'Secret' society opens its doors to public (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

'Secret' society opens its doors to public

FREEMASONS in Cirencester are joining forces with colleagues across the country in a campaign to throw off the image of secrecy and funny handshakes.

The town's Masonic Hall is throwing its doors open to the public this weekend in an attempt to dispel the myth of bizarre rituals and secret ceremonies.

Adrian Moore, spokesman for Freemasons in Gloucestershire, said: "Quite honestly we're fed up to the teeth, as normal men with normal families and normal jobs, of continually being accused, mainly by the national media, of being a bunch of weirdos always looking after ourselves."

The hall is one of eight in the county which is opening to visitors as part of Freemasonry in the Community week, a campaign designed to raise public awareness of the society.

There will be guided tours of the hall, situated near the entrance to St Michael's Park in the Avenue, and visitors will be able to question members about what they do.

Videos about freemasonry will be shown and there will be displays of masonic regalia.

The hall also has internet facilities so visitors can view masonic sites from branches across the world.

Freemasons in Gloucestershire raised nearly £35,000 for charities in the county last year through individual donations and fundraising, while their national fund awarded around £1-million to good causes across the UK.

The Cirencester branch regularly gives money to the Cotswold Care Hospice in Minchinhampton and Macmillan Cancer Relief.

Around 250 masons make up three lodges in Cirencester - the Cotteswold, which is just over 150 years old, the Earl Bathurst, founded by the Honourable William Bathurst in 1946, and the Royal Agricultural College, which first met in 1960.

The guiding principles of freemasonry are brotherly love, truth and charity, and although its origins are uncertain it probably developed from Medieval stonemasons' guilds.

Peter Eaton, a 53-year-old geologist who runs his own business in Birdlip, has been a member of the Earl Bathurst lodge for 11 years, and led it as Worshipful Master for 12-months.

"Being a mason is really about a philosophy for life," he said.

"It's teachings are very moralistic and there is a religious element as you have to express a belief in a Supreme Being, although that does not have to be God."

Peter believes the Masons have become more transparent in the last decade, but while he welcomes this spirit of openness, he still thinks the organisation should retain some secrets.

"I do not see why there should be such a philosophy of secrecy as we've got nothing to hide," he said.

"But don't ask me to tell you anything about our ceremonies.

"On the one hand you can go into several bookshops in London and buy a complete guide to our rituals, but I couldn't disclose what they are."

As far as the handshake is concerned, Peter said: "Yes, we do have a handshake, and I use it more often than not, although if you weren't a mason you wouldn't be any the wiser."

And Peter vehemently denied that freemasons are only interested in looking after themselves.

"I can't think of one instance in the running of my business when being a mason has resulted in preferential treatment or underhand dealing," he said.

Cirencester's Masonic Hall is open on Saturday, June 29 between 10.30am and 4pm.