By Aidan Kelly
In writing about the history of the Craft, I have been often perplexed about how to tell a story in which everything is related to everything else, and it all seems to be happening at the same time. Iit took me quite a while to realize that an adequate description of the movement requires a three-dimensional map, much like a tapestry.
The first dimension is chronological, describing how groups evolved and proliferated over time. This dimension includes description of the “Traditions” with which the various groups are associated. Many writers have assumed that the Traditions are the major structural elements of the Craft, and have asserted that Traditions are equivalent to the denominations that demark the various flavors of Christianity (and of several other faith communities). However, as Michael York pointed out in his Emerging Network, this is a false analogy.
What’s been said…