75 min · about 5 sittings
Understand where Masonry came from
We'll help you place yourself on the published Masonic timeline, from medieval guild to the Grand Lodge of New Mexico to the worldwide regular Craft of today.
Why this matters
A new initiate at his post-meeting refreshment asks the brother next to him where Masonry came from. The brother answers with one date and a vague gesture toward London. The new initiate goes home no better off. Most members carry three or four dates out of order and a stalled story they cannot quite tell.
This goal walks the seven published history chapters in chronological order so you can carry the full timeline (origins, the Premier Grand Lodge in 1717, Anderson in 1723, the eighteenth-century rift, the 1813 Union, the Grand Lodge of New Mexico in 1877, today's worldwide regular Craft) as one continuous story. The next time someone asks where Masonry came from, you can answer the long version in two minutes, in your own words, and have it land.
Every Mason is asked, sooner or later, where his Craft came from. The short answers (1717, Anderson, the Union of 1813, Santa Fe 1877) are easy to recite. The longer answers (what the Old Charges said, why the Antient and Modern split happened, what the Baltimore Convention tried to fix) are what let a brother actually talk about his fraternity to a curious neighbor or a new initiate. This goal walks the seven history chapters in published order.
Built on these courses
- Understanding Masonic History · From medieval guilds to the Grand Lodge of New Mexico, and onward.
The path · practise in order
Start with "Origins and Lineage" →- 1. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryOrigins and Lineage
Broad sweep. Origins and lineage from medieval guild to today.
- 2. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryAnderson's Constitutions and the Old Charges
Anderson's Constitutions (1723). The foundational published law of speculative Masonry.
- 3. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryThe Old Charges
The Old Charges. The medieval manuscripts behind Anderson.
- 4. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryThe Antient and Modern Split
Antient and Modern (1751 to 1813). The rift and the Union.
- 5. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryThe Grand Lodge of New Mexico
The Grand Lodge of New Mexico. Constituted 1877 at Santa Fe.
- 6. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryThree Centuries of the Craft
Three centuries timeline. 1717 to today, in eight published dates.
- 7. History via Understanding Masonic HistoryUniversality of the Craft
Universality. The Craft as a worldwide regular institution.
What if (after you finish the path)
Reflective prompts
- Pick one date from the seven and find someone who would not know it. Tell them why it matters in one breath. The retelling is the published practice.
- Which part of the history surprised you most? That surprise is data about what your previous teachers left out, or got wrong.
Where to go next
- Understanding Masonic History
Origins to today in seven chapters, the course this goal is built on.
- The Grand Lodge of New Mexico
The Grand Lodge of New Mexico. The state-level published history.
- Universality of the Craft
Universality of the Craft. Where the history led: the worldwide regular Craft today.
Make it stick
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