The North Carolina Mason

Page 14 The North Carolina Mason September/October 2019 Our Masonic History How the ʻ Official Standard ʼ came to be By Ludwik Wodka Grand Historian rough the 18th and 19th centuries, North Carolina was like most jurisdictions in prohibiting the use of a written cypher for its ritual work. A cypher, or an encrypted written version of the ritual, was essentially viewed as a violation of the Masonic landmarks as well as the first degree obligation. e first printed cypher of an authorized ritual work in the United States was Daniel Parker's Masonic Tablet in 1822. ough its origins are obscure, it is believed to be the ritual used in and around New York City. However, Brother Parker was brought up on Masonic charges for publishing this and was subse- quently expelled. e widespread publication of exposés such as Light on Masonry (1827), Avery Allyn's A Ritual of Freemasonry (1853), and Duncan's Ritual (1866) made versions of the Webb ritual available to the general public. When discussion about printing cyphers was brought up during the 1868 Annual Communication of the North Carolina Grand Lodge, it was vigorously denounced by the Grand Lecturers. Nonetheless, in North Carolina, cyphers began to appear. e first known cypher was created by none other than Past Grand Master Robert W. Best, who oversaw the revision of the ritual work during his term as Grand Master in 1868, but developed the cypher as a memory aid and printed several copies with the intent of selling them. He was discovered and promptly expelled from Masonry in 1874, but re-admitted the following year after he agreed to destroy all copies of it. Several copies of printed Masonic cyphers had been discovered in North Carolina dating to the mid- 1880s and are in possession of the Grand Lodge; these were unauthor- ized publications and not sanctioned by the Grand Lodge. However, they do reveal that the work described therein is very close to the work we do today. Around 1900, an odd practice took place in other jurisdic- tions when a couple of printed cyphers were published, but under a misleading title, such as Ecce Oriente, Magician's Magic Move- ments and Ceremonies or Hindoo eology for the Use of Mission- aries. Grand Lodges quickly caught on to these shenanigans and formally condemned their distribution and use. Despite this, the proceedings of the North Carolina Grand Lodge mention the widespread use of unauthorized cyphers in the state between 1890s and the mid-1920s. However, around the same time, other grand jurisdictions began adopting written cyphers of the ritual—by 1900, at least eight grand jurisdictions had written cyphers. e Redding Masonic Supply Co. in New York City began printing out cypher versions of other grand jurisdictions as well, and it is likely that this company issued a cypher for the North Carolina work. By 1928, printed cyphers were so widespread across the United States that the Grand Masters Conference discussed whether legal action could be taken to stop the dissemina- tion of these cyphers. ey took no action. By the 1940s, North Carolina finally decided to prepare its own written cypher. Grand Master omas J. Harkins recommended in 1941 that "a physical standard, or code" be prepared so that the ritual work would be effectively standard- ized but also more easily distributed to the lodges. e first version of the Official Standard of the Work (or "OSW" as it came to be known), adopted by the Grand Lodge in 1942, was a black book of 203 pages. It is now 276 pages. A separate accompanying volume, known as the "Vocabulary," contained a list of the words corre- sponding with the numbered letters in the cypher. e OSW, while practically impossible to read except for those trained to read it (i.e., certified lecturers), was more successful in improving ritual proficiency in the lodges across the state than any previous method. In 1949, a supplement was added that contained a series of additions and clarifications, most notably being the short form of the second section of the Master Mason's degree. A new edition of the OSW was published in 1966, which incorporated the material in the addendum of 1949, and included the change in wording from "special communication" to "emergent communication." is volume, though visibly thicker, is only 206 pages, which is to say only three pages longer than the first edition. Additional modifications to the work were recommended in the 1990s, resulting in another supplement in 1993. ese changes included the emergent form open- ings for the EA and FC degrees as well as several minor wording changes (e.g., "remove" instead of "detach"). e Board of Custodians formed a committee led by W.B. Luigi Ammons, to incorporate further changes and update the OSW. In 2001, the current edition of the OSW, which has been adopted for the ritual work in North Carolina, was released. In 2001, the current edition of the OSW which has been adopted for the ritual work in North Carolina was released. Reports vary, but between 38 and 46 of the 51 jurisdictions in the United States have some form of printed cypher, while only a few still prohibit them. Grand Marshal Robert Rideout is ready to lead the officers into the An- nual Communica- tion for truly grand entrance. Grand Secretary Walt Clapp peeks around the corner to check out the crowd.

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