ARVARO COL NOV 25 1839 SCE MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND QUERIES, WITH ANSWERS. "Whatsoever on earth existeth, in a seven it consisteth." WUEFFBAIN. No. 11. TWELVE GRAND POINTS OF MASONRY. I was received into Masonry on the "five points of fellowship," but recently saw a reference to the "twelve grand points of Masonry." What are these? The old English lectures contain the following passage: O. "There are in masonry twelve original points, which form the basis of the system, and comprehend the whole ceremony of initiation. Without the existence of these points, no man ever was, or can be, legally and essentially received into the order. Every person who is made a mason must go through all these twelve forms and ceremonies, not only in the first degree, but in every subsequent one." Important as our ancient brethren deemed the explanation of these points, the Grand Lodge of England thought proper, in 1813, to leave them out of its ritual, and as they were never introduced into this country, a synopsis of them may be given here, taken from A. G. Mackey's "Lexicon of Freemasonry," p. 506. These twelve points of the ceremony of initiation refer to the twelve tribes of Israel in the following manner : I. To Reuben was referred the opening of the lodge, because he was the first-born of his father. 2. To Simeon was referred the preparation of the candidate, because he prepared the instruments of destruction for the slaughter of the Shechemites. 3. To Levi was referred the report, because he gave a signal or report to his brothers when they assailed the men of Shechem. 4. To Judah was referred the entrance of the candidate, because this tribe first entered the promised land. 5. To Zebulun was referred the prayer, because the prayer and |