Promoting the Fraternity across the World
Freemasonry consists of fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. The degrees of freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow (now called Fellowcraft), and Master Mason. These are the degrees offered by Craft (or Blue Lodge) Freemasonry. Members of these organisations are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are usually administered by different bodies than the craft degrees.
The basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the Lodge. The Lodges are usually supervised and governed at the regional level (usually coterminous with either a state, province, or national border) by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, world-wide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry; each Grand Lodge is independent, and they do not necessarily recognise each other as being legitimate.
In modern day Freemasonry clear reference is made to the perfect points of reference in the rituals in the United States of America: “Were I to ask you how I should know you to be a Mason, your answer should be: “By certain signs, a token, a word, and the points of my entrance.” The signs, token, and word have already been explained to you at the Altar
Records of Royal Arch activity in England, in today’s Supreme Grand Chapter, start with the entry in the first minute book of the unnamed ‘Excellent Grand and Royal Chapter’. They are dated 22 March 1765 and show the first meeting to have been held at the mysterious and still unidentified Mr Inge’s premises, until the move to The Turk’s Head in Gerrard Street, Soho, London on 12 June of the same year. It took a further four years before Supreme Grand Chapter issued warrants establishing the first new Chapters under the jurisdiction of the Order.
The Tiler at Cariboo Lodge #469 in Barkerville, British Columbia, Canada, required neither sword nor trowel to perform his job. Cariboo had a “Silent Tyler” that was designed to keep out “wild men and some equally wild women”.
The highly successful and inaugural South Central Area cheque presentation evening, was held at Southampton Masonic Centre, Albion Place, last night in support of Area Lodges donating a fantastic sum of £21,808.75 to 22 non-Masonic Charities and good causes, locally.
Members of Buckinghamshire Freemasons were at Stowe School recently where an event to promote the work carried out by the Medical Detection Dogs team was held.
Medical Detection Dogs, (based in Great Horwood), trains dogs to detect the odour of human disease. It is at the forefront of the research into the fight against cancer and helping people with life-threatening diseases.
Bates was born on June 23rd, 1777 in Goochland County, Virginia. He was privately schooled by tutors on the family plantation. He attended college and would later read law with an established firm. In 1797, Bates moved to Detroit, Michigan. In 1803 he became the first postmaster of Detroit.
Andalucia’s Provincial Grand Master, Charles Crawford, with members of the the lodge of European Fraternitas Since the foundation of the first grand…
A review of Freemasonry in England in the last century is a subject for an
entire book. The only logical method to present this brief review is to select
some dates of importance in the past 110 years, emphasizing the significance and consequence of the historic events as they occurred in a chronologic sequence.
The Worcester Provincial Library and Museum, at Rainbow Hill, have a wide range of regalia in good condition for sale.
The hammer and sickle that decorated the coat of arms of the USSR is probably the most recognizable symbol both of Soviet power and of the ideology of the state it represented, as well as the entire history of the country.