You’ve heard that Freemasonry is about self-improvement and becoming a better man. But what does that actually mean? What are Masons learning at all those meetings?
Are they memorizing ancient texts? Studying occult philosophy? Learning secret rituals that unlock hidden powers?
The truth is simpler and more practical than the myths suggest.
Freemasonry teaches a system of morality and personal development using symbols, allegory, and ritual.
The “study” happens through experiencing degrees, reflecting on symbolism, discussing principles, and applying lessons to daily life.
Let me break down what Masons actually study and learn through their involvement in the Craft.
The Three Degrees: The Foundation
The starting point for every Mason’s education is the three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason.
These aren’t like college courses where you sit and take notes. They’re experiential ceremonies where you participate in ritual dramas that teach through symbolism and allegory.
The Entered Apprentice Degree introduces foundational concepts. You learn about the working tools (24-inch gauge, common gavel, chisel) that represent time management, self-improvement, and focused development. You’re taught the three principal tenets: Brotherly Love, Relief (charity), and Truth. You experience symbolism about moving from darkness to light, representing the journey from ignorance to knowledge.
The Fellowcraft Degree expands into intellectual territory. This degree emphasizes education, the liberal arts and sciences, and the pursuit of knowledge. The symbolism becomes more complex, introducing concepts like the winding staircase (representing the journey of learning) and the middle chamber (where symbolic wages are received for labor). The working tools here (square, level, plumb) teach moral rectitude, equality, and uprightness in dealings with others.
The Master Mason Degree addresses mortality, integrity, and what truly matters when everything else is stripped away. The central narrative involves loss, tragedy, and ultimate triumph over death. It’s the highest degree, teaching lessons about loyalty, the transience of physical existence, and the immortality of the soul.
These three degrees form the curriculum every Mason must complete.
But passing through the degrees isn’t the end of education. It’s the beginning.
The degrees introduce concepts you’ll spend years unpacking and understanding.
Symbolism: The Language of Masonry
Much of Masonic study involves understanding symbolism. Freemasonry doesn’t teach directly through lectures alone. It teaches through symbols that convey multiple layers of meaning.
The Square and Compass, the most recognizable Masonic symbol, teaches lessons about moral boundaries and keeping desires in check. The square represents fairness and morality in dealings with others. The compass represents setting boundaries on behavior and desires.
The Rough Ashlar and Perfect Ashlar represent man in his natural state versus man after refinement through self-work. You’re the rough stone. Through years of effort, applying Masonic principles, you gradually smooth your rough edges and become closer to the perfect ashlar.
The All-Seeing Eye reminds Masons that their actions are always observed by the Supreme Being, creating moral accountability even in private moments.
Light and Darkness appear constantly in Masonic symbolism. Light represents knowledge, wisdom, and moral clarity. Darkness represents ignorance and moral confusion. The Mason’s journey is about seeking more light.
The Level and Plumb teach about treating others as equals regardless of status, and maintaining uprightness in character even when circumstances change.
Masonic education involves studying these symbols, understanding their multiple meanings, and learning to apply symbolic lessons to practical situations.
The Cardinal Virtues: Practical Philosophy
Freemasonry emphasizes four cardinal virtues drawn from classical philosophy: Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice.
Temperance is moderation in all things. Not abstinence, but balance. The question temperance asks: what in your life has become excessive? Where have you lost balance? It’s about self-control and avoiding extremes.
Fortitude is courage and strength of character, especially during adversity. It’s the virtue that keeps you doing what’s right even when it’s hard, when nobody’s watching, or when you could easily get away with doing wrong.
Prudence is practical wisdom. It’s thinking before acting, considering consequences, and making decisions based on reason rather than impulse or emotion.
Justice is giving others what they’re due, treating people fairly, and maintaining integrity in all dealings. It’s the virtue that prevents you from taking advantage of others even when you could.
Masons study how to actually develop these virtues, not just understand them intellectually.
The difference between Masonic education and reading philosophy is that Freemasonry provides community, accountability, and regular reinforcement. You’re not just reading about temperance. You’re discussing with other Brothers how to practice it. You’re examining your own life for areas where you lack it. You’re working on it deliberately.
The Working Tools: Practical Applications
Each degree introduces working tools that originally belonged to operative stonemasons. In speculative Masonry, these tools become metaphors for moral and practical lessons.
The 24-Inch Gauge represents dividing your time wisely between work, rest, and service. It’s a lesson in time management and life balance that every Mason should apply daily.
The Common Gavel represents removing the rough edges from your character. Just as the gavel chips away excess stone, you must chip away at character flaws, bad habits, and vices that prevent you from becoming your best self.
The Plumb teaches uprightness in dealings with others. Your character should be straight and true, not bent by circumstances or convenience.
The Square teaches moral rectitude and fairness. Square your actions by moral principles rather than expediency or self-interest.
The Level teaches equality. Regardless of social position, wealth, or status, treat all people with equal respect and dignity.
Masonic study involves learning these tools and their meanings, but more importantly, figuring out how to actually use them as guides for daily decisions and behaviors.
Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth: The Three Tenets
These three concepts form the foundation of Masonic teaching.
Brotherly Love means treating all people with kindness, respect, and compassion. Not just other Masons, but all human beings. It’s about recognizing the common humanity you share with others and acting accordingly.
Relief means charity in the broadest sense. Financial charity when appropriate, but also charity of time, patience, understanding, and presence. It means helping those in need when you’re able to help.
Truth means honesty and integrity in all things. Living authentically. Keeping your word. Being honest in business dealings. Seeking truth rather than comfortable lies. Speaking truthfully even when it’s inconvenient.
Masons study how these three principles interact and apply to complex real-world situations where they sometimes seem to conflict.
Morality Through Allegory
Much of Masonic teaching happens through allegorical stories and ritual dramas.
The degrees present narratives with moral lessons. Like Aesop’s fables or biblical parables, these stories teach through example and metaphor rather than direct instruction.
You don’t just hear “be loyal.” You experience a story that shows what loyalty costs and why it matters.
This allegorical approach makes lessons memorable and emotionally resonant in ways that direct teaching often isn’t. Years later, Masons remember the stories and the feelings they evoked, which helps them recall the lessons when facing similar situations in real life.
The Volume of Sacred Law: Individual Faith
Freemasonry requires belief in a Supreme Being but doesn’t specify which one. Each Mason brings his own faith tradition to the fraternity.
The Volume of Sacred Law (Bible, Torah, Quran, or other holy text depending on the Mason’s faith) sits open during Lodge meetings, representing that moral and spiritual guidance comes from divine sources.
Masons study how their individual religious faith intersects with Masonic principles. The fraternity doesn’t teach religion, but it reinforces that moral accountability extends beyond human observation to divine judgment.
This aspect of Masonic study is deeply personal. Each Mason integrates Masonic teaching with his existing faith tradition in ways that strengthen both.
The Lost Word: The Lifelong Search
Masonic symbolism includes the concept of “the lost word,” representing the lost perfection of humanity and the search for ultimate truth and understanding.
This isn’t a literal word to find. It’s a symbol of the human condition.
We’re imperfect beings seeking perfection. We have partial understanding seeking complete wisdom. We’re flawed attempting to approach the ideal.
The lost word represents everything we’re searching for: complete self-knowledge, perfect virtue, ultimate truth, union with the divine.
The lesson is that this search never ends. You never “find” the lost word and stop seeking. The search itself is the point. Growth, learning, and striving continue throughout life.
This keeps Masonic education perpetual. You’re never done learning because perfection is always ahead, never behind.
Practical Application: The Real Study
Here’s what separates Masonic education from academic study: the focus on application.
You don’t study Masonic principles to know them. You study them to live them.
A Mason who can recite every symbol’s meaning but doesn’t apply any lessons isn’t educated, just informed. Education happens when knowledge transforms behavior.
Real Masonic study involves:
- Identifying specific character flaws you want to address
- Choosing Masonic principles that apply to those flaws
- Practicing application in daily situations
- Reflecting on successes and failures
- Adjusting approach based on results
- Continuing the process indefinitely
This is why Masons talk about “daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.”
The study never stops because application is ongoing.
Beyond Blue Lodge: Continuing Education
The three degrees of Blue Lodge form the foundation, but Masonic education can continue through several paths:
Appendant Bodies like Scottish Rite and York Rite offer additional degrees that explore Masonic philosophy from different angles. These aren’t “higher” than Master Mason, but they’re additional.
Masonic Research involves studying the history, symbolism, and philosophy of Freemasonry through reading and scholarship. Many Lodges have research lodges dedicated to this pursuit.
Mentorship of newer members teaches you by forcing you to articulate what you’ve learned. Teaching deepens your own understanding.
Structured Courses that guide you through Masonic teachings systematically. Many Brothers struggle with self-directed study and need an organized curriculum. MasonicFind’s 9 Online Masonic Courses provide exactly that: comprehensive education covering everything from Understanding Freemasonry and the three degrees (EA, FC, MM) to practical topics like ritual memorization and mentorship. These courses take you deeper into Masonic philosophy, symbolism, and practical application than most Lodge education programs ever reach.
Discussion Groups where Masons gather to discuss Masonic topics and explore applications. The Freemasons Community provides daily engagement with over 1,000 Brothers worldwide, plus immediate access to all 8 courses.
Personal Reading of Masonic books and philosophy. The Masonic Way explores how Masonic principles translate into daily living, bridging the gap between Lodge room philosophy and real-world application.
What Masons Don’t Study
To be clear about what Masonic education isn’t:
Not Occultism. Despite conspiracy theories, Freemasonry doesn’t teach magic, occult practices, or esoteric mysticism. It’s moral philosophy, not mysticism.
Not Secret World-Controlling Knowledge. There’s no instruction manual for running the world. The “secrets” are recognition signs, not powerful hidden knowledge.
Not Alternative Religion. Freemasonry supplements your existing faith, it doesn’t replace it. There’s no Masonic theology or doctrine about God.
Not Get-Rich-Quick Schemes. You won’t learn secret business strategies or networking techniques for material success.
Not Ancient Alien Conspiracies. The conspiracy theories are fiction. Masonic teaching is practical moral philosophy.
What you actually study is how to become a better version of yourself through deliberate character development, guided by time-tested principles and supported by a community of Brothers working toward the same goal.
The Bottom Line…
Freemasonry teaches practical moral philosophy through symbolism, allegory, and ritual. The core curriculum includes:
- Three progressive degrees introducing foundational concepts
- Symbolic language conveying multiple layers of meaning
- Four cardinal virtues for character development
- Practical tools for daily application
- Three principal tenets guiding behavior
- Allegorical stories making lessons memorable
- Integration with personal faith traditions
- Lifelong pursuit of improvement and truth
The study isn’t academic. It’s transformational.
You don’t graduate from Masonic education. You practice it for life. The principles are simple enough to understand quickly, but applying them consistently for decades is the real work.
That’s what Masons actually study: not secret knowledge or hidden wisdom, but timeless principles of character, morality, and personal development that anyone could learn but that few people actually apply.
The “secret” isn’t what’s being taught. It’s that people committed to actually living it are rare.