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Title	: Dictionary of MASONIC TERMINOLOGY
Publications	: BioMedical Publications
Marketed by	: KONGPOSH Publications
Written by	: W. Bro. Ravinder Singh Channey
Price Rs. 175/- Minimum Order 5 copies

PREFACE

It is noted frequently that, many brethren being committed to Freemasonry for many a years are still not familiar with the deep thought & historical background behind the masonic terms in rituals and ceremonies.

Brethren, this compendium of masonic terminology has been compiled to assist to understand the concept of freemasonry better. Every effort has been made to provide the correct information.

Attention is given to include maximum masonic terms for academic interest to understand the rituals better.

I sincerely hope that, berthren will find my attempt informative and will give their feedback to make this book more useful and worthy.

W. Bro. Ravinder Singh Channey
20th January 2007
New Delhi

SOME EXTRACTS

Aaron: Enlightened: He was the brother and assistant of Moses, and the first high priest under Mosaic dispensation; hence, he was the founder of the "Aaronic" priesthood.

Aaron's Rod: The staff carried by Aaron, brother of and assistant to Moses, as a token of his office which miraculously blossomed as evidence of his Divine choice as High Priest. It was afterwards preserved in the Ark of the Convenant. A celebration of these facts forms a part of the Royal Arch degrees.

Circurnambulation: In Masonic terminology this is the technical name of that ceremony in which the candidate walks around the Lodge. The word id derived from the Latin prefix cireum, meaning "around," and ainbulare, meaning "walk," whence our ambulate, ambulatory, etc.; a circumambulation is therefore a walking around. In ancient religions and mysteries the worshippers walk around an altar; imitating the movements of the sun; this became known as circumambulation, and is the origin of our own ceremony.

Dispensation: Pendere was the Latin word for a weight, the root from which came many English words, notably pendent, expend, spend, dispense, etc. With the prefix dis, explained in the preceding paragraph, disendere meant to weigh out, to pay off, to expend. From this came dispensatus, meaning to manage, to regulate, to distribute. In our usage a dispensation is a written instrument by which authority is made over to a group of brethren to FORM a LODGE.

Human Senser: There is here the recognition of the truth that all the natural faculties and endowments of man are the products of the creative energy of God and are loving gifts from Him.

Lodge: This word comes from the Old French, English and Medieval Latin, and meant gen-erally a hut, a cottage, a gallery, a covered way, etc.; out "lobby" had the same beginning. How the Operative Masons came to employ the term, and just what they meant by it, has never been determined; they had a symbolic Lodge, their building was a Lodge, the group of members was a Lodge, an as-sembly of Masons was a Lodge, and often times the whole body of Masons was called a Lodge. In our own usage the word has three technical meanings; the place where Masons meet, the assembly of the brethren duly congregated for labor, and a piece of furniture. Seven or more Freemasons, "in regular assembly and properly opened and prepared for work or business," constitutes the Lodge.

Masonic Ages: The age of an Entered Apprentice is said to be three years (the symbol of peace of perfect harmony); that of a Fellowcraft, five years (the symbol of active life); and that of a Master Mason, seven years (the symobl of perfection).

Stone: The Masonic symbolism of the stone is very much the same as it was in Hebrew literature and mysteries – the symbolism of faith and truth. More broadly, the rough or unhewn stone is emblematic of man's evil and corrupt nature, while the hewn stone, of perfect stone, is emblematic of man in his improved and perfected nature.

Wisdom of Solomon: In ancient Craft Masonry, King Solomon stands as the representative of the highest degree of wisdom. The East, the source of light, symbolizes for every true Mason the wisdom needed for success in life. The East is represented by the pillar that supports the Lodge and by the Worshipful Master.

Zeel: Intensity of purpose and of earnestness: Ever since the Revival in 1717, for it is found in the earliest lectures, it was taught that Apprentices served their Masters with "Freedom, Fervency, and Zeal"; and the symbols instructions, earthen pan, was designated as the symbol of Zeal; but this was changed to Clay probably by Preston, and so it still remains. The instruction of the Operative Mason to serve his Master with freedom, fervency, and zeal – to work for his interests willingly, ardently, and zealously – is easily understood. Its application to Speculative Freemasonry, for the Masters of the Work we substitute the Grand Architect of the Universe, and then our Zeal, like our freedom and our fervency, is directed to a higher end. The zeal of a Speculative Freemason is shown by advancing the morality, and by promoting the happiness of his fellow-creatures.

Zoroaster: More correctly, Zarathustra. He was the Legislator and Prophet of the ancient Bactrians, out of whose doctrines the modern religion of the Parsees has been developed. The Parsees say that their Prophet was a contemporary of Hystaspes, the father of Darius, and accordingly place his era at 550 B.C. The religion of Zoroaster finds its origin in a social, political, and religious schism of the Bactrian Iranians from the primitive Aryans. These latter led a nomadic and pastoral life in their native home, and continued the same habits after their emigration. But a portion of these tribes, whom Haug calls the proper Iranians, becoming weary of these wanderings, after they had reached the highlands of Bactria abandoned the pastoral and wandering life of their ancestors, and directed their attention to agriculture. This political secession was soon followed by wars, principally of a predatory kind, waged, for the purpose of booty, by the nomadic Aryans on the agricultural settlements of the Iranians, whose rich fields were tempting objects to the spoilers. The political estrangement was speedily and naturally followed by a religious one. It was at this time that Zoroaster appeared, and, denouncing the nature-worship of the old Aryian faith, established his spiritual religion, in which, says Bunsen, "the antagonisms of light and darkness, of sunshine and storm, become transformed into antagonisms of good and evil, of powers exerting a beneficent or corrupting influence on the mind." The doctrine of pure Zoroastrianism was monotheistic. The Supreme Being was called Ahuramazda, and Haug says that Zoroaster's conception of him was perfectly identical with the Jewish notion of Jehovah. He is referred to as "the Creator of the earthly and spiritual life, the Lord of the whole universe, at whose hands are all the creatures." He is wisdom and intellect; the light itself, and the source of light; the rewarder of the virtuous and the punisher of the wicked. Zoroaster taught the idea of a future life and the immortality of the soul. The doctrine of the resurrection is one of the principal dogmas of the Zendavesta, He also clearly inculcated the belief of a heaven and a hell. The former was called the House of Hymns, because the angels were supposed to sing hymns there; and the latter the House of Destruction, and to it were relentlessly consigned the poets and Priests of the old Aryian religion. The doctrine of sacred names, so familiar to the Hebrews, was also taught by Zoroaster. In one of the Yashts, a portion of the Zendavesta, Ahuramazda tells Zarathrustra that the utterance of one of his sacred names, of which he enumerates twenty, is the best protection from evil. Of these names, one is ahmi, meaning I am, and another, ahmi yat amhi, I am who I am. The reader will be reminded here of the Holy Name in Exodus, Ehyeh asher Ehyeh, or I am that I am.

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