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     The following information is taken from Booklet No. 1, prepared by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi F&AM through the Committee on Masonic Education, 1987.  Some paraphrasing  has been made to allow for better presentation in using this information in this format.

 Who may be Masons?
 Men who satisfy the requirements of that description.

 What is Freemasonry?
 A fellowship of such men devoted to the ideals of such manhood.

 What are the ideals and teachings of Freemasonry?
 All such truths, ideals, and realities that describe interpret, uphold, satisfy and foster such manhood.

 What is the purpose of Freemasonry?
 To find such men, from this, with a clearness beyond possibility of misunderstanding, how the qualifications stand at the center of the Craft, expressing its standards, describing who may be Masons in reality and setting before us the goal of all Masonic endeavor.  It is not sufficient that a man shall posses each of these qualifications for the mere purpose of petitioning for membership;  they are required of us all, all of the time, so long as we shall remain in the Craft.

 The word "qualifications" defines itself.  It derives from a Latin term meaning "value."  The Anglo-Saxon term for the same idea was "worth," from which we have "worthful" and "worshipful."  By a petitioner's qualifications is consequently meant what values or worths he may possess to fit him for a place in the fellowship of Masons.

 These values are of two kinds, internal and external.  The internal qualifications divide themselves also under two main heads.  One of these is that a petitioner must come of "his own free will and accord."  That is, he must come unsolicited, and not in deference to any pressure due to ulterior motives of any kind; the necessary corollary of this - and here we observe how the qualifications may remain in force throughout a Mason's career - is that no Mason shall solicit a man to petition for membership.

 The other internal qualification is that a petitioner shall come "uninfluenced by mercenary motives."  What this means is obvious; he is not to expect that in the Fraternity he will find business, professional or financial gain for himself, and by the same token no Brother already in membership has any right to solicit such favors from him.  Both of these qualifications are described as "internal" because they have to do with motives, and only a man himself can know what his motives are.

 Using the word external here is more in the sense of how the person is seen by society rather than a physical sense, although there are "physical" qualifications.  The external qualifications may,  for the sake of convenience, be divided under several heads:
 

• · A petitioner must not be a woman, a child, or a eunuch.  This is one of the Ancient Landmarks of the Craft.
• · He must also be of lawful age, which in our own usage is twenty-one years, because no person can undertake all Masonic Obligations except he has reached the years of discretion and is legally responsible for his acts.  This rules out "a young man under age;" it also rules out "an old man in his dotage," for in the latter case dotage means the loss of those powers by which a man is able to recognize and discharge his responsibilities.

• · The mental qualifications are not expressly defined, though we and a number of Grand Lodges, go so far as to demand that a petitioner shall be able to read and write.  But they are clearly implied, and as such are as binding as though explicitly expressed.  Much is taught a Mason; much is demanded of him; it is impossible for him to understand such teachings, or to meet the demands, unless he possesses at least average intellectual abilities.

• · By these are meant all that have to do with citizenship and with a man's life as a neighbor, as a member of his community.  Under this head it is required that he be a free man.  This means that he is in the true sense his own master, free to discharge his Masonic duties without interference from outside.  Also, it is required that he be "under the tongue of good report," that is, he must possess a sound reputation among those who know him best.  Of even greater importance it is that he be a good citizen, one who obeys the law, who is obedient, as the Old Charges express it, "to the Civil Magistrates," and who keeps himself from embroilment in rebellion and mobs in defiance of the claims of public order.

• · It is an Ancient Landmark that a Mason must be "a good and true man," a man "of honor and honesty," who governs himself by the Compasses, tries himself by the Square and test himself by the Plumb.  So imperious is the Fraternity's moral requirement that to think of a Mason as not devoted to integrity and rectitude of character is a contradiction in terms.

• · In religion it is required of a petitioner that he believes in God, in Immortality, and that he use the Holy Bible as a rule and guide to his faith, at the same time it is required that he practice tolerance, that he shall not be questioned as to the peculiar form or mode of his faith and shall not question his Brethren.

 In conclusion, I ask you to observe carefully one all-important point.  In this list of qualifications we have a portrait of the Mason drawn by the Fraternity itself, and that portrait is official.  How necessary it is to you to grasp this fact in your endeavor to arrive at a true understanding of Freemasonry, it would be impossible for me to exaggerate.

This page last updated 4-6-99.

Published by Tommy M. Sanders.