As the curator of Australia's only publicly accessible Masonic museum, it's not surprising that Chris Craven has heard all the old gags about secret passwords, funny handshakes and plans for world domination. What is surprising is that he takes them all in good spirit and tosses in a few of his own.
'We had a woman come in here the other day, point at the pedestal and say: 'Is that where you sacrifice the virgins?'' Mr Craven said, in front of the white marble altar that is the focus of a Masonic lodge. 'Another myth is that you have to ride around on a goat during the initiation ceremony. I can tell you it's not true.'
The museum Mr Craven looks after opened 18 months ago as part of a campaign by the Freemasons to dispel public perceptions that it is either a bizarre cult or a secretive club for middle-aged men who liked dressing up in fancy costumes.
Located on the third floor of the Sydney Masonic Centre, in the heart of the city, it is a treasure trove of Masons' memorabilia. There is a pair of caribou-hide mittens made by an Inuit woman in Alaska in 1955 in honour of her son joining the Masons ('We get everywhere; we're like flies,' Mr Craven says). There are cardboard cut-out Masonic symbols, including the famous square and compass made in secret by Australian prisoners of war in Singapore's Changi prison during the second world war.
There are silver trowels and embroidered aprons - both symbols of the Masons - and lots of gavels, including a pair made from a 700-year-old piece of timber from Oxford, England. One wall is devoted to famous Masons, including 10 of Australia's 25 prime ministers (John Howard is not among them).
An adjoining room contains a collection of Masonic ceremonial dress, from the basic black dinner suit with sky-blue apron to bizarre-looking creations with scarlet fez hats and cloaks bearing the red crusader cross. And then there are the various different branches of Masonry, which revel in such gloriously eccentric names as The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and The Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm of North America.