Freemasonry is one of the oldest fraternal societies in the world. It brings together men of good character who believe in a Supreme Being, whatever their religion, and it teaches a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
Its three great principles
Brotherly Love
Every Freemason shows tolerance and respect for the opinions of others, and behaves with kindness and understanding towards his fellow men.
Relief
Freemasons are taught to practise charity and to care for those in need, in their own families, in the Brotherhood and in the community at large.
Truth
Freemasons strive for truth, require high moral standards and aim to achieve them in their own lives.
Its origins
Freemasonry descends from the guilds of the stonemasons who built the cathedrals and castles of medieval Europe. The oldest documents of the Craft, the Regius Poem of about 1390 and the Cooke Manuscript of about 1450, set out the duties of the masons and the history of their art.
In the seventeenth century the Lodges began to admit men who were not working masons. In 1717 four London Lodges formed the first Grand Lodge, and from it regular Freemasonry spread across Europe and the world. It reached the Kazakh steppe with Alikhan Bökeyhan, initiated at Saint Petersburg in 1906.
What the Grand Lodge of Kazakhstan holds
The Grand Lodge of Kazakhstan was constituted in 2016. It keeps the ancient traditions of the Order and carries the Masonic light in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
- 01
Every Freemason of the Grand Lodge of Kazakhstan affirms his belief in One God and in the immortality of his soul.
- 02
Every Freemason holds that the way he worships God is his own concern, and that the way other Freemasons worship is theirs. For that reason every regular Freemason holds firmly to the freedom of religion.
- 03
Regular Freemasonry offers no path to salvation. Each Freemason seeks his salvation where he worships God, and the Brotherhood encourages him to seek it within the faith to which he belongs.
- 04
Religion and politics so often set men against each other that their discussion is forbidden in the Grand Lodge of Kazakhstan.
- 05
Freemasonry brings men of every faith together in a Brotherhood founded on mutual respect, so that they may work together for those in need. If a Freemason's religion asks him to care for those less fortunate, Freemasonry gives him many ways to put that care into practice. In this, Freemasonry seeks to be the companion of every moral religion.