Some Jargon Explained
There are lots of terms which Freemasons use which may be unfamiliar, or unkown to non-members.
CandidateAmong Romans it was the custom
for a man seeking office to wear a shining white robe. Since the name
for such a color was candidus (whence our "candid"), the office seeker
came to be called candidate. In our ceremonies the custom is reversed: the candidate is clothed after his election instead of before. |
CharityThe Greeks had a word, charisma, meaning a gift, and a number of words from the same root, variously suggesting rejoicing, gladness. Latin had a similar word, carus, meaning dear, possibly connected with amor, signifying love. From these roots came "grace", meaning a free, unbought gift, as in the theological phrase, "the grace of God", and "charity". Strictly speaking, charity is an act done freely, and spontaneously out of friendship, not as a civic duty and grudgingly, as is sometimes the case in public charity. The Masonic use of the word is much nearer this original sense, for a Mason extends relief to a needy brother not as a duty but out of friendship. |
CharterThe Charter of a Lodge is the official document , issued by Grand Lodge, authorising the membership to organize and constitute a Lodge. |
CowanCowan is not a word we encounter much nowadays. It originated back in the days of mediaeval stonemasons. Building in stone required training and long and patient study, to understand how a building’s structure and stability depended on geometry. This understanding was known as a ‘secret art and hidden mystery’, not to be shared by the stonemasons with their untrained and unskilled fellow workers, known as cowans. |
CraftThis term is often used to describe the practice of Freemasonry, e.g. becoming a member of the Scottish Craft. It refers to the series of degrees practised by lodges operating under the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Freemasonry originated in Scotland as lodges of stone-masons started to admit gentlemen who were not operative stonemasons. The use of the term Craft' to describe the system may be said to hark back to this learning of a skill, or craft. In Anglo-Saxon, craft meant cunning, skill, power, dexterity, etc. The word became applied to trades and occupations calling for trained skill on the part of those practicing it. The distinction between such trades and those not requiring trained workmen, so rigidly maintained, was one of the hallmarks of the Middle Ages. Freemasonry is called a Craft, partly for historical reasons, partly because, unlike so many fraternities, it requires a training (given in the form of initiation ceremonies) of those seeking its membership. |