Is Adam referred to in any of the degrees or orders of Freemasonry?
In Masonic legendary history, Adam appears at the beginning of the traditional narrative surrounding the Stone of Foundation, which holds that he possessed the stone in the Garden of Eden, used it as an altar, and brought it with him after his expulsion 1. This lineage traces the stone's descent from Adam to Seth, Noah, Abraham, and Jacob before its eventual arrival in Jerusalem 1.
In historical lodge practice, a litany recorded as having been used by Jewish Freemasons at the opening of the lodge incorporates an invocation citing "the sorrows of Adam, the first made man" alongside Abel, Seth, and Noah 1.
In eighteenth-century Craft literature, Laurence Dermott included a song in Ahiman Rezon that humorously depicts Adam as "the grand master of all," recounting the Fall and his making of aprons 2. Guild traditions connected to the building trades also referenced Adam; German carpenters maintained a traditional verse recalling that Adam built a hut when exposed to the elements, while English gardeners cited him as the original craftsman 3.
In the realm of Masonic philosophy and Cabalistic study, the term Adam Kadmon is referenced to describe the primary emanation or "first man," representing the initial outflowing of divine energy 1.
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