Open house at the Freemasons

JULIE MIDDLETON peeps inside the secret lodges of the Freemasons and finds unusual practices - and dwindling rolls.

New Zealand Freemasonry, a men-only organisation long criticised for its secrecy, has opened the doors of its lodges this month in an effort to dispel rumours about what goes on behind them.

Newspaper advertisements have invited people to visit one of the country's 297 lodges, or meeting places. Television cameras have recorded the pillars, symbolic tools and black-and-white tiled floors common to every Freemasons' lodge.

The point of the exercise is to bridge the gap between Freemasons and the communities which benefit from their charity, says Laurence Milton, the grand secretary (chief executive) of Freemasons New Zealand.

"We wanted to say Freemasons are just the guy next door."

The organisation is private, not secret, he adds, pointing out the internet has exposed the details of masonic rituals.

Although Mr Milton says the open month is "definitely not a membership drive", Freemasonry in New Zealand is greying rapidly.

There are 12,900 members, down from a high of 47,137 in 1963. The average age of members is 64, with about 41 per cent over 70. Lodges are rapidly amalgamating or closing.

This risks jeopardising influential charity work. Freemasonry - or "the craft" to its members - has $19 million invested in its Fund of Benevolence. Up to $3 million is given annually to finance projects ranging from tertiary education scholarships to medical research.

Aged-care homes and medical trusts are valued at $150 million. The Grand Lodge deposit scheme, run by the National Bank and used by Freemasons and their families, holds $259 million.

Revamping Freemasonry in New Zealand has already involved structural and cultural changes. It's no longer "junior men, bring a plate". It's more likely to be a catered three-course dinner.

But Freemasonry's tenets remain the same, says Mr Milton: fraternal love, which encompasses tolerance, respect and kindness; philanthropy and moral living. It stresses reflection and self-growth through ritual.

"Freemasonry," he says, "strives to make good men better."

And it comes after families and jobs, he says.

At meetings, which can occur as infrequently as four times a year, overt networking is discouraged and political discussion banned.

So are religious topics but members must believe in some sort of supreme being. It's this flexible definition of God which so enrages Christian groups. Christian doctrine asserts there is only one God, says Mark Vrankovich, director of Christian group Cultwatch.

However, many Christians have not found Freemasonry incompatible with their faith, the most high-profile of them being the late Dean of Auckland, John Rymer.

"We want people who have got some faith in the sense of spirituality," says Mr Milton. "We are tolerant of how they do that."

Freemasonry's exact origins are unknown, but it is accepted it descended from English Middle Age stonemasons, whose peripatetic church and castle-building members lived on site in lodges.

The masons used ritual to teach. Lodges also developed subtle ways of identifying insiders and their skill levels - hence the often-derided secret handshakes - and moralised on their tools, such as the square and compass that appear on all masonic buildings.

By the 17th century, stonemasonry was in decline but the masons' moral teachings were attracting outsiders from all over Europe - and speculation that secrecy concealed conspiracy and Satanic practices.

Suspicion lingered, to the extent that the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2001 that Freemasonry was neither secret, criminal nor illegal, and that in job decisions it was illegal to discriminate against Freemasons.

New Zealand's early Freemasons held their first meetings in 1842. Then as now, members advances through various levels, called degrees.

Freemasonry "does contain a lot of symbolism and allegory, which is where our lessons come from", says Mr Milton. If Freemasons refuse to discuss the details of their most private rituals, he says, it's only to protect the power of the experience for initiates.Freemasonry's recent openness does not extend to letting the Herald view a ritual. Although Mr Milton would be breaking his masonic oath to offer description, he does confirm - reluctantly - scenarios put to him.

So let's take the first ritual that candidates experience. About 40 minutes long, it usually takes place several months after joining, and confers the title "entered apprentice".

His shirt is unbuttoned to reveal the right shoulder and breast; in symbolic terms, proving he is male. A trouser leg is rolled up to symbolise humility.

He is blindfolded: "It's symbolic of people without knowledge," says Mr Milton. A rope is placed around his neck: "That's a symbol that you are in the bondage of ignorance."

A compass point is pressed to the bare chest, but does not pierce: "If you do things wrong in life you should be aware that your conscience will be pricked," says Mr Milton.

The ritual itself appears long-winded, involves a large cast and includes formal explanation of the symbolism in what has just happened.

"Some people will find it archaic and old-fashioned," admits Mr Milton. "But people who want to look into the symbolism of the ritual find a lot of value in it. I enjoy the ritual."

One who relishes the drama is NBR Opera New Zealand artistic director Donald Trott, who joined four months ago.

"I was very impressed by my initiation. I felt elated afterwards, because of the style of the ceremony and the dignity."

Was he nervous? "Not at all."

Massey University historian Peter Lineham, who is not a mason, says this sense of history, coupled with the trust built during ceremonies, cements solidarity.

"Being initiated must be extremely unnerving - you're blindfolded. It's a kind of trauma - but out of trauma comes trust."

People with ritual roles receive affirmation they have a place: "People want to belong."

The Herald was able to attend the last 15 minutes of a meeting which had involved a ritual.

Our escort into the Liberal Arts Lodge room at the Ellerslie Masonic Centre in Auckland was Byron Lumsden, 23 years a mason.

A tyler, or doorman, he stands outside meetings, wielding a sword. He knocked to get the attention of his counterpart on the other side, who identified us by dramatically snapping open a hatch in the wall.

This man thrust a drawn sword briefly across the threshold before we were allowed to cross into a room lined with about 40 mostly greying Pakeha men, all wearing suits and decorative builder's-type aprons, spotless white gloves, and sashes around their necks.

What followed seemed to be a cross between service club business, the Scouts and enthusiastically-performed amateur theatrics, complete with prompts for those who forgot the script.

The courtly language belonged to another era. There was a distinct hierarchy and ways of communicating; men addressed each other with titles such as "brother", "worshipful brother", and "senior warden".

One read out apologies. Another described the menu for the "festive board" - the catered, sit-down meal which was to follow. Visitors from out-of-town gave formal greetings, their right hands across their hearts as they spoke.

At the Liberal Arts lodge, the meeting finished with the men holding hands in a circle and singing to organ accompaniment.Cultish? Occult? Satanic? No. Dramatic and eye-catching? Yes. A bit silly? Possibly - to an outsider.

But it appears that the men got great pleasure out of it. They showed no sign of embarrassment at the outsiders' presence, and were genuinely warm and friendly once formalities were over.

The meal afterwards was punctuated by more ceremony - masons' toasts, for example, include draining a solidly-made shot glass and thumping it three times, very hard, on the table. A string quartet from the Auckland Youth Orchestra, a charity recipient, played. It was a genial evening.

But is it enough to attract more young faces? Mr Milton says some are joining, but admits past secretiveness has worked against the Freemasons.

Meeting and greeting

* High-profile New Zealand Freemasons include:

* Auckland mayor John Banks.

* Athletic great Arthur Lydiard.

* Former Olympic team manager Joe McManemin.

* The late All Blacks Kel Tremain and Ron Jarden.

* Political leaders George Grey, Lord Freyberg, Richard John Seddon and William Massey.

Internationally, Freemasons' ranks included:

* British war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

* American President George Washington.

* Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

* Actor Clark Gable.