H F A  F     

   The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient  Freemasons 

A Women's Masonic Fraternity

Founded  27th November 1913

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What exactly is HFAF ?
* HFAF stands for the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons
* A masonic fraternity of women in the UK, organised by women for women.

2. Are there HFAF Lodges outside the UK?
* At the moment we have one Lodge in Gibraltar and two Lodges in Spain; one  in the Calahonda area and another Lodge in the Costa Blanca area. We now have a brand new lodge in Bucharest, Romania and there is now interest in forming a Lodge in New Delhi. 

3. Enquiring from the USA?
* Although we cant help you directly, we can put you in touch with a women's masonic organisation in the USA
* AWF

4. Membership requirements
* You must be able to profess a belief in a Supreme Being
* You must be a woman, of good character, aged 21 or over and resident in the UK or Europe. 

* How to apply to join

5. What's the difference between HFAF and Co-Masonry    ?
* HFAF is purely for women, and as the name suggests Co-Masonry exists for both men and women.

* If you would like further information on International Co-Masonry then visit their website

-*There is also the newly founded Grand Lodge of Freemasonry  for Men and  Women , visit their website

6. Can members of other masonic Orders or Fraternities visit an HFAF Lodge?
* No, that is not allowed, as there exists no formal recognition between the various Orders. But informal contact is always possible.

7. What does UGLE think of Women's Freemasonry?
* UGLE issued a newsletter in March 1999, in which they stated that whilst they could not "recognise" us, they nevertheless considered us to be regular in our practices. Statement by UGLE
* There is a lot of contact between UGLE and HFAF on matters of mutual concern.

8. Forms of Address
* We address each other as Brother as we are member of a Fraternity, which is part of a Universal Brotherhood and the ritual we use in our ceremonies is taken from the men's ritual and mostly uses the masculine form of address . A decision was taken back in the early days not to change it, and now we would find it strange to use the feminine form of address. 

9. Charity
* We believe in giving to charity as part of our masonic teachings
* Through our registered charity we currently support many charities with special emphasis on those for the relief of cancer sufferers, particularly women and children. for further details see our Charity page

10. How can I tell if Freemasonry is for me?
* No-one can say for sure until they join, but the same is true of any club or organisation which you may join.

* Check out some of the Masonic websites on our Links page

* If you know anyone who is a Freemason, talk to them about what it has meant to them.

* There are literally hundreds of thousands of Freemasons all over the world, who have found that Freemasonry is indeed for them.

11. What are the differences between men and women's freemasonry?

What is the main difference between men Freemasons and women Freemasons? Well ...... apart from some very obvious ones, there is not a lot of difference. Our Lodges are very similar to any you might visit in the UK if you were already a mason. At the head of the Lodge presides the Worshipful Master, who is elected to that Office by the members of the Lodge. The Worshipful Master has a team of Officers, each Officer with a specific duty. Many of the Offices are progressive, meaning that members work their way towards them. Lodge meetings can be held up to eight times a year. Apart from their Lodge meetings our members also enjoy social gatherings, where they can get to know each other on a more informal basis, and incidentally where a great deal of our fund-raising for charity is carried out.

As always if you have any questions which have not been answered please e-mail us at info@hfaf.org or write to the Grand Secretary at:

HFAF

402 Finchley Road

Childs Hill

London NW2 2HR

Website created and maintained by Bro. Christine Chapman, Assistant Grand Master