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The Freemasons

Freemasons, known popularly for their white aprons, arcane symbols and secret handshake, are members of the world's oldest fraternal organization. Despite its longevity, Freemasonry (sometimes known simply by the shortened Masons) has long been shrouded in mystery. To outside observers, the organization's rites and practices may seem cult-like, clannish and secretive — even sinister. Some of this stems from Freemasons' often deliberate reluctance to speak about the organization's rituals to outsiders, according to Time. But it is also partly the result of many popular movies and books, such as Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" (Doubleday, 2003), that have fostered misconceptions or depicted the order in an unflattering light. In reality, however, Freemasonry is a worldwide organization with a long and complex history. Its members have included politicians, engineers, scientists, writers, inventors and philosophers. Many of these members have played prominent roles in world events, such as revolutions, wars and intellectual movements. n addition to being the world's oldest fraternal organization, Freemasonry is also the world's largest such organization, boasting an estimated worldwide membership of some 6 million people, according to a report by the BBC. As the name implies, a fraternal organization is one that's composed almost solely of men who gather together for mutual benefit, frequently for professional or business reasons. However, nowadays women can be Freemasons, too (more on this later). But Freemasons, or Masons as they are sometimes called, are dedicated to loftier goals as well. Bound together by secret rites of initiation and ritual, its members ostensibly promote the "brotherhood of man," and in the past, have often been associated with 18th century Enlightenment principles such as anti-monarchism, republicanism, meritocracy and constitutional government, said Margaret Jacob, professor emeritus of European history at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of the book "The Origins of Freemasonry: Facts and Fictions" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005).