AT THE back of the Ridgehaven Rise retirement village sits a chamber of secret symbols.
A blazing star is embedded in a tessellated marble floor, beneath a large ‘G’ hanging from the ceiling.
An illuminated compass and set square shine from the back wall, while around the room are carved wooden columns topped with spheres, stone blocks, sacred volumes and candles.
The meeting place of Tea Tree Gully’s Freemasons is nothing if not atmospheric.
Freemasonry has been thrown into the spotlight by the recent release of The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s latest book The Lost Symbol, in which a code-cracking professor unravels masonic secrets to save a kidnapped friend.
While the American Masonic Society has praised the novel for portraying Freemasonry in a largely positive light, Gully Lodge education officer Alan Hills says some persistent myths stop men from joining.
He says the Gully lodge has about 100 members, but has had only five applicants in the past year.
“A lot of people are still under the impression that it’s a secret society,†he says.
“It’s not it’s a society with secrets.â€
Mr Hills says Freemasonry is about charity and fraternity, not the occult, and, contrary to popular belief, men can apply without being invited.
There is a secret handshake and candidates are blindfolded at their initiation ceremonies, but tales of having to ride goats or drink wine from skulls are “nonsenseâ€, Mr Hills says.
“It’s nothing to do with witchcraft at all.
“There’s nothing to embarrass a candidate.â€
Rather it is the existing masons who are most nervous at the ceremonies because of the large amounts of text they have to recite from memory, he says.
Mr Hills says apart from the ceremonies, meetings of Freemasons are run much like any other community organisation or charity.
The Gully Lodge has recently supported causes including Special Olympics athletes and prostate cancer.
“For the amount of charity work (Freemasons) do, they get very little recognition compared to Rotary and Apex and so on.â€
* To enquire about becoming a Freemason, call the Lodge’s Worshipful Master Dick Thornton on 8252 6343.
Source: Freemasons let secrets out - Local News - News | Leader Messenger