Prague - The exhibition presents Czech Freemasons as a community of people with their own rules, a long tradition and a spiritual dimension who believe in a free and better world. It will be open to the public from Wednesday to 26 November at the New Town Hall in Prague. It is held on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of Czechoslovakia. In addition to the text introducing the history of Freemasonry, especially in the Czech lands, it also contains many works of art that bring the life and practice of Freemasons closer. It is held on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of Czechoslovakia. In addition to a text introducing the history of Freemasonry, especially in the Czech lands, it also contains many works of art that bring the life and practice of Freemasons closer to life.
Freemasonry is a difficult-to-define secret association of people that probably originated in 18th century London. Its origins derive from the guilds of medieval temple builders.
The current Grand Master of the Order, Petr Komárek, at a press conference today, approached the roots of Freemasonry by dividing it into operative Freemasonry, i.e., the time of the medieval building forges where its history begins, and speculative Freemasonry. The latter, he said, is "the building of an inner temple that an individual works on all his life to become a better person." "It's about bringing people from a wide spectrum of society together, and we can count contemporary Freemasonry in that, with lodges being established on Czech territory throughout the Habsburg Empire from the mid-18th century onwards," he said.
Freemasonry is organized by a system of so-called lodges. Masons describe themselves as a fraternity whose members are united by respect for certain moral and ethical principles. Freemasonry is very popular with supporters of various conspiracy theories because of how little its members make their activities known. Freemasons also work extensively with mysticism, Hermeticism and numerous spiritual currents of the ancient world and the Orient.
The exhibition at the New Town Hall presents authentic Masonic objects and a replica of the Masonic workshop, the room where Masonic lodges meet for rituals. It is prepared as authentically as possible, including Masonic symbols and objects. At the same time, visitors can peek into the chamber of contemplation, a small room where a candidate for entry into the Order prepares for his initiation. The exhibition includes a reconstruction of an installation by Alfons Mucha, destroyed during the war, called The Last Work. Mucha was a Freemason, and people will learn about many others from Czech history and culture at the exhibition; however, the living Freemasons do not talk about their affiliation, as each member can only speak for himself.
The Grand Lodge of the Czech Republic, headed by the Grand Master, is the largest Masonic jurisdiction, a union of lodges, in the country. Its membership exceeds 600. It is a mainstream Masonic organization in world Masonry and maintains relations with the United Grand Lodge of England and mutually recognizes itself with over 200 Grand Lodges throughout the world. There are 28 active lodges in the country.
Freemasons have members of different religions among them, their tolerance with Catholics, for example, depends on the country. "We have the concept of the Great Builder of the universe... it doesn't just take a militant atheist in its midst," they say, referring to the fact that the spiritual dimension of fellowship is essential. They are often presented as an all-male community, but there are also mixed or all-female lodges. One of the main mottos of the Masons is Know Thyself.
(CTK/JaV)
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