Masonic Dates
Masonic dates are calendar designations used on some Masonic documents, books, certificates and foundation stones. They generally express a conventional or commemorative era alongside, or in place of, the ordinary civil year. Different bodies have used different systems; the abbreviation and the issuing organisation are therefore part of the evidence needed to interpret a date.[1]
Anno Lucis
Anno Lucis means “in the year of light” and is commonly abbreviated A.L. The usual modern calculation adds 4,000 to the civil year: 2023 AD = 6023 AL, and 2026 AD = 6026 AL. To reverse that calculation, subtract 4,000 from the AL date. The additional years belong to the dating convention; they do not establish that a lodge or document is thousands of years old.[2][3]
Historical terminology
Early usage was less uniform than this rule suggests. Mendoza's study found the initials A.L. in John Pine's lodge list of 1725, but cautioned against assuming that they always meant Anno Lucis. Other expressions included Anno Laotomiae and the English “Year of Masonry”. James Anderson used the latter phrase in the 1723 and 1738 Constitutions.[3]
Mendoza identified an English certificate using the full phrase Anno Lucis, dated 15 February 5777, corresponding to 1777. He also discussed earlier Continental evidence, including an inscription at Marseilles reported by William Preston. His dates describe the evidence he had located, rather than proving when the expression was invented. Some eighteenth-century calculations added 4,004 instead of 4,000, following a different convention derived from biblical chronology.[3]
Other designations
The following are conventions documented in the National Library of Scotland's cataloguing guidance. They should be checked against the particular document, especially when the month or beginning of the year differs.[1]
| Designation | Meaning and use | Common calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Anno Ordinis (A.O.) | “Year of the Order”, used by Masonic Knights Templar | Civil year minus 1118 |
| Anno Inventionis (A.I.) | “Year of the Discovery”, found on Royal Arch documents | Civil year plus 530 |
| Anno Depositionis (A.Dep.) | “Year of the Deposit”, used by Royal and Select Masters | Civil year plus 1000 |
Anno Mundi (A.M.), “year of the world”, and Anno Hebraico (A.H.), “in the Hebrew year”, occur in Scottish Rite dating. The library's guidance gives an offset of 3,760, increasing by one around the autumn new year.[1] For dates following the Hebrew calendar itself, the year changes at Rosh Hashanah, whose civil date varies between September and October; a fixed September cutoff is only an approximation.[4]
Reading a historical date
Transcriptions should preserve the original era designation and give the civil equivalent separately. A.L. 5813, under the usual calculation, becomes 1813 AD. A.D. (Anno Domini) and CE (Common Era) use the same year numbering. The choice of a Masonic era is distinct from the question of whether a historical civil date follows the Julian or Gregorian calendar. The issuing body, full wording and any parallel civil date should be recorded before converting an unfamiliar abbreviation.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Library of Scotland, Rare Book Collections: Cataloguing Manual, section on Masonic dating, pp. 166–167.
- ↑ Universal Co-Masonry, Anno Lucis, Encyclopedia Masonica, definition and calculation.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Harry Mendoza, Anno Lucis et al., paper presented to Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 13 November 1980, reproduced by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon.
- ↑ Chabad.org, When Is Rosh Hashanah?, dates for 2026–2030 and explanation of 1–2 Tishrei.
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