The True History of Freemasonry

A Brief Look Back on the Most Legendary Fraternity in the World

(George Washington as the Alexandria Lodge’s Worshipful Master)

In the late 16th century, a number of charitable Christian confraternities emerged on the British Isles, some of which were stonemason guilds. The members of those groups were fine upstanding men, who took care of each other and their communities. Back then, the masons also began to use their trade, as an allegory for life, thereby sculpting their souls with symbols. They even used stonemason mauls to call their meetings to order. It all began in the year 1598, at Stirling Castle in Scotland, when King James ordered his advisor, William Shore, to organize all the stonemasons. He wanted them to repair all the buildings that had been damaged or destroyed in medieval wars. More importantly, this was all done in an effort to rebuild society as a whole. To try and make it happen, Shore became the Master of Works atop Castle Hill in the Stirling Sill. Then, he introduced two sets of statutes that would serve as standard regulations for the building trade. The first set came out that same year, with another the following year, making them the founding pieces of documentation for the Masons.

According to the oldest known lodge minute book in world history, in January of 1598, the very first recorded meeting of Masons took place at Aitchison’s Haven Lodge. It was an induction ceremony for a new member of the operative Masons, although little is known about what exactly happened that day. It’s more important to understand that this doesn’t date back to the ancient builders of Solomon’s Temple thousands of years ago, in spite of what certain narratives would have you believe. The truth is that the allegory of Hiram Abiff is a mystery play. It’s not history. Similarly, Freemasons didn’t build the Tower of Babel. Along with that, the Masons didn’t grow out of the Knights Templar Crusaders, as some have claimed. Also, Jesus was not a stonemason, or a Mason. Finally, Adam certainly wasn’t the first Freemason on Earth. The fact is that there is nothing that would indicate that the Masons emerged in any other time or place than that of Scotland in the Middle Ages, especially not in Biblical times.

More importantly, the stonemasons came together to protect trade secrets not to take over the world, and they called that specific set…