In Freemasonry, regularity is one of the factors by which individual Grand Lodges judge whether to recognise one another for the purposes of allowing formal interaction at the Grand Lodge level and visitation by members of other jurisdictions. Each individual Grand Lodge determines which other Grand Lodges it considers Regular. The standards for determining this are not uniform between Grand Lodges.

Regularity and its origins

History

There are a number of groupings of Masonic jurisdictions which consider themselves regular, and recognise others as regular, yet consider others to be irregular. There is no globally centralised Masonic organisational system, and therefore the criteria for regularity are not consistent across all Grand Lodges.

Ancients and “Moderns” The concept of Regularity first appears in Payne's regulations, and was printed in Anderson's Constitutions in 1723. In regulation VIII we find – If any Set or Number of Masons shall take upon themselves to form a Lodge without the Grand-Master's Warrant, the regular Lodges are not to countenance them, or own them as fair Brethren and duly form’d, nor approve of their Acts and Deeds; but must treat them as Rebels, until they humble themselves, as the Grand-Master shall in his Prudence direct, and until he approve of them by his Warrant, which must be signify’d to the other Lodges, as the Custom is when a new Lodge is to be register’d in the List of Lodges.Anderson's Constitutions Franklin's reprint, p 62 retrieved 10 June 2013

The revisions published in the 1738 constitutions introduced the term Regular Lodge.Quatuor Coronatorum Antigrapha Vol. 7, 1890, Anderson's Constitutions of 1738, p156

Arguments regarding what ought to constitute proper Freemasonry appear in the 1720s, when some lodges of the Premier Grand Lodge of England began to replace the old method of drawing the lodge symbols on the floor in chalk and charcoal with tape, tacked to the floor, and portable metal letters. This earned the new Grand Lodge the nickname of the Moderns.Arthur Heiron, The Craft in the 18th Century, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol 37, 1924, p66 In 1735, the same Grand Lodge refused admission to the master and wardens of an Irish lodge, who claimed to be a deputation from the Grand Master of Ireland, unless they accepted the English constitution, which they refused.The Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of England, 1723–1739, Quatuor Coronatorum Antigrapha, Vol 10, 1913, p 259 In 1751 the nucleus of a second Grand Lodge, which did not accept the innovations of the original, was formed.Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon The Formation of the Grand Lodge of the Antients, I. R. Clarke, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol 79 (1966), pp. 270–73, retrieved 31 May 2013 Their book of constitutions, the Ahiman Rezon of their Grand Secretary Laurence Dermott, suggests that the Moderns had now changed their passwords in alarm over masonic exposures printed in the 1730s, which would not allow their members admission into any lodges outside their own jurisdiction.Google books Ahiman Rezon (pdf) retrieved 31 May 2013 The process of uniting of these two Grand Lodges began in 1809, when the Moderns set up a travelling Lodge of Promulgation to return their ritual to its "Ancient" form. This made possible the creation, in 1813, of the United Grand Lodge of England.Pietre-Stones Lodges of Instruction, Yasha Beresiner, retrieved 31 May 2013

Landmarks of Freemasonry

Payne's 1720 regulations mention the necessity of maintaining the "old Land-Marks" of the order, but it was much later that anybody attempted to define them. It was not until 1858 that Albert Mackey published a list of 25 landmarks, which while not universally accepted, formed the basis of some American jurisdictions.Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon History of the Landmarks – excerpt from Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry retrieved 13 June 2013Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon Mackey's Landmarks retrieved 13 June 2013

Attempts to formulate the basis of regularity came even later in England, and appear to have arisen from recognition of a new Grand Lodge in France, which had just split from the Grand Orient de France. A letter of 1913 from the new Grand Master of the Independent and Regular National Grand Lodge of France and of the French Colonies stated the obligations of his lodges as his claim to regularity. While the Lodge is at work the Bible will always be open on the altar. The ceremonies will be conducted in strict conformity with the Ritual of the "Regime Rectifié" which is followed by these Lodges, a Ritual which was drawn up in 1778 and sanctioned in 1782, and with which the Duke of Kent was initiated in 1792. The Lodge will always be opened and closed with invocation and in the name of the Great Architect of the Universe. All the summonses of the Order and of the Lodges will be printed with the symbols of the Great Architect of the Universe. No religious or political discussion will be permitted in the Lodge. The Lodge as such will never take part officially in any political affair but every individual Brother will preserve complete liberty of opinion and action. Only those Brethren who are recognised as true Brethren by the Grand Lodge of England will be received in Lodge.

These appear to have formed the basis for the 1929 Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition, still used by the United Grand Lodge of England.Pietre Stones Alain Bernheim, My Approach to Masonic History, from address of 2011, retrieved 13 June 2013

Great Architect of the Universe In 1813, upon the union of Antients and Moderns, the UGLE had created a new Constitution, based on the Constitutions of Anderson of the Moderns and the Ahiman Rezon of the Antients, which required acceptance of the Great Architect of the Universe.

The Grand Orient de France (GOdF) initially adapted its Constitution in order to comply. In 1877, however, on a proposal of the Protestant priest Frédéric Desmons at the convention of the GOdF, the members of the convention removed references to the Great Architect of the Universe (GAOTU) from their Constitution.Address to the 2002 California Masonic Symposium They saw their decision as a way to return to the original Constitution of James Anderson of 1723. The first two sentences of the constitution of the GOdF (in English translation) had been: "Its principles of Freemasonry are the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and human solidarity. It considers liberty of conscience as an inherent right of each man and excludes no one because of his beliefs." These became: "Its principles are liberty of conscience and human solidarity. It excludes no one because of his beliefs."The Grand Orient of France and the three great lights

This decision led to a schism between the Grand Orient de France and the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). Since the great schism of 1877 freemasonry is divided in two branches, Continental style Freemasonry and Anglo Freemasonry. These two branches are not in mutual regular amity, since most English style lodges consider Continental style lodges to be irregular, although until World War I eight English style Grand Lodges still recognized the Grand Orient of France. The Grand Orient de France (Grand Orients) and the United Grand Lodge of England (Grand Lodges) are the basic models for each variety of freemasonry.

Present

Home Grand Lodges – related jurisdictions A large collection of mutually recognised Grand Lodges derives its regularity from one or more of the Home Grand Lodges (United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), Grand Lodge of Scotland (GLoS) and Grand Lodge of Ireland (GLoI)) based on criteria known as "Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition" which together they codified and published on 4 September 1929 (although not new – they had been developed and refined over at least the preceding 150 years):Book of Constitutions, Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition, UGLE Accessed 19 May 2023

Regularity of origin; i.e.each Grand Lodge shall have been established lawfully by a duly recognised Grand Lodge or by three or more regularly constituted Lodges. That a belief in the G.A.O.T.U. and His revealed will shall be an essential qualification for membership. That all Initiates shall take their Obligation on or in full view of an open Volume of Sacred Law, by which is meant the revelation from above which is binding on the conscience of the particular individual who is being initiated. That the membership of the Grand Lodge and individual Lodges shall be composed exclusively of men; and that each Grand Lodge shall have no Masonic intercourse of any kind with mixed Lodges or bodies which admit women to membership. That the Grand Lodge shall have sovereign jurisdiction over Lodges under its control; i.e. that it shall be a responsible, independent, self-governing organisation, with sole and undisputed authority over the Craft or Symbolic Degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason) within its Jurisdiction; and shall not in any way be subject to, or divide such authority with, a Supreme Council or other Power claiming any control or supervision over those degrees. That the three Great Lights of Freemasonry (namely, a Volume of Sacred Law, the Square, and the Compasses) shall always be exhibited when the Grand Lodge or its subordinate Lodges are at work, the chief of these being the Volume of Sacred Law. That the discussion of religion and politics within the Lodge shall be strictly prohibited. That the principles of the Antient Landmarks, customs, and usages of the Craft be strictly observed.

The first attempt to codify the governance of Freemasonry was The Constitution of the Freemasons of Strasbourg in 1459, which the Masonic Bodies of Continental Freemasonry hold as the essence of Freemasonry. However, the more popular codification in English - speaking nations was created by James Anderson in his Constitutions, published in 1723, which contain his idea of the basic principles. Dr. Albert Mackey built on this in 1856, when he identified 25 Landmarks or characteristics of Masonry which have been widely adopted in America.

UGLE considers itself to be the most ancient Grand Lodge in continuous existence. Although it was founded in 1813 with its first Grand Master, it considers itself a continuation of the much older Grand Lodge of London, founded in 1717 by four pre-existent lodges. No record exists of any earlier Lodge organisation styling itself as a Grand Lodge. Three of the four original lodges still exist. Today they are UGLE lodges No 2, No 4, and No 12. Naturally, since they were founded even before the creation of the Grand Lodge of London, they function without the normal warrant, and also have some internal offices and regulations which differ from the standard UGLE constitutions. As they pre-date the foundation of the oldest grand lodge, and as their actual date of foundation is unknown, these three lodges are referred to as being "time immemorial" lodges. Since 1717 other grand lodges have been founded, and many have sought recognition by UGLE, hence it has claimed the 'benchmark' of masonic regularity.

Liberal style jurisdictions

The Liberal style Grand Lodges and Grand Orients have created several organizations in order to organize their international relations, such as CLIPSAS, the International Masonic Union Catena, CIMAS, COMAM, TRACIA and, formerly, the International Secretariat of the Masonic Adogmatic Powers before it was re-absorbed into CLIPSAS.

Other bodies predicate their assessment of regularity on the 8th decree of Anderson's Constitution; a Lodge is regular if it works in conformity to the rules of its granted constitutional patent. Grand Lodges certify regularity to their recognized Member Lodges and Grand Lodges with patents.

Europe

Austria