Women’s Freemasonry is an initiatory path that is intended for women striving for knowledge and inner transformation. As an heir to universal Masonic tradition, it situates concentrates its work within a humanistic, symbolic and spiritual approach, founded on freedom of conscience, sisterhood and the search for truth.

 

No dogmas or imposed beliefs, but a path of reflection and experience. Through the language of symbols, rituals and work in the Lodge, each Sister is invited to get to know herself better, to question the world around her, layering stone upon stone, towards her own improvement and that of humanity.

 

Women’s Freemasonry offers a rare space: a place for talking, listening and transmission, where differences mutually enrich each other, where critical thinking is combined with ethical demands, where the spiritual dimension of existence can be explored in complete freedom. Rooted in history but resolutely focused on the future, it allows women to fully implement their initiatory, intellectual and civic responsibility. It invites each woman to gain insight into her life, society and the world, in the spirit of universal fraternity, experienced here as sorority.

 

Freemasonry is neither a religion or a political movement, nor a secret society. It offers no dogma and imposes no beliefs.

Joining an initiatory society: what does this mean?

An initiatory society is a structured organisation that offers its members a progressive path of personal growth based on experience, transmission and reflection rather than on the teaching of doctrines or imposed truths.

 

Initiation does not consist of transmitting academic or theoretical knowledge, but of providing a symbolic experience that is a landmark in the personal journey. This experience opens a process of questioning, self-awareness and knowledge of the world.

 

Initiatory societies, generally rely on rites of passage that (define the key milestones) structure the major stages of the journey, a symbolic language allowing a plural and evolving reading of reality, a progressive transmission respecting the rhythms of maturity of each individual, a collective framework guaranteeing the continuity, rigor and ethics of the shared(joint) approach.

 

An initiatory society imposes no beliefs and aims neither for ideological adherence nor uniformity of thought. It invites each individual to build their own path within a shared framework.

 

An initiatory society is not intended to isolate its members from the world, On the contrary, it guides them to act in a more conscious, responsible and enlightened way.

Being initiated: What is the purpose and the meaning?

An initiated is not defined by social status, rank or title, but by a genuine inner transformation. She is not the one who knows, but the one who has become. Any lay, non-Mason person admitted into a Masonic Lodge who has undergone an initiation ritual is considered initiated. The initiate’s consciousness includes a heightened perception of the complexity of reality, the ability to transcend binary oppositions and an ethic of responsibility.

Joining Women’s Freemasonry and becoming a sister.
Any woman who chooses to join Freemasonry becomes a Sister. Men who take the same step become Brothers. Fraternity represents a strong universal value, instituted by the French Revolution with its motto:” Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”
 

The word sorority, understood as conscious solidarity between women and based on a shared condition and a goal of emancipation, appeared later and its use was clearly defined only in the 1970's. Previously, it was experienced without being named, and from the Middle-Ages onwards, historical communities, such as the Beguines, developed(flourished).

While fraternity has established itself as a central moral, religious and political category in the West:” Christianity, the French Revolution, republicanism” sorority does not exist as a word, even though it derives from Latin “Soror”. Sorority appeared in the 16^th century and defined a community of women. The Enlightenment proclaimed universalism and at the same time excluded women from citizenship and naturalised female dependence. Olympe de Gouges and Madame de Stael outlined a critique of this exclusion, an exclusion also found in Freemasonry and its Constitutions.

The 19th century, which saw the birth of women’s associations, abolitionist movements, and struggles for education and the right to vote, also saw the development of a sisterhood within social practices. It was not until the 1970's and the slogan “Sisterhood is powerful” (Robin Morgan) that sisterhood came to be defined as a conscious solidarity among women, the rejection of female competition produced by patriarchy, and the foundation for consciousness-raising and collective action.

Entering Freemasonry means choosing fraternity as a universal bond among among humankind.

Entering women’s Freemasonry means adding the dimension of sisterhood: a conscious solidarity among women, the defence of women’s rights, independence and autonomy for women, and the integration of this dimension into relationships among women—support, recognition, and ethics.