Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

CALENDAR
CALLING 129
Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and
America date from the creation of the world,
calling it "Anno Lucis," which they abbreviate
A .- . L .' ., signifying in the Year of Light.
Thus with them the year 1872 is A .' . L . • .
5872 . This they do, not because they believe
Freemasonry to be coeval with the creation,
but with a symbolic reference to the light of
Masonry.
In the Scottish Rite, the epoch also begins
from the date of the creation, but Masons of
that Rite, using the Jewish chronology, would
call the year 1872 A .' . M . • . or Anno Mundi
(in the Year of the World) 5632 . They sometimes
use the initials A .' . H.- ., signifying Anno
Hebraico, or, in the Hebrew year . They have
also adopted the Hebrew months, and the
year, therefore, begins with them in the middle
of Septembr . (See Months, Hebrew .)
Masons of the York and American Rites
begin the year on the 1st of Januar, , but
in the French Rite it commences on the 1st
of March, and instead of the months receiving
their usual names, they are designated numerically,
as first, second, third, etc . Thus, the
1st of January, 1872, would be styled, in a
French Masonic document, the "1st day of
the 11th Masonic month, Anne Lucis, 5872 ."
The French sometimes, instead of the initials
A .- . L.- ., use Pan de la V .' . L .' ., or Vraie Lumiere,
that is, Year of True Light .
Royal Arch Masons commence their epoch
with the year in which Zerubbabel began to
build the second Temple, which was 530 years
before Christ . Their style for the year 1872 is,
therefore, A .' . Inv . - ., that is, Anno Inventionis,
or, in the Year of the Discovery,
2402 .
Royal and Select Masters very often make
use of the common Masonic date, Anno Lucis,
but properly they should date from the year
in which Solomon's Temple was completed ;
and their style would then be, Anne Depositionis,
or, in the Year of the Deposite, and
they would date the year 1872 as 2872 .
Knights Templars use the epoch of the organization
of their Order in 1118. Their style
for the year 1872 is A .' . 0 .%, Anno Ordinis, or,
in the Year of the Order, 754 .
We subjoin, for the convenience of reference,
the rules for discovering these different
dates.
1 . To find the Ancient Craft date . Add 4000
to the Vulgar Era . Thus 1872 and 4000 are
5872 .
2 . To find the date of the Scottish Rite . Add
3760 to the Vulgar Era . Thus 1872 and 3760
are 5632 . After September add one year
more.
3. To find the date of Royal Arch Masonry .
Add 530 to the Vulgar Era. Thus 530 and 1872
are 2402 .
4 . To find the Royal and Select Masters' date .
Add 1000 to the Vulgar Era . Thus 1000 and
1872 are 2872.
5. To find the Knights Templars' date . Subtract
1118 from the Vulgar Era . Thus 1118
from 1872 is 754.
The following will show, in one view, the
date of the year 1872 in all the branches of the
Order : -
Year of the Lord, A .D . 1872-Vulgar Era .
Year of Light, A .' . L .' . 5872-Ancient Craft
Masonry .
Year of the World, A .' . M .' . 5632-Scottish
Rite .
Year of the Discovery, A .' . I .' . 2402-Royal
Arch Masonry .
Year of the Deposite, A .' . Dep .' . 2872-
Royal and Select Masters .
Year of the Order, A .' . O .' . 754-Knights
Templars .
California . The Grand Lodge of California
was organized on the 19th of April,
1850, in the city of Sacramento, by the delegates
of three legally constituted Lodges
working, at the time, under charters from the
Grand Lodges of the District of Columbia,
Connecticut, and Missouri . Its present seat
is at San Francisco, and there are 308 Lodges
under its jurisdiction . The Grand Chapter and
Grand Commandery were organized in 1854 .
Calling Off . A technical term in Masonry,
which signifies the temporary suspension of
labor in a Lodge without passing through the
formal ceremony of closing . The full form of
the expression is to call from labor to refreshment,
and it took its rise from the former custom
of dividing the time spent in the Lodge
between the work of Masonry and the moderate
enjoyment of the banquet . The banquet
formed in the last century an indispensable
part of the arrangements of a Lodge meeting .
"At a certain hour of the evening," says
Brother Oliver, "with certain ceremonies, the
Lodge was called from labor to refreshment,
when the brethren enjoyed themselves with
decent merriment ." That custom no longer
exists ; and although in England almost always,
and in this country occasionally, the
labors of the Lodge are concluded with a banquet
; yet the Lodge is formally closed before
the Brethren proceed to the table of refreshment.
Calling off in American Lodges is now
only used, in a certain ceremony of the Third
Degree, when it is desired to have another
meeting at a short interval, and the Master
desires to avoid the tediousness of closing
and opening the Lodge . Thus, if the business
of the Lodge at its regular meeting has so accumulated
that it cannot be transacted in one
evening, it has become the custom to call off
until a subsequent evening, when the Lodge,
instead of being opened with the usual ceremony,
is simply "called on," and the latter
meeting is considered as only a continuation
of the former . This custom is very generally
adopted in Grand Lodges at their Annual Communications,
which are opened at the beginning
of the session, called off from day to day,
and finally closed at its end . I do not know
that any objection has ever been advanced
against this usage in Grand Lodges, because it
seems necessary as a substitute for the adjournment,
which is resorted to in other legislative
bodies, but which is not admitted in
Masonry. But much discussion has taken
place in reference to the practise of calling off