Promoting the Fraternity across the World
To celebrate 300 years of Freemasonry, following the formation of the first Grand Lodge in June 1717, the Widnes Group of Lodges and Chapters held a church service in the magnificent St Luke’s Church – a Grade II listed building which dates back to the 12th century
It is around 1755 in Germany that different groups called the Golden Cross, and the Rosy Cross appeared. At this time, none of these groups were real parts of Freemasonry.
It seems that these groups were not organized together and continued to be isolated from each other for some years after their creation. However, close contacts were initiated between these groups and Freemasons interested in esotericism
Freemasonry continues an initiatic tradition whose beginnings are lost in antiquity. This statement cannot be proven historically.Yet the more you study Masonic rites and its symbols, the more you become convinced that you are dealing with something ancient, maybe even primordial. It becomes clear that this tradition is much older than Masonrys institutional beginnings in 1717, older than the cathedral builders and medieval guilds, older even than King Solomons Temple or the Egyptian Pyramids.
