Why Secrecy?
by Roger M. Firestone, 33 KCCH
rfire@jtan.com
http://mastermason.com/rfire
Freemasonry
is usually referred to by outsiders as a secret society. We have generally
objected to this characterization, claiming that we are not members of a secret
society, but rather of a society with secrets. We allow our members to wear
insignia, do not conceal the location of our lodge buildings, hold public
cornerstone laying, and welcome new members from men
of good character who have but to ask to join. Webster's dictionary would agree
with the general public, however, defining the term "secret society"
as any of various oath-bound societies having a secret ritual and so on. The
Craft certainly fits this definition.
Matters
of definition aside, the characterization of Freemasonry by its secrets has
caused difficulties for the fraternity for quite some time. During some periods
of history, the keeping of secrets was considered to be evidence of plotting
against the regime or the established Church. Recent events in
Well,
why do Masons keep secrets? It is not enough to say that we have traditionally
always done so, or that we are obliged to do so. These answers simply push the
question further back into Masonic history. The maintenance of secrecy is one
of the first duties to which a man who becomes a Mason agrees. After the
Symbolic Degrees, the first degree conferred in the Scottish Rite, Secret
Master, and the last, Master of the Royal Secret, both indicate by their names
that secrecy is a vital part of the Rite. A matter deemed so important by those
who created the Masonic ritual is definitely worth further examination by all
of us.
To
be sure, we are perhaps under some kind of delusion if we think that the ritual
secrets of Freemasonry are truly secret. More than one false brother has chosen
to reveal the entire contents of the Masonic ritual to the public. Although
such exposes were more common and certainly more sensational during the earlier
part of Masonic history, complete plain text copies of our work are available
today in shops in many large cities. There is nothing to prevent any of the
profane from purchasing such a volume and learning the entire contents of the
ritual, even the grips, signs, and words. Masonic jewelry is readily purchased.
Only the use of a dues card ensures that we will not sit in lodge with
counterfeits, while we must rely on general honesty of the population not to be
imposed upon in the street by strangers wearing the appropriate pin. These
days, curiosity about Masonry is at a low ebb, and
there does not seem to be much market for such illicit material. (This may, of
course, be related to the current membership problem, but that is a different
topic altogether!)
If,
as was once remarked, the secret of Freemasonry is that there are no secrets to
Freemasonry, a dues card seems like a flimsy distinction between the initiated
and the profane. When the entire ritual can be obtained from a book, there must
be something else that distinguishes Freemasons from the rest of the world and
that justifies the emphasis made on secrecy within the Craft. There are several
parts to the answer.
Perhaps
the most obvious difference is the nature of the experience. Becoming a Master
Mason is a process that requires effort on the part of the candidate. He must
seek out our institution, have a petition signed, provide an initiation fee,
appear at the proper times for the degrees, and commit the appropriate
information to memory. Someone who merely reads the ritual is, on the other
hand, totally passive.
A
psychological experiment in imprinting, the process whereby young animals come
to recognize their mother by following her, is informative: An experimental
group of infant animals was treated with a muscle relaxant before the
imprinting process, while a control group was given a sham treatment. Normal
imprinting took place for the control group. However, the experimental animals
failed to become imprinted on their mother. The muscle relaxant had prevented
the young animals from exerting much effort to follow their mother about.
Without effort, there is no learning. Since the purpose of the Masonic degrees
is to impart useful knowledge, the result of this experiment suggests that the
initiate who puts effort into joining the Fraternity is far more likely to
derive value from the experience than one who only peruses the ritual in a
book.
Another
major reason why secrecy is advocated for the knowledge imparted by Freemasonry
is to impart the lesson that our teachings are valuable. We leave many
inexpensive items lying carelessly about our homes and offices, whereas truly
valuable items are kept locked in safe deposit boxes or other repositories, or
are carried with us at all times. In Poe's story, "The Purloined
Letter," many hiding places are searched for the letter; having been left
in plain view, it is overlooked as worthless. Since knowledge, per se, cannot
be locked up physically, keeping it secret is the method used to restrict its
circulation and ownership. If the teachings of Freemasonry were made available
to anyone as a matter of routine, it would indicate to both members and outsiders
that we attach only a modest value to them. Instead, we have spent centuries of
effort keeping the truths of Masonry secret and passing them down the
generations by memory. This should convince us that what we have labored so
hard to possess is valuable indeed.
We
should also recognize that secrecy is an integral characteristic of individuals
and groups. Within each of our families we have information that is ours
privately and is not the business of outsiders. The breadwinner's salary,
children's problems at school, the happy experiences of courtship, the contents
of one's last will--all these are things we naturally choose to keep within the
bosom of the family and would not care to have made public. In the same way, we
as Masons refer to ourselves by the family term of "brothers," and
thus the secrets of Masons in Masonry are our right to keep to ourselves as
members of the Masonic family. For outsiders to demand that we give up our
secrets, no less any other of our ancient practices, is as much an invasion of
privacy as would be demanding a videotape of one's wedding night. One of the
more horrifying aspects of the world depicted in Orwell's 1984 is the total
lack of privacy. The Masonic fraternity has too much experience with
totalitarianism in recent years to view such demands and presumptions as
benign. They may well be feared as a first step towards the ultimate
suppression of Masonry, as has happened too often in the past.
A
further motivation for the keeping of secrets is that it promotes a form of
mental self-discipline. There is a natural urge to share what we know with
others. Gossiping and idle conversation consume more hours than perhaps any
other human pastime. This tendency is rooted in the evolutionary origin of the
human race, where the ability for one individual to share its experiences with
the other members of the community conferred a significant survival advantage
over non-communicating lower animals. Humans that did not share information
with their fellows experienced negative selection pressure, in the words of the
evolutionary biologist.
Later,
as society developed, the selective ability to refrain from communicating
acquired importance. We all know someone who cannot keep a secret,
and such a person usually does not merit our trust in other matters, either.
Keeping the secrets of a brother Master Mason or of the Fraternity as a whole
teaches us responsibility for the property of others and shows that we merit
the trust and confidence of our brothers and fellows. The various Masonic
penalties, although symbolic, should remind us of the seriousness of our
undertakings and reinforce in us the mental toughness to carry them out.
Masonic
secrecy is thus seen to be no mere idle device, such as those secrets with
which children may twit their playmates. Rather, it serves numerous purposes,
both to unite the Craft and benefit the individual member. We gain from secrecy
a sense of the value of what we have come to Masonry to learn, we learn the
lessons better for the way in which we learn them, and we develop worthwhile
mental resources from the discipline of keeping the details of Freemasonry
private. When next we are challenged by an outsider on the
"old-fashioned" nature of belonging to a secret society, there is no
need to make excuses for it. Masonic secrecy is not merely an ancient
tradition, it is a vital characteristic of our fraternity that we should
cherish and protect. No less than the democratic tradition of the secret
ballot, we should be prepared to defend our right and duty to keep secret that
which is uniquely ours as our Masonic legacy to those who will follow us.
This
article originally appeared in The
Scottish Rite Journal, which is published by the Supreme Council,
33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
for the Southern Jurisdiction of the