Copyright 2021 Geoff Hadaway. All rights reserved.
SOUTH SHIELDS FREEMASONS'
FREEMASONS' HALL
Ingham Street, South Shields, NE33 2DQ
Reproduced by kind permission from the
Province of Nottinghamshire website
3. Does the notion of "Secrecy" feature in Masonic ceremonies?
As a legacy of centuries-old ceremonial terminology, yes it does. By today's standards, this terminology is probably far too extreme. Nevertheless, words associated with "secrecy" remain in our ceremonies by tradition. By default, they happen to serve as a timely reminder that, today, privacy is a rare commodity valued by everyone - and something we should always respect in our daily lives.
These days, a better interpretation of "secrecy" in Freemasonry would indeed be "privacy" - to protect from premature disclosure, the strictly sequential process of learning and self-discovery that comprises the great Masonic journey.
Even Masons themselves cannot divulge elements of the story to junior members until the latter have advanced to the relevant "degree" of knowledge. The privacy of the unfolding story is vitally important and fundamental to the success and joy of Freemasonry for all of its participants.
Thus we regard as private many details of our ceremonies and rituals. Having said that, it is very easy to obtain a book of Emulation Ritual - ISBN 0 85318 209 4. It provides a very good outline of what we do and how but which omits some detail.
