Handbook of Freemasonry

«Freemasonry is the oldest initiatory society in the West not dependant on a religious institution» — la definición con que abre el volumen, y lo que la hace pertinente aquí: sociedad iniciática, y no dependiente de una institución religiosa.

«Freemasonry is not one organisation, but in fact represents a plethora of organisations» — su primera advertencia de método, contra el singular con que suele hablarse del asunto.

«Freemasonry was almost entirely a Christian phenomenon during the eighteenth and well into the nineteenth century» — el dato que corrige la imagen corriente de una orden deísta o indiferente desde el origen.

«Freemasonry has had a long and influential presence in the Muslim world» — contra la lectura del asunto como exclusivamente europeo y cristiano.

«the name given to any fine-grained sandstone or limestone that can be freely worked in any direction» — la etimología material de *freestone*, y con ella una de las explicaciones del «free» de *freemason*: la piedra que se labra en cualquier dirección.

«the great clerk Euclid devised geometry and gave it the name of masonry» — de la historia legendaria de los *Old Charges*, tal como el volumen la resume: es Euclides quien inventa la geometría y le da el nombre de masonería.

«he claimed that Freemasonry was not founded in Biblical times or at the time of the construction of Solomon’s Temple as claimed in the legendary histories of Freemasonry, but that it was founded during the Crusades in the Holy Land or Outremer» — sobre la alocución de Andrew Michael Ramsay de 1737: el momento en que la orden se busca un origen nuevo, cruzado en vez de salomónico.

«Ramsay did not specifically name the medieval Knights Templar as the founders, although it was assumed that he did indeed allude to them» — y la precisión que impide atribuirle el vínculo templario: no los nombró, se le supuso.

«Many of the Templar degrees and rites were infused by esoteric currents and practices, such as illuminism, alchemy and Christian Kabbalah» — la entrada de las corrientes esotéricas por la vía de los altos grados, que es por donde esta obra toca el resto del corpus.

«The last anti-masonic Bull was Leo XIII’s Annum Ingressi from 1902» — el término de la serie de condenas pontificias, con su fecha.

«Numbering millions of active members it is also the largest fraternal organization in the world, still managing to attract new members in the postmodern society of the twenty-first century.» — Bogdan y Snoek abren el volumen situando a la masonería como organización viva y no como reliquia: sigue reclutando en el siglo XXI.

«There is no single answer to the question, but part of it surely rests on the fact that despite its emphasis on tradition, transmission and authority, Freemasonry has always been a non-dogmatic organisation» — los editores explican esa vigencia por una convivencia poco frecuente: el énfasis en tradición, transmisión y autoridad sin dogma que fije el sentido.

«On the contrary, Freemasonry is characterised by a striking diversity of interpretation—it is thus possible to find purely moral interpretations of its central symbols, but also scientific, psychological, esoteric, political, philosophical, religious etc.» — de ahí que Bogdan y Snoek nieguen una lectura canónica de los símbolos centrales: la moral, la científica, la esotérica y la política coexisten sin jerarquía entre ellas.

«As the editors of this Handbook we have chosen not to use such value-laden designations as ‘conservative’ and ‘irregular’, which are based on emic understandings of the construct of authority and legitimacy, but rather the self-designations ‘regular’ and ‘liberal’» — decisión terminológica que los editores declaran: descartan los rótulos que trasladan al análisis el juicio de legitimidad de una obediencia sobre otra, y adoptan las autodesignaciones.

«Some masonic authors speak in this context about the ‘ancient landmarks’, although they do not seem to agree on what these landmarks actually consist of.» — Bogdan y Snoek señalan que el criterio interno de lo inmutable carece de contenido acordado entre quienes lo invocan.

«We have therefore specifically encouraged the contributors to contextualise Freemasonry, and thereby making the subject relevant for not only specialists in the study of Freemasonry, but also to a wider scholarly audience.» — la instrucción editorial que Bogdan y Snoek dicen haber dado a los colaboradores: contextualizar, para sacar el asunto del circuito de especialistas.

«It becomes evident in this part of the volume that the traditional founding date of 1717 is a purely artificial one for the commencement of Freemasonry, and that it is impossible to say when Freemasonry as we know it was founded.» — los editores retiran a 1717 el estatuto de fecha fundacional y declaran indeterminable el origen de la orden.

«1717 is merely the legendary date, claimed for the founding of the Premier Grand Lodge by four existing lodges in London.» — y Bogdan y Snoek precisan qué es esa fecha: la que cuatro logias ya existentes reclamaron para fundar una Gran Logia, no para fundar la masonería.

«It seems clear that Freemasonry gradually transformed from the medieval stone-masons’ guilds (particularly in Scotland and England, although similar developments can be traced in other parts of Britain and Europe) into so-called ‘gentlemen Freemasonry’, i.e. non-operative masonry.» — la transición que los editores sí dan por establecida, con su límite dentro: gradual, y no exclusiva de Escocia e Inglaterra.

«As noted by Prescott, the Old Charges are not only important for our understanding of the medieval stone-masons’ guilds, but more importantly they were read and used by Masons in the eighteenth century:» — los editores resumen a Prescott: el valor de los *Old Charges* no está solo en lo que documentan del gremio medieval, sino en su uso efectivo por los masones del XVIII.

«James Anderson drew heavily from the Old Charges when writing the ‘history’ of the stonemasons included in his extremely influential Constitutions (1723).» — dependencia que los editores consignan entre esos manuscritos y la historia legendaria que Anderson imprime en 1723.

«Stevenson identifies the William Schaw Statutes written in 1598 and 1599 as key documents in this transition in Scotland,» — los editores atribuyen a Stevenson la identificación de los estatutos de Schaw como documentos clave de la transición escocesa.

«The combination of speculation on the art and craft of stonemasonry with Christian symbolism naturally made the Temple of Solomon and its architect Hiram Abiff ideal symbols for Freemasonry, as evidenced by the legend of the third degree of Freemasonry which was adopted in the first half of the 1720s.» — de dónde derivan los editores la centralidad del Templo y de Hiram: del cruce entre especulación sobre el oficio y simbolismo cristiano, fijado en la leyenda del tercer grado en la primera mitad de la década de 1720.

«Jacob and Crow argue that the masonic lodges “provided space for the discursive and experimental ethos that characterized the ongoing project of Enlightenment.» — los editores resumen así la tesis de Jacob y Crow sobre la logia ilustrada: un espacio para un ethos, no un programa doctrinal.

«The Roman Catholic Church, the largest religious organisation in the world with over 1.2 billion members, has maintained a highly critical stance towards Freemasonry ever since the 1730s.» — los editores fechan en la década de 1730 el comienzo de la hostilidad católica, no en un episodio posterior.

«However, the main difference between these churches and the Roman Catholic Church is that since they are organised differently with many local and national independent churches, there is room for a variety of opinions» — los editores explican por qué no hay una postura protestante única sobre la masonería: la organización descentralizada admite posiciones divergentes.

«This open attitude changes, however, when we look at the relationship between Freemasonry and non-Christian religions.» — Bogdan y Snoek marcan el corte: la tolerancia que describen vale dentro del cristianismo y no se extiende de suyo al resto.

«Whereas there have been periods of anticlerical sentiments in Freemasonry, especially in Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece as a response to the anti-masonic Bulls of the Roman Catholic Church, these remain rare cases and the overall attitude of Freemasonry towards Christianity have been positive, in the sense that belief in the Christian faith has not barred people from joining Freemasonry.» — los editores acotan el anticlericalismo masónico a una reacción, geográficamente localizada, contra las bulas, y no a una posición general de la orden.

«The use of Old Testament texts and Hebrew words are filtered through the long history of Christian interpretation of Judaism and it says more about the Christian legacy in Freemasonry than any interest in Judaism as such.» — los editores desactivan la inferencia corriente: el hebreo de los rituales dice más de la herencia cristiana que de interés alguno por el judaísmo.

«Van Pelt argues that European anti-Semitism changed during the nineteenth century through its mingling with anti-masonry, whereby the Jews were depicted as having global political ambitions.» — los editores resumen a van Pelt: es la mezcla con el antimasonismo lo que da al antisemitismo europeo del XIX su forma de conspiración mundial.

«The increased admission of Muslims (and Jews) during the nineteenth century was facilitated by the fact that Freemasonry only required that the members should believe in a Supreme Being, the ‘Great Architect of the Universe’.» — los editores atribuyen la apertura decimonónica a un requisito mínimo de creencia, no a una decisión de tolerancia declarada.

«This requirement proved more difficult as Freemasonry encountered non-Abrahamic religions, as discussed by Jessica Harland-Jacobs and Jan Snoek in Chapter 14, “Freemasonry and Eastern Religions.”» — y Bogdan y Snoek señalan dónde ese mismo requisito deja de funcionar: fuera del monoteísmo abrahámico.

«From the 1840s onwards Parsis (Zoroastrians), Sikhs, and Jains were allowed to join Freemasonry, but it was not until 1872 before the first Hindu was admitted to a lodge.» — los editores fechan la apertura por escalones y con su desfase: parsis, sijes y jainistas desde 1840, el primer hindú hasta 1872.

«However, in order for this to happen, the faiths in question went through a process of reinterpretation, where the polytheistic elements were downplayed in favour of a monotheistic understanding of their beliefs.» — el precio de esa admisión, según los editores: no se flexibilizó el requisito masónico, se releyeron las religiones admitidas en clave monoteísta.

«This process both reflected and stimulated wider changes in Eastern religions during the second half of the nineteenth century, where religions such Hinduism and Buddhism reacted against the Western dismissal of their creeds as based on ritual, superstition, and idolatry, and instead emphasised the philosophical and ‘rational’ aspects of their own traditions.» — y los editores le dan doble dirección: esa relectura reflejó y a la vez alimentó la autorreforma racionalista del hinduismo y el budismo decimonónicos.

«Introvigne shows how these movements have adopted aspects of Freemasonry, in particular certain symbols and terms, but on the whole have not adopted any significant doctrine or ideas from Freemasonry as claimed by Evangelical critics.» — los editores resumen a Introvigne con su límite: los nuevos movimientos religiosos toman símbolos y vocabulario masónicos, no doctrina.

«The rituals of Freemasonry were devised to be performed, to be put into practice.» — los editores fijan el estatuto del ritual masónico: fue hecho para ejecutarse, no para leerse.

«It is believed that by performing the rituals the symbols are internalised and thereby change the personality of the initiate.» — y Bogdan y Snoek consignan la creencia que sostiene esa práctica, sin suscribirla: la ejecución interioriza el símbolo y transforma al iniciado.

«As there are literally thousands of different masonic rituals preserved in archives and libraries around the world, the symbols, teachings and doctrines transmitted through them have varied greatly.» — los editores derivan de la masa documental conservada la imposibilidad de hablar de una doctrina masónica única.

«Many of these rituals may have been never performed, or only used for a brief period, whereas others survived and were collected into various systems or Rites.» — y Bogdan y Snoek advierten que un ritual conservado no prueba una práctica: buena parte pudo no ejecutarse nunca.

«I was made a Free Mason at Warrington in Lancashire, with Col. Henry Mainwaring of Karincham in Cheshire» — del diario de Elias Ashmole, citado en el volumen: es uno de los testimonios ingleses más tempranos de una iniciación. Voz de Ashmole, no de los autores.

«We would like to thank Michael Taylor for having translated into English Chapters 6, 8, 9, and 26, as well as having improved the English of Chapters 10, 11, and 13.» — de los agradecimientos: siete de los veintiséis capítulos no se escribieron en inglés, dato que importa para citar sus matices.

«Editors’ note. Since Charles Porset sadly passed away in May 2011 before reviewing the final version of this chapter, it has been necessary to silently correct a few obvious errors and» — nota de los editores al frente del capítulo 8: Porset murió antes de revisarlo y el texto publicado lleva correcciones que no se marcan. Afecta a cualquier matiz fino que se le atribuya.