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Utilizing the one and two admission/acceptance          A period of rapid international expansion of
     ceremonies.                                            Freemasonry, partly due to the creation of mili-tary
                                                            lodges that would in themselves establish overseas
      Th  is whole period of transformation would have met  Masonic lodges.
     with some resistance from existing guild members.
                                                              Th  ere were a few notable cases of Masonic prohibition
                                                            in some European countries for a few years. Th is
                                                            didn't have a lasting eff ect, possibly the reverse eff ect.
                                                            A typical human response is that, when told they can't
                                                            have it, they want it even more.












      One can only imagine the operative members
     horrifi ed at the thoughts of gentlemen with no
     stonework skills whatsoever, being admitted into their
     guilds.

      Something signifi cant at that time must have caused
     this change; to eff ect such a radical change in the
     admissions policy.
                                                              Th  e concept to create a Grand Lodge out of an annual
      One theory is that a simple survival initiative drove it.  festival - 1717 to 1721. Establishing and writing a
     Th  at the operative stonemason guilds were in decline,  modern set of rules, Anderson's Book of Constitutions
     and to maintain membership, they admitted non-stone  1723.
     masons. Th  is decline in the number of stonemasons
     might have been driven by the move away from the         Th  is early interest in Freemasonry was fuelled by the
     quarried stone to construct buildings - to kiln dry clay  age of Enlightenment. Th  ese new members were less
     in the form of bricks-still a construction method, just  interested in the study of Freemasonry than learning
     a diff erent delivery mechanism, a diff erent skill set  about the latest innovations in nature and science.
     required.                                              In  many  respects,  Freemasonry  was  a  true  learning
                                                            experience.
      In modern terminology, clay bricks were a disruptor
     to quarried stone.                                       Th  ere was the evolution and refi nement of the three
                                                            degree Craft  system. Introduction of the Solomon
      For a period of time, stonemason guilds, operative  Temple legend and Hiram Abif in an allegoric form,
     lodges (mix of operative and non-operative), and  from around 1725.
     speculative lodges (non-operative members only)
     would have operated in par-allel; as some were in        Th  e creation of breakaway obediences that wanted
     decline, others would prosper. Some consider that this  to adopt more liberal rules, some of which succeeded
     would have taken place during the whole of the 17th  where others failed.
     century.
                                                              Th  e perpetuation that Freemasonry was a 'secret
     Freemasonry Version 2                                  society' made it even more attractive to new members.
                                                            Th  is marketing strategy was hampered a little by the
     Th  is is the replacement product for Freemasonry V1   Secret Societies Act of 1799, an attempt to ban secret
                                                            meetings behind closed doors. Again, this act of
      Th  is is the transition period from around 1717/1721,   trying to ban Freemasonry possibly did more to make
     the formation of a Premier Grand Lodge in London       the fraternity even more appealing.
     and Westminster in England up to 1813, with United
     Grand Lodge's formation.                                 Th  e combination of the packaging, delivery
                                                            mechanism, and content during this period was
      Th  is was a time of acceleration in speculative      a unique selling proposition, which survived and
     Masonic lodges.                                        prospered, where others failed.
      Montana Freemason                                                                       Page 10                                                 Jan/Feb 2021   Volume 97 No. 1
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