ILLUSTRATED
BY SYMBOLS
From Dormer Masonic Study Circle #157
Of course
the morality of Freemasonry must be illustrated by symbols, for
there is nothing else. Many papers, not just recent ones, have
pointed out that everything we use is a symbol. A symbol is
something we are familiar with, which, in addition to
its conventional meaning, has a specific connotation, beyond
the obvious one. It is not necessary to elaborate on the
distinction and difference between a sign and a symbol. No one
has ever yet "invented" a symbol - a sign yes, but symbol no.
Symbols originate in the subconscious. Every word is a sort of
shorthand to express a concept or define an object. Words mean
more or less the same to each of us, but . . . only more or less.
Even the letters making up the words have a deliberate meaning,
form and a peculiar relationship to each other. Masonic
symbols are generally architectural. They are borrowed from
architecture, which has been defined as living mathematics. They
are applied to the science of soul measurement and
soul development, to self knowledge, that most rewarding of all
human studies. But why should the square teach morality? What was
the process of logic, or was it a revelation, whereby this tool
became associated with this concept? We should not forget that
the square was used thus as a symbol in China over 6000 years
ago. In the definition of 'morality' is there not an element of
both e.g. equality and uprightness? If therefore there is a
degree of arbitrariness in allocating morality to the square, or
the square to morality, how much does this matter? What is
important is that we try to fully understand morality. Could you
define "morality?" And of course, distinguish it from "morality!"
When we can do so, we no longer need any symbol for it at all,
and so could discard the square. Put in another way, how may
a glass of wine be interpreted as a symbol? To one it could
represent drunkenness, to another abstention and teetotalism,
while to a third it would suggest the mellowness of moderation.
So the meaning may very well depend on the environment or
context. It is probably true to say that a symbol can never be
precisely defined or fully explained. Symbols are stimulating
seed thoughts. The cross in Western religion expresses a
multitude of ideas, emotions and aspects, but a cross after a
name on a list can simply mean that the individual is dead or has
not paid his subscription. The graffiti of a twelve year old boy
may have an explicit meaning, not present when an electrician
speaks of male plugs and female sockets, and we should get very
refined ideas from an educated Hindu on this significant and
symbolic subject. The meaning and significance depend on the
context. However, just as in Masonry, the square always teaches
morality, so is it that when we give the masonic fire or
salutation, "Point, left, right," the Point always refers to the
Deity. (It does so in all degrees, not just the Craft, and Royal
Arch.) For in the Deity is the comprehensive con- jointing of all
opposites, represented by "left" and "right." There is a
tradition that when the Creation came into manifestation, the
first thing to appear was a Point, so the point (or Jod) is a
symbol of God Manifest. But a brother was recently heard
to say he was looking for an authoritative interpretation of
symbols. If we might regard Dr. C. G. Jung as something of an
authority on symbols, we may take note of some ideas which are
expressed and fully elaborated in his last work entitled "Man and
his symbols." It is well known that Jung regards dreams as a
means used by the subconscious mind of man to give sensible
instruction to the conscious mind. (Instruction here is used to
include: awaken, warn, arouse, subdue, remind, liberate,
enlighten, provoke, restrain, enliven, direct . . . The
sub- conscious mind just has to get through to the conscious
mind.) Every aspect of a dream is of significance to the dreamer,
who alone can interpret it. He may of course be helped by a so
called psychoanalyst or psychologist, but the dreamer alone can
assess the validity of the interpretation. Jung also holds that
the dream contains its own key to the understanding of the
dream's message. The Talmud says "The dream is its own
interpretation." In other words, no dream symbol can be separated
from the dreamer. Curiously, this finds an exact parallel in
modern scientific research, where it is becoming accepted,
perhaps reluctantly by scientists, that the result of any
research is NOT independent of the researcher. So, with
dreams, the dreamer gets instruction which originates from within
himself. In Freemasonry, a brother gets instruction by a
deliberately constructed system of morality. One may be regarded
as coming from "within," the other from "without," but both are
indeed illustrated by symbols. Allegories are a way of
stringing symbols together into coherence, into some sort of
story. Dreams use the equivalent of mixed metaphors - they do not
make sense - neither do allegories, if examined too literally and
closely. Dreams are vivid and picturesque; so are allegories. It
is the conscious mind, the so-called intellect, which needs
concepts trimmed of their emotional and fantastic content. A
paper such as this has to present ideas in a somewhat cold,
intellectual manner. This may seem to be a rather one-sided
concessions to man's developing need, and it is possibly a result
of the technological revolution over the last few hundred years,
with its emphasis and insistence on intellectual appreciation,
because it has been paralleled by a corresponding decrease in
man's use of his other perceptive faculties. But there are a
surprising number of individuals who never use their minds at all
if they can avoid it, and an equal number who do use it but in an
astonishingly naive way. Many wideawake people live as if they
never use their senses. They do not see the obvious before them,
hear not the sounds around them, and notice not the things they
touch. They are even unaware of their own bodies. Others, being
completely devoid of imagination, live as if the state they had
arrived at today were final, with no possibility of change, as if
both their inner and outer worlds were static and permanently so.
Truly thinking people apply their intellects to trying to
adapt themselves to people and circumstances; and there are
equally intelligent people who make their way by
feeling. Sensation (i.e. sense perception) which may be
equated with the Tyler, tells us something exists, the
impressions having been tationalised by the Inner Guard. Thinking
and feeling, as just described above, the junior Warden, tells us
what it is and whether it is agreeable. Intuition, the Senior
Warden, tells us whence it came and whither it shall go.
Conscience, the Worshipful Master, relates it to all other
things, i.e. to the Unity of all things. (Note the derivation of
the word "conscience.") These functions of our being are
represented by these masonic symbols. So the significance of
a masonic symbol is quite deliberate, but nevertheless is open to
individual interpretation. Doubtless the meanings attaching to
the symbols in the mysteries of ancient Egypt were equally
deliberate. In a way, the meanings remain the same, but the form
the meaning is clothed with, changes. We can quite easily imagine
an Egyptian neophyte asking "Where did this Osiris-Isis myth come
from? Was Osiris a real person?" and hearing an old Egyptian past
master, on being prodded into wakefulness, reply "We always did
it the other way in my day . . . we never asked questions." These
questions need answers. Do we not say "Masonry requires a
perfect freedom of inclination in every candidate?" What a symbol
means is not independent of the individual. Our masonic symbols
are almost too well defined. If they always meant exactly the
same thing, a symbol would become a mere word, and the word a
collection of meaningless letters. Is it not written "The letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life?" So, Brethren, let us
remember that Freemasonry is a means to an end, an end which is
far more important than the means. And likewise with its symbols.
They too are unimportant compared with what the symbol means to
you, for man in his present state can never really understand or
comprehend anything. back to top
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