Shriners International and Its Connection to Freemasonry
Shriners International is one of the most publicly visible fraternal organizations in the United States, famous for its red fezzes, parade antics, and a hospital network that has provided pediatric specialty care to millions of children. What surprises many people is that membership in Shriners International has historically been restricted to Master Masons — making it one of the most prominent appendant bodies connected to the Masonic fraternity. This page examines that relationship: how Shriners International is defined, how its Masonic eligibility requirement functions, the scenarios where the two organizations intersect, and where the boundary between them actually falls.
Definition and scope
Shriners International was founded in New York City in 1870 by a group of Freemasons who wanted a fraternal experience with a decidedly lighter atmosphere than the solemnity of the lodge room. The organization formally incorporated under the name "Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine," a name chosen for theatrical effect rather than any genuine historical connection to the Middle East. By the mid-20th century, Shriners International had grown to over 500,000 members across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Panama (Shriners International).
The organization's signature philanthropic enterprise — Shriners Hospitals for Children — operates 22 hospitals across North America, providing orthopedic, burn, spinal cord, and cleft lip and palate care regardless of a family's ability to pay (Shriners Children's). That charitable mission is distinct from the fraternal structure, though the two are inseparably associated in the public mind.
For orientation on the broader landscape of Masonic appendant bodies of which Shriners International is one part, the home page provides context on the full scope of Free and Accepted Masonry in the United States.
How it works
The eligibility mechanism is direct: to petition for membership in Shriners International, a man must first have received the third degree of Freemasonry — the Master Mason degree — in a recognized Blue Lodge. There is no intermediate requirement; affiliation with the Scottish Rite or York Rite is not necessary.
This makes Shriners International an appendant body rather than a concordant body. The distinction matters:
- Concordant bodies (like the Scottish Rite and York Rite) confer additional Masonic degrees that extend the symbolic work of the Blue Lodge.
- Appendant bodies (like Shriners International and the Order of the Eastern Star) attach to Masonic membership without conferring degrees in the technical Masonic sense — they have their own initiation ceremonies and titles, but those do not advance a member's standing within the lodge system.
Once a Master Mason petitions a Shrine temple (the local unit of Shriners International, sometimes called a "Potentate's domain"), a vote by current members determines acceptance. The ceremonial initiation into Shriners International is colloquially called "crossing the hot sands" — a theatrical desert-themed ritual that reflects the organization's founding aesthetic. After initiation, a Shriner receives the red fez that has become the organization's visual trademark.
Shriners International and Masonic lodges maintain separate governance, finances, and membership rosters. A man can be a Master Mason without being a Shriner, and a Shriner who allows his lodge dues to lapse becomes ineligible to remain an active Shriner in most jurisdictions — because the prerequisite (active Master Mason standing) no longer applies.
Common scenarios
Several patterns describe how men move through the relationship between a lodge and Shriners International:
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Direct path: A man petitions a Blue Lodge, completes the three degrees as described in the Masonic degrees overview, and then immediately petitions a Shrine temple. No additional degrees are required between the Master Mason degree and Shrine membership.
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Delayed affiliation: A Master Mason maintains lodge membership for years or decades before joining Shriners International, often after a personal connection to the Shrine's charitable work — a grandchild treated at a Shriners hospital, for instance.
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Scottish Rite or York Rite first: Some men pursue the additional degrees offered through Scottish Rite Freemasonry or York Rite Freemasonry before joining Shriners International. This is a matter of personal interest rather than requirement.
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Shrine-first motivation: Occasionally, a man's initial interest is in Shriners International's philanthropic mission, and lodge membership becomes the necessary pathway to get there. Masonic lodges are careful to accept petitioners who are genuinely interested in the fraternity itself — not merely using it as a ticket to another organization.
Decision boundaries
The relationship between Shriners International and Freemasonry has one firm rule and one evolving policy. The firm rule: Master Mason standing is the non-negotiable prerequisite for membership. The evolving policy involves the Masonic tie itself.
In 2000, Shriners International amended its bylaws to allow the Masonic requirement to remain but clarified enforcement procedures for members who lose good standing in their lodge (Shriners International). This was partly a response to declining membership across both organizations through the latter decades of the 20th century.
Shriners International is not a secret society in the Masonic sense. Its temples hold public parades, sponsor open charitable events, and actively recruit through visible community presence. This contrasts with the lodge's more reserved approach to membership, where a man must typically petition without being directly solicited. The appendant bodies of Freemasonry page examines how this public-facing posture compares across other organizations that share the Masonic prerequisite.
The charitable and fraternal functions of Shriners International are legally and operationally separate: Shriners Children's (the hospital network) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization distinct from Shriners International (the fraternity), which holds its own nonprofit status. A donation to one does not fund the other.