Follow up question.
I attended some events with my old roommate...I didn't really see them getting into intellectual or philosophical discussions much beyond grain prices or tractor repair.
Now, this is not an insult to Masonry; these are good people who do good things. Around here, it seems like Masonic lodges are more of a social club/charity organization than anything else. Does the intellectual and philosophical stuff just happen behind closed doors, or what?
No, you're absolutely right in your impressions. It's important to bear in mind three things, though.
First, you're right in thinking that "the intellectual and philosophical stuff happens behind closed doors".
Second, Freemasonry is extremely generational. As I mentioned, the main reasons for men becoming Freemasons in the US have changed drastically and often over the past 270 years of it being practiced here. Of the 2 million or so Masons in the US today, most are over 60 years old. Most of them got into it because of the desire for the social interaction they knew in WWII or Korea, or because they thought it would advance their career or community standing. Very few joined for the intellectual or philosophical reasons I mentioned, because very few knew it even offered such things. So, the vast majority of Masons alive today know or care very little (if at all) about those things. However, of those who are under say, 50 years old, many are indeed interested in those things; it may be what brought them to it in the first place. In general, the younger a Mason is today and the more recently he's gotten into it, the more likely he is to have joined for those reasons.
And third, Freemasonry is like a pyramid. The vast majority of what most people see as "Freemasonry" is really "Blue Lodge" Freemasonry. That's the first three degrees -- Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master. However, Freemasonry extends
far beyond that. The two main "appendant bodies" are the Scottish Rite (which, confusingly, is actually more French than Scottish in background), and the York Rite (which the British call the "American Rite"!) These are systems of teaching more esoteric aspects of Freemasonry. Any Master Mason can choose to go into either or both system and spend the rest of their lives learning far more than will be taught in Blue Lodges.
And that's nowhere near the end of it. The Scottish Rite, for example, has degrees from 4th through 32nd that can be learned and earned. Each degree uses a different historic myth -- usually acted out by actors and then studied, memorized, discussed, etc. -- to teach an important moral truth. In the past, and still in some countries, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year to progress from one degree to the next. In some jurisdictions today, it can be done in a weekend. For those people, there are also active study groups that one can join and discuss each degree at length (usually once a month), so one is able to get more out of it.
After getting to the 32nd Degree, one can choose to go into Shrine or any one of a number of other Side Orders and affiliated bodies (there are dozens of them). If one has gone through the York Rite system, one can become a Knight Templar (although that group has explicitly Christian symbology that may not be for everyone), or other groups as well. Only maybe 5% of Masons will go through either system.
After a member has held the 32nd Degree for at least 4 years, the particular Scottish Rite body to which one belongs can choose to honor one by making one a "Knight Commander of the Court of Honor". After at least another 4 years of being an active participant, they can choose to award the 33rd Degree. (These last two are totally honorary and cannot be "earned".) And even then, there are levels and honors that one can be given, such as the Grand Cross of the Court of Honor, a very rare honor. Looked at as a pyramid with Blue Lodges on the bottom, for every maybe 20 Master Masons, there might be 1 who goes into the Scottish or York Rite. For maybe every 10 of them, there might be 1 who is given the KCCH. For every 10 KCCH, there might be 1 who is given the 33rd Degree. For perhaps every 50 33rd Degree Masons, there might be 1 who is given the GCCH (these are rough estimates, off the top of my head).
There are also "Research Lodges", many of which are very active and publish both original research being done by their members, and re-publish important (and often obscure) older research.
Furthermore, there is a small (but rapidly growing) group of "Blue Lodges" that are called "Traditional Observance" (or "TO") Lodges which have sprung up in the last decade. These place a strong emphasis on formality and very well-done ritual work, and most require each Mason to do original research and present their papers in front of the Lodge. TO lodges are intensely intellectual, philosophical and esoteric, and their members tend to be under 40.
And that brings me to the statement that I made which precipitated the pissing match with "LightInDarkness" -- the existence of invitational groups that are only open to Masons, and are not openly known about. There are
indeed such groups, but they keep their existence dark. If they think that a Mason might be a good member, they'll tap them, but otherwise, a Mason will never hear of their existence. Most of these groups seem to be centered around a specific theme or field of interest. This is where the most in-depth philosophical, intellectual and esoteric stuff goes on. LiD didn't like the sound of that, for whatever reason (elitist? spooky? jealous?) and insisted I must be wrong. Well, I speak from personal experience. I'm not wrong.
Anyway, that's where the intellectual and philosophical stuff goes on. Not much of it in Blue Lodges (other than TO Lodges), but lots of it in the higher degrees, Research Lodges, reading groups, invitational groups and so forth.
, we're generally pretty good-natured.
No offense intended.