Freemasons open their doors to attract members, dispel rumors

3/30/09Steve Sitman is tired of hearing the rumors about Freemasons.

"Never once have I met a horned demon," he said with a laugh. "And if we're ruining the world, I haven't seen it yet."

Sitman, a Masonic ambassador and junior steward, was one of several lodge representatives on hand Saturday for Square Compass Day at Boston's Grand Lodge at 186 Tremont St. All 233 Masonic lodges across the state opened their doors to the public in an attempt to attract new membership- and perhaps put some preconceived notions to rest.

The open house included public tours of the Massachusetts Masons' historic headquarters, presentations from colonial re-enactors, and freely available applications to the men in attendance.

"We want to give the public a better idea of what we do," Robert Huke, the director of communications and development for the Grand Lodge, said. "Maybe dispel some notions about Masonry, or maybe affirm some positive ones."

Freemasonry, Huke said, was established in London in 1717 as a fraternity based on the central concepts of brotherly love, relief for the poor, and truth. The famous symbols from actual stonemasonry-- the compass, the square, and the level-- serve as metaphors for how members should live balanced, peaceful lives.

Huke said that tradition is today carried on through public service initiatives like the famous Shriners Hospitals for Children and community learning centers throughout the country. The Masons' website claims that members donate $2m each day to charitable organizations worldwide.

But the group's reliance on secrecy has given rise to centuries of rumors about alleged illegal and supernatural activity. A quick Google search reveals some of the more elaborate tales about the Masons' purported connections to the occult, the United States government, or even a new world order. But Huke said that all the stories are wild misinterpretations of Masonic privacy.

"People are hung up on the fact that we keep things from the public," Huke said. "But we don't hide who we are."

Huke said the only secrets the Masons keep are ones that members must learn for themselves, including identifying handshakes and the group's initiation practices. Telling the public and prospective members about these secrets, Huke said, would be like "spoiling a movie."

"You only go through initiation once," he said. "We want it to be special."

The open houses are just part of a Masons marketing initiative that now includes television commercials and an eight-minute promotional video distributed to all of Saturday's visitors. Sitwell said a larger media presence is necessary for a group that, for centuries, had a formalized invitation-only recruitment system.

"We realized that we were using medieval techniques in the modern day," Sitwell said.

Huke said that since 2005, the open houses have contributed to an uptick in membership. Changes in the public's perception of Freemasonry remains to be seen, but Sitwell said their new openness can't hurt.

"If we don't put out information, people will say we worship Satan," he said.