his character, there’s a process that is best described as administrative.
3. Lodges in the United States typically start with names like The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin.  Prince Hall Lodges operate under their own charters.and under their own Grand Lodges. There are some peculiar differences such as PHA (legitimate) and PHO (Clandestine).

For a list of bogus masonry, visit the Phylaxis website.

Before submitting a petition, you should be careful to choose a Grand Lodge that is legitimate.  Unfortunately there are plenty of scam groups out there that want to play masonry without having any direct connection. Think of legitimate masonry as a genealogical heritage and legacy. While you don’t need to have any connection to being a mason in order to become a mason, the lodge you are interested does have a responsibility to be connected to one of the original Grand Lodges.

The 4 Original Grand Lodges are

• Grand Lodge of Scotland
• Grand Lodge of Ireland
• English Ancients
• English Moderns

The English Ancients and English Moderns eventually merged to form the United Grand Lodge of England, casually referred to as the UGLE.

Masonic lodges must be able to show direct lineage from one of the four original grand lodges In order to be considered legitimate.  Simply knowing a handshake, a few “secrets” or even the ritual doesn’t make a man a legitimate mason.  The reality is that you can find most of that stuff online and if you are considering becoming a mason, you shouldn’t ruin the end of the story. It’s a bit like going to an academy award winning film but looking up the ending before going into the theater.

A word about Clandestine Lodges:

1. There’s a few commonalities that clandestine lodges have.
2. They’re costly
3. They’ll often have monthly dues, frequent raffles and countless fundraisers
4. They don’t encourage travel to other lodges
5. Most clandestine lodges in the United States
6. Some have a hazing protocol that can leave its initiates bruised and beaten (Masons don’t do that.).

Click here for the Full size image of Masonic Genealogy in the United States