‘What profane person is knocking on the temple gate?’ In this case, a woman of good name who wishes to take a look around in the world of freemasonry. Members have a special password that opens doors. In this exceptional case, the doors open for Cursor without a password. Upon entering, we see a hall with a black and white-patterned floor, benches to the side, an altar in the back and stars on the ceiling. The all-seeing eye above the altar stares at us. “You could think of it as your own moral compass to judge your actions with,” freemason Chris Franken says. He mentions this possible meaning for a specific reason, but more about that later.

Eindhoven as a masonic city

Franken belongs to the Den Bosch lodge, which holds its temple activities in Eindhoven. The city of light seems to be fertile ground for freemasonry: apart from a few cities in the west of the country, the Potgieterstraat has the highest number of lodges. Many of its members work or study at TU/e, Franken estimates. “That goes way back, when Eindhoven was a Philips city.” It is often said about Freemasonry that there are many influential people among its members. Is that true? “I believe that we are a cross-section of society, meaning more non-influential people than influential people. The average age is a bit higher though.” Freemasons meet once or twice every week, depending on which lodge they belong to. “But freemasonry isn’t something you can switch off,” Franken says. “It also plays a role in how I work and how I interact with other people.”

The secret

Franken, Built Environment alumnus, has been working as an architect for years and is a member of the De Gezellen van Sint Jan lodge, which he used to chair as master. He realizes that freemasonry is surrounded by an air of mysticism and secrecy. “What exactly is that secret? Every freemason asks himself that very same question… It could be that the secret lies deep within oneself,” Franken asks himself out loud. “You might find the secret if you’re willing to look for it there.” It’s not without reason that an apprentice’s first assignment is to Know Thyself. You don’t just become a freemason. The organization doesn’t recruit people, you need to approach a lodge yourself and ‘knock’ on the door. But that doesn’t automatically make you a member either: “First, we hold several meetings to see if it’s right for you. Are you open to other people’s opinions, or do you believe that your opinion is the only one that matters?”

Lier is 33 years old, which makes him something of a minority. He was initiated as the age of 25 while still a student, which came with some advantages, he believes. “I had more time back then to do this during the evenings. And I learned many things that I could then apply in my studies, such as how to debate in such a way that you really compare arguments. You need to listen very carefully for that to find out what the differences and similarities are, instead of coming up with a counterargument as quickly as you can.”

Initiation

The freemason initation ritual bears some resemblance to how students are initiated when they join an association: you don’t know beforehand what will happen. But that’s where the similarities end. “There’s no excessive drinking involved, and nothing inappropriate or awkward occurs,” Franken says. “You need to undergo the initiation ritual and experience it, without wanting to know in advance what it entails. Just have faith and be amazed by it all. But people who are really curious will no doubt find some information online somewhere.” An initiation ritual raises the question whether people can also leave freemasonry. “Sure, you’re free to do what you want,” Franken says, “but it doesn’t happen very often.”

Origins in stonemasonry

Franken: “Freemasonry is practically the oldest society in the world and it likely evolved from the guilds of stonemasons. That’s where the terms ‘apprentice,’ ‘journeyman’ and ‘master’ come from. And there are more similarities. Stonemasons worked on buildings and tried to perfect cathedrals, for example, and freemasons try to become a perfect version of themselves. In both cases, that can take a lifetime. That’s also why freemasonry uses the symbol of the rough stone that you make smooth so that there’s a place for it in the temple, or in society, where anyone can find a place. The square and the compass in the logo are important architect’s tools.”

Drinks afterwards

Is freemasonry elitist? “No, definitely not,” Lier says. “Every male is welcome to join and it costs as much as a tennis club membership. Our members come from all walks of life, people in high places at Philips, students, journalists, tattoo artists. What matters is that you’re interested in what happens. And that you’re willing to invest, that’s the only way to get something out of it.”

Phielix: “Freemasonry is a reflection of society, in various ways. You feel a connection with certain people, and there are people you don’t get along with all that well. But we’re all brothers and we need to support each other.” In his lodge, members range in age from 35 to 84, but the lectures given by members are very topical. “We talk about the impact of AI on society, for example, and whether it poses a threat.” But freemasons don’t always discuss such profound and meaningful topics. And somehow the comparison between a sports association always comes popping up again. Because freemasons too like their drinks afterwards. What football players refer to as the ’third half,’ freemasons refer to as the seventh degree. A nice glass of wine after comparing ideas.

Freemasons are also connected by special pieces of clothing. Franken: “We wear white gloves to keep our work free from all impurity. You get two pairs, one for yourself and one for someone you trust and are allowed to share everything with. For many people, that’s their partner. We also wear an apron, which denotes the important numbers four and three. It looks like a closed envelope. A square. The four corners can represent the four earthly elements: earth, water, air and fire. Or the four cardinal virtues. The three points of the ‘envelope’ represent the spiritual: the sacred trinity, faith, hope and love.”

No satanic rituals

Freemasons have often been accused of performing satanic rituals and of worshipping the devil since it is said that they use skulls and coffins during their initiation rituals. Is that true, and why is this the case? “Skulls can symbolize letting go of one’s ego, as in death. Letting go of your ego is one of the most difficult things a person can do, and here too duality comes into play. You want to carry out your work to the best of your abilities, fed by your ego, but it can also be a pitfall.”

Phielix believes that misconceptions about freemasonry “come from the use of archaic language in older texts about rituals. When you don’t put that in context, you’ll draw the wrong conclusions. Add to that the symbols and the temple, et cetera. That gives it an air of mysticism. And since freemasonry is a society of initiation, there’s always a greater risk that people start to believe strange stories. Why is it, for example, the freemasonry is banned in Russia and Cuba? Because we help people become independent thinkers. Unfree countries aren’t happy about that.”

Phielix makes no secret a being a freemason, as is evident from the fact that he agreed to this interview. “That’s important to me, precisely because I want to do away with that secrecy.” However, members need to take an oath never to divulge to the outside world what takes place behind closed doors. But what happens when some confesses to a criminal offence, such as fraud? “We wouldn’t share that either, he should do that himself. We would urge him to confess, and try to convince him. But you made a promise when you became a freemason. That’s the basic principle of trust. If I break that rule, I break every rule.”

Grades system

The lodge located on the Potgieterstraat has seven freemason lodges (five men’s lodges, one mixed lodge and one women’s lodge) that all meet on a different evening. Upon entering, we see a floor that resembles the floor of a friendly canteen. This is where the brothers share their meal during every meeting. The staircase in this spacious terraced house leads to the temple, which is where the rituals take place and where members present lectures about topics of their own choosing. The temple resembles King Solomons temple. “That temple was never completed, so the story tells us, and that’s how we look at our efforts to work on ourselves: it’s never finished.” But when you’re a continuous work in progress, why is it that there’s a highest grade one can strive for? “That’s a good question. You never stop learning, naturally. Learning is where knowing hasn’t begun yet. Everyone remains a student, a journeyman and a master. Apart from those three degrees, there are many follow-up paths as we say, each with their own ritual. There’s no hierarchy between degrees. They are paths that offer us new views or insights.”

No women

Franken: “What I like about freemasonry is that it’s about who you are, not what you are, as is the case with Rotary or the Round Table. We seldomly discuss a person’s profession. You are who you are and you can’t be anyone else” But why aren’t women allowed to join? “To start with a nuance: there are women’s lodges (Orde van Weefsters) and mixed lodges (Le Doit Humain and De Caleidoscoop), but it’s true that historically freemasonry is a fraternal organization. The men within that fraternity hold different views about the tenability of that principle. When we’re among ourselves as brothers, I feel the possibility of a certain vulnerability that we can share with one another, and that brings you a bit closer to yourself.”

Sins

Franken: “There aren’t many sins in freemasonry, but this is an important one: telling a brother what he should believe.” This is why Franken is careful when it comes to making any statements about what freemasonry is and what it is not. He doesn’t want to determine that for someone else. “We prefer deliberation over dialogue. We like to talk about and then identify our differences of opinion. There’s added value to this act of comparing differences. It’s not about rebutting anything, that’s not what we do. No matter how great the differences between people are, we always work on something we share.”

Saying that someone else is a freemason is also not done. Why the secrecy about other people’s membership? Franken: “You decide to share things only about yourself, and you allow the other person to make that decision for himself. That air of secrecy surrounding freemasonry often leads to misunderstandings. When people are unfamiliar with something, they come up with their own ideas. We try not to be judgmental. People can sometimes feel threatened when they know that someone is a freemason, because they don’t know what it means. That’s a shame, because there’s a sense of wonder in what we don’t know.”

Always remain amazed

Freemasonry has enriched Lier’s life. “I’m more conscious of who I am, and of the fact that we need to make the world a better place together. This isn’t new to me, but because you work on it – in my case every Monday evening – it starts to come alive. I don’t mean to say that this is the right path for everyone, just one of several paths you can travel. Be amazed, here or somewhere else. There’s more than enough time in this life to find out what works for you and what works for your development.”

“To me, freemasonry is a resting point,” Phielix says. “A moment to work on myself in this hectic world we live in. That, I feel, is the essence.” Phielix founded the lodge De Vier Jaargetijden. He is a master. His lodge also applies the blue degrees, just like Lier’s lodge, the highest of which is that of master. Still, that’s not particularly important to him: “We all remain apprentices, you never stop learning. It’s important to find out what the truth is, and that search is never over. Look at the universe, the more we know, the more we realize how little we know.”