Emulation Lodge of Improvement
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Emulation Lodge of Improvement for Master Masons is a lodge of Instruction which first met on 2 October 1823.
The aim of the lodge is to preserve Masonic ritual as closely as is possible to that which was formally accepted by the newly formed United Grand Lodge of England in 1816, as developed in the and as amended since.
The ritual to be used in United Grand Lodge of England[1] and in Lodges under that constitution were produced by the Lodge of Reconciliation, formed following the union of the Antients and Moderns Grand Lodges in 1813, approved and confirmed by Grand Lodge in June 1816. This has formed the basis of Emulation Working since its inception in 1823. It has been the policy of the committee of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement to preserve the ritual as nearly as possible in the form in which it was approved by Grand Lodge, allowing only those changes approved by Grand Lodge to become established practice.
The most notable change was made in 1986 when a resolution from Grand Lodge decreed that the so called ‘blood oaths’, or symbolic penalties, were to be removed from the obligations taken by candidates for the three degrees or installation as a master.
[edit] Emulation ritual
Following the adoption of Emulation Ritual it was communicated orally, under the direction of Grand Lodge. Despite this, beginning in the 1870s, unofficial ritual books emerged, some of these purporting to match the ritual of Emulation Lodge of Improvement. In 1969 an official booklet was produced, detailing ritual as practiced at the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, with minor modifications to ritual reflecting that whilst Emulation Lodge of Instruction is for Master Masons only, the majority of craft lodges have a number of entered apprentices and fellow craft freemasons in attendance.
Emulation Ritual is not the only way to conduct Masonic ceremony, with a range of rituals in existence, it is rare to find a lodge working it exactly, each having its own traditions and idiosyncrasies.
The format of the ritual in printed form is such that it can be easily understood by all masons who have reached the necessary level of Masonic knowledge. It achieves this by preserving a certain degree of secrecy by omitting the bodies of certain words (which also aids brevity). For example, a hypothetical ritual such as:
- Assistant Pirate: Arrrrr!
- Senior Pirate: From where comes this word?
- Junior Pirate: It is derived from the traditional greeting given by our ancestral pirate brothers upon sighting a comely wench after many months at sea.
- All: Arrrrr!
Could be written in the book as:
- AP A
- SP From where comes this w?
- JP It is derived from the t g g b o a p b u s a c w a m m a s
- ALL A
As well as this ritual, the book contains some notes and clarifications as well as other information of use in practicing ritual.
[edit] The silver matchbox
Those members of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement who complete the ritual for a ceremony without prompt or correction are awarded a silver matchbox, one for each of the four ceremonies worked.
[edit] References
- ^ Emulation Ritual ISBN 0-85318-187-X pub 1991, London.
