Ancient Landmarks

Ancient landmarks are the immemorial usages and fundamental principles that form the unchangeable identity of Freemasonry 1. Any alteration that destroys one of these essential elements constitutes an innovation, risking the withdrawal of recognition by other Grand Lodges 1. Despite universal reverence for the concept, scholars and governing bodies express widely divergent opinions, and no single list has ever been universally accepted across all jurisdictions 1.

Albert C. Mackey published the first distinct enumeration in 1858, listing twenty-five landmarks 1. His formulation included the modes of recognition, the division of Craft Masonry into three degrees, the Legend of the Third Degree, the government of lodges by a Master and two Wardens, mandatory tiling, the Right of Visitation, a requirement of belief in God as the Grand Architect, and belief in a resurrection to a future life 1. Within the Craft, the Grand Lodge of England declared in 1813 that Ancient Craft Masonry comprised the three degrees, including the Holy Royal Arch 1.

Mackey’s list was adopted into written law by about half of American Grand Lodges, but it met immediate criticism from writers like Theodore Sutton Parvin, who urged reducing the list to five or six items 1. Other authorities proposed alternative definitions: Chetwode Crawley reduced the essential foundation to the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the life to come 1, while Albert Pike argued that the landmarks were simply the essential principles of fellowship and lodge organization found in the Ancient Charges 1.

Specific requirements also vary by jurisdiction and period. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts recognized a brief list containing monotheism, belief in immortality, the Volume of the Sacred Law, the Legend of the Third Degree, secrecy, operative symbolism, and the requirement that a candidate be a freeborn male adult 1. Qualification rules have likewise shifted; while older codes required candidates to be freeborn 1, the Grand Lodge of England amended its requirement in 1847 following the Emancipation Act, requiring only that a candidate be a free man of mature age 1.