It depends on the group-- local groups can vary quite a bit in how deep they go into the secret traditions, and how secret they keep the secrets. :~) We've had some interesting discussions about it when a parishioner has died and the Lodge he'd belonged to wants to do a ritual within the funeral service. It also varies by level (degree), with some of the members knowing more than others. But in the action taken by a group, at least here, it's all about community building.

In our neck of the woods, some folks do that community building thing as masons, some as volunteer fire/ambulance companies, some at church, etc. But most folks who do it, do it in more than one organization. Even when the organizations say they are in contradiction to one another, people here don't worry about it-- living so close to the bone, they focus on the job at hand which is usually neighboring, and relationships.

That's one reason I find the internecine wars here at Mudcat so weird-- where we are, it just isn't DONE: people here remember that tomorrow they will need the neighbor's help to plant the crop or put out the chimney fire, or that they may be called on to give the help, the next.

~Susan