There are lots of secret ceremonies.

Members progress thru higher and higher degrees.
First in the degree of Entered Apprentice. Some time later, in a separate ceremony, they will be passed to the degree of Fellowcraft, and finally they will be raised to the degree of Master Mason.

The Scottish and York Rites are appendant bodies of Freemasonry that a Master Mason may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry. There are two bodies based on the Scottish Rite and York Right.

The Scottish Rite Mason is urged to take an active leadership role in the promotion and protection of individual rights: government by democracy, free speech and press, equitable treatment before the law, freedom of religion and the individual, and separation of church and state.

York Rite Masonry in its concluding Degrees or Orders is the champion of Christianity. A man must pledge to defend Christianity to become a Knight Templar Freemason in the York Rite.
See The York And Scottish Rites Compared

U.S. Government influence.
Founding Fathers George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock were all Masons.
Many principals in the constitution such as separation of church and state were attributed to Masonic principals.
Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George Bush were all Masonic Presidents.
See Famous Freemasons

Origins:
Since the middle of the 19th century, Masonic historians have sought the origins of the movement. Some documents from 1425 to the beginning of the 18th century attribute it to a lodge of operative masons.

There is no clear mechanism by which these local trade organizations became today's Masonic lodges, but the earliest rituals and passwords known, from operative lodges around the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, show continuity with the rituals developed in the later 18th century by accepted or speculative Masons, as those members who did not practice the physical craft came to be known. The minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No.1 in Scotland show a continuity from an operative lodge in 1598 to a modern speculative lodge. It is reputed to be the oldest Masonic lodge in the world.

A German bookseller and Freemason, living in Paris,wrote a manuscript titled "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry" which embellished a story about King Charles II being a freemason which may account for the German connection.

The Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. A Rite is a progressive series of degrees conferred by various Masonic organizations.

The Scottish Rite is one of the appendant bodies of Freemasonry that a Master Mason may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry. In the United States, the Scottish Rite is officially recognized by Grand Lodges as an extension of the degrees of Freemasonry. The Scottish Rite builds upon the ethical teachings and philosophy offered in the craft lodge. In other countries the Scottish Rite is not an official part of the lodge.
Source: wikipedia

Organization:
Grand Lodges are independent and sovereign bodies that govern Masonry in a given country, state, or geographical area (termed a jurisdiction). There may be several Lodges within these jurisdictions. There is no single overarching governing body that presides over worldwide Freemasonry.

Membership:
Masonry Does Not Seek, It Must Be Sought One of the ancient landmarks of the fraternity is that it does not solicit new members. Many good men over the years have had their feelings hurt because close friends whom they knew to be Masons never invited them to join Freemasonry. They did not know, of course, that these close friends were prohibited by Masonic law from issuing such invitations. A man must seek Masonic membership of his own free will and accord.

The man who has decided to seek Masonic membership needs only to convey his desire to someone close to him who is a Mason. That Mason will take it from there.

Once a man decides to seek Masonic membership he must be recommended by members of the lodge, and he must submit to a background investigation. Following a prescribed waiting period, his petition will be balloted upon during a regular meeting of the lodge. The vote is by secret ballot, and election of a petitioner requires a unanimously favorable ballot.

A belief in a supreme being and scripture is a condition of membership.

See Become a Mason | The Grand Lodge of North Carolina
How To Become A Free Mason - (masonic-lodge-of-education.com)

Meetings, Ceremonies and Rituals:
The lodge meets regularly to conduct the usual formal business of any small organisation. They may also have a speaker on any general topic and conduct a ceremony to confer a Masonic degree.

There is no discussion of politics or religion.
However free masons study the Bible because of it's biblical foundations.

The Masonic altar holds a Holy Book (or several Holy Books, depending upon the personal religions of its members).

See rituals for:
1. The Entered Apprentice Degree
2. The Fellow Craft Degree
3. The Master Mason Degree at Masonic Rituals for Entered Apprentice, FellowCraft and Master Mason Degrees

Myths:

• Masonry documents from building of King Solomon’s Temple by Phoenician masons from Tyre were hidden in the Arc of the Covenant.
• In the 9th century they were found and hidden
• In the 12th century the Knights Templar found them. This started a period of improved building (e.g. great cathedrals).

Symbols:
Square and Compass:
G stands for Geometry .
Some say G stands for God and Geometry (Religion and Science)

Pentagram:
It appears in the great seal of the United States and the stars of the flag.
In Freemasonry it is symbolic of the descent of the divinity of Christ into the world of matter. But, many icons in the U.S. have been attributed to Freemasonry.
People point to the street layout in Washington, D.C.

Pierre Charles L'Enfante (a Freemason), laid out the Governmental Center .
See Also:
Masonic Information
Google search for Freemasonry
controversy over Freemasonry symbolism in our early government (e.g. great seal).
Opposition to Freemasonry within Christianity - Wikipedia
HOW TO BECOME A FREE MASON - Joining the Masonic fraternity.