The Ashlar Company - Masonic Shop For the good of the craft... 417-308-0380 We will beat any competitors price by 5%.
Set a price limit $
Masonic Supply ShopFront Page Masonic ArtworkArtwork Masonic AntiquesAntiques Masonic Hats, Aprons, Ties, Gloves and ApparelApparel Masonic EmblemsEmblems Masonic Lapel PinsLapel Pins Masonic RingsMasonic Rings Freemason JewelryJewelry Masonic SupplySupply
Shopping Cart FAQ Sales Favorites
Design Your Own Custom Masonic Rings
Back to The Encyclopedia

Masonic Encyclopedia

p

The sixteenth letter of the English and Greek alphabets, and the seventeenth of the Hebrew, in which last-mentioned language its numerical value is 80, is formed thus 9, signifying a mouth in the Ph...

p. d. e. p.

Letters placed on the ring of profession of the Order of the Temple, being the initials of the Latin sentence, Pro Deo et Patria, that is, For God and Country.

pachacamac

The Peruvian name for the Creator and Ruler of the universe.

paez, jose antonio

Founder of the Venezuelan Republic, was born of Indian parentage near Acarigua, June 13, 1790, prominent in the struggle for independence against Spain from 1810 to 1823 and in 1829 effected the seces...

paganis, hugo de

The Latinized form of the name of Hugh de Payens, the first Grand Master of the Templars (see Payens).

paganism

A general appellation for the religious worship of the whole human race, except of that portion which has embraced Christianity, Judaism, or Mohammedanism. Its interest to the Masonic student arises f...

paine, thomas

A political writer of eminence during the Revolutionary War in America. He greatly injured his reputation by his attacks on the Christian religion. He was not a Freemason, but wrote An Essay on the Or...

palestine

called also the Holy Land on account of the sacred character of the events that have occurred there, is situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, stretching from Lebanon south to the borders of Egyp...

palestine, explorations in

The desire to obtain an accurate knowledge of the archeology of Palestine, gave rise in 1866 to an association, which was permanently organized in London, as the Palestine Ezploration Fund, with the Q...

palestine, order of

Mentioned by Baron de Tschoudy, and said to have been the fountain whence the Chevalier Ramsay obtained the information for the regulation of his system.

palla

An altar-cloth, also a canopy borne over the head of royalty in Oriental lands.

palladia andrea

Such reference books as are most often consuited in public libraries say little more about Andrea Palladio than that he was an Italian architect, of Venice, born in 1518, died in 1580, that he was one...

palladic freemasonry

The title given to the Order of the Seven Sages and the Order of the Palladium (see Palladium, Order of the).

palladium, order of the

An androgynous society, both sexes, of Masonic adoption, established, says Ragon, at Paris in 1737. It made great pretensions to high antiquity, claiming that it had its origin in the instructions bro...

palm and shell, oriental order of the

The object of the Masonic Holy Land League, in whose membership the Pilgrim Knights of the Palm and Shell were enrolled, was to encourage researches commenced in 1863 under the leadership of Brother R...

palmer

From the Latin word palmifer, meaning a palm-bearer. A name given in the time of the Crusades to a pilgrim, who, coming back from the holy war after having accomplished his vow of pilgrimage, exhibite...

palmer, henry l.

Born at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania October 18, 1819, and died at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 7, 1909. Served as Representative and Senator in Wisconsin Legislature, was President of School Board, City...

palser plates

Thomas Palser, Surrey Side, Westminster Bridge, London, England, published a set of seven engravings, 1809-12, featuring Masonic ceremonies. These imitated a set issued in France, 1745.

pantacle

The pentalpha of Pythagoras is so called in the symbolism of High Magic and the Hermetic Philosophy (see Pentalpha).

pantheism

A speculative system, which, spiritually considered, identifies the universe with God, and, in the material form, God with the universe. Material Pantheism is subject to the criticism, if not to the a...

pantheistic brotherhood

Described by John Toland, in his Pantheisticon, as having a strong resemblance to Freemasonry. The Soeratic Lodge in Germany, based on the Brotherhood, was of short duration.

papworth manuscript

A manuscript in the possession of Wyatt Papworth, of London, who purchased it from a bookseller of that city in 1860. As some of the watermarks of the paper on which it is written bear the initials G....

papyrus

"The papyrus leaf," says J. W. Simons, in his Egyptian Symbols, "is that plant Which formed tablets and books, and forms the first letter of the name of the only eternal and all-powerfu...

paracelsus

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus de Hohenheim, as he styled himself, was born in Germany in 1493, and died in 1541. He devoted his youth to the study and practice of astrology, alc...

paracelsus, sublime

A Degree to be found in the manuscript collection of Peuvret.

paraguay

A republic of South America. A Lodge authorized by the Grand Orient of Brazil was at work in 1881 at Paraguay. In 1893 the Grand Orient of Paraguay was founded and in 1923 it exercised control over te...

parallel lines

In every well-regulated Lodge there is found a point within a circle, which circle is imboridered by two perpendicular parallel lines. These lines are representative of Saint John the Baptist and Sain...

parikchai, agrouchada

An occult scientific work of the Brahmans. According to a work my Louis Jacolliot, 1884, the Fakirs produced phelomena at will with superior intervention or else with shrewd charlatanism: processes th...

paris constitutions

A copy of these Constitutions, said to have been adopted in the thirteenth century, will be found in G. P. Depping's Collection de Documents indits sur l'Histoire de France (Paris, 1837). A ...

paris, congresses of

Three important Masonic Congresses have been held in the city of Paris. The first was convened by the Rite of Philalethes in 1785, that by a concourse of intelligent Freemasons of all rites and countr...

parliamentary law (entry a)

Masonic Parliamentary Law is the body of usages, rules, and regulations according to which a Lodge is governed in its Opening and Closing, in establishing a Quorum, in conducting the Order of Business...

parliamentary law (entry b)

Parliamentary Law, or the Lex Parliamentaria, is that code originally framed for the government of the Parliament of Great Britain in the transaction of its business, and subsequently adopted, with ne...

parlirer

In the Lodges of Stone-Masons of the Middle Ages, there was a rank or class of workmen called Parlirers, literally, spokesmen. They were an intermediate class of officers between the Masters of the Lo...

parole

The French for Word and here applied to the Mot de Sexsestre, which see, and in that language this means a six-months password, communicated by the Grand Orient of France, and in addition to an Annual...

parrot masons

One who commits to memory the questions and answers of the catechetical lectures, and the formulas of the ritual, but pays no attention to the history and philosophy of the Institution, is commonly ca...

parsees

The descendants of the original fire worshipers of Persia, or the disciples of Zoroaster who emigrated to India about the end of the eighth century. There they now constitute a very large and influent...

particular lodges

In the Regulations of 1721, it is said that the Grand Lodge consists of the representatives of all the particular Lodges on record (Constitutions, 1723, page 61). In the modern Constitutions of Englan...

parts

In the old obligations, which may be still used in some portions of the United States, there was provision which forbade the revelation of any of the arts, parts, or points of Freemasonry. Doctor Oliv...

parvin, newton ray

Brother Parvin was born at Muscatine, Iowa, July 5, 1851. In 1872 he entered the office of the Grand Secretary, where he remained as a clerk and Deputy until the death of his father, Theodore Sutton P...

parvin, theodore s.

Born January 15, 1817, in Cumberland County, New Jersey. His journey in life gradually tending westward, he located in Ohio, and graduated in 1837 at the Cincinnati Law School- He was appointed privat...

parvis

In the French system, the room immediately adjoining a Masonic Lodge is so called. It is equivalent to the Preparation Room of the American and English systems.

pas perdus

The French call the room appropriated to visitors the Salle des pas perdus, literally the Hall of the Lost Steps, a Masonic waiting room. It is the same as the Tiler's Room in the English and Ame...

paschal feast

Celebrated by the Jews in commemoration of the Passover, by the Christians in commemoration of the resurrection of our Lord. The Paschal Feast, called also the Mystic Banquet, is kept by all Princes o...

paschalis, martinez

The founder of a new Rite or modification of Freemasonry, called by hun the Rite of Elected Cohens or Priests. It was divided into two classes, in the first of which was represented the fall of man fr...

passage

The Fourth Degree of the Fessler Rite, of which Patria forms the Fifth.

passed

A candidate, on receiving the Second Degree, is said to be "passed as a Fellow Craft." It alludes to his having passed through the porch to the Middle Chamber of the Temple, the place in whi...

passing the river

A mystical alphabet said to have been used by the Cabalists. These characters, with certain explanations, become the subject of consideration with Brethren of the Fifteenth Degree, Ancient and Accepte...

password

A word intended, like the military countersign, to prove the friendly nature of him who gives it, and is a test of his right to pass or be admitted into a certain place. Between a Word and a Password ...

past

An epithet applied in Freemasonry to an officer who has held an office for the prescribed period for which he was elected, and has then retired. Thus, a Past Master is one who has been elected and ins...

past master

An honorary Degree usually conferred on the Master of a Lodge at his installation into office. In this Degree the necessary instructions are conferred respecting the various ceremonies of the Order, s...

past master, joining

Any Past Master upon joining another Lodge in England becomes a Past Master in the Lodge he joins. He ranks immediately after the then Immediate Past Master and in later lists of the Past Masters his ...

pastophori

Couch or shrine bearers. The company of Pastophori constituted a sacred college of priests in Egypt, whose duty it was to carry in processions the image of the god. Their chief, according to Apuleius ...

pastos

The Greek word, meaning a couch. The pastos was a chest or close cell, in the Pagan Mysteries, among the Druids, an excavated stone, in which the aspirant was for some time placed, to commemorate the ...

patents

Diplomas or Certificates of the advanced Degrees in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite are called Patents. The term is also sometimes applied to Commissions granted for the exercise of high Masoni...

patience

In the instructions of the Third Degree according to the American Rite, it has been said that "time, patience, and perseverance will enable us to accomplish all things, and perhaps at last to fin...

patriarch of the crusades

One of the names formerly given to the degree of Grand Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew, the Twenty-ninth of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The legend of that Degree connects it with the Crusa...

patriarch, grand

The Twentieth Degree of the Council of Emperors of the East and West. The same as the Twentieth Degree, or Noachite, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

patriarchal freemasonry

The theory of Doctor Oliver on this subject has, we think, been misinterpreted. He does not maintain, as has been falsely supposed, that the Freemasonry of the present day is but a continuation of tha...

patron

In the year 1812, the Prince of Wales, becoming Regent of the Kingdom, was constrained by reasons of state to resign the Grand Mastership of England, but immediately afterward accepted the title of Gr...

patrons of freemasonry

Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. At an early period we find that the Christian church adopted the usage of selecting for every trade and occupation its own patron saint, who is su...

paul i

This Emperor of Russia was induced by the machinations of the Jesuits, whom he had recalled from banishment, to prohibit in his domains all secret societies, and especially the Freemasons. This prohib...

paul, confraternity of saint

In the time of the Emperor Charles V there was a secret community at Trapani, in Sicily, which called itself La Confraternita di San Paolo. These people, when assembled, passed sentence on their fello...

paul, saint, the apostle , a freemason

In the Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati Volume I, page 74) there is a translation by Brother G. W. Speth of a paper by Brother Carl Herman Tendler, a member of the United Lodges, zu den drei...

pavement, the

There is almost nothing anywhere in the early records of Speculative Lodges to suggest either a history or an interpretation of the Pavement, which is represented by a series of black and white square...

pax vobiscum

A Latin phrase meaning Peace be with you! Used in the Eighteenth Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

payens, hugh de

In Latin, Hugo de Paganis. Founder and the first Grand Master of the Order of Knights Templar. He was born at Troyes, in the kingdom of Naples. Having, with eight others, established the Order at Jeru...

payne, george

An English Freemason, who lived at New Palace Yard, Westminster, England, where he died January 23, 1757, leaving very little record of his personal life outside of the fact that he seas at the time s...

peace

The spirit of Freemasonry is antagonistic to war. Its tendency is to unite all men in one brotherhood, whose ties must necessarily be weakened by all dissension. Hence, as Brother Albert Pike says, &q...

peace and harmony

The universality of Freemasonry which is everywhere accepted as a Landmark in principle is as yet unrealized in practice. Great Britain admits Negroes to membership in its Lodges in the Western Atlant...

peary, rear admiral robert edwin

Famous discoverer of the North Pole, born May 6, 1856, at Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania; died on February 20, 1920. Entered civil engineer corps, United States Navy, 1881; made his first expedition no...

pectoral

Belonging to the breast; from the Latin pectus, meaning the breast. The heart has always been considered the seat of fortitude and courage, and hence by this word is suggested to the Freemason certain...

pectoral of the high priest

The breastplate worn by the High Priest of the Jews was so called from pectus, meaning the breast, upon which it rested (see Breastplate and Pectoral).

peculiarity of freemasonry

In the period when Mitchell, Macoy, Morris were writing their books, Mackey was writing his earlier books, and Oliver and Preston were the staples of Masonic reading, "the peculiarity of Masonry&...

pedal

Belonging to the feet, from the Latin word pedes, meaning the feet The just man is he who, firmly planting his feet on tie principles of right, is as immovable as a rock, and can be thrust from his up...

pedestal

The pedestal is the lowest part or base of a column on which the shaft is placed. In a Lodge, there are supposed to be three columns, the column of Wisdom in the East, the column of Strength in the We...

pedum

A Latin word meaning a Shepherd's Crook, and is so used by the Roman poet, Vergil, and hence sometimes used in ecclesiology for the Bishop's Crozier. In the Statutes of the Order of the Temp...

peetash

The Demon of Calumny in the religious system of Zoroaster, Persia.

pelasgian religion

The Pelasgians were the oldest, if not the aboriginal, inhabitants of Greece. Their religion differed from that of the Hellenes, who succeeded them, in being less poetical, less mythical, and more abs...

peleg

A Hebrew word meaning Division. A son of Eber. In his day the world was divided. A significant word in the advanced Degrees. In the Noachite, or Twenty-first Degree of the Scottish Rite, there is a si...

pelica

The pelican feeding her young with her blood is a prominent symbol of the Eighteenth or Rose Croix Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and was adopted as such from the fact that the peli...

pellegrini, marquis of

One of the pseudonyms or false names assumed by Joseph Balsamo, better known as Count Cagliostro, which see.

penal sign

That act which refers to a penalty * PENALTY The adversaries of Freemasonry have found, or rather invented, abundant reasons for denouncing the Institution; but on nothing have they more strenuous...

penalties

"In London, at the beginning of the 14th Century a man convicted of treason in the court of the mayor, was bound to a stake in the Thames during two flows and two ebbs of the tide. " (Tyburn...

pencil

In the English system this is one of the Working-tools of a Master Mason, and is intended symbolically to remind us that our words and actions are observed and recorded by the Almighty Architect, to w...

penitential sign

Called also the Supplicatory Sign. It is the third sign in the English Royal Arch System. It denotes that frame of heart and mind without which our prayers and oblations will not obtain acceptance; in...

pennsylvania

According to an article by Benjamin Franklin published in his own newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, there were in 1730 several Lodges already established in the State. A Deputation had been issued ...

pennsylvania work

The method of Entering, Passing, and Raising candidates in the Lodges of Pennsylvania differs so materially from that practiced in the other States of the Union, that it cannot be considered as a part...

penny

In the parable read in the Mark Degree a penny is the amount given to each of the laborers in the vineyard for his day's labor. Hence, in the Masonic instructions, a penny a day is said to be the...

pentacle, the

The pentaculum Salomonts, or magical pentalpha, not to be confounded with Solomon's seal. The pentacle is frequently referred to in Hermetic formulae.

pentagon

A geometrical figure of five sides and five angles. It is the third figure from the exterior, in the Camp of the Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, or Thirty-second Degree of the Ancient and Accepte...

pentagram

From the Greek words pente, meaning five, and gramma, a letter. In the science of magic the pentalpha is called the holy and mysterious pentagram. Eliphas Levi says (Dogma abut Ritual of High Magic ii...

pentalpha

The triple triangle, or the pentalpha of Pythagoras, is so called from the Greel; words pente, meaning five, and alpha, the letter A, because in its configuration it presents the form of that letter i...

perau, gabriel louis calabre

A man of letters, an Abb, and a member of the Society of the Sorbonne. He was born at Semur, in Auxois, in 1700, and died at Paris, March 31, 1767. De Feller (Universal Biography) speaks of his uprigh...

perfect initiates, rite of

A name given to the Egyptian Rite when first established at Lyons by Cagliostro.

perfect irish master

The French phrase is Parfait Matre Irlandais. One of the Degrees given in the Irish Colleges as claimed to be instituted by Ramsay.

perfect master

The French name Matre Parfait. The Fifth Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The ceremonies of this Degree were originally established as a grateful tribute of respect to a worthy depart...

perfect prussian

In French Parfait Prussien. A Degree invented at Geneva, in 1770, as a second part of the Order of Noachites.

perfect stone

A name frequently given to the cubic stone discovered in the Thirteenth Degree of Perfection, the tenth of the Ineffable Aries. It denotes justice and firmness, with all the moral lessons and duties i...

perfect union, lodge of

A Lodge at Rennes, in France, where the Rite of Elect of Truth was instituted (Bee Elect of Truth, Rite of).

perfection

The Ninth and Last Degree of Fessler's Rite (see Ressler, Rite of). * PERFECTIONISTS The name by which Weishaupt first designated the order which he founded in Bavaria, and which he subsequen...

perfection, lodge of

The Lodge in which the Fourteenth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is conferred. In England and America, this Degree is called Grand Elect Perfect and Sublime Mason, but the French des...

perfection, rite of

In 1754, the Chevalier de Bonneville established a Chapter of the advanced Degrees at Paris, in the College of Jesuits of Clermont, hence called the Chapter of Clermont. The system of Freemasonry he t...

perignan

When the Elu Degrees were first invented, the legend referred to an unknown person, a tiller of the soil, to whom King Solomon was indebted for the information which led to the discovery of the crafts...

perjury

In the Municipal Law perjury is defined to be a wilful false swearing to a material matter, when an oath has been administered by lawful authority. The violation of vows or promissory oaths taken befo...

perneiti or pernety, antoine joseph

Born at Roanne, in France, in 1716. At an early age he joined the Benedictines, but in 1765 applied, with twenty-eight others, for a dispensation of his vows. A short time after, becoming disgusted wi...

perpendicular (entry a)

In a geometrical sense, that which is upright and erect, leaning neither one way nor another. In a figurative and symbolic sense, it conveys the signification of Justice, Fortitude, Prudence, and Temp...

perpendicular (entry b)

In a geometrical sense, that which is upright and erect, leaning neither one way nor another. In a figurative and symbolic sense, it conveys the signification of Justice, Fortitude, Prudence, and Temp...

persecutions (entry a)

Freemasonry, like every other good and true thing, has been subjected at times to suspicion, to misinterpretation, and to actual persecution. Like the Church, it has had its martyrs, who, by their dev...

persecutions (entry b)

Freemasonry, like every other good and true thing, has been subjected at times to suspicion, to misinterpretation, and to actual persecution. Like the Church, it has had its martyrs, who, by their dev...

perseverance

A virtue inculcated, by a peculiar symbol in the Third Degree, in reference to the acquisition of knowledge, and especially the knowledge of the True Word (see Patience).

perseverance, order of

An Adoptive Order established at Paris, in 1771, by several nobles and ladies. It had but little of the Masonic character about it; and, although at the time of its creation it excited considerable se...

persia

A kingdom of West Asia. No Lodges have been constituted in Persia by the Grand Lodge of England although Sir Gore Ousely, Ambassador to the Shah of Persia in 1810, was appointed Provincial Grand Maste...

persian philosophical rite

A Rite which its founders asserted was established in 1818, at Erzerum, in Persia, and which was introduced into France in the year 1819. It consisted of seven Degrees, as follows: 1. Listening Appre...

personal merit

In the Charges, 1723, we find "All preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit only, that so the Lords may be well served, the Brethren not put to shame nor the Royal C...

peru

A republic of South America. There is an old belief that the French brought Freemasonry into Peru in 1807 and that the work of the various Lodges then formed was ended in 181?; by the Church. This how...

peters, william

The Rev. William Peters was appointed Grand Portrait Painter to the Grand Lodge of England in 1813.

petion for a charter

The next step in the process of organizing a Lodge, after the Dispensation has been granted by the Grand Master, is an application for a Charter or Warrant of Constitution. The application may be, but...

petit palais

Before the occupation of France by the Germans in World War II a number of French Anti- Masonic groups perfected a more or less unified organization for the express purpose of nullifying the influence...

petition for a dispensation

When it is desired to establish a new Lodge, application by Petition must be made to the Grand Master. This petition ought to be signed by at least seven Master Masons, and be recommended by the neare...

petition for initiation

According to American usage any person who is desirous of initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry must apply to the Lodge nearest to his place of residence, by means of a petition signed by himse...

petre, lord

Lord Petre was elected Grand Master of the (1717) Grand Lodge of England in 1772, and was reelected for three other terms. Because he was a remarkable man himself, entitled for his own sake to be reme...

peuvret, jean eustache

An usher of the Parliament of Paris, and Past Master of the Lodge of Saint Pierre in Martinico, and afterward a dignitary of the Grand Orient at France. Peuvret was devoted to Hermetic Freemasonry, an...

pfuscher

German word meaning cowan

phainoteletian society

The French title is Society Phaxnotelete. A Society founded at Paris, in 1840, by Louis Theordore Juge, the editor of the Globe, composed of members of all rites and Degrees, for the investigation of ...

phallic worship

The Phallus was a sculptured representation of the membrum uirile, or male organ of generation. The worship of it is said to have originated in Egypt, where, after the murder of Osiris by Typhon, whic...

phallus

Donegan says this word comes from an Egyptian or Indian root. More directly it comes from the Greek by way of Latin (see Phallic Worship) .

pharaxal

A significant word in the advanced Degrees, and there said, in the old instructions to signify we shall all be united. Delaunay gives it as Pharas Rol, and says it means All is explained. If it is der...

pharisees

A school among the Jews at the time of Christ, so called from the Aramaic Perushim, Separated, because they held themselves apart from the rest of the nation. They claimed to have a mysterious knowled...

phenicia

The Latinized form of the Greek word Phoinikia, from sooLvtt, a palm, because of the number of palms anciently, but not now, found in the country. A tract of country on the north of Palestine, along t...

phenix

The old mythological legend of the phenir is a familiar one. The bird was described as of the size of an eagle, with a head finely crested, a body covered with beautiful plumage, and eyes sparkling li...

philadelphes, lodge of the

The name of a Lodge at Narbonne, in France, in which the Primitive Rite was first instituted; whence it is sometimes called the Rite of the Philadelphians (see Primitive Rite).

philadelphia

Placed on the imprint of some Masonic works of the eighteenth century as a pseudonym or false name of Paris.

philalethes, rite of the

Called also the Seekers of Truth, although the word literally means Friends of Truth. It was a Rite founded in 1773 at Paris, in the Lodge of Amis Reunis, by Savalette de Langes, Keeper of the Royal T...

philip iv

Surnamed Le Bel, or the Fair, who ascended the throne of France in 1285. He is principally distinguished in history on account of his persecution of the Knights Templar. With the aid of his willing in...

philip, duke of wharton

Born in England, 1698, of an illustrious family; received a splendid education and on June 25, 1722, was elected to succeed the Duke of Montague as Grand Master of Freemasons, Doctor Desaguliers actin...

philippian order

Finch gives this as the name of a secret Order instituted by King Philip "for the use only of his first nobility and principal officers, who thus formed a select and secret council in which he co...

philippine islands

Brother Teodaro M. Kalaw, La Masoneria Filipina, mentions the claim that when the British captured Manila from Spain, 1762-4, a Lodge was established. In 1924 a speaker at the Masonic Temple, Manila, ...

philo

The name among the Illuminati by which Baron von Enigge was known (see Enigge).

philo judaeus

A Jewish philosopher of the school of Alexandria, who was born about thirty years before Christ. Philo adopted to their full extent the mystical doctrines of his school, and taught that the Hebrew Scr...

philo-musicae et architecturae societas

An organization founded in London, February 18, 1725, and terminating March 23, 1727. A complete Minute-booL: of this society is in the possession of the British Museum, having been reprinted by the Q...

philo-musicae society, etc.

As stated in the paragraph on page 772 the Philo-Musicae Et Architecturae Apolloni Society was established by a small group of Freemasons who were lovers of music and architecture early in 1725. A cop...

philocoreites, order of

An androgynous, both sexes, secret society established in the French army in Spain, in 1808. The members were called Knights and Ladxes Philocoreites, or Lovers of Pleasure. It was not Masonic in char...

philosopher of hermes

In French, Philosophe d'Herrnts. A Degree contained in the Archives of the Lodge of Saint Louis des Amis Reunis at Calais.

philosopher's stone

It was the doctrine of the Alchemists, that there was a certain mineral, the discovery of which was the object of their art, because, being mixed with the baser metals, it would transmute these into g...

philosopher, christian

The French title is Philosophe Chretien. The Fourth Degree of the Order of African Architects.

philosopher, grand and sublime hermetic

In French, Grand et Sublime Philosophe Hermetique. A Degree in the manuscript collection of Peuvret. Twelve other Degrees of Philosopher were contained in the same collection, namely, Grand Neapolitan...

philosopher, sublime

The French title is Sublime Philosophy and alludes to two grades. 1. The Fifty-third Degree of the Rite of Mizraim. 2. The Tenth Class of the Rite of the Philalethes.

philosopher, sublime unknown

In French, Sublime Philosophe Inconnu. The Seventy ninth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.

philosopher, the little

The title in French is Le petit Philosophy. A Degree in the collection of Pyron.

philosopher, unknown

In French the title is Philosophy Inconnu. The Ninth Class of the Rite of the Philalethes. It was so called in reference to Saint Martin, who had adopted that title as his pseudonym, or false name and...

philosophic degrees

All the Degrees of the ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite above the Eighteenth and below the Thirty-third are called Philosophic Degrees, because, abandoning the symbolism based on the Temple, they se...

philosophus

The Fourth Grade of the First Order of the Society of Rosicrucians, as practised in Europe and the United States.

philosophy of freemasonry

Lectures on the Philosophy of Freemasonry, by Roscoe Pound, former Dean of the Law School, Harvard University, presents the philosophy of Freemasonry in the form of a series of chapters on each of fou...

philosophy sublime

In French, Philosophie Sublime. The Forty-eighth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.

phylacteries

The second fundamental principle of Judaism is the wearing of phylacteries; termed by some writers Tataphoth, or ornaments, and refer to the law and commandments, as "Bind them about thy neck; wr...

physical qualifications

The physical qualifications of a candidate for initiation into Freemasonry may be considered under the three heads of Sex, Age, and Bodily Conformation. 1. Sex. It is a landmark that the candidate sh...

picart's ceremonies

Bernard Picart was a celebrated engraver of Amsterdam, and the author of a voluminous work, which was begun in 1723, and continued after his death, until 1737, by J. F. Bernard, entitled Ceremonies Re...

pickax

An instrument used to loosen the soil and prepare it for digging. It is one of the Working tools of a Royal Arch Mason, and symbolically teaches him to loosen from his heart the hold of evil habits. ...

piece of architecture

In French, the title is Morfeau d'Architecture. The French so call a discourse, poem, or other production on the subject of Freemasonry. The definition previously given in this work under the tit...

pike, albert (entry a)

The World of Washington Irvinq, by Van Wyok Brooks (E. P. Dutton & Co.; New York; 1944), is a brilliant and distinguished book in which the panorama of American writers of the period of Irving and Coo...

pike, albert (entry b)

Born at Boston, Massachusetts, December 29, 1809, and died April 2, 1891. After a sojourn in early life in Mexico, he returned to the United States and settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, as an editor a...

pike, zebulon montgomery

Famous American explorer and soldier, born January 5, 1779; died April 27, 1813. He was appointed in 1805 to conduct exploring expeditions into the country of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. On November ...

pilgrim

A pilgrim, from the Italian pelegrino, and that from the Latin peregrinus, signifying a traveler, denotes one who visits holy places from a principle of devotion. Dante, Vita Nuova, meaning Young or N...

pilgrim lodge

A London Lodge, Der Pilger, No. 238, established August, 1799, retaining the customs of German Masonic Bodies. A special jewel is worn by members, a silver key and a gold trowel suspended from a light...

pilgrim penitent

A term in the instructions of Masonic Templarism. It refers to the pilgrimage, made as a penance for sin, to the sepulcher of the Lord; for the church promised the remission of sins and various spirit...

pilgrim templar

The part of the pilgrim represented in the Ritual of the Masonic Knights Templar Degree is a symbolic reference to the career of the pilgrim of the Middle Ages in his journey to the sepulcher in the H...

pilgrim warrior

A term in the instructions of Masonic Templarism. It refers to the pilgrimage of the knights to secure possession of the holy places. This w as considered a pious dutv. "Whoever goes to Jerusalem...

pilgrim's weeds

The costume of a pilgrim was thus called. It may be described as follows: In the first place, he wore a sclavina, or long Sown, made of the darkest colors and the coarsest materials, bound by a leathe...

pilier

This is a French word. The title given to each of the conventual Bailiffs or heads of the eight languages of the Order of Malta, and by which they were designated in all official records. It signifies...

pillar

In the earliest times it was customary to perpetuate remarkable events, or exhibit gratitude for providential favors, by the erection of pillars, which by the idolatrous races were dedicated to their ...

pillars of cloud and fire

The pillar of cloud that went before the Israelites by day, and the pillar of fire that preceded them by night, in their journey through the wilderness, are supposed to be alluded to by the pillars of...

pillars of enoch

Two pillars which were erected by Henoch, for the preservation of the antediluvian, or before the Flood, inventions, and which are repeatedly referred to in the Legend of the Craft, contained in the O...

pillars of the porch

The pillars most remarkable in Scripture history were the two erected by Solomon at the porch of the Temple, and which Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chapter ii) thus describes: "More...

pinceau

French, meaning a penury; but in the technical language of French Freemasonry it is a pen. Hence, in the Minutes of French Lodges, tenir We pinceau, to take hold of the pencil means to act as Secretar...

pinceney, william

Born March 17, 1764, at Annapolis, Maryland. Member of State Convention to ratify Federal Constitution, 1788-92; House of Delegates, 1795, State Executive Council, 1792-5; United States Commissioner a...

pine-cone

The tops or points of the rods of deacons are often surmounted by a pine-cone or pineapple. This is in imitation of the Thyrsus, or sacred staff of Bacchus, which was a lance or rod enveloped in leave...

pinnacles

The generally ornamented terminations much used in Gothic architecture. They are prominently referred to in the Eleventh Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, where the pinnacles over the ...

pirlet

The name of a tailor of Paris, who, in 1762, organized a Body called Council of Knights of the East, in opposition to the Council of Emperors of the East and West.

pitaka

Divisions of the Pali Scriptures are so named, meaning in each case basket or collection The Bible of Buddhism, containing 116 volumes, is divided into three classes, collectively known as the Tripita...

pitdah

The Hebrew word One of the twelve stones in the breastplate of the high priest, of a yellow color. The Sanskrit for yellow is pita.

pitris

Among the Hindus, Pitris were spirits; and so mentioned in the Agrouchada Parikchai, the philosophical compendium of the Hindu spiritists, a scientific work giving an account of the creation and the M...

pius vii

On August 13, 1814, Pope Pius VII issued an Edict forbidding the meetings of all secret societies, and especially the Freemasons and Carbonari, under heavy corporal penalties, to which were to be adde...

place

In strict Masonic ritualism the positions occupied by the Master and Wardens are called stations; those of the other officers, places. This distinction is not observed in the higher Degrees (see Stati...

planche tracee

The name by which the Minutes are designated in French Lodges. Literally, planche is a board, and traced means delineated. The planche traces is therefore the board on which the plans of the Lodge hav...

plays, london clubs and

In 1220 King Henry III issued a charter to "The Society of Parish Clerks," often called "London Clubs." The particular clerks (clerics) referred to were those trained men in each p...

plot manuscripts

Doctor R. Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, published in 1686, speaks of "a scrole or parchment volume," in the possession of the Freemasons of the seventeenth century, in which...

plot, robert, m.d.

Born in 1651, and died in 1696. He was a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford, and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, to which position he had been appointed by Elias Ashmole, to whom, however, he showed but...

plumb-line

A line to which a piece of lead is attached so as to make it hang perpendicularly. The plumb- line, sometimes called simply the line, is one of the working-tools of the Past Master. According to Prest...

plumb-rule

A narrow straight board, having a plumb-line suspended from its top and a perpendicular mark through its middle. It is one of the Working-tools of a Fellow Craft, but in Masonic language is called the...

pocket companions

A Pocket Companion For Freemasons, by W. Smith; published at London in 1735 by E. Rider in Blackmore Street. A collection of songs which forms one part of this book is dated 1734. The price is not giv...

poetry of freemasonry

Although Freemasonry has been distinguished more than any other single institution for the number of verses to which it has given birth, it has not produced any poetry of a very high order, except a f...

poetry, masonic

Where Masonic poetry can be found, and what Masonic poetry is, are questions answerable onlyWafter the phrase is defined. If by Masonic poetry is meant verse written by a Mason about a symbol or abo...

poinsett, joel r.

Joel Roberts Poinsett introduced from Mexico the plant with crimson bracts which has become the national Christmas flower Poinsettia pulcherina. He was born in Charleston S.C., in 1779, like Paul Reve...

point within a circle (entry a)

As knowledge of the customs of gilds, fraternities, churches, and of popular customs in the Middle Ages is increased it becomes ever more evident that the two Sts. John Days were in everybody's m...

point within a circle (entry b)

This is a symbol of great interest and importance, and brings us into close connection with the early symbolism of the solar orb and the universe, which was predominant in the ancient sun- worship. Th...

pointed cubical stone

The Broached Thurnel, which see, mentioned by Doctor Oliver and others in the Tracing- Board of an Entered Apprentice, and known to the French Freemason as the pierre cubiquc, has an ax inserted in th...

points

In the Old Constitutions known as the Halliwell or Regius Manuscript, there are fifteen regulations which are called points. The fifteen articles which precede are said to have been in existence befor...

points of entrance, perfect

In the earliest lectures of the eighteenth century these were called Principal Points. The designation of them as Perfect Points of Entrance was of a later date. They are described both in the English...

points of fellowship, five

There are duties owing by every Freemason to his Brethren, which, from their symbolic allusion to certain points of the body, and from the lesson of brotherly love which they teach, are called the Fiv...

poland

Lodges were held in Poland quite early in the eighteenth century, but the Bull of pope Clement XII in 1739 stopped all activities. In 1742, however, a Lodge was again at work in Volhynien and others s...

politics

There is no charge more frequently made against Freemasonry than that of its tendency to revolution, and conspiracy, and to political organizations which may affect the peace of society or interfere w...

politics and masonry

The first Book of Constitutions of Freemasonry (1723) has as its second part The Charges of a Free-Mason, which begins on page 49. The second of these charges is "Of the Civil Magistrate Supreme ...

polkal

A significant word in the advanced Degrees, which means altogether separated, in allusion to the disunited condition of the Masonic Order at the time, divided as it was into various and conflicting ri...

polychronicon

Ranulf Higden, a monk of Chester, wrote, about 1350, under this title a Latin chronicle, which was translated into English in 1387 by John Trevisa, and published by William Caxton, in 1482, as The Pol...

pomegranate

The pomegranate, as a symbol, was known to and highly esteemed by the nations of antiquity. In the description of the pillars which stood at the porch of the Temple (see First Kings via, 15), it is sa...

pomme verte

This in French means the Green Apple. An androgynous (of both sexes) Order instituted in Germany in 1780, and afterwards introduced into France as we are told by Thory (Acta Latomorum i, page 333).

pommel

A round knob; a term applied to the globes or balls on the top of the pillars which stood at the porch of Solomon's Temple. It was introduced into the Masonic lectures from Scriptural language. T...

pontiff

In addition to what has been said of this word in the article on the Bridge Builders of the middle Ages, the following from Athanase Coquerel, in a recent essay entitled The Rise and Decline of the Ro...

poor fellow soldiers of jesus christ

This title is in Latin Pauperes commilitones Jesu Christi. This was the title first assumed by the Knights Templar.

pooroosh

The spirit or essence of Brahma in the Indian religious system.

pope, alexander

Son of a Roman Catholic linen-dealer at London. Born May 21, 1688, died May 30, 1744. the body being buried in the parish church of Twickenham. Many of his satires took up the cause of this or that po...

poppy

In the Mysteries of the Ancients, the poppy was the symbol of regeneration. The somniferous qualities of the plant expressed the idea of quiescence; but the seeds of a new existence which it contained...

porta, gambattista

A physicist of Naples, who was born in 1545 and died in 1615. He was the founder of the Segreti, or Academy of Ancients, which see. He devoted himself to the study of the occult sciences, was the inve...

porter, a. k., on medieval masonry

After a long and specialized training, Arthur E. Porter, Harvard University, devoted the whole of his career to Gothic Architecture, and for many years studied the still-existing buildings at first ha...

portiforium

A word used in England during the Middle Ages to mean a breviary, a book containing the daily offices or prayers for the canonical hours. Doctor Mackey also found the name had been applied to a banner...

portrait painter, grand

The Grand Lodge of England created this position in 1785 when the Rev William Peters was appointed, due to his painting and presenting to the Grand Lodge a portrait of I ord Petre Past Grand Masters B...

portugal

Claims that Freemasonry flourished in Portugal as early as 1727 may or may not be true but according to the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of England it is certain that a Dispensation was granted to Breth...

portuguese east africa

Lodges chartered by the United Lusitanian Grand Orient of Portugal are located at Beira, Chai-chai, Ibo, Mozambique and Quilimane

portuguese west africa

In this district the Grand Orient of Portugal has chartered eleven Lodges, two at Loanda and one each at Bie, Cabinda, Landana, Luxares, Mossamedes, Quibanda, Liumbale, Qussol and San Antonio de Zairo...

postulant

The title given to the candidate in the Degree of Knight Radosh. From the Latin word postulans, meaning asking for, Wishing to have.

pot of incense

As a symbol of the sacrifice which should be offered up to Deity, it has been adopted in the Third Degree (see Incense).

potier, melchior

Published a history of the Lodge of Nine Sisters at Paris, 1839.

potocki

Polish family of nobility, the following members being Freemasons: Ignaz Potocki, Grand Master, 1781-3; Stanislas Felix Potocki, Grand Master, 1789, and Stanislas Kostka Potocki, Grand Master, 1812-23...

pound, roscoe

Roscoe Pound, born in 1870, Dean of the Law School of Harvard University, became famous for the variety as well as for the vastness of his learning; in legal erudition he had no superior in America an...

poursuivant

More correctly, Pursuivant, which see.

practicus

The Third Degree of the German Rose Croix.

praxoeans

The followers of Praxeas in the second century, who proclaimed a unity in God, and that He had suffered upon the cross.

prayer

Freemasonry is a religious institution, and hence its regulations inculcate the use of prayer "as a proper tribute of gratitude," to borrow the language of Preston, "to the beneficent A...

preadamite

A Degree contained in the Archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.

precaution

In opening and closing the Lodge, in the admission of visitors in conversation with or in the presence of strangers, the Freemason is changed to use the necessary precaution, lest that should be commu...

precedency df lodges

The precedency of Lodges is always derived from the date of their Warrants of Constitution, the oldest Lodge ranking as No. 1. As this precedency confers certain privileges, the number of the Lodge is...

preceptor

Grand Preceptor, or Grand Prior, or Preceptor, or Prior, was the title indifferently given by the Knights Templar to the officer who presided over a province or kingdom, as the Grand Prior or Grand Pr...

preceptory

The houses or residences of the Knights Templar were called Preceptories, and the superior of such a residence was called the Preceptor. Some of the residences were also called Comxnanderies. The latt...

preferment

In all the Old Constitutions we find a reference made to ability and skill as the only claims for preferment or promotion. Thus in one of them, the Lansdourne Manuscript, whose date is about 1560, it ...

prelate

The fourth officer in a Commandery of Knights Templar and in a Council of Companions of the Red Cross. His duties are to conduct the religious ceremonies of the organization. His jewel is a triple tri...

prelate of lebanon

In French Prlat du Ixban. A mystical Degree in the collection of Pyron.

prentice

An archaism, or rather a vulgarism for Apprentice, constantly found in the Old Records. It is now never used except in connection with Prentice Pillar, which see.

prentice pillar

In the southeast part of the Chapel of Roslyn Castle, in Scotland, is the celebrated column which goes by this name, and with which a Masonic legend is connected. The pillar is a plain fluted shaft, h...

preparation of the candidate

Great care was taken of the personal condition of every Israelite who entered the Temple for Divine worship. The Talmudic treatise entitled Baracoth, which contains instructions as to the ritual worsh...

preparing brother

The Brother who prepares the candidate for initiation. In English, he has no distinctive title. In French Lodges he is called Frre terrible, and in German he is called Vorbereitender Bruder, or Frchte...

president

The presiding officer in a Convenon of High Priests, according to the American System, is so called. The second officer is styled Vice-President. On September 6, 1871, the Grand Orient of France, in v...

presidents, religion of the

Of the first thirty-one Presidents of the United States nine have been Episcopalians: Washington, Madison, Monroe, W. H. Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, Arthur, F. D. Roosevelt; of the other twenty-t...

presiding officer

Whoever acts, although temporarily and pro hac vice, meaning in Latin for this occasion, as the presiding officer of a Masonic body, assumes for the time all the powers and functions of the officer wh...

press, masonic

The number of the Masonic press throughout the world is small, but the literary ability commands attention. In every nation Freemasonry has its advocate and neevsbearer, in the form of a weekly or sem...

preston, william (entry a)

Since the majority of Grand Jurisdictions in the United States use the Webb-Preston Work, and since Thomas Smith Webb, whom Mackey described as the "father of American Freemasonry, founded his ow...

preston, william (entry b)

This distinguished Freemason was born at Edinburgh on July 28, 1742, Old Style, and Brother C. C. Hunt, of Iowa, points out that the date sometimes given as August 7, New Style, should be August 8, as...

prestonian lecturer

In 1818, Brother Preston, the author of the Illustrations of Masonry, bequeathed 300 in Consols, the interest of which was to provide for the annual delivery of a lecture according to the system which...

prestonian lectures

About the year 1772, Preston submitted his course of lectures on the first three Degrees to the Craft of England. These lectures were a revision of those which had been practiced, with various modific...

pretender

The word Pretender has occasionally been misunderstood by commentators. As a French term it means Claimant and should not convey the impression of him who makes a mere pretense. This latter meaning wo...

previous question

A parliamentary motion intended to suppress debate. It is utterly unknown in the parliamentary law of Freemasonry, and it would be always out of order to move it in a Masonic Body.

price, henry

Born about 1697 in London and came to New England about 1723, returning later to England. It is recorded in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of England that in 1730 he was a member of Lodge No. 75, meet...

prichard, samuel

"An unprincipled and needy Brother," as Doctor Oliver calls him, who published at London, in 1730, a book with the following title: Masonry Dissected; being a Universal and Genuine Descripti...

priest

In the primitive ages of the world every father was the Priest of his family, and offered prayer and sacrifice for his household. So, too, the Patriarchs exercised the same function. Melchizedek is ca...

priest theosophist

Thory says that it is the Sixth Degree of the Cabalistic Rite

priest, royal

The Fifth Degree of the Initiated Brothers of Asia

priestly order

A Rite which Brother John Yarker, of Manchester, says, Mysteries of Antiquity, page 126, was formerly practiced in Ireland, and formed the system of the York Grand Lodge. It consisted of seven Degrees...

priestly vestments

The High Priest ministered in eight vestments, and the ordinary priest in four--the tunic, drawers, bonnet, and girdle. To these the High Priest added the breastplate, ephod, robe and golden plate, an...

primitive freemasonry

The Primitive Freemasonry of the antediluvians, or people of before the Flood times, is a term for which we are indebted to Doctor Oliver, although the theory was broached by earlier writers, and amon...

primitive rite

This Rite was founded at Narbonne, in France, on April 19, 1780, by the pretended "Superiors of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons." It was attached to the Lodge of the Philadelphus, unde...

primitive scottish rite

This Rite claims to have been established in 1770, at Namur, in Belgium, by a body called the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of Edinburgh. But the truth, according to Clavel ( Histoire Pittoresque, page 220...

primitive secret societies

In Andaman Island villages there is a triple arrangement of houses, one set for married couples, one for bachelors, one for spinsters. Boys (at about twelve) can leave the care of women and enter the ...

primitive symbolism

Fig. 1. Vishnu. a Hindu god. Fig. 2. Brahama, chief Hindu god Fig. 3. Venus and Hymen, vitality powers Fig. 4. Sun and Moon gods Fig. 5. Car of Cupid Fig. 6. Mercury rooster and corn. Fig. 7. Catalath...

prince

The fiord Prince is not attached as a title to any Masonic office, but is prefixed as a part of the name to several Degrees, as Prince of the Royal Secret, Prince of Rose Croix, and Prince of Jerusale...

prince depositor, grand

in French the title is Grand Prince Depository. A Degree in the collection of Pyron.

prince edward island

On October 9, 1797, Saint John's Lodge was warranted at Charlottetown by the Grand Lodge of England. The island was then St. John's Island and continued to be so called until 1798. Seven Lod...

prince mason

A term applied in the old Scottish Rite Constitutions to the possessors of the advanced Degrees above the Fourteenth. It was first assumed by the Council of the Emperors of the East and West. Rose Cro...

prince masons of ireland

Brother Gerald Fitzgibbon, President of the Grand Chapter of Prince Masons of Ireland and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Thirty-third Degree, presided at the Triennial Convocation of the Grand Chapt...

prince of jerusalem

In French, Prince de Jerusalem. This was the Sixteenth Degree of the Rite of Perfection, whence it was transferred to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, where it occupies the same numerical posit...

prince of jerusalem, jewel of

Should be a gold incrustation on a lozenge-shaped piece of mother-of-pearl. Equipoise scales held by hand, sword, five stars, one larger than the other four, and the letters D and Z in Hebrew, one on ...

prince of libanus

Another title for the Prince of Lebanon

prince of mercy

The title in French is Prince de Merci. The Twenty-sixth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, called also Scottish Trinitarian or Ecossais Trinitaire. It is one of the eight Degrees which...

prince of the captivity

According to the Talmudists, the Jews, while in captivity at Babylon, kept a genealogical table of the line of their kings, and he who was the rightful heir of the throne of Israel was called the Head...

prince of the east, grand.

In French, Grand Prince d'Orient. A Degree in the collection of Le Page.

prince of the levites

The French title is Prince des Lvites. A degree in the collection of the Lodge of Saint Louis des Amis Reunis at Calais.

prince of the seven planets, illustrious grand

In French, Illustre Grand Prince des sept Ptanetes. A Degree in the manuscript collection of Peuvret.

prince of the tabernacle

The French title is Prince du Tabernacle. The Twenty-fourth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. In the old rituals the Degree was intended to illustrate the directions given for the buil...

prince of wales grand lodge

About the time of the reconciliation of the two contending Grand Lodges in England, in 1813, they were called, by way of distinction, after their Grand Masters. That of the Moderns was called the Prin...

prince of wales lodge

A Red Apron Lodge, No. 259, constituted August 20, 1787, by Warrant from the Duke of Cumberland, Most Worshipful Grand Master, under the patronage and personal protection of the Prince of Wales who su...

princess of the crown

The French title is Princesse de la Couronne. The Tenth and last Degree of the Freemasonry of Adoption according to the French regime. The Degree, which is said to have been composed in Saxony, in 177...

principal officers

The number three, as a sacred number in the Masonic system, is, among many other ways, developed in the fact that in all Masonic bodies there are three principal officers.

principal sojourner

The Hebrew word an, ger, which we translate a sojourner, signifies a man living out of his own country, and is used in this sense throughout the Old Testament. The children of Israel were, therefore, ...

principals

The three presiding officers in a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, according to the system practised in England, are called the Three Principals, or King, Prophet, and Priest, and, under the titles of Z....

printed proceedings

In 1741, the Grand Lodge of England adopted a regulation which Entiek (Constitutions, 1756, page 236) is careful to tell us, "was unanimously agreed to," forbidding any Brother "to prin...

prior

This word has in its uses several applications. 1. The Superiors of the different nations or Provinces into which the Order of the Templar was divided, were at first called Priors or Grand Priors, and...

priory

The jurisdiction of a Grand Prior in the Order of Malta or Saint John of Jerusalem.

prison

A Lodge having been held in 1782, in the King's Bench Prison, London, the Grand Lodge of England passed a resolution declaring that "it is inconsistent with the principles of Masonry for any...

privilege, questions of

In all parliamentary or legislative bodies, there occur certain questions which relate to matters affecting the dignity of the assembly or the rights and privileges of some of its members, and these a...

privileged questions

In parliamentary law, privileged questions are defined to be those to which precedence is given over all other questions. They are of four kinds: 1. Those which relate to the rights and privileges of ...

pro grand master

The Latin word pro to be translated for, or instep of, or on behalf of the Grand Master. An officer known only to the English system, and the title adopted for the first time in 1782, when, on the ele...

processions

Public processions of the Order, although not as popular as they were some years ago, still have the warrant of early and long usage. The first procession, after the revival, of which we have a record...

proclamation

At the installation of the officers of a Lodge, or any other Masonic Body, and especially a Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter, proclamation is made in a Lodge or Chapter by the installing officer, and in a...

proclamation of cyrus

A ceremony in the American Royal Arch. We learn from Scripture , that in the first year of Cyrus, the Eing of Persia, the captivity of the Jews was terminated. Cyrus, from his conversations with Danie...

profane

There is no word whose technical and proper meaning differs more than this. In its ordinary use profane signifies one who is irreligious and irreverent, but in its technical adaptation it is applied t...

proficiency

The necessity that anyone who devotes himself to the acquisition of a science should become a proficient in its elementary instructions before he can expect to grasp and comprehend its higher branches...

progressive freemasonry

Our Freemasonry is undoubtedly a progressive science, and yet the fundamental principles of Freemasonry are the same now as they were at the very beginning of the Institution. Its landmarks are unchan...

promise

In entering into the Covenant of Freemasonry, the candidate makes a promise to the Order; for his covenant is simply a promise where he voluntarily places himself under a moral obligation to act withi...

promotion

Promotion in Freemasonry should not be governed, as in other societies, by succession of office. The fact that one has filled a longer office gives him no claim to a higher, unless he is fitted, by sk...

promulgation, lodge of

A Lodge of instruction which paved the way for the Union of 1813 of the Antient and Modern Grand Lodges. In 1809 the Grand Lodge of the Moderns resolved, on April 12, that, "This Grand Lodge do a...

proofs

What the German Freemasons call proben und prufungen, meaning trials and proofs, and the French, dpreuves Maconniques, or Masonic proofs, are defined by Bazot (Manuel, page 141) to be "mvsterious...

property of a lodge

As a Lodge owes its existence, and all the rights and prerogatives that it exercises, to the Grand Lodge from which it derives its Charter or Warrant of Constitution, it has been decided, as a princip...

prophet

Haggai, who in the American system of the Royal Arch is called the Scnbe. in the English system receives the title of Prophet, and hence in the order of precedence he is placed above the High Priest. ...

prophets, schools of the

Bee Schools of the Prophets.

proponenda

The matters contained in the Notices of Motions, which are required by the Grand Lodge of England to be submitted to the members previous to the Quarterly Communication when they are to be discussed, ...

proposing candidates

The only method recognized in the United States of proposing candidates for initiation or membership is by the written petition of the applicant, who must at the same time be recommended by two member...

propylaeum

This word is also written Propylaeon. The court or vestibule in front of an edifice. The Propylaed is the celebrated entrance to the Parthenon, the Greek Doric temple at Athens, built by Pericles in h...

proscription

The German Freemasons employ this word in the same sense in which we do expulsion, as the highest Masonic punishment that can be inflicted. They also use the word uerbannung, meaning banishrnent, for ...

proselyte of jerusalem

In French, Prosdlyte de Jerusalem. The Sixty-eighth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.

proselytism

Making converts, to win over from one faith to another by argument or other means of persuasion. Brahmanism is, perhaps, the only religion which is opposed to proselytism. The Brahman seeks no convert...

protector of english freemasons

This is a title accepted by King Edward VII of England on his accession to the throne in 1901. King Christian IX of Denmark became the Protector of the Craft in that country in 1885 when the Crown Pri...

protector of innocence

The French title is ProtecSur de Z'lnnoeence. A Degree in the nomenclature of Fustier, cited by him from the collection of Viany.

protectress

A title assumed by Catherine II of Russia (see Russia).

protocol

In French, the formulae or technical words of legal instruments; in Germany, the rough draft of an instrument or transaction; in diplomacy, the original copy of a treaty. Gadicke says that, in Masonic...

prototype

The same as Archetype, which see

provincial grand lodge

In each of the Counties of England is a Grand Lodge composed of the various Lodges within that district, with the Provincial Grand Master at their head, and this Body is called a Protnrmal Grand Lodge...

provincial grand master

The presiding officer of a Provincial Grand Lodge. He is appointed by the Grand Master, during whose pleasure he holds his office. An appeal lies from his decisions to the Grand Lodge.

provincial grand officers

The officers of a Provincial Grand Lodge correspond in title to those of the Grand Lodge. The Provincial Grand Treasurer is elected, but the other officers are nominated by the Provincial Grand Master...

provincial master of the red cross

The Sixth Degree of the Rite of Clerks of Strict Observance

provost and judge

The French title is Prevot et Juve. The Seventh Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The history of the Degree relates that it was founded by Solomon, King of Israel, for the purpose of s...

proxy installation

The Regulations of 1721 provide that, if the new Grand Master be absent from the Grand Feast, he may be proclaimed if proper assurance be given that he will serve, in which case the old Grand Master s...

proxy master

In the Grand Lodge of Scotland, a Lodge is permitted to elect any Master Mason who holds a Diploma of the Grand Lodge, although he may not be a member of the Lodge, as its Proxy Master. He nominates t...

prudence

This is one of the four cardinal virtues, the praetise of which is inculcated upon the Entered Apprentice. Preston first introduced it into the Degree as referring to what was then, and long before ha...

prussia

Frederick William I of Prussia was so great an enemy of the Masonic Institution, that until his death it was scarcely known in his de minions, and the initiation, in 1738, of his son. the Crown Prince...

psaterians

A sect of Arians who maintained at the Council of Antioch, 360 A.D., that the Son was dissimilar to the Father in will; that He was made from nothing; and that in God, creation and generation were syn...

pseudonym

A false or fictitious name. Continental writers on Freemasonry in the eighteenth century often assumed fictitious names, sometimes from affectation, and sometimes because the subjects they treated wer...

public ceremonies

Most of the ceremonies of Freemasonry are strictly private, and can be conducted only in the presence of the initiated. But some of them, from their nature, are necessarily performed in public. Such a...

public schools

Brother DeWitt Clinton founded the New York Free School Society, which later became the Public School Society of New York, generously heading the subscription list and promising $200 a year for the su...

puerility of freemasonry

"The absurdities and puerilities of Freemasonry are fit only for children, and are unworthy of the time or attention of wise men." Such is the language of its adversaries, and the apothegm i...

puissant

A title given to the presiding officer in several of the advanced Degrees.

puissant irish master

The Eighth Degree of what has been claimed as Ramsay's Irish Colleges * PULLEN, WILLIAM HYDE An eminent and accomplished Craftsman of England, who divas renowned among English and American Wo...

pulpit

From the Latin word Pulpitum, meaning a stage or scaffold, applied originally to the space where the actors played their parts in the Roman theater.

pulsanti operietur

Latin, meaning to him undo knocks it shall be opened . An inscription sometimes placed over the front door of Masonic temples or Lodge-rooms.

punishments, masonic

Punishment in Freemasonry is inflicted that the character of the Institution may remain unsullied, and that the unpunished crimes of its members may not injuriously reflect upon the reputation of the ...

punjaub

Freemasonry was founded in Punjaub, India, in 1872, by an ardent Freemason, Worshipful Brother Major Henry Basevi, whose failing health caused him to forsake his post shortly thereafter, leading as hi...

purchase

In the Cooke Manuscript (line 630) it is said that the son of Athelstan "purchased a free Patent of the king that they--the Freemasons-- should make assembly." This does not mean that he bou...

purging the lodge

An old expression for the ceremony of ascertaining the Masonic right to be present when a Lodge is opened (see also Fencing the Lodge).

purification

As the Aspirant in the Ancient Mysteries was not permitted to pass through any of the forms of initiation, or to enter the sacred vestibule of the Temple, until, by water or fire, he had been symbolic...

purity

In the Ancient Mysteries purity of heart and life was an essential prerequisite to initiation, because by initiation the aspirant was brought to a knowledge of God, to know whom was not permitted to t...

purple

Purple is the appropriate color of those Degrees which, in the American Rite, have been interpolated between the Royal Arch and Ancient Craft Masonry, namely, the Mark, Past, and Most Excellent Master...

purple brethren

In English Freemasonry, the Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge and the Past Grand and Deputy Grand Masters and Past and Present Provincial Grand Masters are called purple brethren, because of the color...

purrah

A society of Sussu negroes exercising similar powers to, and for a somewhat similar purpose as, the Vehmgerichte. The Vehmgerichte were Tribunals once flourishing in Germany, and particularly in Westp...

pursuivant

The third and lowest order of heraldic officers. In Freemasonry the lowest officer in rank except the Tiler, if he may be termed an officer.

putnam, general israel

A hero of the American Revolutionary War. Born at Salem. Massachusetts, January 7, 1718; died May 29, 1790. A member of Hiram Lodge No. 1, New Haven, Connecticut, according to the New Age, January, 19...

putnam, general rufus

A general in the American Revolutionary War. Born at Sutton, Massachusetts, April 9, 1738; died May 1, 1824, at Marietta, Ohio (see New Age, April, 1925). Raised a Freemason in American Union Lodge No...

pythagoras

One of the most celebrated of the Grecian philosophers, and the founder of what has been called the Italic School, was born at Samos in the period of 586-69 B.C., the year 582 being favored as the pro...

pythagoras, school of

The schools established by Pythagoras at Crotona and other cities, have been considered by many writers as the models after which Masonic Lodges were subsequently constructed. They undoubtedly served ...
ArtworkAntiquesApparelEmblemsPinsRingsJewelrySupplyCustom RingsItems On SaleMasonic Military ProductsRing Buyers GuideAbout The FreemasonsGrand LodgesBecoming a FreemasonMasonic EtiquetteLost and FoundMasonic WallpaperFamous FreemasonsMyths about MasonsMasonic RitualsSite Seeing TourSketchley TokensFamous QuotesBlogs By MasonsGift CertificatesCipherFact CorrectionsArticlesToastsGracesPoetrySongs Encyclopedia Library Education Price MatchingHome PageMasonic CatalogContact UsAbout UsStore PolicyPrivacy PolicyTerms of UseAdministrationShopping Cart info@MasonicShop.com
The Ashlar A is a Registered Trademark of The Ashlar Company Remember, if you don't see the Ashlar "A", it's not authentic.
By Brothers, For Brothers & always For the good of the craft...
© 2024 Ashlar Group, LLC