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This page
contains answers to a number of frequently asked questions about the
collections of the Library and Museum and Freemasons' Hall. More answers
will be added from time to time. If you have suggestions for questions
which we can answer here please contact us.
Some Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Masonic Calendar?
Although have been a number of Masonic dating systems, the most familiar
to Craft Freemasons will be Anno Lucis (A.L.), which is the system
that appears on certificates. Anno Lucis (the year of light) is based
on a chronology that puts the year of creation as 4,004 B.C. and is
traditionally derived by adding 4,000 to the year in question. For
example 1717 A.D. the year Grand Lodge was formed would become 5717
A.L., and 2003 would become 6003 A.L. The system was not exclusive
to Freemasons having been designed by an Irish cleric James Ussher
(1581-1656) many years before the formation of Grand Lodge in 1717.
(MC, April 2003)
When was the first Book of Constitutions published?
The Constitutions of the Free-Masons containing the History, Charges,
Regulations, &c. of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity:
For use of the Lodges was the first official publication of Grand
Lodge in 1723. It was the work of Revd. Dr. James Anderson (1680-1739),
who also produced a second edition in 1738. Anderson's Constitution
contained a "traditional" history of Freemasonry, rules
and regulations of the Craft and some songs and music for use in Lodges.
Copies of both the first and second edition can be viewed in the Library
and Museum under the following class mark: BE 94 GRA. (MC, April 2003)
What is "Ahiman Rezon"?
The Antients' Grand Lodge formed in 1751 published a Book of Constitutions
in 1756, under the title Ahiman rezon, or a help to a brother.
Eight editions were published in all before the Union of the two Grand
Lodges in 1813. Earlier editions were almost copies of Anderson’s
Constitutions produced by the Premier Grand Lodge, although the later
editions were less than complementary about their older rival. There
has been considerable debate over the meaning of the Hebrew title
Ahiman Rezon. The will of selected brethren,The secrets
of prepared brethren, Royal Builders and Brother Secretary
are just four of the explanations that can be found in Masonic encyclopaedias.Copies
of various editions can be viewed in the Library and Museum under
the class mark: BE 94 GRA (ANT). (MC, April 2003)
When was the Latin omitted from English Craft Certificates?
In January 1965 United Grand Lodge of England omitted Latin from Grand
Lodge Certificates. The original Grand Lodge Certificates from 1755
until 1819 had been in English only. The Antients' Grand Lodge had
issued certificates in English and Latin from 1766. In 1819 the United
Grand Lodge of England started producing Certificates in both languages.
For further information about the history of English Craft Certificates
see T.O. Haunch's paper in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum Vol. 82, 1969 (class
mark: A 31 QUA), or browse the subject "certificates" on the Library
and Museum Catalogue.
What is a "lewis"?
A "lewis" is a Freemason's son, who has not yet been initiated into
Freemasonry. In stonemasonry, a lewis is an iron cramp that is forced
into a cavity of a stone to enable the lifting or lowering of that
stone. Although it is not a working tool used in Masonic ritual it
can be seen as a symbol of strength, which a son is to his father.
Under some Masonic Constitutions "lewises" are granted privileges
such as in Scotland where the son of a Master Mason can be initiated
at the age of eighteen rather than twenty-one. In England the only
privilege extended to a "lewis", is that he takes precedence if he
is one of two candidates at initiation.
Those topics shown below are covered on the Grand
Lodge web site.
History of Freemasonry
Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street
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