Lodge Leadership Tools - Hawthorne-Fortitude Masonic Lodge No ...

Masons in the News(Continued from page 18)A postulant mason, becoming an apprentice, rolls up his trouser leg to show he is indeed a free man, and thereare no signs on his leg of his ever having been shackled. After that, he progresses through 'Fellowcraft' beforetaking the third degree and becoming a master Mason.All this talk of trousers prompted me to ask why there were no women masons. I learned that there are indeedwomen Masons - but not in the mainstream order.One of the earliest recorded non-builder Masons was a well known Oxford name: Elias Ashmole, the man whogave the collection of curiosities forming the rudiments of the Ashmolean Museum to Oxford University. Hisdiary records his becoming a Mason in Lichfield in 1646. The UK's 350,000 masons in England have the Dukeof Kent as their grand master. They are required to believe in a Supreme Being, which means masonry is opento people of most faiths.As for masons in Oxford University, there is the passage in Cuthbert Bede's Verdant Green, a book about a19th-century undergraduate, published in 1857. It describes Mr. Green's sham initiation into the Order of CementedBricks: "I meant a mason with a petticut, a Freemason . . . there's a deal of mystery and very little usein it." Well, many, evidently do find use in it.The Masonic Dictionary has been designed to provide Freemasons with electronic access to information onFreemasonry from a variety of sources arranged alphabetically by subject matter. The purpose of the site isto assist Masons in understanding their fraternity and to provide those who would like to research the craftan opportunity to do so online.Most entries on this site will provide you with a definition of the term as well as a collection of articles froma variety of Masonic sources, most written prior to the Great Depression when Masons had a greater interestin Masonic research.http://www.masonicdictionary.com/19 ON THE WEB AT WWW.TWTMAG.COM 19