Masonic Spirituality
Freemasonry is an initiatory order. To initiate has several meanings, such as “to set on a path,” “the beginning of a new life,” or “to be reborn into a new life.” The Masonic initiatory rite aims “to make the Initiate die to himself” in order to lead him to a new life. It is a spiritual approach which, through rites and symbols, seeks to awaken in each person the forces that lie dormant within, and to begin a process of introspection with the goal of individual self-improvement. To initiate, in this sense, is to propose men a spiritual adventure, to commit them to discovering and expressing their own uniqueness through a long process of inner work. The Initiate has a long path to travel. Initiation is only the starting point and brings the seeker onto the path of his spiritual quest. An initiatory rite does not instantly transform a good Mason, as if by magic, into a better one. A Mason works on his rough stone in order to shape it into a polished stone, to be placed within the Temple of Humanity and Truth.
Symbolism plays a central role in the initiatory process: with its many facets, it does not constitute teaching in the strict sense, but rather an invitation to meditation and to the personal interpretation of symbols. This symbolism teaches that the Light exists within every Mason, and that he must seek it within himself in order to, in turn, illuminate the world around him. It draws inspiration, among other sources, from the ancestral trades involved in the construction of cathedrals.
This endless quest provides the keys to a true Masonic ethic, built upon a better understanding of oneself, of others, and of the world in which we live. As a link in a long universal Chain of Union, a person finds in the practice of what Masons readily call the “Royal Art” a powerful means of personal fulfillment on both the human and spiritual levels. It offers avenues for reflection in line with the fundamental questions concerning human existence and its metaphysical mysteries.
Masonic initiation is, by its very essence, spiritual and thereby opens an infinite field of questioning and reflection about oneself and the world. At the outset, the acceptance of this metaphysical reality underpins the initiation, which—if it is to be sincere and complete—must arise, for every Masonic candidate, from a clear-sighted, free, and autonomous personal commitment, in a true spirit of openness.