Alvaro Vega | Córdoba (EFE).- A group of women from a neighborhood of Córdoba have been interested in learning what Freemasonry is and what it represents through a tour of the city accompanied by a Master Mason. This belongs to the Respectable Maimonides Symbolic Lodge number 173 of the Grand Lodge of Spain. The company has been established in the city since 2011.
The initiative arose from the curiosity of women, gathered around the Poniente Sur area, on the walks they take through Córdoba. They do it with the help of the guide Miriam Toro Romero. This tries to organize routes different from the traditional one through the proposals of a center of initiatives for cooperation.
In them, the guide detected that women “asked about Freemasonry.” She did it when she saw, for example, some symbol that could be related to this initiatory society. It was just as it happened on a visit to one of the city’s cemeteries.
As she “could explain a little, but very briefly,” she saw an opportunity when a report revealed to her the existence of a Masonic lodge in Córdoba. After that she contacted the protagonist of the journalistic work, Rafael Jesús Mateo.
Mateo is a Master Mason. It has the 24th degree. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite it can be reached up to 33. In the Maimonides lodge it can be obtained up to 14. For this reason, in addition to the Cordoba lodge, it participates in another one in Malaga, the K2 Andalusia Chamber 208 , where you can reach grade 30.
Exhibition in the street
During his tour, the Master Mason gives a general presentation to the group about Freemasonry. He carries it out on the street that leads to the façade of the Royal Circle of Friendship, García Lovera. It is in the center of Córdoba.
He appreciates the format for “the closeness” and conveys some of the principles. Like what is asked to qualify to enter a lodge. It’s about being free, having a certain level of knowledge and being of legal age. Furthermore, entry into the lodge must have “the essential agreement of the couple” of the applicant.
Those attending the route are interested in other specific aspects such as that La Maimónides is a “men-only” lodge. Matthew justifies it in tradition. Although he clarifies that there are mixed ones and made up only of women. At the same time, he avoids revealing where the Masonic temple is located for security reasons.
In addition, it shows the attendees the priority they have in their work. First the family, then his work and, finally, his work in Freemasonry. In the case of the Maimonides lodge, there is a lot of symbols. Above all, he specifies, when one enters as an apprentice, a prior step to being a partner before becoming a master.
Rafael Mateo tells EFE that he has perceived “a lot of healthy curiosity” in the group. He finds it “fundamental to spreading the reality of what Freemasonry is.”
Social strata without prejudices
In his opinion, “the beauty and importance of Freemasonry is in reaching cultural and social strata that do not have prejudices about what Freemasonry can offer.” This is because “perhaps certain much more cultivated social groups may have an idea that is more difficult to reverse.”
He also explains to them that in the lodge they are prohibited from talking about politics and religion, even though Freemasons of different ideologies coexist. “We try to live a utopian life at least among ourselves,” he said.
The leader of the women’s group tells EFE that “the idea was to bring Freemasonry closer to the people, because it has always been very hidden, very taboo, very secret, and to do it in another environment closer to the Cordoban standing,” during one of the usual visits of the group.
With this type of initiative “we try to give a new focus to Córdoba by visiting places that are not so common and meeting illustrious people and artisans, everything that does not encompass the most touristic aspects of the city,” he emphasizes.
Hence, apart from the Royal Circle of Friendship, a social center traditionally linked to the Córdoba bourgeoisie and which most women set foot in for the first time, they have also previously visited the artisan guitar workshop of José Rodríguez, a luthier. ‘ since 1971, or Sombrerería Rusi, a traditional manufacture created in 1903.
