When I first became a mason back in the late 80’s, the bar at our lodge in Deal would often remain open until very late. Festive Boards for an Installation would regularly see almost a hundred attending. Those heady days; with a pall of smoke hanging above the tables, with tales being by the older brothers about their days in uniform in various parts of the world during WW2 and beyond, endless jokes that brought peals of laughter to the room and the visitor with a collection of small pins for sale; a sprig of acacia, a forget-me-not, a small cane with two balls, or a simple square and compass … all very fond memories.

Move the clock forward by a good few years and, following my proposer’s advice of “visit as much and as often as you can”, I find myself in Buenos Aires and invited to attend a meeting at the Argentinian Grand Lodge.

My wife and I had visited this place a few times before and attended a performance of Carmina Burana earlier this year but now I had the chance to attend a full meeting; an initiation.
The Jorge Canning Lodge, 390 (incidentally, the same number as my MMM and R.A.M. lodges) is not the oldest lodge in town, receiving its patent in June 1943 but it has a very special place on the map of Freemasonry. This lodge, working under the Gran Logia de la Argentina – de Libres y Aceptados Masones, rather than working under the Scottish Rite, as do most of the lodges here, has received special authorisation to work in Emulation.

The lodge is named after a British Prime Minister; George Canning served as Prime Minister in 1827 and had previously held several senior roles, including Foreign Secretary. He was a supporter of Latin American independence, a shrewd strategic attitude to have at the time.

Canning was born in 1770 and at just 23 years of age, entered Parliament as MP for the Isle of Wight. Records show that he was a formidable orator. He became Foreign Secretary in 1807 and used his skills to guide Britain to domination on the seas during the Napoleonic Wars.

His time as Prime Minister was sadly cut short and having taken office in April of 1827, he passed away in the August. His time in office was only 119 days. Until very recently, this was the shortest time in office of any PM.

His name has great significance in Argentina; not just because of his support for the nation but also as a frigate named after him set sail from London to Buenos Aires in March 1812. On board were a number of key military officers who would go on to shape south American politics. Most notable was José de San Martín. During the 50-day crossing, San Martín,  Carlos María de Alvear and other military officers were able to plan their moves to support the new government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

Both San Martín and de Alvear were masons and founders of the Logia Lautaro in Buenos Aires in 1812. The principal aim of this lodge was to establish independence.

There remains a station close to what used to be Avenida Canning* on the subway close to where we live. The station was renamed Malabia-Osvaldo Pugliese in 2009 but the original tile-work remains and each time I travel along this line, I am reminded that this station is “properly tiled”.

Photo: Wikipedia

But, back to the meeting. A massive task of translating the ritual into Spanish, resulting a document of over 350 pages, is used by the brethren for all three degrees.

A fine array of aprons was on show, as visitors from Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay and yours truly from East Kent took their places in one of the smaller temples.

My Spanish is improving and so I was able to follow most of the proceedings and, as the vocabulary was limited to masonic ritual, I was able to follow pretty much everything.

The welcomes were given by the Venerable Maestro Marcos Antonio Colombo, who took time to explain to those visitors who were much more familiar with the “Rito escocés antiguo y aceptado”, which is more common in South America that tonight they would get to see something rather special. The majority of visitors had never seen Emulation and speaking to some of them beforehand, they were very keen indeed to see how different it was to their own Rite.

The opening was word perfect and once the usual business had been dealt with, it was the turn of the candidate. His application form was read out in open lodge, along with all his answers to the questions and, to my surprise, I was offered a ballot ball. It is the practice of the lodge to allow everyone present a vote.

With no adverse votes, the candidate was duly brought into the Lodge and the initiation carried out was one of the best I have seen in all my years on the square. The lodge was called off briefly for a comfort break and having been restored to his personal comforts, the Charge After Initiation was delivered to the new brother in a manner that showed no sign of being a recited stream of words but rather as a kindly but detailed bit of advice.

This is generally where most new brothers are invited to take their place in the Lodge but no, there was more to come. In our ritual book, the Explanation of the First Degree Tracing Board runs to just over 11 pages. In the Spanish version, you get an extra page. This mammoth chunk of ritual was also delivered in a style that was true story-telling and without hesitation.

I should point out that there was only one person with a book in their hands; me. I’d been handed a ritual book by one of the past masters, who thought that I might find it interesting.

A whole ceremony was delivered by a young team of masons in such a way that the DC must have felt great pride.

But … the Brethren of the Jorge Canning Lodge had one more surprise for the candidate and those present; the “Chain of Union” was performed. Now, this immediately reminded me of part of our Rose Croix Ritual and if ever you have the opportunity to witness this moving ceremony, jump at the chance.

For the visitors who had never seen an Emulation initiation, they were captivated and full of praise for the officers who had so efficiently worked during the ceremony.  With all the ritual completed, we sat down to dine just before midnight and it was at this point that my mind went back to the old days at Sondes Road, with late meals, long drinks and chats at the bar. Fortunately for me, the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, 33°, Norberto Rossini, lives just around the corner from us and so, through the not quite deserted streets of Buenos Aires, we drove back home and with a spectacularly full belly and a mind buzzing with what I’d witnessed, I hit the sack just before 02:00hrs.

I have been provided with a digital version of the ritual and am slowly working my way through it. 

The Gran Logia Argentina