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

LODGE
LODGE 451
of the Order . No one in these days has seen a
Lodge of one Master Mason and six Apprentices
. The Masons working in the First Degree
are as much Master Masons as the same
Masons are when they are working in the
Third. The Lodge legally is the same,
though it may vary the subjects of its instruction
so as to have them in the First, Second,
or Third Degree .
So important a feature in Masonry as a
Lodge, the congregations of Masons for work
or worship, cannot be without its appropriate
symbolism. Hence a Lodge when duly opened
becomes a symbol of the world . Its covering
is like the world's, a sky or clouded canopy,
to reach which, as the abode of those
who do the will of the Great Architect, it is
furnished with the theological ladder, which
reaches from earth to heaven ; and it is illuminated
as is the world, by the refulgent
rays of the sun, symbolically represented in
his rising in the East, his meridian height in
the South, and his setting in the West ; and
lastly, its very form, a long quadrangle or oblong
square, is in reference to the early tradition
that such was the shape of the inhabited
world .
3 . The Lodge, technically speaking, is a
piece of furniture made in imitation of the
Ark of the Covenant, which was constructed
by Bezaleel (Exodus xxxvii . 1) according
to the form prescribed by God himself, and
which, after the erection of the Temple, was
kept in the Holy of Holies . As that contained
the table of the laws, the Lodge contains
the Book of Constitutions and the Warrant
of Constitution granted by the Grand
Lodge . It is used only in certain ceremonies,
such as the constitution and consecration of
new Lodges, but its use is obsolete in England .
Lodge, Chartered . See Chartered Lodge.
Lodge, Clandestine . See Clandestine
Lodge .
Lodge, Constituted . See Constituted
Legally .
Lodge, Dormant. See Dormant Lodge.
Lodge, Emergent . See Emergent Lodge .
Lodge, Extinct . See Extinct Lodge.
Lodge, Holy. See Holy Lodge .
Lodge Hours . Dermott says (A him . Rez .,
p . xxiii .) "that Lodge hours, that is, the time
in which it is lawful for a Lodge to work or do
business, are from March 25th to September
25th, between the hours of seven and ten ; and
from September 25th to March 25th, between
the hours of six and nine ." Whence he derived
the law is unknown ; but it is certain that it
has never been rigidly observed even by the
"ancient Lodges," for whom his Ahiman
Rezon was written .
Lodge, Just . See Just Lodge.
Lodge Master, English . (Maitre de
Lodge Anglais .) A degree in the nomenclature
of Thory, inserted on the authority of Lemanceau.
Lodge Master, French . (Maitre de Loge
Frangais.) The Twenty-sixth Degree of the
collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of
France.
Lodge, Occasional . See Occasional Lodge.
Lodge of Instruction . These are assemblies
of brethren congregated without a Warrant
of Constitution, under the direction of a
lecturer or skilful brother, for the purpose of
improvement in Masonry, which is accomplished
by the frequent rehearsal of the work
and lectures of each degree . These bodies
should consist exclusively of Master Masons ;
and though they possess no Masonic power, it
is evident to every Mason that they are extremely
useful as schoors of preparation for
the duties that are afterward to be performed
in the regular Lodge . In England,
these Lodges of Instruction are attached to
regularly Warranted Lodges, or are specially
licensed by the Grand Master. But they have
an independent set of officers, who are elected
at no stated periods-sometimes for a year,
sometimes for six or three months, and sometimes
changed at every night of meeting.
They of course have no power of initiation,
but simply meet for purposes of practise in
the ritual. They are, however, bound to keep
a record of their transactions, subject to the
inspection of the superior powers .
Lodge of St. John . The Masonic tradition
is that the primitive or mother Lodge was
held at Jerusalem, and dedicated to St . John
first the Baptist, then the Evangelist, and
finally to both . Hence this Lodge was called
"TheLodgeof theHolySt . John of Jerusalem ."
From this Lodge all other Lodges are supposed
figuratively to descend, and they therefore
receive the same general name, accompanied
by another local and distinctive one . In all
Masonic documents the words ran formerly as
follows : "From the Lodge of the holy St .
John of Jerusalem, under the distinctive appellation
of Solomon's Lodge, No . 1," or whatever
might be the local name. In this style
foreign documents still run ; and it is but a
few years since it has been at all disused in
America. Hence we say that every Mason
hails from such a Lodge, that is to say, from a
just and legally constituted Lodge. In the
earliest catechisms of the eighteenth century
we find this formula : "Q. What Lodge are
you of? A . The Lodge of St. John ." And
another question is, "How many angles in St .
John's Lodge? " In one of the high degrees it
is stated that Lodges receive this title "because,
in the time of the Crusades, the Perfect
Masons communicated a knowledge of their
Mysteries to the Knights of St . John of Jerusalem,"
and as both were thus under the same
law, the Lodges were called St . John's Lodges .
But this was only one of the attempts to connect
Freemasonry with the Templar system .
Lodge, Perfect . See Just Lodge .
Lodge, Regular. See Regular Lodge.
Lodge Room . The Masons on the Continent
of Europe have a prescribed form or ritual
of building, according to whose directions
it is absolutely necessary that every hall for
Masonic purposes shall be erected . No such
regulation exists among the Fraternity of
America or Great Britain . Still, the usages
of the Craft, and the objects of convenience in