THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO FREEMASONRY
By S. Brent Morris, Ph.D., 33°
Reviewed by Bro. Jason F. Hicks
Some are turned off by such a basic name for a book and write it off as being too simple or below their level of knowledge. This book should not be passed up. This book can offer an education that even the most seasoned mason can learn something. It is essentially the 30,000 foot fly over of the masonic fraternity and the appendant bodies. Its layout is helpful: part one, the basic organization of freemasonry; part two, the Eastern Star, the York Rite, and the Scottish Rite; part three, building higher, having fun, and doing more; part four, masonic myths and misunderstandings; and part five, a field guide to masonic symbols and jewelry and a helpful appendix. He condenses a presentation of this material into 276 pages which is an impressive feat.
This book would be a wonderful gift to a newly raised master mason because its fly over approach and presentation to the fraternity which would serve a newly raised mason well because it gives them the history of the fraternity, including some of the controversies like the Morgan Affair. It goes through the appendant and invitational bodies and gives a brief overview of each. The last two sections are helpful because it gives the misunderstandings and prepares the newly made mason to understand and respond when someone confronts them with one of the age old and rebuked theories of why masonry is allegedly “satanic” or not compatible with certain branches of religion. The last section on symbols can help reinforce what the newly raised master mason has learned through the lectures but it helps to explain the symbols they are learned but need more explanation to grasp the topics.
The thing I like most about this book versus other similar books are his notes that are throughout the book in little boxes that help the reader to understand with definitions, stories or longer articles that help the reader to grasp more than they would otherwise.
Overall, I believe brother Morris does a wonderful job presenting the material and making it interesting without making it so dense that it is unreadable. I would recommend this book to all masons and the general public but especially to the newly raised master masons to give them a leg up on understanding the fraternity.
