Author: Aldo Reno

 For the ancient Romans a new day would begin at midnight, for the Greeks it would start at sunset and for the Egyptians at dawn.

The hours are an ancient invention and were codified by the Greeks in the 5^th century B.C. by measuring the distance that the sun covers in the sky.

But it took the Romans around two hundred more years to eventually feel the need to count the number of hours present in the day and another century after that,  to finally define them with some precision.

Until the end of 400 B.C. the Romans were still dividing the day in two parts rather than into hours; one part was that period of light that came before midday, the other part was filled with the hours of darkness.

In ancient Rome “Herald” was the title given to an official messenger of the Consuls. The one, who was posted high up on a hill, would monitor the passage of the sun at its meridian point and then instantly notify the population by blowing his trumpet. That signal indicated that labour – which had begun at dawn – could now be stopped.

The Spanish born Roman lawyer and politician Seneca, better known for his philosophical discourses and letters, stated that at the time of the Roman Empire no one knew the exact time. The lack of precision of the mechanical gadgets that were in use – like the Greek sun-dialler and the water clock or “clepsydra” [1]  – made such a thing impossible. But so too did the following idiosyncrasies.

Continue reading The Masonic Lodge : an explanation of the traditional opening hour

The Masonic ritual makes references to both St Johns the Baptist and St John the Evangelist and it also contains the principle that the Bible must be kept open on the Gospel in an open Lodge.

According to Paul Naudon [1], author of the book “Les Loges de Saint-Jean”, the origin of this tradition is in great part influenced by the Knights Templar and more particularly so by the Knights Hospitalier who assimilated the former when they were officially suppressed in March 1312 by King Philip IV of France.

The Knights Templar, whose motto was “obedience, poverty and chastity”, were established as an Order in Jerusalem around the year 1118 for the purpose of safeguarding the Christian civilization in the Orient and protecting the life of the pilgrims who visited the Holy Land.  The Order comprised of the most formidable fighting Crusaders  as well as non fighting members who were skilled in economic and religious matters. The fathers of the Order had received their Chart from Teocleto, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was also the 67^th successor of St John in that role.

Saint John became the Patron of the Templars and on 24^th June of each year the whole population of masons, carpenters and various other craftsmen clebrated him with the lighting of bonfires by the Grand Master of the Order. This custom was retained even after the dissolution of the Order and St John effectively became the Patron of both the Order and of the masons.

But who where the two Saints John?

Continue reading The two St Johns and Freemasonry

The word Ianus in Latin means “door” . In ancient times Ianus was a “God” associated with the Sun and traditionally better identified as the protector of every “beginning” and every “transition”.

Not surprisingly the first month of our calendar year is called Janu(ary) or Ianu(ariu)s in Latin.
In addition to being depicted with two faces – each looking into the other’s opposite direction – Ianus was also shown holding two keys.
One key was made of gold , the other was made of silver and they respectively symbolised the “great” and the “small” mysteries. The Catholic world adopted the symbol of the two keys – we can see them on the flag of the Vatican – and gave them the meaning of the union between the spiritual power (gold) and the temporal one (silver) both held by the Pontiff.
Continue reading Ianus