As Dan Brown’s new book, “The Lost Symbol,” flies off bookshelves with tales of intrigue about local Masonic icons, Crociata, the junior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia, discusses what all the hype means for D.C.’s 4,000 Masons.
Are you going to read the book?
I do certainly want to read it.
What do you think about all the attention it is giving to Masons?
I can’t speak to how accurately the book portrays who or what we are, but, obviously, even if the book isn’t quite on the money it will cause people to ask questions — and we’re here to answer them.
What’s the biggest misconception about Masons?
A lot of people are focused on Freemasonry as a secret society. One of the things we like to say is we’re more accurately a society with secrets.
Have you noticed anybody lurking around Masonic temples since the book came out?
Certainly we’ve had more visits to Masonic locations around the District, like the George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, the House of the Temple, which is of course featured prominently in the first chapter of the book. We’ve also had an increase in inquiries, people just asking questions about us.
Has anybody been asking how to join?
Oh yes, I’ve gotten people asking how to join and if they are eligible to join.
Anything planned to capitalize on this attention from the book? Book sales? Special tours for Dan Brown fans?
I haven’t heard anyone wanting to do special tours. Although the biggest problem we’re going to have at some of the Masonic locations is planning for a larger influx of tourists than they are used to. … But as far as capitalizing on them, our fraternity goes back to oh, well, let’s see, our earliest written record goes back to the 1590s and our modern era starts in 1717. So this, while it’s pleasing to see the attention, this is kind of a small piece of our overall history.
