Canonbury Masonic Research Centre
This page presents different masonic traditions and their ensuing philosophies. All the information provided in this and the following pages was compiled by CMRC and was gathered with the best of intentions and present, what to our knowledge is, the most objective picture of those traditions. Some material has been gathered from the Lodges themselves and some from other sources, mostly published material and manuscripts.
Freemasonry as we know it today, with some changes that came along the way, was established in 1717 by founding of the Grand Lodge of England. The origins of Freemasonry have been a constant source of both study and dispute, among Freemasons themselves, and among scholars interested in the study of this tradition.
The similar institutions to that of Grand Lodge of England were soon after 1717 founded in neighbouring countries and furthermore across the world. Some of them, however, developed systems of Freemasonry which are considered to be irregular and are not recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England.
Quite naturally, every Grand Lodge considers itself to be regular, but this is a position which may not extend to other lodges. Each of the Grand Lodges has a jurisdiction upon which its rules and laws are extended, and its own set of principles upon which it entertains recognition of other Grand Lodges.
Grand Lodge of England had several schisms since it was founded, but the one which influenced its modern structure to the largest extent is the schism between the Grand Lodge of Moderns and the Grand Lodge of Ancients which concluded with the reconciliation between the two in 1813. Differences were overcome by extensively standardising upon the masonic artefacts and rituals and by extending the membership to non-Christians. (The rift between the Moderns and the Ancients was the subject of a presentation by Prof. Cecile Revauger, University of Provence, France at our 1999 conference.)
The regularity of a Grand Lodge is a matter of principle of a lodge that takes into consideration regularity. United Grand Lodge of England has a set of written criteria which are similar to other Grand Lodges. They are based on the following principles:
The interpretation of these principles is presented here in a very relaxed way, although the rules are often rigorously followed by the Grand Lodge that considers the regularity of another Grand Lodge.
The main difference between the traditions presented here is contained in the four principles aforementioned.
The Grand Orient, for example, to which the Co-Freemasonry is adjoined, does not require belief into the Grand Architect of the Universe. Furthermore, discussion of religion and politics is not prohibited within these lodges.
The Honorary Fraternity of Woman Freemasons obviously does not limit its membership to men, but is on the contrary, exclusively consistent of women, as well as the Order of Women Freemasons.
Once again we apologise if information about any of the orders is inaccurate and will be glad to receive suggestions of the public from different orders represented here.
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