On Saturday, November 1, 2008 guests from around the Washington, DC Metro area converged on the House of the Temple for the official launch of the Masonic Geocaching Society (MGS).

Geocaching is a new high-tech treasure-hunting sport gaining popularity across America and is now being introduced to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Participants hide containers, known as geocaches. Treasure Hunters then use GPS devices to locate geocaches, exchange gifts, and share their experiences online at www.geocaching.com.

Scottish Rite Valleys across America are participating in the sport by sponsoring caches on their property. You are encouraged to talk with your Scottish Rite leadership to see if your Valley is participating. If not, let them know about it and encourage them to contact Ill. Bro. Dean Alban, 33°, Director of Membership Services at the House of the Temple for more information on how to get started. Be sure to read my article which appeared in the most recent issue of the Scottish Rite Journal to get more familiar with how geocaching fits in with the lore of Freemasonry. You can also see a great photo of my daughter, Marina, right after she found her first cache.

Becoming involved in geocaching is a grea way for your Valley or Masonic Lodge to become involved with Masonic Youth organizations such as DeMolay, Rainbow, or Job’s Daughters. Speaking of youth, the logo which appears above was designed by my older son, Zachary Finnell. Zachary was honored as part of the festivites on November 1st. As you can see, geocaching is a great bridge to the younger generation.

The Masonic Geocaching Society has also commissioned a trackable geocoin that you can activate and place in caches. The coin can be tracked online at geocaching.com. Many of these coins travel the globe and I cannot think of a better way for people to get interested in Freemasonry than running across one of these items in a geocache somewhere.

So what are you waitng for? Join the Masonic Geocaching Society today. Join us on Facebook and through your Scottish Rite Valley.

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If you are a Scottish Rite Mason, you need to sign up and take the Master Craftsman program sponsored by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (SJ). This six-lesson correspondence course is designed to increase your knowledge about the ritual and lessons contained in the 4th through 32nd degrees of Scottish Rite. The whole course is only $35.

What is absolutely KILLER about the Master Craftsman program is Arturo de Hoyas’ book, The Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guide. The text is a comprehensive guidebook to the Revised Standard Pike Ritual, the official ritual of the Supreme Council. The book is included in the cost of the program. The only other text needed is A Bridge to Light.

The course comprehensively covers the Scottish Rite and begins with an introduction to the history and organization of the Scottish Rite from its origins in France to its eventual arrival in the United States. The program then moves on to cover the Scottish Rite ritual including the symbolism, moral lessons, and esoteric foundations of the High Degrees of Freemasonry. The last section is a review of Scottish Rite honors, including the KCCH and 33°.

Each lesson consists of about 20 multiple choice questions and a brief essay that requires the student to reflect upon the lessons learned from the reading. There are six lessons, each sent sequentially after the preceding lesson is graded. The turnaround time for grading of the questions is extremely fast from the House of the Temple. Support is available through your Valley and through the Supreme Council should you have questions as you work through each lesson

I am delighted to say that I recently completed the program and found that it significantly enhanced my experience of the Scottish Rite and of Freemasonry in general. By the conclusion of the course, one can see how the Blue Lodge degrees are completed and then expanded upon in Rose Croix, Council of Kadosh, and Consistory.

If Freemasonry is going to continue to have an impact in the United States, then we need to make sure that we understand the organizations to which we belong. The Scottish Rite Master Craftsman program is an excellent tool to start one on the journey to further Light.

Order your program today. You will not be disappointed.

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How do Freemasons measure time? What do all those abbreviations mean before those strange looking years that do not match our popular calendar? This post will introduce you to the Masonic measurement of time. When you are finished reading this, you will be able to decipher the hidden meaning in Masonic calendars.

Symbolic Lodge: First, let’s deal with the Symbolic Lodge (Blue Lodge) which covers the first three degrees of Freemasonry and is the foundation upon which everything else is built. On your lodge notice or Trestleboard you will see the current year listed as A.L. 6008. What does the A.L. stand for?

A.L. is a latin abbreviation for Anno Lucis, meaning “in the year of light.” This system of calendar time measures the current year from the creation of the world from the dating used by Archbishop Usher, minus four years. Just add 4000 to the current calendar year to arrive at the correct A.L. year (e.g. 2008+4000=A.L. 6008).¹

Royal Arch Masons: Royal Arch Masons begin their time measurement from the year Zerubbabel began building the Second Temple (530 BC), calling it Anno Inventionis (A.I.), meaning “in the year of the discovery.” Add 530 to the current calendar year to get the A.I. year (e.g. 2008+530=A.I. 2538).²

Royal and Select Masters: This calendar year is calculated from the completion of King Solomon’s Temple and is called Anno Depositionis (A.Dep.), meaning “in the year of the deposit.” Add 1000 years to the current calendar year to get the A. Dep. year (e.g. 2008+1000=A. Dep.3008).³

Knights Templar: The Masonic Knights Templar begin counting time from the creation of their Order in 1118 AD, calling it Anno Ordinis (A.O.) meaning, “in the year of the Order.” Subtract 1118 from the current calendar year to arrive at the A.O. year (e.g. 2008-1118=A.O. 890).⁴

Scottish Rite: The Scottish Rite calendar follows the Hebrew calendar and is known as Anno Mundi, meaning “in the year of the world.” The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar and has two annual starting points. The ecclesiastical year beings in the month Nisan (new moon following vernal equinox) while the civil year begins in the month Tishri (new moon after autumnal equinox). To find the Jewish year, just add 3760 to the common calendar in the month of September (e.g. 2008+3760=A.M. 5768). So, Setpember 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009 is A.M. 5768.^5 6

1. de Hoyos. Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guide. The Supreme Council 33°, Southern Jurisdiction. 2007-2008, p. 895 [↩]
2. Ibid [↩]
3. Ibid [↩]
4. Ibid [↩]
5. ibid, p. 891 [↩]
6. http://www.kinglodge.org/masoniccalendar.htm [↩]

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