WINSTON Churchill was a member, as was Benjamin Franklin, General Douglas MacArthur, Henry Ford, Mel Blanc and Daniel Boone.
Thanks to books such as The Da Vinci Code, these days the word Freemason conjures images of mystery, secrecy, and sometimes even conspiracy.
According to literature, the Freemasons are the largest and oldest fraternity in the world boasting five million members worldwide, including the men in Scone.
Once a month on a Thursday night about thirty men dress in black dinner suits, don bow ties, pack their aprons and meet at the Masonic Hall to conduct business.
While Freemason Secretary Laurie Ring would not reveal exactly what goes on inside the meetings, he did agree to shed some light on the mysterious practices of this strictly male society.
“We wear the suits as a symbol of equality, it represents that all men are equal under God,” he said.
As for the apron, Mr Ring said it too was symbolic.
“The apron represents purity,” he said.
Literature on the society can be confusing as many books and websites give different descriptions of how the Freemasons actually evolved. Some say they descended from ancient Druids, while others link them to the Isis-Osiris cult in ancient Egypt.
Probably the most notorious association throughout history was with the infamous Knights Templar.
It is here the society begins to take on the colourful history often mentioned in conspiratorial books such as, The Da Vinci Code.
The Knights Templar were monks who took up arms in 1118 AD to protect Christian pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem.
The legend goes the Knights discovered the world’s greatest treasure buried within King Solomon’s Mines and became so rich they were soon the target of many an envious eye.
In 1307, King Phillip IV of France had the Knights imprisoned in order to steal their riches.
History has it, the Knights then went into hiding to continue their work in secret, only to later reemerge in Europe as today’s modern Freemasons.
By 1717 the modern society had developed four grand lodges which ruled over all other lodges around the world.
In 1723 a Scottish Freemason by the name of Dr James Anderson wrote the Constitution of the Freemasons. This represented the official bylaws and rituals of the society.
Some said the instructions had been passed down by God, and the Freemason rituals held the secrets to the universe.
However, while the Freemasons believed in a higher power they were quite liberal when it came to religion, a practice which drew negative attention from both the King and Catholic Church.
By 1738 Pope Clement XII had forbade Catholics from becoming Freemasons; the punishment for disobeying was death.
The next step for the Freemasons was to move their society to America, where once again they became involved in the shaping of history.
As the fledgling nation fought against British rule, it has been said the Freemasons took part in the infamous Boston Tea Party, dumping hundreds of crates of tea into the water off British vessels.
Whether this is fact or fiction is arguable, but there is no doubt members of the Freemasons were among those who later signed the Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution.
The society found its way to Australia in 1803, but Mr Ring said these days the agenda of the modern Freemasons is based soley on raising funds for local communities and friendship.
“It is about fellowship and charity. It’s a chance for men to get together and we usually send a fairly hefty amount of money down to the Grand Lodge that gets used for different charities,” he said.
These days, although intellectual conversation is encouraged at meetings, any mention of politics or religion is forbidden.
Meetings are structured with many members fulfilling a variety of roles such as Deacon, and Warden, as well as Master, Chaplain and Inner Guard.
Within today’s society there are many iconic symbols including the infamous square and compass surrounding the letter G.
The G represents God, the square encourages members to square their actions with all men, and the compass stands for creating boundaries in life.
For men in Scone, the meetings represent an opportunity to be part of an ancient fraternity steeped in history and tradition, where they can invoke secret handshakes, help their community and acknowledge the revolutionary heritage of their forefathers.
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