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THE ANTIENT LANDMARKS - November 2015

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THE ANTIENT LANDMARKS - November 2015 THE ANTIENT LANDMARKS - November 2015 Our Masonic History gives us a fuller understanding of Freemasonry. I have always held the view that our history is intrinsically associated with education. As Education Officer of Lodge St Alban some of my contributions will therefore, be of an historical nature. My first contribution relates to The Antient Landmarks. Does a Masonic Landmark have a different meaning, compared to the meaning normally put into the word? A navigator sees a landmark as a certain easily detectable mark in the landscape. In the VSL "you shall not remove a neighbours landmark," be it a certain tree, a big stone or a little brook, marking the boundaries for a farm, a village or for another certain area. Landmarks in history include, the battle of Trafalgar, the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the landing on the moon. In medical domain the discovery of the blood circulation, the introducing of antiseptic surgery and discovery of penicillin. All these landmarks have something in common: Each of them is special and distinct. The Landmarks most commonly referred to are those listed by Mackey in 1858. 1. Modes of recognition. 2. The division of symbolic masonry into three degrees. 3. The legend of the Third Degree. 4. Government of the Fraternity by an elected Grand Master. 5. The prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every assembly of the Craft. 6. The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensations for conferring degrees at irregular times 7. The prerogative of the Grand Master to give dispensations for opening and holding lodges. 8. The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at sight. 9. The necessity for masons to congregate in lodges. 10. The government of a lodge by a Master and two Wardens. 11. The necessity that every lodge should be duly tiled. 12 The right of every mason to be represented in all general meetings of the Craft and to instruct his representatives 13 The right of every mason to appeal from a lodge decision to Grand Lodge. 14 The right of every mason to visit every regular lodge. 15. No unknown visitor to enter a lodge without examination. 16. No lodge to interfere with the business of another lodge nor give degrees to Brethren who are members of other lodges. 1 17. Every mason is amenable to the laws and regulations of the Masonic jurisdiction in which he resides. 18. A Candidate for Initiation to be a man, unmutilated, free-born, and of mature age. 19. Belief in the existence of God. 19. Belief in the resurrection to a future life. 21. A Book of the Law shall constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every lodge. 22. The equality of all masons. 23. The secrecy of the institution. 24. The foundation of a speculative science for the purposes of religious or moral teaching. 25. These Landmarks can never be changed. The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at sight is rare, two examples include. Made a "Mason at sight" in 1978, astronaut and politician John Glenn served in the Concord Lodge No. 688 in Ohio. The Grand Master of Ohio decided to induct Glenn after he circled the planet and served four consecutive terms in the Senate. Field Marshall Douglas MacArthur was made a "Mason at Sight" on January 14, 1936, by Samuel R. Hawthorne, the Grand Master of Masons in the Philippines. The ceremony lasted several hours and each Degree was conferred by a Past Grand Master. In the ritual of the Grand Lodge of SA & NT there are four references to the Landmarks and how important they are, but nowhere are they stated. Freemasons are variously told that the Landmarks:- • Are to be adhered to – Charge after Initiation. • Are to be well guarded – Charge after Passing. • Are entrusted to our care – Charge after Raising. • And that Freemasons are to be well skilled in them – Installation of the Master. The first Book of Constitutions of The Grand Lodge of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of South Australia was published in 1885 and on pages 106-108 contained a list of Landmarks based on Mackey’s list. However, when the second Book of Constitutions was being prepared in 1892, much controversy raged over whether this list of Landmarks should be retained or omitted. Finally by a majority of 28 to 12 in the Board of General Purposes they were omitted. From that time the Grand Lodge has published no list of what it considers the landmarks to be. I think the answer to the question, why not? is revealed in the next two paragraphs The Grand Lodge of England has never defined the Landmarks that form the basis of Freemasonry. Grand Lodge having agreed the basic form of our ceremonies, and has never entered into discussion as to what the meaning of the ritual is. This has been done in the firm belief that it is part of the individual’s personal journey to form their own understanding of the ritual. Discovering the Landmarks surely forms part of the individual’s journey, providing an opportunity to make his own study and increase his own understanding of the Craft. Over the years much discussion has taken place in regard to the Landmarks. John Hamill¹ prefers the definition, first put on paper by the late Harry Carr² that a Landmark is something in Freemasonry that would, were it removed, materially alter the basis of Freemasonry. Using the Carr definition Hamill suggests that there are six landmarks: 2 1. Belief in the Supreme Being, that being the one thing, in a very disparate membership, that we all have in common. 2. The presence of the three great lights, particularly the Volume of the Sacred Law, which underpins our system of morality. 3. The three great principles of brotherly love, relief and truth, they being the embodiment of our basic principles and tenets. 4. The use of ritual using allegory and symbolism, as well as the allusions within the ritual to King Solomon’s temple, but not the detail of the ritual itself, which has changed over time. 5. The ban on the discussion of religion and politics at masonic meetings, which if it were removed would undoubtedly lead to dissention and disharmony. 6. The taking of an Obligation to uphold the principles of Freemasonry and to preserve inviolate the signs, tokens and words used as a test of membership. When discussing Landmarks some years ago with the late Ken Brindal³ his view was their was only one! "A belief in a Supreme being" MW Bro R.K. (Rob) Casson PGM - Education Officer, Lodge St Alban November 2015 Further Reading - "Understanding Freemasonry" Chapter 16. A W Martin OS PGW PGL Google - <Masonic Landmarks> ¹ John Hamill is Special Projects Officer at UGLE and assists the Grand Chancellor (who is responsible for UGLE external relations), a former Director of Communications at UGLE, a former Librarian and Museum Curator at UGLE, Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge (the premier Lodge of Research), Masonic researcher and author. ² Harry Carr Past Junior Grand Deacon P.M., (Secretary and Editor 1961 - 1973) of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, London P.M., 2265, 2429, 6226, 7464 Honorary Member of 236, 2429, 2911, 3931, 7998, 8227 Fellow of the American Lodge of Research, N.Y., Honorary Member of Ohio Lodge of Research, Masonic Research Lodge of Connecticut, Loge Villard d'Honnecourt, No. 81 Paris (France), Mizpah Lodge, Cambridge, Mass., Arts and Crafts Lodge, No. 1017, Illinois, Walter F. Meier Lodge of Research, No. 281, Seattle, Washington, Research Lodge of Oregon, No. 198, Portland, Victoria Lodge of Education and Research, Victoria, B.C. Honorary P.A.G.D.C. Grand Lodge of Iran ³ Ken Brindal P.M. SA Lodge of research DipMEd, PGSwdB Kellerman Lecturer 1992 THE ANTIENT LANDMARKS - St Alban Education Folder 3 .
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