female freemasons

[ninikins]

What about female freemasons? What part cahn women play and are they seen as equal members?

 

[Billiejo]

Women cannot be Masons, those that claim to be Masons, or any Lodge that accepts them as so is not a legal working lodge nor a legal Mason.

The Order Of the Eastern Star is a womens order but in no way means a Masonic Order.

 

[reviewer]

Do you think that's likely to change in the future? What with membership declining, it would be an interesting tactic to attract new blood.

 

[channy626]

Women belonging to this website

So,
Why are women allowed to belong to this website and post? Is this for guys only?

 

[jason]

There are some Lodges that do accept females. This lodges are considered irregular and not recognized by regular lodges. Females can join things just as Order of the Easter Star, Rainbow Girls and JOB'S Daughters. While none of them will actually make them a Mason, they are closely related.

 

[ninikins]

Can you explain what the reqason is behind the fact that women cannot join?

 

[BG_TRBL]

Can you explain what the reqason is behind the fact that women cannot join?

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a straight answer to your question. It is a situation in which there is no correct answer. Free-masonry was established based on the "stone-masons" which were men. These traditions have been up-held throughout the establishment of modern day free-masonry. Those master masons reading this will admit that it would be interesting to see the degree conferred on a woman, however I highly doubt that we will ever see it. There are adjunct organizations which have been established for the females. There has been a long established track record for the free-masons without females (however, please don't take that as a "good-ole boys club") The premise behind the free-masons of today is "Making good men better"

 

[Ashlar2006]

Simply put , we are a Fraternity . I'll state that again ,a Fraternity . The definition : A group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood. The relation of a brother or between brothers.The quality or condition of being brothers; brotherliness.

Hence , no women are permitted because our lodges are a place where we can fellowship as brothers .

 

[Astrivian]

I posted earlier about this but i think this is a serious question for contemporary Masons. I have a hard time justifying this to my wife, who does not want to join the OES because she sees it as subservient to the Masons. I can't blame her for thinking this.

As i mentioned in my other post, i think we Masons will have to come to terms with this at some point. The newer generations will not tolerate this exclusivity for long; however, i can see the point of having a fraternal society (i.e. men only). But i think we seriously need to consider raising the presitgue of the Order of the Eastern Star to an equal level with Masonry.

 

[rustybones49801]

Our Star lodge receives a great deal of respect, but one of the landmarks are the requirement of a MM at the meeting, so in order to change, the landmarks would have to change, and I dont see that happening any time soon.

 

[BG_TRBL]

I really don't believe that we will ever have to come to terms with allowing women into the fraternity. We for one are a private organization and subject to our own by-laws and rules, provided that we do not break any laws of state or nation. As far as bringing the Order of Easter Star up to the same status as Blue lodge, you can not judge the two organizations on the same scale. Freemasonry has been around from time immorial, Freemasonry has millions of members with millions of dollars being donated to charities every day. O.E.S. does not provide the same (as of yet, we can only hope the organization will at some point in the future) How do you judge status anyhow?? I would beg to differ with anyone who can compare the two organizations. It truly is like comparing apples to oranges.

Just remember, this is only my opinion on the matter, I could be way off, or right on. Everyone has to make their own distinctions.

 

[rustybones49801]

Another thing to consider is that men and women are hardwired differently having women in the lodge would/could change the perspective of the degree work. IMO

 

[Ashlar2006]

The Eastern Star in Ky . can open chapter and what not without a MM present and can even do initiation work with special permission from the Worthy Grand Matron . I still stand firm on my stand that OES is not subserviant to Masons . It's like comparing apples to oranges .

 

[Ashlar2006]

I would like to add that ,no , the OES has no standard organization that they donate money to , but we do take up a collection every month and donate the money to the charity of choice of the Worhty Matron . Last month it was the local soup kitchen and the month before that went for breast cancer studies etc; ect .

 

[cemab4y]

Women can most definetly be Masons

There are many opportunities for women to participate in Freemasonry. The most popular way is to join a Co-Masonic group. More about Co-Masonry can be learned at the website:

Freemasonry: A Masonic Temple open for Men and Women

There are a number of co-educational groups, affiliated with mainstream Masonry. The largest and most visible is the Order of the Eastern Star:

General Grand Chapter OES

There is also the Order of the Amaranth.

Supreme Council

Also, you may participate in the White Shrine of Jerusalem

White Shrine of Jerusalem Home Page

There are other masonic orders for women, that are affiliated with the Appendant bodies of Masonry.

Among these are the Daughters of Mokanna (affiliated with the Supreme Council Grotto)

and the Daughters of Isis (affiliated with the Ancient Egyptian Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine)

http://doipha.org

There is the social order of the Beauceant

Social Order of the Beauceant

and there is the Heroines of Jericho

Welcome to Prince Hall Grand High Court of Heroines of Jericho, Texas Jurisdiction

and there is the Ladies’ Oriental Shrine of North America

http://www.ladiesorientalshrine.org

And this is only a partial list. There are opportunities to participate as an adult advisor for Masonic youth groups:

The Order of the DeMolay (young men 13-21)
The Order of the Rainbow for Girls (13-21)
The Job’s Daughters (13-21)

So, if a woman wants to participate in the masonic experience, and be of service to mankind, there are plenty of opportunities!

 

[mollyL]

I'm not really wanting to force anyone to justify the fact that Masonry as a fraternity chooses to remain male-only, I think that it is largely a matter based in tradition and I don't see anything on the face of it to make that wrong. But what I wonder about is how similar the Eastern Star is to the male Masons? Do the ladies undertake the same charity works? Is the requirement of membership basically the same in the two groups (good character, belief in a supreme being, etc.)?

 

[Ashlar2006]

Yes , you have to be of good moral character , believe in a Supreme being , etc. to join the OES . We have a few charities we give to , we give to youth groups , there is the ESTARL (Eastern Star Training Awards for Religious Leadership) which is a scholarship fund for those who are going to school for the purpose of religious training and we have the Eastern Star Homes which are retirement homes for those in need . Plus we take up donations at every meeting and the Worthy Matron donates to the charity of her choice . And many also hold fund raisers for local charities in our hometowns .

 

[mollyL]

OES insignia

Yes, it sounds as though the OES is every bit as eager to do good and charitable works as the fraternity. My mom, who is a rather fundamentalist Christian, has long been put-off by the inverted pentagram insignia, she frets that it has to do with the occult. What can I tell her about why that insignia was chosen?

 

[Ashlar2006]

It represents the Star of Bethlehem with each point representing a female biblical figure .There is Adah (Jephthah's daughter, from Judges) ,Ruth, the widow , Esther, the wife , Martha (sister of Lazarus, from the Gospel of John) ,Electa (the "elect lady", from II John), the mother . The white ray , or white star point , points downward toward the manger . That's why when looking at the Star , like a lapel pin or in a picture , the Star is upside down .

The pentagram has different meanings to different religions . It was once a Christian symbol representing the five senses of humans . To medieval Christians , it represented the five wounds of Christ . I could go on but only put this in to show that just because someone uses a star doesn't mean it is evil or a cult .

 

[cemab4y]

There are no Satanic symbols used in any aspect of Freemasonry, nor in any of the appendant bodies.

There are NO satanic symbols in Masonry.

You may find this link useful:

Masonic Symbols