On Saturday, 13 May 2001, No.10 Temple at Freemasons' Hall, London, hosted the second conference of The Cornerstone Society. The Society was founded in 1999 for the benefit of all Master Masons with the encouragement of the then Assistant Grand Master, Lord Northampton.
    The Society aimed at encouraging an understanding of the meaning and purpose of Freemasonry. Following a highly successful first conference in May 2000, the theme of this year's event was "That Mysterious Veil". The conference was opened by Lord Northampton, the new Pro Grand Master, who stressed the importance of self-knowledge and the need to explore the deeper aspects of the craft. He was followed by author and editor of Freemasonry Today, Bro. Michael Baigent, who spoke on Freemasonry as a journey of initiation or a quest, a modern echo of those ancient Mystery traditions of which Cicero spoke:
    "…there is nothing better than these mysteries, which have raised us from a wild and savage state to one more noble and refined. As is indicated by the word initia, in very truth have we learned the first principles of life, and not only to live happily, but to die with hope for a better future". (De Legibus, ii, 9)
    Freemasonry, he explained, is founded upon the knowledge of that journey towards the centre and regretted that there have been custodians of the order who have not remained true to this profound vision. 'They have focussed upon the words of the ritual rather than its meaning', said Bro. Baigent, 'but' he lamented, 'there would always be those who sought promotion rather than insight'.

The Seven Liberal Arts and the Light from Above

The next speaker was Clement Salaman, an expert on the Renaissance and chief translator of five volumes of letters of fifteenth century Platonic Florentine philosopher, Marsilio Ficino. More recently, he has published on the writings attributed to the mysterious figure of Hermes Trismegistus. His talk centred upon the Seven Liberal Arts, which were used for centuries as the basis of a classical education and as a tool to help lift the veil on hidden mysteries of nature, revealing the mind of the supreme architect. He explained that the origin of the term `liberal’ is `liberating’, as musing upon the arts enabled the seeker to move on a journey towards divine knowledge.
    Following a break for refreshments, the final speaker for the morning was Bro. Prof. John Grange, who spoke on the inner meaning of the Third Degree Charge. He explained that the "Light of Reason" mentioned in the charge was not the same as the "Light from above", and that this distinction was important. He stressed that the importance of Freemasonry was in its ability to help us in the endeavour to know God, and on that positive note, brethren broke to take lunch in the warm sunshine of nearby Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

The Curiosities of `The Acception’

The afternoon session was opened by Bro. Matthew Scanlan, MA, International Editor of Freemasonry Today and a leading masonic scholar, who spoke on new evidence uncovered on the origins of modern Freemasonry. He spoke about a curious tradition of the 17th century called the "The Acception" which was first mentioned in 1630. Bro Scanlan emphasised that,
    "Masonic scholars have traditionally made the mistake of regarding the Acception as an honorary category of membership for non-craftsmen. However, of some twenty-eight names I have recently examined who were recorded as Accepted Masons between 1630 and 1682, twenty-six of them were in fact leading craftsmen".
    He also pointed out that fifteen of these names were cited by Elias Ashmole when he visited the London Masons' Company in March 1682, when he witnessed six new members being "Accepted". Bro. Scanlan concluded that the operative Masons had a quaint and exclusive tradition which admitted both high level craftsmen and gentlemen into some form of ceremonial, which was followed by an expensive dinner.
    "All the evidence points to a revival of this practice by the Grand Lodge in the years after 1717, when they popularised the tradition, hence the term Free and Accepted Masonry. The term "speculative" was not used until much later - and evidently is much misplaced, as the operative masons already had a form of speculative masonry".

The Mystery of Hiram Abiff

Following in a similar revisionist vein, the next talk was delivered by Bro. Dr. Jan Snoek of the Universities of Leiden and Heidelberg, who is a specialist in the history of religions and masonic ritual. In an insightful and provocative paper entitled "What was lost in the Third Degree?", Dr. Snoek pointed out that the masonic rites we know today have been subjected to many changes. The first of these was the development from two to three degrees in the 1720's, and the introduction of the Hiramic legend, first exposed by Samuel Pritchard in October 1730.
    Then he pointed to something intensely curious: Pritchard and all subsequent exposures of the eighteenth century, stated that Hiram was buried in the sanctum sanctorum of the Temple at Jerusalem. However, this was forbidden as it would have polluted the sanctuary. Dr. Snoek explained that the eighteenth century masons identified Hiram Abiff with Yahweh himself, as the dimensions of the Temple had been dictated to King David, before the work was realised by his son, King Solomon. He presented a number of illustrations showing how many continental exposures recorded the name of Jehovah on the coffin of Hiram in the third degree.
    According to Dr. Snoek, this identifcation of the candidate with builder of the Temple and therefore by analogy with Yahweh, is familiar to historians of religion as a "unio mystica", where the ritual practitioner attempts a mystical union with the deity. He reviewed the events of 1813 when our present ritual was created, and concluded that the modern practices broke with the old workings of both the Modern and Antient Grand Lodges. This fundamental alteration to the three degrees removed mystical aspects of eighteenth century Freemasonry, in an apparent attempt to make the ceremonies more acceptable to non-Christian members and palatable to nineteenth century tastes.
    In the wake of such stimulating presentations, the afternoon Question Time drew many queries from the audience, and a fascinating debate ensued. The day ended with a workshop examining the Fellowcraft degree, and the secretary of the Society, Andrew Hicks, gave an elucidatory commentary on sections of the Emulation lectures and why Geometry was the most important of the liberal arts concerning Freemasonry. The day's events were interspersed with intermezzos of music and poetry, which helped to polish off another successful conference by the Cornerstone team.

Visit the Cornerstone Website at: www.workingtools.org where the text of the talks delivered will be available. The site has been substantially revised.

Future Events
of the Cornerstone Society
With the success of the last two conferences and the strong interest shown by Freemasons in the north of England the Cornerstone Society is planning to hold a conference in Manchester on the 10th November. Those interested should contact: webmaster@workingtools.org