Freemasons For Dummies: Chartering Mahrage Grotto in Fishers, Indiana This Weekend

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Chartering Mahrage Grotto in Fishers, Indiana This Weekend

by Christopher Hodapp

This weekend, we'll have a very special occasion in the far-flung northeastern suburbs of Indianapolis. The formation of a new Masonic-related local chapter of any kind is nowhere near as commonplace as it used to be, so it's a very big deal to announce the formation of Mahrage Grotto on Saturday, September 29th!

Hamilton County is the fastest growing community in the country right now, being home to the towns of Carmel and Fishers (recently named the #1 and #2 Best Cities in America to Live by US News & World Report). Mahrage Grotto is officially chartered for Carmel, but the organizational events this weekend will be in Fishers.

To start, there will be a Chartering Weekend Kickoff this Friday, August 28th at Sun King in Fishers between 6:30 and 10:30PM.

The invitation-only Institution Ceremony will be held Saturday Noon-3:00PM at Hamilton Lodge in Fishers (nuzzled in the soft shadows of the state's only Ikea store). The public officer's installation and chartering dinner will follow at 5:00PM at the Fishers American Legion Post 470 at 9091 E. 126th Street, and ladies are welcome. Dinner is $30 per person.

Visit the website for reservations, but act now!

What's the Grotto, you ask? It's shorthand for a local chapter of the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, one of the social groups connected to the Freemasons. (If you've heard of the Shriners, they are similar - they even wear fezzes... black ones, instead of red ones). Check out their website HERE.

But if you're interested in joining, you must be a Master Mason in a local Masonic Lodge first. For more about that, check out BeAFreemason.com

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The Legendary brotherhood
A mythic past
A visionary future.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

Maybe it's for you.

Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C..

Prior to joining the Masons and becoming an author, Chris spent 23 years as a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and currently serves as its President and Co-Director.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

Chris is a Fellow of the Philalethes Society. As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was also a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018 as part of the 200th anniversary of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

Chris is also the co-author with his wife Alice VonKannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies. Together they developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in the 2024 episode of America's Book of Secrets - The Freemason Factor for History and Prometheus Productions.

Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with their canine companions , Sophie the Flying Poodle and Maxwell, the Idiot Circus Doodle, who have them both answering to basic commands. They can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

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Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Chartering Mahrage Grotto in Fishers, Indiana This Weekend

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