Encyclopedia Masonica

Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote a distort of England which has been read more often than any other English history, and in the United States has enjoyed a double fame: first, as a text book or as required reading in high schools and colleges almost since its publication; second, as a masterpiece of literature which in conjunction with his Essays and his poems has been used in the English Departments of Colleges in every State of the Union, is in every public library, and once was required reading for each well-read man. His biographer says of him that he had read everything, knew more than he had read, and forgot nothing.

A carefully considered remark Macaulay once made on Freemasonry must for such reasons carry more weight than if it had been made by a man less thoroughly acquainted with England from the Norman Conquest to Queen Victoria. In a conversation with Harriet Beecher Stowe her notes show that he said: "I believe that all the cathedrals of Europe came into existence nearly contemporaneously, and were built by traveling companies of Masons under the direction of systematic organization."

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.