Freemasonry

Freemasonry or Freemasonry is an institution of an initiatory, philanthropic, symbolic, philosophical, discreet, selective, hierarchical, international, humanist nature and with a federal structure, founded on a feeling of brotherhood. He claims to have as his objective the search for truth, the philosophical study of human behavior, the sciences and the arts and the promotion of the social and moral development of the human being, guiding him towards his personal evolution, in addition to social progress, and exemplifies his teachings with traditional symbols and allegories taken from masonry or, more specifically, from the Royal Art of Construction, that is, from the builders of medieval cathedrals.

Emerged in Europe between the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, modern or "speculative" Freemasonry has often been described as a peculiar system of morality, under the veil of allegories and taught by symbols. It presents itself as a training tool, with a particular method that, based on the symbolism of construction, allows its members to develop their ability to listen, reflect and dialogue, to transmit these values ​​to their environment.

The institutional history of Freemasonry presents numerous disagreements, the main causes of which, with important nuances and derivations, are related to the admission of women to men's lodges, the question of religious or metaphysical beliefs, the nature of the topics dealt with or the way of working of the lodges, as well as with the bases on which the Masonic regularity is based. The existence of different points of view on these and other topics has given rise to the development of different branches or Masonic currents, which are often not recognized among them.

According to the Dictionary of symbols:

The compass has been considered among us as the emblem of the exact sciences. The notion of rule, or righteousness, is also on the other hand at the base of Chinese kuei. The degrees of the compass opening symbolize, in the Masonic tradition, the possibilities and degrees of knowledge, 45 ° refers to the eighth, 60 ° to the sixth, and 90 ° to the fourth. Masonry, by limiting the opening of the compass to a maximum of 90 °, indicates with it the limits that man would not know how to cross. The 90 ° angle reproduces the square. Since the square is, as we know, the symbol of matter, the compass is the symbol of the spirit and its power over matter. The compass open at 45 ° indicates that matter is not completely dominated, while the 90 ° opening fully balances the two forces; the compass becomes a fair square.