To some, they are a satanic cabal, secretly plotting global domination. To others, they are just wealthy white guys with excess time on their hands and a peculiar fondness for aprons.
 Freemasonry is thought to be the world's oldest and largest fraternal order. Its members through the ages have included presidents and prime ministers, movie stars and musical luminaries, authors and athletes (see list below).
Masons say they join for the purposes of moral and spiritual improvement. But the carefully cultivated air of mystery that surrounds Masonic rituals has made the order a favourite target of conspiracy theorists, who accuse it of everything from devil worship to the assassination of JFK. (Just how deep does the suspicion go? Put it this way: Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown's next paranoid bestseller will be about the Freemasons.)
The truth may be a little more prosaic, but it's a compelling story in its own right one that Halifax filmmaker and musician John Wesley Chisholm reveals in his documentary Inside Freemasonry .
Chisholm, a Freemason himself, brushes aside rumour, speculation and myth to offer an insider's look at a centuries-old brotherhood struggling to find a place in the contemporary world without sacrificing its traditions. The film takes viewers where most have never been into a Masonic lodge and provides rare glimpses of the order's time-honoured rituals.
 Organized Freemasonry began in England during the early 1700s, though its roots are said to lie in the medieval fraternities of stonemasons and cathedral builders. Today, the order has more than five million members around the world.
Conspiracy theories about Freemasonry are almost as old as the order itself. Masons were accused, for example, of plotting both the American and French revolutions. In the U.S., opponents of Freemasonry established their own political party during the 1820s, and in Germany the order was eradicated under Nazi rule. To this day, the Catholic Church discourages its members from becoming Freemasons.
Inside Freemasonry reveals the meaning of the order's arcane symbols and rites, and explains the moral lessons that these teach. It describes, as well, the three degrees through which every initiate must progress, and shows how these help to guide a Mason toward self-knowledge.
In recent decades, the popularity of Freemasonry has begun to wane, and numbers have dwindled accordingly. Some lodges are now trying to attract more young members by simplifying the elaborate initiation process. There is even tentative talk about ending Freemasonry's men-only membership policy. Not surprisingly, these are controversial issues for an order that takes pride in its fidelity to unchanging tradition.
In his film, Chisholm interviews Masons throughout North America and England, from new initiates like jazz musician Wes Mackey to centenarian Wilfred Creighton, a member of the order for more than 50 years. Though Masons prove much more ethnically and culturally diverse than the stereotype would suggest, he finds that they share certain qualities in common above all, the desire to be part of a larger community dedicated to upholding moral and spiritual values.
Says Halifax Freemason Vic Lewis: We try to maintain, through our contact with our inner self, the continuity of the ages that has helped to develop human knowledge.
Inside Freemasonry was produced, written and directed by John Wesley Chisholm for Arcadia Entertainment Inc. in association with VisionTV. Colin MacKenzie was associate producer and co-director.
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Inside Freemasonry
The Filmmaker
John Wesley Chisholm Director/Producer/Writer
 John Wesley Chisholm is a native of Waverly, N.S. with 15 years of experience in television production, arts management and administration. He is currently president and senior producer of the Halifax-based production company Arcadia Entertainment Inc.
Chisholm has produced more than 50 documentaries and documentary series on ocean-related themes. These programs have been broadcast on a number of Canadian networks, including CBC-TV, Discovery Channel Canada, History Television and Outdoor Life Network Canada, and have been sold in more than 130 other countries.
In addition to pursuing a filmmaking career, Chisholm has won acclaim as a musical artist. He is the former guitarist and principal songwriter of Halifax's Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, and more recently earned an East Coast Music Awards nomination for his first solo recording, Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts (2003).
Chisholm has also been the recipient of Juno, Gemini and Genie awards and nominations. He was appointed last year to serve on the new Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council.
For more Arcadia Entertainment, visit www.thesea.ca .
A Note on Famous Freemasons
Through the ages, Freemasonry has attracted the powerful and wealthy from every walk of life. Some of the most prominent members of the order have included:
Canadian prime ministers Sir John A. Macdonald and John Diefenbaker
More than a dozen American presidents, most notably George Washington , Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt
Many of the Founding Fathers of the U.S., among them Benjamin Franklin , John Hancock and Paul Revere
British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill
Industrialist Henry Ford
Astronaut and former U.S. senator John Glenn
Actors John Wayne , W.C. Fields , Peter Sellers and Clark Gable
Authors Mark Twain , Voltaire , Oscar Wilde , Johann von Goethe and Rudyard Kipling
Musicians Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (his opera The Magic Flute is said to contain Masonic symbolism), Franz Joseph Haydn , Gilbert and Sullivan , Irving Berlin , Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson .
Athletes Ty Cobb , Sugar Ray Robinson , Arnold Palmer and Tim Horton
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