Freemasonry – The Society, The Symbolism, The Regalia
Masons, popularly known as the freemasons, are a sort of secret society which finds its origins linked to somewhere in the art of masonry in the middle ages. Although, this group is known to be a secret society, in the information age you can better refer to them as "a society with secrets.”
The early freemasonry, based upon the literal craft of labor, is known as the Operative Masonry while the modern form of the said group, that finds its base in the philosophical connection to freemasonry, is referred to by many as Speculative Freemasonry.
These freemason societies are structured under the grand lodges which are found in different places across the world. These lodges hold their own set of rules and jurisdictions. But no matter how much diversity exists among the lodges, the very central belief remains the acceptance of a supreme being by its members and the charitable work within the community on a wide scale with the development of friendship and brotherhood within the lodge as well as spreading membership. Freemasonry is said to have a member base of around six million people around the world and the numbers are still growing every day.
The general icon of freemasonry is believed to be the symbol formed by a square and compasses. The square symbolizes the squaring of actions by our virtues and the compasses symbolize the circumscribing of desires. As is usually the case with every society or organization, there is always a need of some kind of uniformity or some sort of a symbolism that can immediately convey the membership of a person. Here, steps in Masonic jewelry.
Masonic jewelry items are mostly regular jewelry that is embedded with the Masonic symbols and relics. Some of these accessories also state the rank of the person wearing it and hence making their relevance even more obvious. But Masonic jewelry articles can be quite confusing if you are not aware of the meaning of different symbols and representations.
But then what good is a secret society if everything it uses is well known to the public?
Very few jewelers are into the trade of crafting Masonic accessories due to the shortage of proper knowledge about the symbols and their importance. It also becomes quite difficult to work with such intricate symbols and represent them correctly in the form of small articles such as rings and pendants.
In the early ages, this task was done by a very small group of people who were themselves members of the society and knew the art of making jewelry. Today, quite a few companies like http://www.redtowerregalia.com/ are offering these accessories through their online stores as well as showrooms. These can be easily found over the internet and generally offer free shipping. Even the cost of these jewelry articles is quite reasonable considering the rarity and the exclusivity of the products.
Even today, these jewelry items are generally prepared by the people who themselves are members or are somehow related to the members of the freemasonry. Being available online has had a huge impact on the spreading of the interest in freemasonry and it's membership has been rising off late. The information age has thus transformed this secret society and its workings as well!