Freemasons from all over the country made their way to Wānaka recently to celebrate 100 years in town with New Zealand Freemasons Grand Master James L Watt coming from the Wellington lodge.
The group’s origins date back to 15th century England. The first New Zealand Masonic Lodge made its way to Wellington in 1843.
The fraternity is known for its secrecy, but has opened up in recent years in hopes of attracting more members. There are only 5000 members left in the country.
Mr Watt said another major factor to the group’s openness had been to "dispel a lot of the myths".
"There is no goat tied up front here," he said jokingly. "No plans to take over the world at the moment."
Over the years, rumours circled about the group supposedly having peculiar rituals or excessive influence in political decisions.
The Masonic membership offers a worldwide connection to the men who decide to join. However, it is not without its rules and expectations.
Being a fraternity, their membership is only open to men, with a few female lodges opening overseas.
The separation of men and women is strategic and part of the group’s goal to help young men focus on becoming better members of society.
"Members of the opposite sex would put a different perspective on things, he (a new member) may feel threatened," Mr Watt said.
He recalled an attempt to open a female lodge in Auckland many years ago which fell apart due to lack of interest.
In addition to being dedicated to have good moral standing, the group also required its members to believe in a "supreme being".
Although the origins of the Freemasons began with ties to the Catholic church, they no longer associated with a single religion and have welcomed Catholic, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish members.
The group might have opened up about some of their work, but there were still inner workings that remain a secret, and members must be trusted to keep this information among themselves, Mr Watt said.
"The reason we tell them (new members) that it’s a secret is we need to be able to trust them to understand that they have the morals of trust."
Mr Watt said one of the group’s first priorities had always been to raise a generation of upstanding men.
"Our focus is primarily on taking men and giving them a good moral and social structural background."
He mentioned values including integrity and social responsibility as being at the core of what drove the group’s teachings.
These values were not only taught, but then put into action through philanthropic work.
Mr Watt said the Freemasons’ charitable work had included university scholarships, school improvements, health research and a range of other local support.
"We are probably the largest single private charitable provider in the world ... in New Zealand, we put conservatively between $7 and $10 million a year back into the community," he said.
The group depends on a combination of member contributions, fundraising and investments, primarily through properties.
"Our investments now are sizeable ... we own probably 100-odd properties around the country."
According to Mr Watt, most of the discreet meetings that took place in lodges around the country were discussions about what to contribute funds to or occasionally initiating new members in.
The fundraising, despite being a contributor to the group’s philanthropic work, was not done only to raise money.
Events held to raise funds were seen as a way for the Freemasons to build a sense of "camaraderie", especially among the younger members.
Young men who wanted to join had a three-stage initiation to go through before they were considered members, he said.
"We explain to them the charitable side ... the second one focuses on the obligation to themselves, where they should be going, and the third one basically focuses on the responsibilities in life."
Freemasons did not often advertise or recruit, instead any interested members were asked to approach them.
