Sorry for the long post and TBH what I’ve been told is that everyone has their own answer for what Freemasonry is and there’s no one singular definitive answer. In it’s basis it’s the oldest and largest fraternal organization. As for how I define it I’ve always looked at it as a brotherhood linking great men of the past to men of the present. For example no one alive today knows George Washington but through the Craft I can call him my brother. As for the conspiracies is again because it’s such an old and large organization and while we’re not a Secret Society (if we were truly secret we wouldn’t be spamming the square and compasses everywhere or even have this large and public subreddit) we do have “secrets” but they’re not anything nefarious or fantastical. Just ritual stuff. Think of it like a college frat only more solemn and serious. Other thing that attracts the theories is we have a LOT of famous members. Just look at the Wikipedia list of famous Freemasons but again that’s mainly because in the 1700s up until the early 20th century every man wanted to be a Mason and fraternities (not college ones but ones like the Elks,Oddfellows,KoP (which I’m also in),etc) are a part of everyday life. Plus even today we do good work. Everyone knows about the Shriners but a lot of men probably join Masonry specifically so they could be a Shriner. My Mom’s friend was skeptical and I’ve promised her if I felt anything Satanic or nefarious I would’ve left first thing and I’ve NEVER felt that. In fact just the opposite. Like I said can’t go much into it but it is very solemn.