Encyclopedia Masonica

The French title of this officer is V?nerable Maitre de toutes les Loges. The Twentieth Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The presiding officer is styled V?n?rable Grand Master, and is assisted by two Wardens in the West. The decorations of the Lodge are blue and yellows. The old ritual contains some interesting instructions respecting the first and second Temple. Among the traditions preserved by the possessors of this Degree is one which states that after the third Temple was destroyed by Titus, the son of Vespasian, the Christian Freemasons, who were then in the Holy Land being filled with sorrow, departed from home with the determination of building a fourth, and that, dividing themselves into several bodies, they dispersed over the various parts of Europe. The greater number went to Scotland, and repaired to the town of Kilwinning, where they established a Lodge and built an abbey, and where the records of the Order were deposited. This tradition, preserved in the original rituals, was to Brother Mackey a very strong presumptive evidence that the Degree owed its existence to the Templar system of Ramsay.

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.