Masonic Education

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –
“The Ancients and Moderns”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers,
items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

The Ancients and Moderns

The year 1751 witnessed the formation of another Grand Lodge by Irish Masons, who had serious disagreements with the existing Grand Lodge. These members felt that the 1717 Grand Lodge was arbitrarily changing cherished parts of the rituals. The original Grand Lodge was, therefore, known as the Moderns. The new Grand Lodge became known as the Antients, because it felt that was preserving the purity of the ritual. The quarrel ended in 1813 when the two Grand Lodges put aside their differences to form the United Grand Lodge of England, and an agreed ritual was established and published. The degree work as we know it today only came into being at that time. The Articles of Union of 1813, agreed to by both Grand Lodges, proclaimed that Ancient Masonry consisted of three degrees and no more, and named as the first of these, the Entered Apprentice.

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“Three Degrees”

(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.The following does not include the “Secrets” in the Degrees.)

Three Degrees

The three degrees are the method by which candidates attain the rank of Master Mason and, although each is a discrete ceremony, together they form a unity of teaching. Each degree is necessary for the completeness of the whole. Not withstanding the reference to the three degrees, the system is actually one initiation unfolded to the candidate in three parts. The aim of the ritual is to be a total and profound experience, in which an understanding of the threads that have run unbroken for several centuries are seen as a strength in a member’s life. Starting at a low level the ritual works upward to create the impression that is leading the candidate to greater matters. In essence the candidate is transformed into a new man with a range of thought, possessing a new feeling of mankind, a strengthened confidence in God. ²¹

The first section attempts to clear the mind of all worldly influences to enable the candidate to seek the principles of moral truths without interference from the outside world of emotion and instinct. This section also concerns itself with setting the stage by explaining the physical aspects of the lodge room and its contents. Masonry is a progressive science. It refers to a continuing process, and gives a hint of the future. The candidate is told that he represents a foundation stone upon which he may build a personal and satisfying character.

The second section leads the candidate to use his intellectual faculties to find the path to his God and to discover Truth. The Mason is urged to steer a medium course through life and not to be swayed by passion or prejudice in his dealings. He is encouraged to follow a middle course within the extent of the compasses, the exactness of the square and the correctness of the plumb rule. This section tells the story of the candidate who, entering between two great pillars and ascending a winding stair, reaches a middle chamber where he receives the wages of a fellowcraft and prepares himself for the advancement to the third degree. A stage of enlightenment about a man’s journey through life has been reached. The candidate is told it is a tortuous journey, symbolized by the winding stair, full of unknown twists and turns, so that success will only be obtained from his own exertions. Finally, it is suggested that he may now extended his researches into the hidden mysteries of nature and science. Nature is the knowledge of one’s self and the fraternal relationship that exists between man and man. Science is the study of the world wherein one can enjoy the benefits of being part of a good community in order to join in the beauty of an intellectual, spiritual and moral life.

The final section brings the candidate to an awareness of his ultimate destiny. He is searching for some lost knowledge and this emphasizes the fact that Masonry is an unfinished story, the end of which is discovered when the inner character is completed. The secret of this section is that it is without an end, because that story has not been told. It is hoped that the candidate begins to realize that Masonry is a lifetime study of the meeting and purpose of a true existence. The aim is to seek perfection. As he progresses through the degrees he realizes that a system of morality is being illustrated by which he is taught proper conduct towards God and his fellow man through the use of social moral virtue.

Knowledge of the degrees will unlock the inherent power of the mind to form a gradual comprehension of the moral, ethical and intellectual absolutes that have guided mankind for centuries. Elements of the ethical and moral system of Masonry can be traced to classical days and even to ancient Egypt. This is simply because the traditions and values of Masonry teachings have been fundamental to most societies from the dawn of time. Man has continually been aspiring to attain greater heights in order to transform his humdrum life into a more glorious world free of passion. Evidence to support an actual descent from those ancient times, however, is totally lacking. Historical matters mentioned in the ritual are not accurate and do not show the origin of Masonry, but are only the background of which to hang a story that tells a moral lesson.

The member is told to nourish life and find the sacred in the ordinary. Members must find time for this song of the heart. Simple admiration of the ritual is not sufficient. A Mason is not made simply by taking the degrees, that process only makes him a member. The system is not the end of a journey, but the beginning. A fourth part to the system is essential: learning and teaching. The ritual, therefore, is a learning experience in the moral and intellectual areas of human life. If members are not aware of this, they can not give the necessary excitement, dignity and importance to the ritual.

^{21 An address by R.W. Bro. George Hinchliff at his official visit to St. George’s Lodge, No. 367 November 4, 1986.}

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled – “Language in Ritual”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

Language in Ritual

Early invaders from Normandy under William the Conqueror introduced the Norman dialect into England. The Anglo-Saxons, however, tenaciously clung to their own speech. Over the years a common language came into existence that culminated in Middle English in the 1300’s. It became the custom in proclamations to use pairs of words to avoid confusion and to ensure understanding by both Norman and Anglo-Saxon. Examples of these are: true and proper; truth and verity; promise and swear. The ritual shows antiquity. It may appear archaic, but it is steeped in history and the beauty and clarity of language. The aim is to stimulate the mind of the candidate so that he feels compelled to seek explanations for what he has experienced.The latter part of the eighteenth century had an impact on the style and vocabulary of the ritual and neither were radically altered at the time of the union of the Grand Lodges. Such words as ‘ascertain’ meaning ‘to make certain’, ‘casual’ meaning ‘accidental’, ‘determine’ meaning ’define’, ‘discover’ meaning ‘disclose’, ‘save’ meaning ‘except’ and ‘candid’ meaning ‘open or innocent’ are still to be found in the ritual of today. “Enthusiast’, for instance, was formerly a word used to indicate a person of violent passions or arrogance. This word is employed in its old usage and not that of today. The subject of morality necessitates a certain formality of language and, what appears archaic today, was ordinary speech in the later eighteenth century. In addition, such words as temperance, fortitude and justice, winding stair, middle chamber, Jephthah and the Ephraimites, bright morning star were known to the writers of the ritual, because of their familiarity with the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible. Other words and phrases seem to point to different origins: the ‘voice of nature’ from a line in Gray’s Elegy: E’er from the tomb the voice of nature cries”, and perhaps the phrase ‘darkness visible’ from Milton’s Paradise Lost:

“No light, but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sights of woe.”

There are many references to darkness being illuminated by light. One further reference, however, is needed to emphasize the use of those words, Alexander Pope’s, The Dunciad, Book IV:
“Of darkness visible so much be lent,
As half to show, half veil the deep intent. 20

No reference is found to darkness visible before the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813. A small shaft of light only increases awareness of darkness, which is the incomprehensible future that awaits everyone. But it also represents the light of knowledge that, as it expands, pushes back the darkness.

20 Ars Quatuor Coronatum, Vol. 103. p.199

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”

– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“The Middle Ground – Ritual Presentation”

(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

Ritual Presentation

The ritual is neither literal nor historical, but a dramatic allegory to explain the tenets and principles of the Craft. The delivery of the Work is of crucial importance. The ritualist ought to remember that has placed himself in the position of a Master of the Craft to his apprentice. His responsibility, therefore, is to convey the stories of the ritual to the candidate clearly and interestingly. The general meaning of the ritual can be sensed in the feeling and flow of the words. They are not meaningless. The ritual must impress the candidate with awe and wonder and fill his mind with intelligent information. The work must be sincere and, although accuracy is pleasing, there must be communication. The right words can be pronounced, but is unavailing unless the message comes across. Ritual is the performance of a ceremony to illustrate a mystery. Society has many such rituals: shaking the hand of a friend, raising one’s hat to a lady, saluting an officer by one of lower rank. Although these are simple gestures they do possess deeper meanings. The intent of the masonic ritual is to bring a man into a brotherhood of men, who believe in right thinking and right action.

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“The Trigradal System”

(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

The Trigradal System

At the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717 masonry was generally a two degree system 18 consisting of the Acceptance (equivalent to Entered Apprentice) and the Master’s Part (which gave the rank of Fellowcraft and Master). In the early years of the eighteenth century, however, records suggest that three degrees were being developed by the division of the Acceptance into two to form the Entered Apprentice and the Fellowcraft degrees. The Trinity College, Dublin, MS. 1711, provides the earliest reference to separate secrets for entered apprentice, fellowcraft and master mason. 19 

The trigradal system was adopted very slowly. Distances between lodges forced them to be separate and autonomous entities. As a result there probably was little exchange of information between them. Many lodges did not accept the third degree until after the middle of the eighteenth century as brethren seemed quite content to be entered apprentices. About 1738 the Master’s Part is referred to as ‘raising’ and, although not in wide use until after 1750, it had become a usual practice by 1815.

Pennell’s Constitutions published in the summer of 1730 mentions three degrees. Great changes can be seen in the years between Anderson’s 1723 Constitutions and Masonry Dissected of 1730 and even greater modifications in the next thirty years to the publication of Three Distinct Knocks. The ritual was beginning to bear some resemblance to that of today. The eighteenth century was the age of reason when the intellect was considered to be of paramount importance. Knowledge   though memories of the past must have lingered. The ritual, therefore, assumed a more polished state in the late eighteenth century when the influence of writers such as William Preston, Wellins Calcott and William Hutchinson was felt.

18 The Freemason’s Guide and Compendium, p.223
19 The Freemason’s Guide and Compendium, p.242

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“THE EXPOSURES.”

(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

During the eighteenth century some disgruntled masons and others felt the need to vent their spleen and disclose what were allegedly the private secrets of masonry. These publications are known as ‘exposures’. They show that the ritual of today bears a rough similarity to that of the period before 1813. Samuel Prichard’s exposure of October, 1730 called Masonry Dissected claims in its title page to give an impartial account of “… the whole Three Degrees of Masonry, viz., I Enter’d Prentice. II Fellow Craft, III Master …”. It is the most significant exposure and seems to have influenced the French exposures that became available from 1740 onwards; it is in the form of a catechism. Many of its questions are interesting, e.g.,”Q. How did he bring you: A. Neither naked nor clothed, bare-foot nor shod deprived of all metal and in a right moving Posture. Q. How did he (the Master) make you a Mason? A. With my bare-bended Knee and body within the Square, the Compass extended to my naked Left Beast, my naked Right Hand on the Holy Bible; there I took the Obligation of a Mason”.

R.W. Bro. Robert South

Masonic Education for October 2021

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”

– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“THE ENTERED APPRENTICE.”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

The earliest printed references to entered apprentices are found in varying forms in such documents as The Edinburgh Register House MS, 1696: “Q. What makes a true and perfect lodge? An: seven masters, five entered apprentices …”; The Chetwode Crawley MS, c. 1700: “Here am I the youngest and last entered Apprentice …”; the Sloane MS 3329, c. 1700: Q. What is a just and perfect or just and Lawful Lodge? A. a just and perfect Lodge is two Interprintices two fellow craftes and two Masters …”; The Trinity College Dublin, MS 1711: “Q. What makes a full and perfect lodge? A. three masters, 3 fellow craftsmen and 3 enterprentices …” 16 A footnote in Anderson’s Constitutions, 1723 gives “That enter’d Prentices at their making …” and, in the same volume the title of a song attributed to a “Mr. Matthew Birkhead, deceas’d is given as “The Enter’d Prentices Song”. The classification of a candidate as an entered apprentice is well known from 1599 in Scotland, but the use of entered, but the use of entered is not found in English documents until 1720. The first record of initiation in England is in Newcastle-on-Tyne on May 20,1641. This, however, was performed by members of the Lodge in Edinburgh, who were serving with the Scottish Army that had invaded England. 17

16 The Early Masonic Catechisms, p.69

17 The Pocket History of Freemasonry, p.44

(The READER, may notice that there appear to be many spelling mistakes in the above. As I was typing this article, I verified that the spelling was as recorded in the booklet.)

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”

– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“PENETRATING THE VEIL:

THE TWO DEGREE SYSTEM.”

(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

THE TWO DEGREE SYSTEM

Prior to 1760 no official ritual documents existed. Most of what is known about the ritual has come from fragments of information contained in lodge minutes or in clues found in old MS Constitutions. At first the evidence points to a simple ceremony of admission into full membership in the mason trade. But a tantalizing possibility of the existence is presented in the Harleian MS, which is reputed to be the sixteenth century. 14 Later documents such as The Edinburgh Register House MS, 1696, and the Sloane MS 3323 1659, both refer to the existence of two ceremonies. 15 The first recorded reference to passing and raising is in the Graham MS, 1726, which reads “… being entered passed and raised and Conformed by 3 several lodges…”. The evidence of development is drawn mainly from documents of Scottish origin. There are, however, English texts dated between 1714 band 1730 which in many cases, repeat what is found in the Scottish documents.

14 World of Freemasonry, p. 5

15 Freemason’s Guide and Compendium, p. 231

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“PENETRATING THE VEIL: SPECULATIVE MASONS.”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

SPECULATIVE MASONS

The possibility exists that non-operative masons had been admitted into the trade associations since the early days of the Gothic Period. At that time the employers, in most cases were ecclesiastics. As the eventual owners it would be natural for them to become privy to some of the trade practices and construction methods. The London Masons’ Company is recorded as having an inner fraternity of accepted members, who were not necessarily operative masons. By the end of the seventeenth century there appeared to be bodies of Freemasons spread throughout England.⁵ As early as 1633, in his Survey of London, the author Stow refers to “the masons, otherwise termed ‘free-masons’.” Dr. Robert Plot, antiquarian, published his Natural History of Staffordshire in 1686 in which he wrote: “To these add the Customs relating to the County, whereof they have one, of admitting Men into the Society of Free-Masons, that in the moorelands of the County seems to be of greater request, than anywhere else, though I find the Custom spread more or less all over the Nation, for here I found persons of the most eminent quality, …”, and also “… they proceed to the admission of them, which chiefly consists in the communication of certain secret signs, whereby they are known to one another all over the Nation …”.⁶

The seventeenth century provides evidence of landowners and astronomers being admitted into the craft. Although no official records exist from the seventeenth century, there are some secondary references. Meetings were not held on a regular basis, but members assembled when a candidate was initiated. The mot-well-known is the entry of Elias Ashmole, whose diary records his initiation in 1646 at Warrington.⁷ The members at this meeting were listed as Ashmole and research shows that none were of the operative trade.⁸ It is interesting to note that one of the listed members was Colonel Mainwaring, who commanded the Parliamentary forces at Macclesfield. Ashmole was a Captain in Lord Ashley’s Regiment. In the same lodge, therefore, a Royalist and a Parliamentarian met as equals in Masonry. The Antiquarian and Deputy Garter King-of-Arms, Randle Holme, mentions that a lodge in Cheshire, of which he claimed membership, had several non-operatives as members.⁹ Edmund Hall recorded that he was initiated in 1696 at the Swan, Chichester. Other refences indicate loges operating at York and London in the late seventeenth century. Some masonic activity must have been carried on in this period, otherwise the publication of anti-masonic leaflets warning the public of the evil nature of Masonry would not have been necessary.¹⁰

The Grand Tour of Europe by educated gentlemen of the early eighteenth century exposed them to new designs in architecture¹¹ and particularly to the spirit of the Renaissance in Italy.¹² Possibly this interest in architecture generally and the classical Orders in particular also fostered a desire to join the Craft. Men were beginning to join Masonry not to be operative masons, but to avail themselves of the friendship with other men of similar background. Astronomy, mysticism and other esoteric knowledge might be found within the Craft. After the entry of the non-operative masons into the Craft, the two streams of thought, the preservation of trade secrets and the morality of daily life began to be brought together. This was a slow process, for example, working tools are mentioned in the seventeenth century, but without any moralizing.¹³ The gradual increase in the number of non-operatives eventually led to the development of a more elaborate ceremony. The mid-eighteenth century witnessed the appearance of the ritual in a form bearing similarities to that of today.

5 The Collected Prestonian Lectures, 1925-1960. P. 47
6 Early Masonic Pamphlets, Knoop, Jones, Hamer. P. 31
7 The Pocket History of Freemasonry, p. 45
8 Idem, p.45
9 Early Masonic Pamphlets, p. 34
10 Idem, p. 24
11 The Genesis of Freemasonry, p. 137
12 The Freemason’s Guide and Compendium, Bernard E. Jones. P. 98
13 The Pocket History of Freemasonry, p. 45

R.W. Bro. Robert South

From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”

– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990

This month’s issue is titled –

“PENETRATING THE VEIL: SOCIAL CONDITIONS.”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

As early as the mid-fourteenth century the life of the operative mason was being affected by changes in social changes and in the law. The Black Death of 1348 carried off over a third of the population of England and returned in the 1360s, though with lessened intensity.

The resultant shortage of labour caused wages to rise sharply. The government enacted Statutes of Labourers in 1350 and in 1360 to maintain an orderly system. Further statutes were passed in 1425. These, together with the previous ones, were consolidated and codified in 1563 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. The Great Plague killed one fifth of the population in 1665 and, one year later, two thirds of London’s houses and almost a hundred churches, including St. Paul’s, were destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

A survey of the period since the time of the operative mason shows many changes occurring slowly and steadily until the nineteenth century, when pace of change quickened. The emergence of the English as a nation began in the fourteenth century. This was caused partly by the influence of Chaucer who, in his Canterbury Tales, gave a distinct Englishness to the written word. Agricultural methods improved and farm produce was exported. The country was prosperous and the merchants, because of their financial strength, began to wield more power. England had become a seafaring nation. Overseas trade developed rapidly as seamanship improved. Courts of law were created which preserved order by ensuring that the administration of the law was fair to all inhabitants. The iron trade flourished in central England and coal was being mined in various parts of the island.

The centuries had not been placid. Internal wars such as the War of the Roses, although not involving everyone, were still disruptive. The Parliamentary Revolution caused a greater turmoil, pitting family against family and ending with the beheading of a King and a period of rule by a Protector of the Realm. The subsequent restoration of the monarchy produced a new renaissance in theatre and literature. Overseas wars fought by paid soldiers did not impinge directly upon everyday living, though trade was disrupted to some extent. Smallpox which had killed many people was brought under control by the discovery of vaccination. This expansion of knowledge increased in all fields: technology, medicine, science. The most significant change was the grasping towards progress and a better future. This prompted many political outbursts.

R.W. Bro. Robert South