Canonbury Masonic Research Centre was established as an educational charity on 23 October 1998 at 10.30am in Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London. The Centre’s Trustees are the Assistant Grand Master, Lord Northampton, the Grand Secretary, James Daniel, and the author and Freemason, Michael Baigent.
    The Centre was founded as a result of several recent developments. The openness with which Freemasonry is entering a new millennium co-incides with an increasing interest shown in it by the academic world. In the recent past, a number of serious works have been written on the nature of Freemasonry and its influence on the development of western society and the history of ideas. It was during the 1980s that it became acceptable to recognise the phenomenon of Freemasonry and the influential role played by its protagonists on the development of western culture as a whole, regardless of the sometimes historically inaccurate nature of indigenous masonic lore. Furthermore, Masonry’s interest in symbol and ritual as means of communication touches on developments in psychological understanding which have accelerated since the last world war. The place of myth, symbol and ritual enactment in Masonry can now be better understood within a maturing concept of the mind and spirituality generally.
    It is also becoming better understood that valuable learning is not only transmitted through books but requires personal “mind to mind” guidance. This is true of many professions, including academic scholarship, and is a type of knowledge tacit in the idea of teaching transmitted from a master to an apprentice: the setting of learning adopted by Masonry from its early beginning.
    We are all witnesses to a development of new tools of communication and publishing (such as the Internet) and it is becoming increasingly important that personal contact between those who are on the path of learning and discovery is maintained. Such developments have brought the question of information and the importance of learning back into the forefront of public debate. Can one really learn about something only from reading about it, or is there more to the learning process? It has become obvious how important is guidance in searching for the right and the most useful information. Canonbury Masonic Research Centre is looking at ways of bringing the two together, that is, to integrate modern technologies of research and learning with the tradition of master and apprentice who, once set to learn something, find their footing on their path of discovery through mutual respect and trust.
    There is a great deal of experience, knowledge and energy which Freemasonry’s institutions have brought to western society in general, helping to create and support the vision of a healthy, progressive and happy society. This energy has manifested itself through numerous institutions of learning. For example, the establishment of the University of London owes much to the work of Freemasonry, as does London’s King’s College, the first two English institutions of higher education based on the idea of a modern and all-inclusive programme of learning.
    Similarly, when the founders and friends of the Canonbury Centre began discussing the possibility of instituting an organisation which would support learning in masonic subjects, we were guided by the idea of a college in its primary sense: to encourage and explore ways in which both these types of learning are represented – tacit and explicit.
    We wish to explore the relationship of Freemasonry to other traditions eminent in the world. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive resource base for such studies. We wish to offer an impartial interface between English Freemasonry, other masonic traditions, and scholars from both within and without Masonry. In the words of Michael Baigent, one of the Trustees of the programme:

“Freemasonry is not a religion, but it concerns morality and spirituality, expressing the sacred in a symbolic manner; it is a Western ‘Way’, the way of the Lost Word, since this forms the central dramatic theme of its primary rituals. The word is the Logos, the divine spark within each person. With this, Freemasonry is custodian to a very ancient and very profound tradition. It is fitting, therefore, that Freemasonry should become involved in the foundation of an educational centre dedicated to the integration of learning and spirituality; to the study of the symbolic expression of the sacred in its infinite variety.”

Our first project is the establishment of a comprehensive database of subjects, organisations, institutions and individuals involved with Freemasonry. This information will be published on our forthcoming Internet site. We are also planning a programme of courses, seminars and conferences, beginning in October 1999.
    Dr Leon Schlamm has been appointed academic programme co-ordinator and will co-convene the first MA course with Dr Peter Moore. They are both from the University of Kent, where they have established studies in mysticism and religious experience with enviable success. Dr Schlamm’s vision of the Canonbury Centre is the establishment of a centre for academic excellence:

“Canonbury Masonic Research Centre will be dedicated to empathetic (that is, spiritually transforming, but critical) research into western and eastern, ancient and modern, mystical, esoteric, initiatic and symbolic traditions, examining those, but also areas of actual or potential dialogue between them, and the varieties of contemporary religious experience in our rapidly changing world.”

It is our hope that this exciting new venture will be wholeheartedly supported by Freemasons worldwide, and that British Masonry has now gained a new centre of academic excellence through which it will be able to disseminate some of the enormous knowledge and experience acquired through its long history.

All communication with the Centre should be addressed to Mrs Snezana Lawrence, Head of Research and Administration, CMRC, Canonbury Tower, Canonbury Place, Islington, London N1 2NQ, England.