Encyclopedia Masonica

The name of one of the twelve Inspectors in the Eleventh Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This name, like the others in the same catalogue, bids defiance to any Hebraic derivation. They are all either French corruptions, worse even than Jakinai for Shekinah, or they have some allusion to names or events connected with the political intrigues of the exiled house of Stuart which had, it is known, a connection with some of the advanced Degrees which sprang up at Array, and other places where Freemasonry is said to have been patronized by the Pretender. This word Morphey may, for instance, be a corruption of Murray. James Murray, the second son of Lord Stormont, escaped to the Court of the Stuarts in 1715. He was a devoted adherent of the exiled family, and became the governor of the young prince and the chief minister of his father, who conferred upon him the empty title of Earl of Dunbar. He died at Avignon in 1770. But almost every etymology of this kind must be entirely conjectural.

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.