A rare opportunity to see the inside of a lodge room and find out the facts about Freemasonry

Goliath Lodge no.5595 will be hosting an open evening at Freemasons Hall, Great Queen Street, Covent Garden on 20 November 2019. After a short formal lodge meeting, for Masons only, the lodge room will be opened to our Ladies and other non-Masonic visitors, while the Masons remain in their full regalia. After a brief introduction to the lodge and its officers, memory expert and Masonic historian Martin Faulks will present his talk Why Do Freemasons Learn Ritual? We will then dine together at the Grand Connaught Rooms next door. Everyone is welcome!

Freemasonry is the largest Fraternity in the history of mankind. The practitioners of Freemasonry are known for their knowledge of ceremonies and their charitable endeavours, but what’s the connection between these two activities? In a time when modern technology has all but eliminated the need to remember anything, why is it that millions of men all over the world dedicate their time to being able to recall verbatim over three hours of ancient teachings? Come and see the inside of a Masonic Lodge and meet the officers, after which memory expert and Masonic historian Martin Faulks will explain the mysterious origins of Masonic memory practice and its value in the modern day.

Freemasons Hall is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). The Library and Museum are open to the public, and there are free hourly tours, including a visit to the Grand Temple. You can find details here.

There are many myths surrounding Freemasonry. Perhaps the first is that it is a “secret society”. In fact, although English Freemasonry went largely underground during the Second World War, it is now very much an open organisation. We do not hide our membership, and well-publicised meetings have been held in recent years in the Royal Albert Hall. As mentioned above, much of Freemasons Hall is open to the public, and the UGLE website will tell you a great deal about Freemasonry.

Nowadays, the only official “secrets” are the signs and words by which one Freemason recognises another, and even these have been publicly exposed many times. By the way, we do not use these signs and words to get on in business – they are only used in the lodge! We are happy to talk about Freemasonry, and tell you – and show you – in general terms what goes in the lodge room, although we won’t explain the ceremonies in detail. This is because much of the beauty and impression of a ceremony would be lost on a candidate for initiation who knows exactly what to expect. This is one reason why lodge meetings are only open to members, but in fact that is common among many clubs and societies anyway. The initiation ceremonies, incidentally, do not involve any kind of ritual humiliation! They are dramas designed to teach moral and spiritual values.

Freemasonry is a charitable and social organisation. Lodges under the authority of UGLE are specifically banned from discussing religion or politics at meetings, and are open to men of any faith which professes a belief in a Supreme Being. Although UGLE lodges are for men only, there are other Masonic organisations in England which have ladies-only or mixed lodges.

If you would like to come on 20 November, the cost of the dinner is £47.50 per person. We will meet at 16.45 and the formal Lodge meeting will begin at 17.30.

To book please click here 

http://goliathlodge.org.uk/masonic-open-evening