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A panel of 12
internationally acknowledged
experts from Britain, Europe
and America will give talks
and lead discussions on the
origins and development of
the myriad systems of degrees
and Orders, which developed
beyond the Craft in the 18th
and 19th centuries.
The Autumn Lecture
Programme is:
16 October:
Jeremy Naydler on 'The
Pattern of Initiation in
Ancient Egypt'.
20 November:
Professor John Algeo on
'Freemasonry and the Western
Mystery Tradition'.
11 December:
Dr Leo Schlamm on 'Jung as a
Visionary and Shaman'.
For those with an interest in
Masonic history there is the
Premier Lodge of Masonic
Research, Ouatuor Coronati
No. 2076. Formed in 1886 by
a group of Masonic scholars,
the Lodge exists to receive
and discuss papers,
principally on the history and
traditions of Freemasonry, in
its widest sense. Membership
of the Lodge has always been
limited to 40, a figure never
reached, but the Lodge has a
Correspondence Circle to
which any Master Mason who
is a subscribing member of a
Lodge under a recognised
Grand Lodge can belong.
Membership of the
Correspondence Circle
entitles you to receive the
annual volume of Transactions
(Ars Ouatuor Coronatorum),
summonses for the five
meetings of the Lodge, and to
attend and take part in the
discussions of papers at the
Lodge meetings.
The Lodge also runs a
series of seminars at
Freemasons' Hall, London, to
help those who wish to begin
Masonic research find their way
around the many resources
which can be tapped.
Freemasonry re-entered
the world of academe in
1999 with the foundation of
the Centre for Research into
Freemasonry within the
Humanities Research Institute
of Sheffield University.
Funded by Grand Lodge and
the Province of Yorkshire
West Riding, the Centre sees
Freemasonry as a perfect
area for inter-disciplinary
research involving biblical
studies, social history and the
visual arts.
Dr Andrew Prescott was
seconded from the British
Library to be the first Director
of the Centre, to set it up
and plan research
programmes. Additional
funding is being sought to
make the Centre permanent,
with a full Professor.
In Sheffield, the Centre
provides lectures, seminars and
conferences and will eventually
offer MA and PhD courses.
With the wonders of
computers the public, via the
internet, can access the
papers given at Sheffield. The
Humanities Research Institute
has an international
reputation for the quality of
its electronic publications.
The Centre for Research
into Freemasonry has
produced its first CD ROM,
which gives Masonic students
access to one of the seminal
texts in Masonic literature -
William Preston's Illustrations
of Masonry.
The CD ROM includes all
of the editions printed in
Preston's lifetime, with a
search engine, which is one of
the simplest I have used. The
Centre is working with the
Library and Museum of
Freemasonry on a programme
to make other major texts and
archive material available in
electronic form.
The above are the 'big
guns' but there are many
more local organisations
which aim to help us all make
a daily advancement.
Installed Masters Lodges
usually have speakers at their
meetings, and open them to
Master Masons. Many Provinces
have Masonic Societies, e.g.
the Bristol Masonic Society
and the Sheffield Masonic
Discussion Society.
The Province of Durham
has Lecture Lodges (and
Chapters). Manchester and
Leicester have Research
Lodges and, in London, The
Dormer Masonic Study Circle
and The Masonic Study Society
cater for the more esoteric
approach to Freemasonry.
For those who want to
make their daily advancement,
the possibilities are there. I
was always told: 'seek and ye
shall find' - but why in
Freemasonry do we make the
finding so difficult?
John Hamill was formerly
the Librarian of the Library
and Museum of Freemasonry
in London, and is currently
Director of Communications
at Grand Lodge and a
member of Ouatuor Coronati
Lodge No. 2076
CONTACT DETAILS
Cornerstone Society
Website: www.workingtools.org
E-mail: workingtools@aol.com
The Cornerstone Society
68 Foxley Lane
Purley,
Surrey CR3 3EE
Canonbury Masonic
Research Centre
Website: www.canonbury.ac.uk
E-mail:
rncgilvery@canonbury.ac.uk
CMRC
Canonbury Tower
Canonbury Place
London N1 2NQ
Telephone: 020 7226 6256
Fax: 020 7359 6194
Quatuor Coronati
Lodge No. 2076
QCCC Ltd
60 Great Queen Street
London WC2B 5BA
Telephone: 020 7405 7340
Fax: 02074048131
Sheffield Centre for
Masonic Research
Website: www.shef.ac.uk/~crf
E-mail:
a.prescott@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: 0114 222 9893
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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