Freemasons?

[KRUSTYMAN]

May be an odd question but, and I have no axe to grind - just curious, do Freemasons accept women or do they have a seperate 'branch' for women? TIA

[another-view]

No women in the Freemasons.

[craft1948]

where would you find a woman willing to wear a pinny nowadays?........

[jake-the-peg]

No another-view of course not

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NsPXoFt__bU/RvD99Fk_ A5I/AAAAAAAAAB8/0x9ABD6w-sk/s320/Co-Masons.jpg

[another-view]

A freemason agrees in their obligation they have sworn not to be present at the making of a woman a Mason. This is, as stated by their Grand Lodge, one of the 'Landmarks of Freemasonry' and is deemed unchangeable.

In fact, no "mainstream" Lodge/Grand Lodge of Masons accepts women as members or will recognize (acknowledge) any lodge which does.

So that picture of your gran's school photo has no bearing on this.

[jake-the-peg]

OK I'm being mischievious

There are a couple of lodges that accept them but they are not recognised.


http://beaconofmasoniclight.blogspot.com/2007/ 09/are-there-women-masons.html


There is a similar organisation called the order of the Eastern Star which is open to men and women

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_East ern_Star

And likewise the Order of Amarinth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Amar anth

A few women were Freemasons in the Early days of the movement such as elizabeth Aldworth

[patsyann]

For your information, I have been a Freemason for 20 years and although we do not have Ladies in our Lodges.Lady Freemasons do have their own Lodges and very good they are . In recent years they have been able to use the temples of the male lodges whereas before they had to meet in halls etc. If you check on any google site you will get a great deal of information about them.They also are a world wide organisation..(Patsyann's Husband)

[Ankou]

The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (HFAF) is a fraternity for women and organised by women.

http://www.hfaf.org/

[R1Geezer]

There seems to be so many masons about but just you try and get some masonry done! they all seem to disapear!

[another-view]

Although ladies can setup their own lodges, they are not Freemasons. It would be like me and my friends setting up a gang calling ourselves The Girl Guides. We are girl guides only in our own eyes and would have no affiliation with the proper organisation.

[tamborine]

fallacy - there not free; bleedin' costly for headstones.

[jake-the-peg]

It would be almost as silly as a bunch of people abitarilly claiming descent from the builders of the temple of Solomon!

[Ankou]

of the ones i've met they should be called incarceratedmasons.

[cezarek]

Depends what country. In the US there are very few and a certain amount of hostility. in mainland Europe many more in both mixed and ladies' lodges, in the UK many ladies lodges and some mixed. Those lodges have no formal links with male lodges but informally sometimes borrow the lodge rooms and socialise.