Encyclopedia Masonica

When Freemasonry was carried into India early in the Nineteenth Century the bearers of it in the majority of instances were military Lodges; and as they gave way to permanent, local Lodges the latter were composed almost w holly of English, Scottish, and Irish Brethren for in that period the so-called "color line" was strictly drawn; but after many years one Indian after another was admitted, some of them of the Hindu religion, some of them Mohammedans, with a sprinkling from any one of the other numerous Indian faiths. Masons from America, Britain, and Europe watched this experiment with an abiding interest; when the Fraternity of Anglo-Saxondom, which long had kept the Holy Bible on the altar, became admixed with Hindus, Brahmins, Mohammedans, Jains, Parsees, with believers in the Vedas, the Gita, the Tripitaka, etc., what would be the amalgam thus formed? Would Oriental Freemasonry become transformed out of recognition? Would it preserve its forms but lose its original substance? Not all the returns are in as yet, but aftel a half-century of the experiment there are a sufficient number of them to make clear at least one verdict: that Freemasonry is capable of becoming universal in the most literal sense without being altered in Landmarks or purposes. An ever-growing Masonic literature out of India attests that fact.

A representative of that literature which already is out-dated in India but would be new if it could be widely read in America is an extraordinary book: The K. 1V. Cama Masonic Jubilee Volume, Containing Papers on Masonic Subjects Written by Varuxus Freemasons in Honour of Bro. Kharshedji Rustaniji Cama on his completing 50 years of Masonic Life in the year 1904, edited by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi (Fellow of the University of Bombay); 1907; Bombay.

Bro. Cama was Made a Mason in Rising Star of Western India, No. 342, S. C., August 24, 1856, and to honor his many years of service in Craft work and to recognize his fame as an authority on Indian literature and also in Iranian literature, the Lodge proposed a banquet, but he demurred, and in lieu of it his Brethren prepared this volume in his honor. The volume consists of eighteen contributions, along with two or three poems. Among the authors are such names as Mills, Harley, Dover, co-mingled with such names as Wadia, Ghose, Dass; the concluding contribution is a paper on "Zoroaster and Euclid," by Bro. Jivanji Jamshedji Modi. American readers will be pleased to discover one of our own Brothers in this symposium, R.-. W. . William C. Prime, of the Grand Lodge of New York. (The translator has him a resident of the city of Tonkers instead of Yonkers. Yonkers is a large industrial city and Masonic center which would be known the world over were it not smothered by New York City.)

The Encyclopedia Masonica exists to preserve the wealth of information that has been generated over the centuries by numerous Masonic authors. As Freemasonry is now Speculative and not Operative, the work of a Mason is now conducted in the quarries of symbolism, literature, history and scholasticism. Freemasonry encourages intellectual exploration and academic achievement in its members and many Masons over the years have taken up this calling. The result has been that an incredible amount of philosophy, symbolic speculation and academic insights have been created. However, as Freemasonry teaches, human knowledge is frail and fragile. It is easily lost in the turnings of the ages and unforeseen catastrophes can result in great setbacks to human knowledge.

For too long these great works have sat on forgotten shelves, gathering dust and concealing the light that could be shed on the darkness of our ignorance. The Encyclopedia Masonica has been created to act as an ark, sailing through time, to ensure that future generations of Freemasons have access to the same knowledge that inspired the Brethren that came before them. It will contain the works of such Masonic Luminaries as Albert G. Mackey, Manly Palmer Hall, G.S.M. Ward, Albert Pike and many others. The Encyclopedia Masonica is a living work and the volunteers of Universal Co-Masonry will continue to labor until the most comprehensive Masonic reference work the world has ever seen has been created. The Encyclopedia Masonica is open to any who wish to use it and will remain open so that the treasures contained within may increase the wealth of all those who seek its wisdom.