The guys in little cars; clowns; marching bands and bagpipers; and the renowned Shrine Circus: It’s all about family fun, and has been for well over a century.

The Shriners — members of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine — have come to personify fun since their order was founded, in Manhattan, shortly after the close of the Civil War. The first Temple was established in 1872; membership now numbers over 600,000 spread among nearly 200 chapters, or Temples, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Panama.  In order to join the Shrine, applicants must be Master Masons, members of the ancient order of Freemasonry, but the Shrine was intended to provide a new avenue of “fun and fellowship,” and stand in contrast to the more formal and mysterious ritualistic premise of the Masonic movement.

In order to be eligible for membership in the Shrine, men (and only men, although there are large and very active women’s auxiliary units, including The Order of the Eastern Star, the largest fraternal organization in the world that both men and women can join) must first have achieved the rank of Third Degree Mason, a process which can be accomplished in as few as about six weeks.

There has been a renewed interest in Freemasonry following the publication earlier this year of The Lost Symbol, the latest novel by author Dan Brown. Like his previous blockbuster, The DaVinci Code, the new thriller stars Professor Robert Langdon, a specialist in understanding ancient symbols, codes and philosophies. The novel has done much to de-mystify some of the suspicions that have circulated around the Masons for centuries and has been encouraging more people to learn about potential membership. The Masons, traditionally, have not recruited members, but membership is available to those who seek sponsorship from current members. It is not a secret society or a religious organization. Masonry “has no creed, no priesthood, and no plan for salvation.”

Freemasonry began nearly 1,000 years ago. In its operative form, it lasted nearly 400 years while Masons built cathedrals, castles and the hundreds of Gothic structures in western Europe. The organization’s literature proclaims that “during the Cathedral Age, Masons formed themselves in workmen’s Guilds; each Guild forming a Lodge with regular officers and with three degrees of membership. The first were apprentices or bearers of burdens, the second were craftsmen or skilled workmen on the Temples and the third were Masters or superintendents of the structures being built. Each Guild member had to develop certain proficiencies in his work to advance to a higher status, and during this advancement each member was also taught certain attributes of moral conduct. It was these Guild Lodges which actually gave birth to the modern Masonic Lodges and present-day Freemasonry,” and much of the symbolism of modern Masonry is based on the meritorious processes followed by the ancient craftsmen. A major reason for the formation of the guilds was to protect the trade secrets of masonry and ensure effective passage to the next generations, and it is this legacy in which much of the secret ritual of the Masonic movement had its origins.

A worker was a Freemason because he was not born a slave, he was free to travel in foreign countries and work where he would. Guild Masons were “Operative Masons” because they actually built the Gothic Cathedrals. Following the decline of Gothic construction in the 17th Century, membership in the lodges was broadened by the acceptance of “men of high moral Character” even though these men were not members of the builder’s trade.

Masonic lodges have become fully integrated into the fabric of the communities in which they are located, all over the world, and each is engaged in all sorts of philanthropic endeavors. While there is no overarching credo, the Freemasons explain that their fraternity is committed to “kindness in the home; honesty in business; courtesy toward others; dependability in one’s work; compassion for the unfortunate; resistance to evil; help for the weak; concern for good government; support for public education; and above all, a life-practicing reverence for God and love of fellow man. It encourages good citizenship and political expression but is not a political organization. Its charitable activities are manifold, yet, it is not a welfare or benefit organization.”

All of nearly three dozen units, clubs and lodges that are part of the Kora Shrine will be welcoming visitors to the FEZtival this year, and information will be available regarding membership in the Masons and its appendant bodies including the Scottish Rite (featured prominently in the Dan Brown novel) and the York Rite (which traces its own origins back through the Knights Templar and to the originally chartered craft guilds of England).

Masonry has come to be, in large part, about philanthropy and good works, and the Shriners have elevated that purpose, through their hospital network, to a specific and unique level of service. That such service continues to be supported through fun and fellowship fulfills the vision of the founders, back in post-Civil War New York.

Quoted material courtesy of Kora Shrine documents. FMI about membership contact the Kora Shrine Center at 207-782-6831 Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or go to www.korashriners.org