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Masonic Encyclopedia

n

The Hebrew letter is the fourteenth letter in the English and Hebrew alphabets; its numerical value is 50, and its definition, fish. As a final, Nun is written 1, and then is of the value of 700. Th...

naamah.

The daughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-cain (see Genesis iv, 18-24, and 99, which have been read as meaning two different persons but now usually understood as of the same list). To her the Legend...

naharda,brotherhood of

After the destruction of the Solomonial Temple, the captives formed an association while slaves at Naharda, on the Euphrates, and are there said to have preserved the secret mysteries.

naked

In Scriptural symbology, nakedness denoted sin, and dothing, protection. But the symbolism of Freemasonry on this subject is different. There, to be "neither naked nor clothed" is to make no...

name of god

A reverential allusion to the name of God, in some especial and peculiar form, is to be found in the doctrines and ceremonies of almost all nations. This ineffable or unutterable name was respected by...

names of lodges

The precedency of Lodges does not depend on their names, but on their numbers The rule declaring that "the precedency of Lodges is grounded on the seniority of their Constitution" was adopte...

namur

A city of Belgium, where the Primitive Scottish Rite was first established; hence sometimes called the Rite of Namur.

naos

The ark of the Egyptian gods. A chest or structure with more height than depth, and thereby unlike the Israelites Ark of the Covenant. The winged figures embraced the lower part of the Naos, while the...

naphtali

The territory of the tribe of Naphtali adjoined, on its western border, to Phenicia, and there must, therefore, have been frequent and easy communication between the Phenicians and the Naphtalites, re...

naples

Freemasonry must have been practiced in Naples before 1751, for in that year Ring Charles issued an Edict forbidding it in his dominions. The author of Anti-Saint Nicaise says that there was a Grand L...

napoleon i

It has been claimed, and with much just reason, as shown in his course of life, that Napoleon the Great was a member of the Brotherhood. Brother J. E. S. Tuckett, Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodg...

napoleonic freemasonry

An Order under this name, called also the French Order of Noachites, was established at Paris, in 1816, by some of the adherents of the Emperor Napoleon. It was divided into three Degrees: 1. Knight 2...

national masonic research society

Organized in Iowa, 1914, the Society commenced the publication of the Builder, January, 1915, with Reverend Joseph Fort Newton as Editor-in-Chief. A managing Board of Stewards, all of the Grand Lodge ...

national masonic tuberculosis sanatoria association

The National Tuberculosis Association estimates that some fifty thousand living cases exist at all times among Freemasons in the United States and that five thousand of the Brethren die from tuberculo...

national sojourners

An association of Freemasons who hold or have held commissions in the defense forees of the United States Government. Detroit Chapter No. 1 was organized in 1919.

naval lodges

Because of crowded space in ships and because of frequent changes of personnel early attempts to constitute Lodges on board war vessels did not meet with large success, even at the period when Thomas ...

naymus grecus (entry a)

The curiously puzzling problem of Naymus Grecus which is discussed on page 700 is in a sense a Rosetta Stone for the archeology of early Masonic Manuscripts, therefore the large amount of time devoted...

naymus grecus (entry b)

The Grand Lodge Manu, script, No. 1, contains the following passage: "Yt befell that their was on curious Masson that height [was called] Naymus Grecus that had byn at the making of Sallomon&apos...

nazareth

A City of Galilee, in which Jesus spent his childhood and much of his life, and whence he is often called, in the New Testament, the Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Nazarenus was a portion of th...

ne plus ultra

Latin, meaning Nothing more beyond. The motto adopted for the Degree of Kadosh by its founders, when it was supposed to be the summit of Freemasonry, beyond which there was nothing more to be sought. ...

ne varietur

Latin, meaning Lest it should be changed. These words refer to the Masonic usage of requiring a Brother, when he receives a Certificate from a Lodge, to affix his name, in his own handwriting, in the ...

nebraska

In March, 1854, the region between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains was divided by Congress into the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The Grand Master of Illinois issued a Dispensation fo...

nebuchadnezzar

About 630 years before Christ, the Empire and City of Babylon were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of the Chaldeans, a nomadic race, who, descending from their homes in the Caucasian Mountains, ...

nebuzaradan

A Captain, or, as we would now call him, a general of Nebuchadnezzar, who commanded the Chaldean army at the siege of Jerusalem, and who executed there orders of his sovereign by the destruction of th...

negre

The dark skin of Gabriel Mathieu Marconis the elder, a founder of the Rite of Memphis, made him known as the Negre, or Negro.

negri, bened

Composer of the song, the Aged Brothers, the words written by Brother J. J. Smith, and sung at Freemasons Hall, London, June 24, 1846, in aid of the Aged Freemasons Home.

negro lodges

The subject of Lodges of colored persons. commonly called Negro Lodges, has long been a source of contention in the United States. Dot on account of the color of the members of these Lodges, but becau...

nehemiah

Son of Haehaliah. During the Babylonish captivity, given permission to rebuild the Temple and restore the city, becoming Tirshatha or Governor of Judea and Jerusalem, for twelve years. Literally trans...

neighbor

All the Old Constitutions have the charge that "every Mason shall keep true counsel of Lodge and Chamber" (see Sloane Manuscript, No. 3848). This is enlarged in the Andersonian Charges, of 1...

neith

The Egyptian synonym of the Greek; Athen or Minerva.

nekam

But properly according to the Masoretic pointing, Nakam. A Hebrew word signifying Vengeance, and a significant word in the high Degrees (see vengeance).

nekamah

Hebrew word, signifying Tengeance, and, like Nakam, a significant word in the advanced Degrees.

nembroth

A corruption of Nimrod, frequently used in the Old Records

nemesis

According to Hesiod, the daughter of Night, originally the personification of the moral feeling of right and a just fear of criminal actions; in other words, Conscience. A temple was erected to Nemese...

neocorus

A name of the guardian of the Temple. * NEOPHYTE Greek , meaning newly planted. In the primitive church. it signified one who had recently abandoned Judaism or Paganism and embraced Christianity; ...

neoplatonism

A philosophical school, estate fished at Alexandria in Egypt, which added to the theosophic theories of Plato many mystical doctrines borrowed from the East. The principal disciples of this school wer...

nephalia

Festivals, without wine, celebrated in honor of the lesser deities.

nergal

The Hebrew word in:. The synonym of misfortune and ill-luck. The Hebrew name for Mars; and in astrology the lesser Malefic. The word in Sanskrit is Nrigal.

nesbit, wilbur d

American poet and humorist. Born at Nenia, Ohio, September 16, 1871; died at Chicago, Illinois, August 20, 1927. Received the initiatory Degrees in Evans Lodge No. 524, Evanston, Illinois, where his m...

netherlands

Speculative Freemasonry was first introduced in the Netherlands by the opening at the Hague, in 1731, of an Occasional Lodge under a Deputation granted by Lord Lovel, Grand Master of England, of which...

network

One of the decorations of the pillars at the porch of the Temple (see Pillars of the Porch).

nevada

On May 15, 1862, Carson Lodge, No. 154, now No. 1, at Carson City was granted a Charter. At a meeting held on January 16, 1865, to consider the formation of a Grand Lodge, six of the eight Lodges in t...

new brunswick

New Brunswick was part of Nova Scotia until the year 1786. On August 22, 1792, Solomon s Lodge, No.22, was warranted by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Halifax. It was constituted at St. Anns, now Frede...

new hampshire

A petition was sent to Henry Price of Boston on February 5, 1735, by six Freemasons at Portsmouth who had been working for some time under Constitutions "both in print and manuscript." No Lo...

new jersey

The first Provincial Grand Master in America, Daniel Coxe, lived in the State of New Jersey but did not, it is believed, exercise his Masonic powers there. On May 13,1761, A Warrant was granted by Geo...

new mexico (entry a)

During the Mexican War Freemasonry was brought into the district by military Lodges attached to Regiments stationed there. Among these Lodges were Missouri, No. 86, and Hardin, No. 87, but both were c...

new mexico (entry b)

has a Student Loan Fund to aid young men and women to obtain college educations; a number of these have been assisted while studying at various institutions of learning.

new south wales

A state of the Commonwealth of Australia, in the southeast portion of the island continent. Freemasonry owed its introduction to this State to the Social and Military Virtues Lodge, No. 227 (Ireland),...

new templars

An Order of five Degrees instituted in France in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Degrees were termed--Initiati; Intimi Initiati; Adepti; Orientales Adepti; and Magnae aquilae nigrae sanc...

new york

The first Provincial Grand Master from 1730, Colonel Daniel Coxe, did not take any active steps towards the exercise of his new office. Captain Richard Riggs, however, who succeeded him on November 15...

new zealand

A dominion consisting of a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean about one thousand miles to the southeast of Australia. Less than 100 years after the standing of the first European in this country a ...

newfoundland

The Ancient Colony of Newfoundland remained without the Confederation of the Canadian Provinces. Freemasonry in this island dates back to 1746, the first Warrant being granted by the Provincial Grand ...

newton, sir isaac

Was Sir Isaac Newton a Mason? The question lies in the same case as that about Samuel Johnson (which see). There is in Cambridge an Isaac Newton Lodge, No. 859, but the fact does not prove Newton a Ma...

nicaragua

A republic of Central America, between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Lodge of Regularity, No. 300, was granted a Charter by the Grand Lodge of England at Black River in 1763, but its na...

nick

From the Danish word, Nikken. The spirit of the waters, an enemy of man, the devil, or in the vulgate, Old Nick.

nicolai, christopher friedrich

Christopher Frederick Nicolai, author of a very interesting essay on the origin of the Society of Freemasons, was a bookseller of Berlin, and one of the most distinguished of the German savants of tha...

nigeria

The Grand Lodges in the British Isles are responsible for the introduction of Freemasonry into Nigeria, a territory of West Africa. The English Grand Lodge controls five Lodges at Lagos and one each a...

night

Lodges, almost universally, all over the world, meet, except on special occasions, at night. In some large cities, as New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Lodges have been established of Brethren whose occup...

nihongi

Japanese, meaning Chronicles of Fisons The companion of the Rojiki; the two works together forming the doctrinal and historic basis of Sintonism. The Japanese adherents of Sinsyn are termed Sintus, or...

nil nisi clavis deest

Latin, and meaning Nothing buff the key is wanting A motto or dence often attached to the Double Triangle of Royal Arch Masonry It is inscribed on the Royal Arch badge or jewel of the Grand Chapter of...

nile

There is a tradition in the old Masonic Records that the inundations of the River Nile, in Egypt, continually destroying the perishable landmarks by which one man could distinguish his possessions fro...

nimrod

The Legend of the Craft in the Old Constitutions refers to Nimrod as one of the founders Of Freemasonry. Thus in the York Manuscript. No. 1, we read: 'At ye makeing of ye Toure of Babell there wa...

nine

If the number three was celebrated among the ancient sages, that of three times three had no less celebrity; because, according to them, each of the three elements which constitute our bodies is terna...

nine sisters, lodged of the

A famous Masonic Body at Paris, France, La Loge des Neufs Soeurs, whose request for formal organization same before the Grand Orient on March 11, 1776. The name, Nine Sisters, refers to the Muses, the...

nine worthiest

Also known as the Nine Excellent Masters, Freemasons selected from Brethren. each representing a Lodge in London and Westminster. Nine Brethren were elected every year by the Grand Chapter to visit th...

nineveh

The capital of the ancient Kingdom of Assyria, and built by Nimrod. The traditions of its greatness and the magnificence of its buildings were familiar to the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Romans. The mo...

nisan

The seventh month of the Hebrew civil year, and corresponding to the months of March and April, commencing with the new moon of the former.

noachidae

The descendants of Noah. A term applied to Freemasons on the theory, derived from the Legend of the Craft, that Noah was the father and founder of the Masonic system of theology. Henee the Freemasons ...

noachite, or prussian enight

The French expression is Noachite ou Chevalier Prussien. There are two uses of the title. l. The Twenty-first Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The history as well as the character of...

noachites

The same as Noachidae, which see.

noah (entry a)

The writer of the Cooke MS. (1410/1450 A.D.) had before him an original which may have been written about 1350 A.D. The author of that original frankly acknowledges that many of his historical stateme...

noah (entry b)

In all the old Masonic manuscript Constitutions that are extant, Noah and the Flood play an important part in the Legend of the Craft. Hence, as the Masonic system became developed, the Patriareh was ...

noah, precepts of

The precepts of the Patriarch Noah, which were preserved as the Constitutions of our ancient Brethren, are seven in number and are as follows: 1. Renounce all idols. 2. Worship the one true God. 3. Co...

noffodei

The name of this person is differently spelled by various writers. Villani, and after him Burnes, call him Noffo Dei, Reghellini Neffodei, and Addison Nosso de Florentin; but the more usual spelling i...

nomenclature

There are several Masonic works, printed or in manuscript, which contain lists of the names of Degrees in Freemasonry. Such a list is called by the French writers a Nomenclature. The word means a syst...

nomination

It is the custom in some Grand Lodges and Lodges to nominate candidates for election to office. and in others this custom is not adopted. But the practice of nomination has the sanction of ancient usa...

non nobis

It is prescribed that the motto beneath the Passion Cross on the Grand Standard of a Commandery of Knights Templar shall be Non nobis Domine! non nobis, sed no7nini too da Gloriam. That is, Not unto u...

non-affiliation

The state of being unconnected by membership with a Lodge (see Unaffiliated Freemason) .

non-resident

The members of a Lodge who do not reside in the locality of a Lodge, but live at a great distance from it in another State, ore perhaps country, but still continue members of it and contribute to its ...

nonesynches

In the Old Constitutions, known as the Dowland Manuscript, is found the following passage: "Saint Albones loved well Masons and cherished them much. And he made their pay right good, . . . for he...

nonis

A significant word in the Thirty-second Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The original old French Rituals endeavor to explain it, and say that it and two other words in conjunction are...

noorthouck, john

The editor of the fifth, and by far the best, edition of the Book of Constitutions, which was published in 1784. He was the son of Herman Noorthouck, a bookseller, and was born in London about the yea...

norfolk

Thomas Howard, eighth Duke of Norfolk. Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge, installed January 29, 1730, remaining until 1731, and succeeded by Lord Lovel. From Venice, 1731, he sent the Grand Lodg...

normal

A perpendicular to a curve; and included between the curve and the axis of the abscissas. Sometimes a square, used by Operative Masons, for proving angles. The word means to act according to an establ...

nornae

In the Scandinavian Mysteries these were three maidens, known as Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, signifying Past, Present, and Future. Their position is seated near the Urdar-wells under the world-tree Yggd...

north

The north is Masonically called a Place of Darkness. The sun in his progress through the ecliptic never reaches farther than 23 28' north of the equator. A wall being erected on any part of the e...

north american masonic congress

The General Grand Lodge

north carolina (entry a)

The Grand Lodge of England warranted a Lodge in North Carolina at Wilmington in March, 1754 or 1755. This was afterwards known as Saint John's, No. 1. A Grand Lodge s of North Carolina was organi...

north carolina (entry b)

has a Masonic Educational Loan Fund amounting, in its fourth year, 1926, to $45,000, actively at work in various institutions of the State. The Several Grand Bodies annually contribute, the Grand Lodg...

north dakota

When the Territory of Dakota was divided into North and South Dakota in 1889 the question arose of the necessity for a Grand Lodge in each of the two districts. It was decided that there must be a div...

north star

This star is frequently used as a Masonic symbol, as are the morning star, the day star, the seven stars. Thus, the morning star is the forerunner of the Great Light that is about to break upon the Lo...

norway

Freemasonry must be studied in Sweden and Denmark jointly with Norway as politically the three were united for many years and the Swedish Rite has left a permanent impression on all of these countries...

notuma

A significant word in some of the advanced Degrees of the Templar System. It is the anagram of Aumont, who is said to have been the first Grand Master of the Templars in Scotland, and the restorer of ...

nova scotia

A slab of rock discovered in 1827 on Goat Island in the Annapolis Basin was found to be engraved with the Square and Compasses and the date 1606, but the history of it remains unknown and nothing can ...

novice

1. The Second Degree of the Illuminati of Bavaria. 2. The Fifth Decree of the Rite of Strict Observance.

novice, maonne

That in French is to say a female Mason who is a Novice. It is the First Degree of the Moral Order of the Dames of Mount Tabor

novice, mythological

The French title is Novice Mythologigue. The First Degree of the Historical Order of the Dames of Mount Tabor.

novice, scottish

In French the title is bodice Ecossaise. The First Degree of initiation in the Order of Mount Tabor.

novitiate

The time of probation, as well as of preparatory training, which, in all Religious Orders, precedes the solemn profession at least one year. By Dispensation only can the period of time be reduced. Nov...

nuk-pe-nuk

The Egyptian equivalent for the expression "I am that I am."

numbers

The symbolism which is derived from numbers was common to the Pythagoreans, the Cabalists the Gnostics, and all mystical associations. Of all superstitions. it is the oldest and the most generally dif...

numeration by letters

There is a Cabalistical process especially used in the Hebrew language, but sometimes applied to other languages, for instance, to the Greek, by which a mystical meaning of a word is deduced from the ...

numerology

Numerology is to arithmetic what astrology is to astronomy. It is a form of occultism in which magical properties are attributed to the natural numbers; and it is probable that it has been more or les...

nun

The Hebrew word, meaning abash, in Syrian an inkhorn. The Chaldaic and hieroglyphie form of this Hebrew word or letter was like Figure 1, and the Egyptian like Figure 2, signifying fishes in any of th...

nunez

A Portuguese founder of an imitation of Knights Templar, termed the Order of Christ, at Paris, 1807.

nursery

The first of the three classes into which Weishaupt divided his Order of Illuminati, comprising three Degrees (see Illuminati).

nyasaland

In this country of Central Africa, there have been two Lodges, one at Blantyre and one at Zomba. Both were chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

nyaya

The name of the second of the three great systems of ancient Hindu philosophy.

nyctazontes

An ancient sect who praised God by dav but rested in quiet and presumed security during the night.
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