Anno Lucis is a dating system used in Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 that is similar to, but different from Anno Mundi

Anno Mundi

' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also...

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Description

In their ceremonial or commemorative proceedings, Freemasons add 4,000 years to the current Anno Domini

Anno Domini

and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....

 calendar year and append Anno Lucis (“Year of Light”) to the Gregorian calendar year

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

 (for example, 2010 AD is 6010 AL).

This calendar era

Calendar era

A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...

, which would designate 4,000 BC

BC

BC or B.C. may refer to:* Before Christ, an epoch used in dating years prior to the estimated birth of Jesus-Geography:* Baja California, a state in Mexico* Bell Centre, an arena in Montreal, Quebec, Canada* British Columbia, a province in Canada...

 as ‘year zero

Year zero

"Year zero" does not exist in the widely used Gregorian calendar or in its predecessor, the Julian calendar. Under those systems, the year 1 BC is followed by AD 1...

’, was adopted in the 18th century as a simplification of the Anno Mundi era dating system used in the Hebrew calendar

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...

, and borrowing from other ideas of that time regarding the year of creation

Dating Creation

Cultures throughout history have attempted to date the beginning of the the world in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing scriptures or ancient texts.-Ancient creation dates:...

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