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Masonic Encyclopedia

d

The fourth letter of the Phoenician, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Roman, and of nearly all alphabets. In Hebrew it is Daleth, signifying the door of life, a representation of which was probably its or...

d'eon, chevalier

Born October 5, 1728, at Tonnerre in Burgundy, and christened Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste Andr Timothe Don De Beaumont. Led most singular career. After living nearly forty years an active life as...

da costa, hippolyto joseph

A native of Colonia-do-Sacramento, on the river La Plata. He was made a Freemason in Philadelphia in the United States and afterward settled in Lisbon. He was subsequently persecuted by the Inquisitio...

dactyli

Priests of Cybele, in Phrygia, of whom there were five, which number could not be exceeded, and alluded to the salutation and blessing by the five fingers of the hand. The word is from the Greek dakty...

daduchos

A torch-bearer. The title given to an officer in the Eleusinian mysteries, who bore a torch in commemoration of the torch lit by Ceres at the fire of Mount Etna, and carried by her through the wood in...

daedalus

A famous artist and mechanician, whose genealogy is traced in the Greek myths as having sprung from the old Athenian race of kings, the Erechtheidae. He is said to have executed the Cretan Labyrinth, ...

dagger

In the advanced Degrees a symbol of Masonic vengeance, or the punishment of crime (see Vengeance).

dagrain, louis

A miter in the Amsterdam Journal of November 3, 1735, of an article on the subject of Freemasonry, which caused an edict from the States General forbidding Masonic gatherings throughout the country (s...

dagran, louis

President of a General Assembly of thirty Lodges, held on Saint John's Day, 1756, at the Hague, for the formation of the Grand Lodge of Holland. It was at this December meeting that Baron Van Aer...

dais

From the French word dais, meaning a canopy. The raised floor at, the head of a banqueting room, or any ceremonial chamber or hall, designed for guests of distinction ; so called because it used to be...

dakota

Saint .John's Lodge was the first Lodge in Dakota. It received a Dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Iowa, December 5, 1862, and a Charter on June 3, 1863. Representatives of this Lodge and of I...

dalcho, frederick

One of the founders of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. He was born in the City of London in the year 1770, of Prussian...

dalmatic

A robe worn by deacons in some Christian Churches. Originally made of linen, as shown by early Christian paintings on the walls of the catacombs at Rome, but now generally made of heavy woolen or silk...

damascus

An ancient and important city of Syria, situated on the road between Babylon and Jerusalem, and said in Masonic tradition to have been one of the resting-places of the Freemasons who, under the procla...

dambool

The vast rock temple of the Buddhists in Ceylon, containing a profusion of carvings, figures of Buddha of extraordinary magnitude. Monuments of this deity are, in the common Singhalese term, called Da...

dame

In the York Roll No.4 and some of the other old manuscripts, we find the direction to the Apprentice that he shall not so act as to bring harm or shame, during his apprenticeship, "either to his ...

dames of mount tabor

An androgynous, both sexes, Masonic Society, established about the year 1818, under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France. Its design was to give charitable relief to destitute females.

dames of the order of saint john

Religious ladies who, from its first institution, had been admitted into the Fraternity of Knights Hospitalers of Saint John of Jerusalem. The rules for their reception were similar to those for the K...

damoisel

A name sometimes given in the times of chivalry to a page or candidate for knighthood, but also used mean a young woman.

dan

One of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose blue banner, charged with an eagle, is borne by the Grand Master of the First Veil in a Royal Arch Chapter.

danger

In all the old Constitutions and Charges, Freemasons are taught to exercise brotherly love, and to deal honestly and truly with each other, whence results the duty incumbent upon every Freemason to wa...

daniel

The old countersign with "Darius" formerly used in the Thirty-second Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. A Hebrew prophet, contemporary of Ezekiel, about 600 B.C. Carried captive to ...

dannebrog

The banner of Denmark containing a white cross is founded upon the tradition, which reminds us of that of Constantine, that Waldemar II, of Denmark, in 1219 saw in the heavens a fiery cross, which bet...

dantzic

In the year 1768, on the 3d of October, the burgomaster and magistrates of the city of Dantzic commenced a persecution against Freemasonry, which Institution they charged with seeking to undermine the...

dao

The Zen name for light, from Daer, meaning to shine.

darakiel

A responsive word in the Twenty-third Degree of the Scottish Rite. sometimes pronounced dar-kee-ale. The Latin expression is Directio Dei, meaning By direction of God.

darius

The successor of Cyrus on the throne of Persia, Babylon, and Medea. He pursued the friendly policy of his predecessor in reference to the Jews, and confirmed the decrees of that monarch by a new edict...

darkness

Darkness has, in all the systems of initiation, been deemed a symbol of ignorance, and so opposed to light, which is the symbol of knowledge. Hence the rule, that the eye should not see until the hear...

darmstadt, grand lodge of

The Grand Lodge of Darmstadt, in Germany, under the distinctive appellation of the Grand Lodge zur Eintracht (meaning of Concord), was established on the 22d of March, 1846, by three Lodges, in conseq...

dathan

A Reubenite who, with Korah and Abiram, revolted against Moses and unlawfully sought the priesthood. In the first chapter of the Book of Numbers, where the whole account is given, it is said that as a...

daughter of a freemason

The daughter of a Freemason is entitled to certain peculiar privileges and claims upon the Fraternity arising from her relationship to a member of the Craft. There has been some difference of opinion ...

david

David has no place in Masonic history, except that which arises from the fact that he was the father of King Solomon, and his predecessor on the throne of Israel. To him, however, were the Jews indebt...

david i, king of scotland

1124--53; known as Protector of Freemasons and Patron of the building art (see Alexander lll).

dazard, michel franois

Born at Chateaudun, in France, May 2, 1781. He was a devoted student of Freemasonry, and much occupied in the investigation of the advanced Degrees of ail the Rites. He was an opponent of the Supreme...

deacon

In every Symbolic Lodge, there are two officers who are called the Senior and Junior Deacons. In America the former has been appointed by the Master and the latter by the Senior Warden, both have been...

deaf and dumb

Deaf mutes, as imperfect men, come under the provisions of the Old Constitutions, and are disqualified for initiation. At one time, however, a Lodge in Paris, captivated by the eclat of the proceeding...

death

The Scandinavians, in their Edda, describing the residence of Death in Hell, where she was east by her father, Loke, say that she there possesses large apartments, strongly built, and fenced with gate...

death in the ancient mysteries

Each of the ancient religious Mysteries, those quasi-Masonic associations of the heathen world, was accompanied by a legend, which was always of a funereal character representing the death, by violenc...

debate

Debates in a Masonic Lodge must be conducted according to the fraternal principles of the Institution. Masonic debate or discussion should not become wrangling disputes nor quarrelsome contention. in ...

debit

A Freemason is said to DEBIT from his Lodge when he withdraws his membership; and a DEBIT is a document granted by the Lodge which certifies that, that decision has been accepted by the Lodge, and tha...

decanus

An officer in the Knights Templar system of Baron Hund, who, in the absence of the Grand Master and his Prior, possessed the right to preside in the Chapter.

decatur, stephen

There Were two of this name, father and son. 0ne, born at Newport, Rhode Island, exact date unknown, died in 1808, at Philadelphia. Captain in the United States Navy from its birth, Brother Decatur wa...

decius

The nom de plume, meaning in French the pen name, of C. L. Reinhold, a distinguished Masonic writer ( (see Reinhold).

declaration of candidates

Every candidate for initiation is required to make. "upon honor," the following declaration before an appropriate officer or committee. That unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends...

declaration of the master

Every Master of a Lodge, after his election and before his installation, is required to give, in the presence of the Brethren, his assent to the following fifteen charges and regulations: 1. Do you p...

declaring off

When a brother ceases to visit and pay his monthly subscription, he thereby declares himself off the Lodge" (see the Symbolical Dictionary). In England, the Brother resigns. Various designations ...

decorations

A Lodge-room ought, besides its necessary furniture, to be ornamented with decorations which, while they adorn and beautify it, will not be unsuitable to its sacred character. On this subject, Doctor ...

dedication of a lodge

Among the ancients every temple, altar, statue, or sacred place was dedicated to some divinity. The Romans, during the Republic, confided this duty to their consuls, pretors, censors, or other chief m...

dedication of the temple

There are five dedications of the Temple of Jerusalem which are recorded in Jewish history: 1. The dedication of the Solomonic Temple, 1004 B.C. 2. The dedication in the time of Hezekiah, when it was ...

definition of freemasonry

"The definitions of Freemasonry," says Oliver, in his historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, "have been numerous; but they all unite in declaring it to be a system of morality, by the pra...

deformity

The Old Constitutions declare that the candidate for Freemasonry must be a "perfect youth, having no maim or defect in his body." The Masonic law of physical qualifications is derived from t...

degrees

The word degree, in its primitive meaning, signifies a step. The degrees of Freemasonry are, then, the steps by which the candidate ascends from a lower to a higher condition of knowledge. It is now t...

degrees of chivalry

The religious and military orders of knighthood which existed in the Middle Ages, such as the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta, which were incorporated into the Masonic system and conferred as Mas...

degrees, androgynous

Degrees that are conferred on females as well as males (see Androgynous Degrees).

deism

In an abstract sense, Deism, or Theism, is the belief in God, but the word is generally used to designate those who, believing in God, reject a belief in the Scriptures as a revelation. The sect of De...

delalande, charles florent jacques

A French litterateur of the last century, who was the author of many didactic and poetic articles on freemasonry inserted in the Mirror de la Vrit, the Annales Maonniques, and other collections. He wa...

delalande, joseph jerome

One of the most distinguished French astronomers of the eighteenth century. His name was Joseph Jrome Lefranais but when quite a young man he was received at the Court of King Frederic II he called hi...

delaunay, franois h. stanislaus

A French litterateur and historian, and author of many works on Freemasonry, the principal of which is the Tuileur des trente-trois degrs de l'Ecossisme du Rite Ancien et Accepts meaning Handbook...

delaware (entry b)

Inaugurated four scholarships in 1922 covering $125 to be awarded each year to students who would otherwise be unable to complete their education. These scholarships are in memory of the First Grand M...

delaware (entry a)

There is some uncertainty about the first Lodge established in Delaware. The Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1764 is said to have issued a warrant to Union Lodge, No. 191, at Middletown, for General Marjor...

delta

A triangle. The name of a piece of furniture in a Commandery of Nights Templar, which, being of a triangular form, derives its name from the Greek letter ~. delta. It is also the title given, in the F...

demeter

The Greek name of Ceres, which see

denderah

A ruined town of Upper Egypt, of great interest in consequence of its astronomical allusions on the ceiling of the main portico supported on twenty-four columns which is covered with figures and hiero...

denmark

The first Masonic Lodge in Denmark was opened in Copenhagen, by Baron G. O. Munnich. on the 11th of November, 1743, umber a Charter, as he climbed from the Lodge of the Three Globes in Berlin. In the ...

deposite

The deposit of the Substitute Ark is celebrated in the Degree of Select Master, and is supposed to have taken place in the last year of the building of Solomon's Temple, or 1000 B.C. This is ther...

depth of the lodge

This is said to be from the surface to the center, and is the expression of an idea connected with the symbolism of the form of the Lodge as indicating the universality of Freemasonry. The oldest defi...

deputation

The authority granted by the Grand Master to a Brother to act as Provincial Grand Master was formerly called a deputation. Thus, in Anderson's Constitutions (second edition, 1738, page 191) it is...

depute grand master

Depute is a Scotticism used in the Laws and Regulations of the Grand Lodge of Scotland to designate the officer known in England and America as Deputy Grand Master. The word comes from the Latin deput...

deputy

In French Freemasonry, the officers who represent a Lodge in the Grand Orient are called its deputies. The word is also wed in another sense. When two Lodges are affiliated, that is, have adopted a co...

deputy grand chapter

In the Constitution adopted in January, 1798, by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern States of Americans which afterward became the General Grand Chapter, it was provided that Grand Bodies of...

deputy lodge

In Germany, a Deputations-Loge, or Deputy Lodge, was formed by certain members of a Lodge who lived at a remote distance from it, and who met under the name and by the authority of the mother Lodge, t...

deputy master

In England, when a Prince of the Blood Royal is Master of a Private Lodge, his functions are performed by an officer appointed by him, and called a Deputy Master, who exercises all the prerogatives an...

dermott, laurence

He was at first the Grand Secretary, and afterward the Deputy Grand Master, of that body of Freemasons who in 1751 formed the Grand Lodge of the Ancient, which see, stigmatizing the regular Freemasons...

derwentwater

Charles Radcliffe, titular Earl of Derwentwater, which title he assumed on the death of the unmarried son of his brother, James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater, who was executed for rebellion in 1716,...

des etangs, nicholas charles

A Masonic reformer, who was born at Allichamps, in France, on the 7th of September, 1766, and died at Paris on the 6th of May, 1847. He was initiated, in 1797, into Freemasonry in the Lodge l'Heu...

desaguliers, john theophilus

Of all those who were engaged in the revival of Freemasonry in the beginning of the eighteenth century, none performed a more important part than he to whom may be well applied the epithet of the Fath...

descriptive

There is a possibility of the word common presenting an explanation of our word cowan. Common is found frequently in use by the trade Gilds. Usually it means the citizens as a body. Today the English ...

desert

The outer court of a tent in the Order of Ishmael, or of Esau and Reconciliation.

design of freemasonry

The purpose of Freemasonry is neither charity nor almsgiving, nor the cultivation of the social sentiment; for both of these are merely incidental to its organization; but it is the search after truth...

destruction of the temple

The Temple of King Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Chaldees, during the reign of Zedekiah, 3416 A.M., 588 B.C. and just four hundred and sixteen years after its dedication. Althou...

detached degrees

Side or honorary Degrees outside of the regular succession of Degrees of a Rite, and which, being conferred without the authority of a supreme controlling Body, are said to be to the side of or detach...

deuchar charters

Warrants, some of which are still in existence in Scotland, and which are used to authorize the working of the Knights Templar Degree by certain Encampments in that country. They were designated Deuch...

deus meumque jus

Latin, meaning God and my right. The motto of the Thirty-third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and hence adopted as that also of the Supreme Council of the Rite. It is a Latin transl...

development

The ancients often wrote their books on parchment, which was made up into a roll, hence called a volume, from cohere, the Latin word meaning to roll up. Thus, he who read the book commenced by unrolli...

device

A term in heraldry signifying any emblem used to represent a family, person, nation, or society, and to distinguish such from any other. The device is usually accompanied with a suitable motto applied...

devoir

The gilds or separate communities in the system of French compagnonage are called devoirs (see Compagnonage).

devoir of a knight

The original meaning of devoir is duty; and hence, in the language of chivalry, a knight's devoir comprehended the performance of all those duties to which he was obligated by the laws of knighth...

devotions

The prayers in a Commandery of Knights Templar are technically called the devotions of the knights.

dew drop lecture

An eloquent and much admired elaboration of the monitorial charge appropriate for the Fellow Craft. This fine composition has been ascribed to the gifted General Albert Pike. Geometry, the first and n...

dialectics

That branch of logic which teaches the rules and modes of reasoning. Dialecticke and dialecticus are used as corruptions of the Latin dialectica in some of the old manuscript Constitutions, instead of...

diamond

A precious stone; in Hebrew, om. It was the third stone in the second row of the high Priest's breastplate, according to the enumeration of Aben Ezra, and corresponded to the tribe of Zebulun. Bu...

diastole

The counterpart of Tuathal. Mackenzie, in the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, says: Deiseil is used by the Druids as a term for the circumambulation of the sacred cairns. Derived from dead south, and tub a...

didactical

Hemming is credited with naming the fourth section of the first Masonic lecture, didactical, perceptive or instructive and he says that "'the virtuous Mason, after he has enlightened his own...

diderot, denis

French encyclopedist. Born October 5, 1713; died July 30, 1784. Credited with an address at Paris in 1778 before the famous Lodge of Nine Sisters, mentioned in the correspondence, published at Paris i...

diesea

A term used by the Druids to designate the circumambulation around the sacred cairns, and is derived from two words signifying on the right of the sun, because the circumambulation was always in imita...

dieu et mon droit

French, meaning God and my Right (see Deus Meunque Jus).

dieu le veut

A French expression for God wills it. The war-cry of the opal Crusaders, and hence adopted as a motto in the Degrees of Templarism.

dignitaries

The Master, the Wardens, the Orator, and the Secretary in a French Lodge are called dignitaries. The corresponding officers in the Grand Orient are called Grand Dignitaries. In English and American Ma...

dimit

In Brother Mackey's opinion this is a modern, American, and wholly indefensible corruption of the technical word Demit. As the use of this form is very prevalent among American Masonic writers, h...

diocesan

The Fifth Degree of Bahrdt's German Union

dionysian architects

The priests of Bacchus, or, as the Greeks called him, Dionysus, having devoted themselves to architectural pursuits, established about 1000 years before the Christian era a society or fraternity of bu...

dionysian mysteries

These mysteries were celebrated throughout Greece and Asia Minor, but principally at Athens, where the years were numbered by them. They were instituted in honor of Baccus, or, as the Greeks called hi...

dionysus

The Greek name of Bacchus (see Dionysian Mysteries)

diploma

Literally means something folded. From the Greek;7rXoz. The word is applied in Freemasonry to the Certificates granted by Lodges, Chapters, and Commanderies to their members, which should always be wr...

director of ceremonies, grand

An officer in the Grand Lodge of England, who has the arrangement and direction of all processions and ceremonies of the Grand Lodge and the care of the regalia, clothing, insignia, and jewels belongi...

directory

In German Lodges, the Master and other officers constitute a Council of Management, under the name of Directorium or Directory.

directory, roman helvetic

The name assumed in 1739 by the Supreme Masonic authority at Lausanne, in Switzerland (see Switzerland).

discalceation, rite of

The ceremony of taking off the shoes, as a token of respect, whenever we are on or about to approach holy ground. It is referred to in Exodus (iii, 5), where the angel of the Lord, at the burning bush...

discipline

This word is used by Freemasons, in its ecclesiastical sense! to signify the execution of the laws by which a Lodge is governed and the infliction of the penalties enjoined against offenders who are i...

discipline of the secret

There existed in the earlier ages of the Christian church a mystic and secret worship, from which a portion of the congregation was peremptorily excluded, and whose privacy was guarded, with the utmos...

discovery, the year of the

The Latin phrase Anno Inventionis, or in the Year of the Discovery, is the style assumed by the Royal Arch Masons, in commemoration of an event which took place soon after the commencement of the rebu...

dismissorial

The German name for what English Freemasons call a Certificate of Lodge Resignation. A Dimit.

dispensation

A permission to do that which, without such permission, is forbidden by the constitutions and usages of the Order. Du Cange (in the Glossarium) defines a Dispensation to be a prudent relaxation of a ...

dispensations of religion

An attempt has been made to symbolize the Pagan, the Jewish, and the Christian Dispensations by a certain ceremony of the Master's Degree which dramatically teaches the resurrection of the body a...

dispersion of mankind

The dispersion of mankind at the tower of Babel and on the plain of Shinar, which is recorded in the Book of Genesis, has given rise to a Masonic tradition of the following purport: The knowledge of t...

dispute

The spirit of all the Ancient Charges and Constitutions is, that disputes among Freemasons should be settled by an appeal to the Brethren, to whose award the disputants were required to submit. Thus, ...

dissolved lodges

A Lodge in England may be dissolved by the unanimous consent of its members and can be erased or suspended by proper vote of Grand Lodge. Should a majority of the members of any Lodge decide to retire...

distinctive title

In the rituals, all Lodges are called Lodges of Saint Johns but every Lodge has also another name by which it is distinguished. This is called its distinctive title. This usage is preserved in the dip...

district deputy grand master

An officer appointed to inspect old Lodges, consecrate new ones, install their officers, and exercise a general supervision over the Fraternity in the districts where, from the extent of the jurisdict...

district grand lodges

In the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England and some other Jurisdictions, Grand Lodges in colonies and other foreign parts are called Distract Grand Lodges, to distinguish them from Provincial G...

district of columbia

The District of Columbia lies partly in the State of Maryland and partly in the State of Virginia. It was set apart by Act of Congress on July 16, 1790, for the capital of the United States. Some mont...

diu

Understood to be an abbreviation meaning the Shining Light of Heaven. An Indian word applied to the Supreme God, of the same signification as the Greek words Zeus and Theos, and the Latin Deus, Jupite...

divining-rod or pedum

The moderator, or Royal Master, was imaged with the ureas on his forehead, the pedum and the whip between his knees. The Divining-Rod or wand of divination, a magic wand, was a symbol of pn, Hek, sign...

dodd's constitutions

This is a printed pamphlet of twenty pages, in quarto, the title being The beginning and the first Foundation of the Most Worthy Craft of Masonry; with the Charges there unto belonging. By a deceased ...

dog

A symbol in the Advanced Degrees (see Cynocephalus).

dolmen

A name given in France to the Celtic stone tables termed in England cromlechs.

domatic

At one time, especially in Scotland, Operative Freemasons were styled Domatic, while the Speculative ones were known as Geometric; but theorigin and derivation of the terms are unknown

domine deus meus

The Hebrew term for this Latin expression is ..... , pronounced as Ad-o-noy ' El-o-hay, signifying oh Lord, my God, and referring to the Third Degree of the Scottish Rite.

dominican republic

Freemasonry, in the Dominican Republic, had for its center the National Grand Orient, which possessed the supreme authority and which practiced the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The Grand Orient...

dominicans, order of

Founded at Toulouse, in 1215, by Dominic, or Domingo, de Guzman, who was born at Calahorra, in Old Castile, 1170. He became a traveling missionary to convert the heretical Albigenses, and established ...

donats

A class of men who were attached to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, or Knights of Malta. They did not take the vows of the Order, but were employed in the various offices of the convent and hosp...

door

Every well-constructed Lodge-room should be provided with two doors--one on the left hand of the Senior Warden, communicating with the preparation room; the other on his right hand, communicating with...

doric order

The oldest and most original of the three Grecian orders. It is remarkable for robust solidity in the column, for massive grandeur in the entablature, and for harmonious simplicity in its construction...

dormant lodge

A Lodge whose Charter has not been revoked, but which has ceased to meet and work for a long time, is said to be dormant. It can be restored to activity only by the authority of the Grand Master or th...

dormer

In the Lectures, according to the present English system, the ornaments of a Master Mason's Lodge are said to be the porch, dormer, and square pavement. The dormer is the window which is supposed...

dotage

The regulations of Freemasonry forbid the initiation of an old man in his dotage; and very properly, because the imbecility of his mind would prevent his comprehension of the truths presented to him. ...

double cube

A cubical figure, whose length is equal to twice its breadth and height. Solomon's Temple is said to have been of this figure, and hence it has sometimes been adopted as the symbol of a Masonic L...

douglas, stephen arnold

American statesman, born at Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813, and died June 3, 1861, at Chicago. Resourceful in political leadership, his rise to national prominence was rapid. Representative from Ill...

dove

In ancient symbolism's the dove represented purity and innocence; in ecclesiology, especially in church decoration, it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In Freemasonry, the dove is only viewed in r...

dove, knights and ladies of the

An Brother extinct secret society, of a Masonic model, but androgynous, including both sexes, instituted at Versailles, France in 1784.

dowland manuscript

First published by James Dowland, in the Gentelman's Magazine, May, 1815 (volume lxxxv, page 489). "Written on a long roll of parchment in a very clear hand , apparently early in the sevente...

draeseke, johan heinrich dernhardt

A celebrated pulpit orator of great eloquence, born at Brunswick, 1774, and died at Potsdam, 1849, who presided over the Lodge named Oelzweig, meaning, the Olive Branch, in Bremen, for three years, an...

drake, francis

Francis Drake, M.D., F.R.S., a celebrated antiquary and historian, was initiated in the city of York in 1725, and, as Hughan says, "soon made his name felt in Masonry." His promotion was rap...

dramatic literature of freemasonry

Freemasonry has frequently supplied the play writers with a topic for the exercise of their genius. Kloss (Bibliographic, page 300) gives the titles of no less than forty-one plays of which Freemasonr...

dresden, congress of

A General Congress of the Lodges of Saxony was held in Dresden, in 1811, where the representatives of twelve Lodges were present. In this Congress it was determined to recognize only the Freemasonry o...

drop cloth

A part of the furniture used in the United States of America in the ceremony of the Third Degree.

drops, three

Refers to mystic number of drops of blood from the White Giant, that in the Persian mysteries restored sight to the captives in the cell of horrors when applied by the conqueror Rustam. In India, a gi...

druidical mysteries

The Druids were a sacred order of priests who existed in Britain and Gaul, but whose mystical rites were practiced in most perfection in the former country, where the isle of Anglesea was considered a...

drummond, josiah hayden

Born 1827, Brother Drummond was made a Freemason in 1849, and died on October 25, 1902, aged seventy-five. He served at the head of all the Masonic Bodies of his State, Maine, and had also been Grand ...

druses

A sect of mystic religionists who inhabit Mounts Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, in Syrian 294. They settled there about the tenth century, and are said to be a mixture of Cuthites or Kurds, Mardi Arabs, an...

duad

The number two in the Pythagorean system of numbers.

dualism

The state of being two-fold, as good and evil, for example. In the old mythologies, there was a doctrine which supposed the world to have been always governed by two antagonistic principles, distingui...

dub

In the ancient ceremonies of chivalry, a knight was made by giving him three strokes on the neck with the flat end of the sword, and he was then said to be dubbed a knight. Dubbing is from the Saxon, ...

due east and west

A Lodge is said to be situated due east and west for reasons which have varied at different periods in the ritual and lectures (see Orientation).

due examination

That sort of examination which is correct and prescribed by law. It is one of the three modes of proving a strange Brother; the other two being strict trial and lawful information (see Vouching).

due form

When the Grand Lodge is opened, or any other Masonic ceremony performed, by the Deputy Grand Master in the absence of the Grand Master, it is said to be done in due form. Subordinate Lodges are always...

due guard

A mode of recognition which derives its name from its object, which is to duly guard the person using it in reference to his obligations, and the penalty for their violation. The Due Guard is an Ameri...

dueling

This has always been considered a Masonic crime, and some of the Grand Lodges have enacted statutes by which Freemasons who engage in duels with each other are subject to expulsion. The Monde Maonniqu...

dues

The payment of annual dues by a member to his Lodge is a comparatively modern custom, and one that certainly did not exist before the revival of 1717. As previous to that period, according to Preston,...

dumbness

Inability to speak. Although the faculty of speech is not one of the five human senses, it is important as the medium of communicating instruction, admonition, or reproof, and the person who does not ...

dumm

A word that has been used in the Grand Chapter of Minnesota to signify what is more usually called a substitute in the Royal Arch Degree.

dunckerley, thomas

No one, among the Freemasons of England, occupied a more distinguished position or played a more important part in the labors of the Craft during the latter part of the eighteenth century than Thomas ...

dupaty, louis emanuel charles mercier

The author of many Masonic songs and other fugitive pieces inserted in the Annales Maonniques. He wrote in 1810, with Rvroui de Saint-Cyr a comic opera entitled Cagliostro ou les Illumins In 1818 he p...

durer, albrecht

Famous German painter and engraver. Born at Nuremberg, May 21, 1471 died April 6, 1528. His mystically symbolic copper plates are particularly interesting and significant. The most important from a Ma...

duty

The duty of a Freemason as an honest man is plain and easy. It requires of him honesty in contracts, sincerity in affirming, simplicity in bargaining, and faithfulness in performing. To sleep little, ...

dyaus

Sanskrit for sky; Might; exalted. Therefore the word becomes significant of the Deity, the sun, the celestial canopy, the firmament.

dye na sore

or Die Wanderer aus dem Sanskrit Ubersetzt. A Masonic romance, by Von Meyern, which appeared at Vienna in 1789, and contains a complete account of Masonic festivities.
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