FREE MASONRY TASMANIA

In operative masonry the use of a distinguishing mark to identify each craftsman's work is a long established practice and widely employed in the erection of cathedrals, churches, castles and stately buildings of the Renaissance period in Britain and Europe.

The mark served two useful purposes - it established a craftsman's entitlement to wages and in the event of faulty work, enabled the foreman or overseer to identify the workman responsible.

The ceremony of advancement to the degree of Mark Master Mason is centred on this practice and is directed to the inculcation of order, regularity, diligence and discipline.

Like the Second Degree in the craft, it is less concerned with the past and future and more the here and now of our present life.

If the Fellow craft degree is devoted to the promotion of learning, that of the Mark master instructs us how that learning can be most usefully and judiciously employed for our own honour and the benefit of our fellow man.

And while our motives may sometimes be misinterpreted, our attainments underrated and reputations traduced, it demonstrates the merits of persistence in the face of adversity, and the conviction that truth is right, and will prevail.

Mark Masonry has been established in Victoria since 1858, the original lodges being warranted by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland and the Grand Mark Lodge of England.

In 1899, fifteen of those lodges combined to form the United Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Victoria, and over the intervening years more than 140 lodges, with a current membership of about 7000 members established.

A number of these meet at the Masonic Centre, but Mark Lodges are also located in 60 country centres in Victoria and Tasmania.

Acknowledgement in Mark Masonry represents a further step in the quest for knowledge which stimulated our admission to the Craft and opens the way to further inquiry and research.

But the Mark is also universally acknowledged as a truly friendly degree, and it is this spirit of friendship which is the very essence of the degree and has provided for so many, a lifetime of joy and reward.

Hobart. Tasmanian Mark Masons Lodge  No. 274 VC.

Tasmanian Mark Masons Lodge meets at the Masonic Centre 3 Sandy Bay Road Hobart 1st Tuesday April June September October December

                Installation Installation 4^th Wednesday February Masonic centre 3 Sandy Bay Road Hobart The Installation is held on the 3rd. Friday of
                February each year, Tyling at 7.00 pm (except the year of the Craft Installation, then it is held on the Saturday of that weekend Tyling at
                1 pm Saturday February 2008.

Master:	Wor. Bro. Michael Farley
Secretary:	Wor. Bro. Sandy Thomson 53 Bastick St. Rosny 7018	(03) 6244 8446	s.thom13@bigpond.net.au

The Royal Ark Mariner degree is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, rite in Masonry.

As the name suggests, it is based on the legend of Noah and the Great deluge, an event of such importance as to have impressed itself on the religious dogmas and rites of all the nations which have succeeded it.

We find allusions to it in the annals of every people, some memorial of it in their religious observances. These have served to maintain a veneration for the second parent of the human race, and a great reverence for his historical vessel.

The ceremony of evaluation into the Antient and honourable Fraternity of Royal ark Mariners is a truly initiatory rite.

As in the Craft it is based on the triumvirate of wisdom, strength and beauty, but in this instance, refers particularly to the wisdom of Noah in constructing the Ark, his strength of character and the beauty of his workmanship.

But there are other significant messages, and even for the experienced Mason, a powerful reminder of our reliance on spiritual as well as material enlightenment.

The presiding officer in a Royal Ark Mariner Lodge is the Commander and the ceremony of his installation, or enthronement is widely considered one of the most impressive in all Masonry.

Currently there are 35 Royal Ark Mariner lodges established within Victoria, of which 19 meet in country centres. a 36th. lodge meets in Hobart, Tasmania.

As in England, the fraternity is administered by the Mark Degree, and the office of Grand Commander is filled by the incumbent Grand Master of Mark master Masons of Victoria, who presides over the Royal Ark Council and is assisted at enthronement ceremonies by a team of specially-appointed Grand Mark Officers.

As in the Mark degree, all enthronement ceremonies are conducted each year by the Grand Commander or his appointed representative.

The rainbow ribbon which decorates the regalia of the degree provides a colourful spectacle to all its ceremonies, but despite its great age, it is essentially a thinking man's degree, conducted in a friendly, intimate and rewarding atmosphere.

Prior membership of the Mark degree is a mandatory requirement for elevation.

Meetings:   VC Royal Ark Mariners   Meets in Hobart at 3 Sandy Bay Road Hobart May August November February.
                         Installation meeting: Masonic Centre 3 Sandy bay Road Hobart. The Installation meeting is held on the 3rd. Friday of February each
                         year, Tyling at 3.00 pm (except the year of the Craft Grand Installation, then it is held on the Saturday of that weekend Tyling at 10 am
                         Saturday 23rd. February 2008

Master	Bro. George Sanders	(03) 6265 3091
Secretary	Wor. Bro. Sandy Thomson 53 Bastick St. Rosny 7018	(03) 6244 8446	s.thom13@bigpond.net.au


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