Encyclopedia Masonica

In 1758 there was established in Paris a Chapter called the Council of Emperors ofvthe East and West. The members assumed the titles of Sovereign Prince Masons Substitutes General of the Royal Art, Grand Superintendents and OMJiDcers of the Grand and Soverefyn Lodye of Saint John of Jerusalem. Their ritual, which was based on the Templar system, consuted of twenty-five Degrees, as follows:
1 to 19, the same as the Scottish Rite;
20, Grand Patriarch Noachite;
21, Key of Masonry;
22, Prince of Lebanon;
23, Knight of the Sun;
24, Kadosh;
25, Prince of the Royal Secret.

It granted Warrants for Lodges of the advanced Degrees, appointed Grand Inspectors and Deputies, and established several subordinate Bodies in the interior of France, among which was a Council of Princes of the Royal Secret, at Bordeaux. In 1763, one Princemaille, the Master of the Lodge La Candeur, meaning in French Frankness, at Metz, began to publish an exposition of these Degrees in the serial numbers of a work entitled Conversations All?goriques sur la Franche-Ma?onnerie, or Allegorical Conversation on Freemasonry. In 1764, the Grand Lodge of France offered him three hundred livres to suppress the book. Pincemaille accepted the bribe, but continued the publication, which lasted until 1766. The year of their establishment in France, in 1758, as reported bv Doctor Mackey, the Degrees of this Rite of Heredom, or of Perfection, as it was called, were carried bv Marquis de Bernez to Berlin, and adopted by the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes.

Between the years 1760 and 1765, there was much dissension in the Rite. A new Council, called the Knights of the East, was established at Paris, in 1760, as the rival of the Emperors of the East and West. The controversies of these two Bodies were carried into the Grand Lodge, which, in 1766, was compelled, for the sake of peace, to issue a decree of opposition to the advanced Degrees, excluding the malcontents, and forbidding the symbolical Lodges to recognize the authority of these Chapters. But the excluded Freemasons continued to work clandestinely and to grant Warrants.

From that time until its dissolution, the history of the Council of the Emperors of the East and \Nest is but a history of continued disputes with the Grand Lodge of France. At length, in 1781, it was completely absorbed in the Grand Orient, and has no longer an existence.

The assertion of Thory (Acta Latomorum), and of Ragon (Orthodozie Ma?onnique), that the Council of the Emperors of the East and West was the origin of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, although it has been denied, does not seem destitute of truth. It is very certain, if the documentary evidence is authentic, that the Constitutions of 1672 were framed by this Council; and it is equally certain that under these Constitutions a patent was granted to Stephen Morin, through whom the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in America.

The Encyclopedia Masonica exists to preserve the wealth of information that has been generated over the centuries by numerous Masonic authors. As Freemasonry is now Speculative and not Operative, the work of a Mason is now conducted in the quarries of symbolism, literature, history and scholasticism. Freemasonry encourages intellectual exploration and academic achievement in its members and many Masons over the years have taken up this calling. The result has been that an incredible amount of philosophy, symbolic speculation and academic insights have been created. However, as Freemasonry teaches, human knowledge is frail and fragile. It is easily lost in the turnings of the ages and unforeseen catastrophes can result in great setbacks to human knowledge.

For too long these great works have sat on forgotten shelves, gathering dust and concealing the light that could be shed on the darkness of our ignorance. The Encyclopedia Masonica has been created to act as an ark, sailing through time, to ensure that future generations of Freemasons have access to the same knowledge that inspired the Brethren that came before them. It will contain the works of such Masonic Luminaries as Albert G. Mackey, Manly Palmer Hall, G.S.M. Ward, Albert Pike and many others. The Encyclopedia Masonica is a living work and the volunteers of Universal Co-Masonry will continue to labor until the most comprehensive Masonic reference work the world has ever seen has been created. The Encyclopedia Masonica is open to any who wish to use it and will remain open so that the treasures contained within may increase the wealth of all those who seek its wisdom.