The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language 337
National Française); the GLTSO (Grande Lodge Traditionelle et Symbolique
Opéra); the GLFF (Grande Loge Féminine de France), the latter having resulted
from the UMFF (Union Maçonnique Féminine de France); the OITAR (L'Ordre
Initiatique et Traditionel de l'Art Royal), a federation of sovereign lodges.
Concerning other French Masonic bodies, we come across the CLIPSAS (Centre
de Liaison et d'Information des Puissances maçonnique Signataires de l'Appel de
Strasbourg), an association founded in 1961, numbering 44 Grand Lodges in
1998, i.e. about 90,000 members. Then, there is the AMIL (Association
Maçonnique Intercontinentale et Libérale), which originated in 1996 and consists
of nine members. A similar association is the SIMPA (Secrétariat International
Maçonnique des Puissances Adogmatiques), consisting of 25 members. These
three organizations were founded on the initiative of the Grand Orients of France
and Belgium, because these two Grand Orients were unhappy with the existing
voting system of "one Grand Lodge - one vote," since most Grand Lodges
require a belief in a Supreme Being, which they both do not support. 1038
Officers and Titles
In the rituals, the titles of the officers are abbreviated. The ever-present short
forms are E.A. = Entered Apprentice, F.C. = Fellow Craft, M.M. = Master
Mason, R.A.M. = Royal Arch Mason, P.H.P. = Past High Priest, G.M. = Grand
Master, M.W.G.M. = Most Worshipful Grand Master, P.G.M. = Past Grand
Master, P.M. = Past Master, J.W. = Junior Warden, S.W. = Senior Warden. The
more pompous the title, the longer the abbreviation, e.g. G.S.V. = Guardian of
the Sacred Vault, M.E.G.H.P. = Most Excellent Grand High Priest,
S∴P∴R∴S∴ = Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, or even
S∴C∴S∴G∴I∴G∴ = Supreme Council Sovereign Grand Inspector General;
the latter being a member of the 33°. 1039
Legendary characters and objects
The legendary characters employed in Masonry also obtained their
abbreviations in the rituals and other Masonic texts, such as K.S. = King
Solomon, H.A.B. = Hiram Abiff, and H.K.T. = Hiram, King of Tyre. As to
objects used in the legends of the rituals, there is, for example, the "B∴B∴"
which stands for "Burning Bush," abbreviated in French Masonry as "B∴A∴,"
signifying "Buisson Ardente." 1040
1038 Cf. Henderson and Pope, vol. II, p. 5.
1039 Cf. TRMC, p. 5-8.
1040 Ibid, p. 3.