O.k let me first clear up one common misconception! I can assure you that there are absolutley no Goats in Freemasonry!
Although I am aware that for a laugh one of the country lodges got a goat put into their yard to keep the grass down which caused some interesting talk around the local townspeople!
My best explanation of what is Freemasonry is the following!
Freemasonry evolved out of the Scottish and English Trade Guilds that existed in the 15th - 16th centuries. In that time there were no police forces and it was not safe to travel alone between towns. Yet at the same time Stone Masons and other Tradesman had to travel to different job sites to work. Resultantly they formed themselves into Trade Guilds where there members recognised each other by a secret word and a handshake. To be admitted to the site you had to have the word and the handshake, which prevented gangs of thugs entering the site and stealing or attacking people.
Yet as time evolved it became safe to travel from place to place, so the Trade Guilds either died out or became friendly societys that did things like banking and benevolant work. The IOOF credit union is one example - Independant Order of Odd Fellows - there lodge building is on the Parade not far from Coopers stadium.
The Freemasons chose to admit members of any proffession so various lawyers, Bankers etc etc joined the society. Its purpose became as a Friendship type society.
What happened globally with Freemasonry was that after the World Wars the membership grew rapidly. Freemasonry was seen as a good way to keep all the former members of a unit together in friendship after the war. Freemasonry is still quite popular amongst ex service people for the same reason.
A common misconception about Freemasonry is that it is somehow Religious. I belong to the Salvation Army and I can assure you that Freemasonry is not religious. You do have to take an oath when you join and you do have to state that you believe in a supreme being although you dont have to describe what that is to you. Freemasons lodges in S.A traditioanlly have their candidates take their oaths on the Bible, yet that is your choice, if you want you can take your oath on the Koran, the Book of Mormon or whatever works for you.
Freemasonry today is largely a friedship society and Fraternity is a good description. Their is a Scounting lodge called Lodge Baden Powell - meets also at Goodwood, which a number of people join after leaving Scouting or Rovers.
Freemasonry has three degrees, when you join you are an "Entered Apprentice", you are passed to the second degree and you become a "Fellow Craft Freemason". The third degree you become a "Master Mason". The ritual is based on the building of King Solomons Temple and the hierachial structure amongst the tradespeople that did the work and the work of the original foreman on the site.
Freemasonry is a great organisation to belong to, we certainley take part in Charity work, we are working on a project at present to raise awareness and get funding towards research on Prostrate Cancer as well as several other causes. Yet Charity work is not our focus as such and maybe that is where we are a little different to groups like Lions for example. My lodge Mostyn has 50 odd members and it is a lodge where many people have found great friendships with one another. I have found that I have made a wide circle of friends from people of all walks of life and varying ages.
If there is something that you would like to ask, feel welcome to go right ahead and ask and I will do my best to give you a direct answer! You also dont have to wait to be asked if you would like to be a member, if you are interested, drop me a PM and I can easilly put you into the loop. Alternitivley we have a pretty comprehensive website thanks largely to our webmaster who has done a great job of setting it all up which you may well find helpful!
http://www.freemasonrysaust.org.au/index.html
