Women in Freemasonry – Gwenda Roland (2024)
While looking around searching for something, I ran into this newly published book. It was published on May 1st 2024. When I looked a bit further, it appears to be available in seven languages and three formats: hardcover, paperback and ebook! The prices are quite absurd. 20 euros for the ebook, 30 for the paperback and 40 for the hardcover, while the book is only 150 pages. It seems that somebody thought to have found a niche in the market of ‘mysterious Freemasonry’.
The cover info indeed reeks of an appeal to an audience looking for Masonic exposures. The book promises to unveil shadows, “offer[…] an unprecedented exploration” into the subject, but on the other hand: “historical insights, personal testimonies, and a detailed examination of their rituals and degrees, the book paints a vivid portrait of women’s evolving role and their profound impact on the Masonic world.” Alright then, let’s give it a try.
I wondered what would be the original language of the book. I took a guess and bought the English version, but it seems more likely that the original book is German. Not only is it published by a German (self publishing) company, also the “impressum” is in German and there are some odd translations that prove that the person (or more likely; the software) that made the translation to (American) English, is not too well versed in English-speaking Masonic literature. We have a “building hut” and a “Journeyman” degree. “Bauhütte” is a fairly common German word for a lodge and “Gesel” could be automatically translated to “Journeyman”, but of course this should have been “Fellow Craft”. There are more examples.
There are some annoying mistakes in the book. Just like (the also German) Christina Voss in The ‘Universal Language’ of Freemasonry, the author calls the Order of the Eastern Star “co-Masonry”. Contrary to “co-Masonry”, OES has its own ritual, co-Masonry uses rituals of ‘Freemasonry proper’. What is also annoying, it seems that the author thinks that mixed gender Freemasonry, grew from women-only Freemasonry, while it is in fact the other way around. She even goes so far as to call Le Droit Humain the: “first female grand lodge”! A few pages further, she calls the first Le Droit Humain lodge of 1882: “exclusively for women”!! LDH has never been women only. The entire book does not mention Georges Martin even once.
The book is ‘female Freemasonry centered’: “In addition to women-only lodges, there are also mixed lodges which are open to both men and women.” Mixed gender Freemasonry in Germany exists since 1912, women only Freemasonry since 1949. Germany does happen to be the exception where co-Masonry and ‘femalecraft’ are about the same size, 26 co-Masonic and 24 women-only lodges.
But, it sure doesn’t hurt to read the perspective of a woman from a women’s lodge, I’m just the annoying fellow who takes note of details.
So what you do get in this little book is some history (here and there a bit blurred as we saw) glowing promises such as delving: “into […] the deep historical roots of female participation in Freemasonry” or “a comprehensive list of the lodges and organizations that are important to women within Freemasonry” after which a few organisations are shortly described. Nowhere the information is really in depth and there are no sources. It also bothers me some that the word “Freemasonry” apparently always has to be accompanied by the description “mysterious”.
Some (anonymous) members tell about their membership, the role of (German) lodges in society is described, there are reflections on the past and the future and descriptions of what happens in a lodge and how a lodge and its members stand in the world.
The little book mostly reads like an advertisement for women-only lodges. In spite of quite some information, it is not really ‘good’. On the other hand, there are not many books of this kind. The author made the effort to make the book well available. Like I said, seven languages, three editions. Also, the self-publishing company “Tredition” obviously has a wider reach than my own Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing attempts. The book can be found on many websites, the ebook is available for a variety of devices. Perhaps it is the whole marketing part that makes the book as expensive as it is.
Be that as it may, a rare addition to the literature on the subject of women in Freemasonry. If you are interested, you can look for either of the following titles:
- Frauen in der Freimaurerei: Eine verborgene Geschichte
- Women in Freemasonry: A Hidden History
- Le Donne nella Massoneria: Una storia nascosta di forza e resistenza
- Vrouwen in de Vrijmetselarij: Het Onvertelde Verhaal
- Les femmes en franc-maçonnerie: Une histoire méconnue
- Mujeres en los Ritos Masones: Pioneras de lo Prohibido
- As Mulheres na Maçonaria: Entre Mistérios e Revelações