Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that traces its origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which
from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of masons and their interaction with authorities and clients. The degrees of freemasonry, its gradal system, retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, journeyman or fellow (now called Fellowcraft), and Master Mason. These are the degrees offered by craft, or blue lodge Freemasonry. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are now administered by different bodies than the craft degrees.
The basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the lodge. The lodges are usually supervised and governed at the regional level (usually coterminous with either a state, province, or national border) by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, world-wide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry.
The first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster (later called the Grand Lodge of England (GLE)), was founded on 24 June 1717, when four existing London lodges met for a joint dinner. Many English Lodges joined the new regulatory body, which itself entered a period of self-publicity and expansion.
In Hellblazer[]
A secret lodge of Freemason stationed in the Houses of Parliament appear in the story arc The Fear Machine that acts as the primary antagonist. Like the stereotypical view of Freemasons in popular culture, the lodge was very active in British political affairs and had considerable wealth and power, to the point that they have their own armed men and staffs. However, this lodge is also a secret cult that worships a Lovecraftian god named Jallakuntilliokan, whom they were trying to summon.
John Constantine inadvertently got into their noses when the mason attack an environmentalist group which was at the time housing the former magus. The group kidnapped a young psychic girl named Mercury to summon their god, but John Constantine managed to stop them. With the help of a group of pagan shamans, John managed to bind it and sent it back.