Quote: (10-29-2011 09:08 PM)FretDancer Wrote:
Some people watch too much Sci Fi.
Smitty, what kind of annual dues are those you mention?
By the way, how does a brotherhood with 33 degrees differ from one with only 3 degrees as you mention?
FretDancer, dues vary by lodge (there are hundreds if not thousands of lodges in the U.S. alone). You can expect an initiation fee of about $100-200 and annual dues around $100 depending on where you live. It's more expensive at my lodge.
Freemasonry has three degrees, 3rd being highest and 'final.' But there are several other 'branches' of freemasonry - Scottish Rite, Shriners, York Rite, etc. A 33rd degree Mason is actually a member of the Scottish Rite. I can't tell you what it takes to get to the 33rd degree because I'm not a member of that fraternity. The important point is that the three degrees of Masonry (discussed above) are the foundation for every other type (scottish rite, etc).
A Freemason is a member of a "Blue lodge" - that is your mother lodge to which you pay your dues and belong. You can switch lodges if you move, or you can be a member to more than one lodge (and pay dues to each one). Masons will typically try to stay a member of their mother lodge forever, even if they move, but you get nothing out of it if you aren't at least joining a lodge in your new location. There are lodges everywhere, including the Philippines (the filipinos are getting into Masonry a lot here in the states). Anywhere you travel, you can just show up and "sit" in lodge as a visitor. That lodge will typically test you to make sure you're a Mason, or check with your mother lodge, but once cleared, you can show up, eat with them, talk, and participate in their lodge. Anywhere around the world.