MACKEY'S FREEMASONRY ENCYCLOPEDIA (A)

A

In the Accadian, Greek, Etruscan, Pelasgian, Gallic, Samaritan, and Egyptian or Coptic, of
nearly the same formation as the English letter. It originally meant with or together, but at
present signifies one. In most languages it is the initial letter of the alphabet not so, however,
in the Ethiopian, where it is the thirteenth. This familiar first letter of the alphabet comes down
to our own modern times from the most remote period recorded of the world's history. The
common form of the letter corresponds closely to that in use by the Phoenicians at least ten
centuries before the Christian Era, as in fact it does to almost all its descendants. Men of Tyre
were Phoenicians, and we may trace the sound of the name they gave this letter by noting the
pronunciation of the first letters in the alphabets of the Hebrews and the Grieks who took
them from the same source. We derive the word alphabet from the first two Greek letters, and
these are akin in their names to the Hebrew Aleph, or Awlef, and Bayth. Sounds of these
letters, as in English words, must not be confused with the pronunciation of the names for
them. The name of the Hebrew Aleph, signifies ox from the resemblance of the letter to the
head and horns of that animal.
The sacred Aleph has the numerical value of one and is made up of two Yodes, one on each
side of an inclined bar or Vawv. This combination of characters is said to typify the Trinity in
Unity. The Divine name in Hebrew connected with this letter is, A H I H.




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A. A. O. N. M. S.
These letters are the initials of the words Ancient Arabic Order Noblea Mystia Shrine (see
shrine).. They may be rearranged to spell out the words A Mason. The claim has been made


in all sincerity that this peculiarity was prearranged and is not at all accidental. Such a
probability is not as rare as in type as may at first be imagined.

For instance the York Roll No. 1, about 1600 A.D., starts out quaintly with such an endeavor
in the form of an anagram, the letters of words or phrases transposed to make different words
or phrases, thus:

An Anagraimee upon the name of Masonrie
William Kay to his friend Robert Preston
upon his Art of Masonrie as Followeth :
Much might be said of the O noble Artt
A Craft that'a worth estieming in each part
Sundry Nations Noobles & their Kings also
Oh how they fought its worth to know
Nimrod & Solomon the wisest of all men
Reason saw to love this Science then
Ile say noe more lest by my shallow verses I
Endeavoring to praise should blemish Masonrie.

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AARON

Hebrew, A-har-ohne, a word of doubtful etymology, but generally supposed to signify a
mountaineer. Mackenzie says the name means the illuminated. He was the brother of Moses,
and the first High Priest under the Mosaic dispensation, whence the priesthood established by
that lawgiver is known as the Masonic. He is mentioned in the English lectures of the Second
Degree, in reference to a certain sign which is said to have taken its origin from the fact that
Aaron and Hur were present on the hill from which Moses surveyed the battle which Joshua
was waging with the Amalekites, when these two supported the weary arms of Moses in an
upright posture, because upon his uplifted hands the fate of the battle depended (see Exodus
xvii, 10-12). Aaron is also referred to in the latter section of the Royal Arch Degree in
connection with the memorials that were deposited in the Ark of the Covenant. In the Degree
or Grade of Chief of the Tabernacle, which is the Twenty-third of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite, the presiding officer represents Aaron, and is styled Most Excellent High Priest.
In the Twenty-fourth Degree of the same Rite, or Prince of the Tabernacle, the second officer
or Senior Warden also personates Aaron.

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AARON'S BAND

A Degree instituted in 1824, in New York City, mainly for social purposes, and conferred in an
independent body. Its ceremonies were similar to those of the Order of High Priesthood,
which caused the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State to take offence, and the small
gathering dispersed in 1825.

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AARON'S ROD

The method by which Moses caused a miraculous judgment as to which tribe should be
invested with the priesthood, is detailed in the Book of Numbers (chapter xvii). He directed
that twelve rods should be laid up in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, one for each tribe;
that of Aaron, of course, represented the tribe of Levi. On the next day these rods were
brought out and exhibited to the people, and while all the rest remained dry and withered, that
of Aaron alone budded and blossomed and yielded fruit. There is no mention in the
Pentateuch of this rod having been placed in the ark, but only that it was put before it. But as


Saint Paul, or the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews ix, 4), asserts that the rod
and the pot of manna were both within the ark, Royal Arch Masons have followed this later
authority. Hence the rod of Aaron is found in the ark; but its import is only historical, as if to
identify the substitute ark as a true copy of the original, which had been lost. No symbolical
instruction accompanies its discovery.

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AB

1. The 11th month of the Hebrew civil year and corresponding to the months July and
Augustus, beginning with the new moon of the former.
2. It is also a Hebrew word, signifying father, and will be readily recognized by every
Freemason as a component part of the name Hiram Abif, which literally means Hiram his
father (see Abif).
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ABACISCUS
The diminutive of Abacus- and, in architecture, refers to the squares of the tessellated

pavement or checkered surface of the ground floor of King Solomon's Temple.
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ABACUS
A term which has been erroneously used to designate the official staff of the Grand Master of

the Templars. The word has no such meaning ; for an abacus is either a table used for
facilitating arithmetical calculations, or is in architecture the crowning plate of a column and its
capital. The Grand Master's staff was a baculus, which see.

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ABADDON
A Hebrew word ab-ad-done, signifying destruction. By the Rabbis it is interpreted as the place

of destruction, and is the second of the seven names given by them to the region of the dead.
In the Apocalypse (Revelation ix, 11) it is rendered by the Greek word Apollyon, and means
the destroyer. In this sense it is used as a significant word in the high degrees.

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ABAZAR
Probably from the Hebrew word ab-ee-ay-zer, meaning helpful. The title given to the Master


of Ceremonies in the Sixth Degree of the Modern French Rite.
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ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations of technical terms or of official titles are of very extensive use in Freemasonry.


They were, however, but rarely employed in the earlier Masonic publications. For instance,
not one is to be found in the first edition of Anderson's Constitutions. Within a comparatively


recent period they have greatly increased, especially among French writers, and a familiarity
with them is therefore essentially necessary to the Masonic student.


Frequently, among English and always among French authors, a Masonic abbreviation is
distinguished by three points,.:, in a triangular form following the letter, which peculiar mark
was first used, according to Ragon, on the 12th of August, 1774, by the Grand Orient of
France, in an address to its subordinates. No authoritative explanation of the meaning of
these points has been given, but they may be supposed to refer to the three lights around the
altar, or perhaps more generally to the number three, and to the triangle, both important
symbols in the Masonic system.


A representative list of abbreviations is given, and these will serve as a guide to the common
practice, but the tendency to use such conveniences is limited only by personal taste
governed by the familiarity of the Brethren using them with one another. This acquaintance
may permit the mutual use of abbreviations little known elsewhere. All that can be done is to
offer such examples as will be helpful in explaining the usual custom and to suggest the
manner in which the abbreviations are employed. With this knowledge a Freemason can
ascertain the meaning of other abbreviations he may find in his Masonic reading.


Before proceeding to give a list of the principal abbreviations, it may be observed that the
doubling of a letter is intended to express the plural of that word of which the single letter is
the abbreviation.


Thus, in French, F.:, signifies Frére, or Brother, and FF :. Fréres, or Brothers. And in English,
L :. is sometimes used to denote Lodge, and LL :, to denote Lodges. This remark is made
once for all, because we have not deemed it necessary to augment the size of the list of
abbreviations by inserting these plurals. If the reader finds S:.G:.I:. to signify Sovereign Grand
Inspector, he will be at no loss to know that SS:.GG:.II:. must denote Sovereign Grand
Inspectors. A:.&A:. Ancient and Accepted.


A:.&A:. R :. Ancient and Accepted Rite as used in England.
A:.&A:. S :. R :. Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
A:.&P:. R :. Ancient and Primitive Rite.
A:.C:. Anno Coadio. Latin, meaning the Year of Destruction; referring to the year 1314 in
Knights Templar history.
A:.D:. Anno Domini. Latin, meaning Year of Our Lord.
A:.Dep:. Anno Depositionis. Latin, meaning In the Year of the Deposit. The date is used by
Royal and Select Masters.
A:.F:.M:. Ancient Freemasons.
A:.F:.&A:.M :. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
A:.H:. Anno Hebraico. Latin, meaning Hebrew Year.
A:.Inv:. Anno Inventionis. Latin, meaning In the Year of the Discovery. The date used by
Royal Arch Masons.
A:.L:. Anno Lucis. Latin, meaning In the Year of Light. The date used by Ancient Craft
Freemasons.
A.:L:.G:.D:.G:.A:.D:.L:.U:. A la Gloire du Grand Architecte de l'Universe. French, meaning To
the Glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe. The usual caption of French Masonic
documents.
A:.L:. O:. A L Orient. French, meaning At the East. The Location or seat of the Lodge.A.:M:.
Anno Mundi. Latin, meaning In the Year of the World. The date used in the Ancient and
Accepted Rite.
A.:O:. Anno Ordinis. Latin, meaning In the Year of the 0rder. The date used by Knights
Templar.
A.:Q.:C:. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the Latin name for the printed reports of the Quatuor
Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, London.
A.:V.:L:. An du Vraie Lumiére. French, meaning Year of the True Light.
A.:V:.T:.O:.S.:A.:G:. Ad Universi Terrarum Orbis Summi Architecti Gloriam. Latin, meaning To
the glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe.
A.:Y.:M:. Ancient York Masons or Ancient York Masonry.