The North Carolina Mason

M any Masons may recall attending a cornerstone laying ceremony during their lifetimes, but many more may not, given that these are somewhat rare occasions. Over the past two years, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina has been convened five times to perform this ceremony – twice by Grand Master David Wicker in 2021, and twice by 2022 Grand Master Larry Thompson, and once by Deputy Grand Master Kevan Frazier, including: • October 2, 2021, to re-lay the cornerstone for Roanoke Rapids High School. • November 12, 2021, to lay the cornerstone for WhiteStone's Care and Wellness Center • August 20, 2022, to rededicate the Moore County Courthouse cornerstone, 100 years since its dedication • September 23, 2022, to lay the cornerstone for WhiteStone's assisted living and memory care residences • October 29, 2022 to rededicate the cornerstone at Eureka Lodge 317 for their 150th anniversary. The cornerstone laying, or rededication thereof, is a joyous occasion, intended to celebrate the construction of a new building. This is usually a public or government building if not a Masonic property, and includes impressive language and imagery, providing a glimpse of our symbolism and ideals through a public Masonic ceremony. Cornerstone ceremonies are a time-honored tradition. Masonic author Carl H. Claudy points to May 26, 1722 as the first recorded cornerstone laying by a Masonic body, when "King George I sent his Lord Almoner and Surveyor General… with many Freemasons in solemn procession from the palace to level the footstone" (Claudy, Masonic Harvest, 1948, p. 226) of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, a royal parish church in London. Claudy elaborates on the history and symbolism of the cornerstone ceremony, and touches on related symbolism in the Masonic Degrees. He highlights the allusions in modern ceremonies to ancient sacrifices in his essay "The Corner Stone," and draws parallels between those sacrifices and the Mason's "sacrifice of his passions and prejudices, his ignorance and selfishness, to the doctrine of the brotherhood of man" (Masonic Harvest, 227). In his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Masonic Scholar Albert Mackey describes the cornerstone as "considered by Operative Masons as the most important stone in the edifice" (Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, 1920, p. 178), and regarding ceremonies, states that "the assistance of Speculative Masons is often, and ought always to be, invited to give dignity to the occasion" (Mackey, p. 178). He adds, "The symbolism of the cornerstone, when duly laid with Masonic rites is full of significance, which refers to its form, to its situation, to its permanence, and to its consecration" (Mackey, p. 179). The cornerstone joins the northern and eastern corners of a building, and we are taught this when we begin our Masonic work. When we are called upon to lay a cornerstone, we commemorate the joining of operative and speculative traditions, and share with the world at large the moral principles that define the character we bear. Masonic Cornerstones: Symbols of Wisdom, Strength & Beauty By Homer T. Dearmin Pilot #493 18 | T H E M A S O N M AGA Z I N E

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