WHAT IS MASONRY?
"Masonry is an art, useful and extensive, which includes in its scope every single useful knowledge and teaching. It seals, with an indelible mark of superiority, its genuine teachers, which neither luck, nor power, nor wealth can bestow ", William Preston
Freemasonry or Freemasonry is a global Brotherhood. Although the modern institution is an evolution of the Professional Construction Guilds of the Middle Ages, it has its roots in older traditions of human civilization that gave birth to free human thought in the search for Knowledge and Truth.
Its modern form is a global progressive, philosophical and charitable institution.
"Truth is experienced, not taught", Herman Hesse
As an institution it derives from the Right Word leaving to each of its members the Freedom of personal beliefs and Thought and therefore "It has nothing to do with Religion" - but recognizes as a fundamental principle the immortality of the soul and the existence of a supreme being and respects the personal religious choices of its members.
It aims at the moral and spiritual improvement of its members, promoting self-knowledge, research, solidarity, mutual respect and the application of moral principles, through symbols and allegories. It studies the ancient and modern traditions and philosophical directions of Man, without setting limits in the search for Truth. It is essentially a "way of life", which sets stable standards of life and social action in an evolving world, striving through the different entity of each member, with fruitful dialogue and cooperation, to achieve harmony and the best result for human society and human culture.