The Spiritual Vision of the Seven Liberal Arts
by Thomas D. Worrel
A paper presented to The Philalethes Society
on September 27, 1997 and revised and enlarged, January 2002
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Old Tales
A. De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
B.
The Old Masonic
Manuscripts
C. Dante's Divine Comedy & Convivio
3. Strange and Mixed Companies - The Tall Tales
A. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and his influence
B.
The Knights of
the Temple and their legacy
C. Dante Alighieri and his masterful
vision
4. The Vision of the Temple
A. Mystical Architecture
B. The Art of Memory
5. The Inevitable Conclusions
An Appendix: The Application of Masonic Principles to the Fraternity's
Future
Introduction
Let me begin this talk by first stating that this particular project is
a work in progress. This paper is really the second part of a larger work.
The subject matter is one of such breadth and depth that one can only hope
to accomplish little in a short paper or talk; but, on the other hand, in
my opinion, its Masonic significance is of the highest magnitude and must
be addressed. The first part of this work I presented to the Northern
California Research Lodge in March of this year. It regarded the history
of the Seven Liberal Arts, the various interpretations of the Arts given
by different Masonic authors, the cathedral and school of Chartres in
France where the Seven Arts reached their highest expression and were even
incorporated in the stone iconography of the cathedral. And finally, I
gave an analysis of the symbol of the winding staircase in terms of
symbology and mysticism. These have all been addressed in the earlier
paper, and if interested, you can find it in the latest Northern
California Masonic Review (The Seven Liberal Arts).
The focus of this paper is different; it looks at how the pursuit of
the Seven Liberal Arts eventually develops into a psychological and
spiritual architecture. That is, the ultimate quest of these disciplines
teaches the mason to construct a spiritual edifice that allows the mind to
ascend to the spiritual heights. To begin with I will review some of the
old legends of the Craft that speak of the seven arts. I will also point
out other areas where the Seven Arts were represented in art and
literature. I call this section: the Old Tales. Next, I will digress (some
may say sink) into some fertile grounds of speculation regarding a few of
the personalities and organizations that seemed to all converge at one era
of this history. I call this section: Strange and Mixed Companies - the
Tall Tales. Following that I will get to the heart of this paper - which
concerns a mystical handling of architecture and the use of the art of
memory as a possible path to spiritual insight and illumination. In other
words, a way to deepen our spiritual vision. I call this section: the
Vision of the Temple. And finally, I conclude with some remarks about the
crucial role that the Seven Liberal Arts could and should play in the
destiny of Freemasonry. In that spirit, I have added an appendix with my
opinions of how these principles could unfold a new era for Freemasonry.
It is my contention that the seven liberal arts were included in the
Masonic ritual for a far greater purpose than secular educational reasons.
Being that their original purpose in classical antiquity was
philosophical; their high purpose in the Latin West was as a preliminary
study for theology; and that they have prominent presence on the facade of
the West portal of the Chartres Cathedral where the Seven Arts reached
their highest expression; their incorporation into the poetry of Dante and
into the practices we call the "art of memory", including the use of the
image of King Solomon's temple -it is hard to imagine that their inclusion
into Masonic ritual had any lesser motive.
We know that the formulation of the seven liberal arts began in
antiquity. The quadrivium was taught as early as Plato. Some have
postulated as early as Pythagoras but this is not substantiated. And in
Plato's Republic they are treated as subjects to prepare for the highest
type of knowledge. It was not till later that the subjects crystallized
into the seven as we know them. The curriculum of the seven liberal arts
evolved from earlier Greek and then Roman systems of education. Scholars
consider that the fourth century was when the seven arts became the
standard curriculum of the Pagan schools. It wasn't till later that it was
modified to exhibit Christian ideals as it was accepted into the Latin
West. For this was a century of transition: The so-called Christian
Constantine I became sole emperor in 324. A pagan writer, Martianus
Capella, sometime before 330 wrote his De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii.
And this was a work which preserved the basic structure of the ancient
educational system based on the seven liberal arts. Later in that century
the imperial decree of Theodosius in 392 prohibited all pagan cults. As a
result the sanctuaries were destroyed and the Mysteries began to
disappear. In the beginning the Christian leaders were suspicious of the
pagan centers of learning but gradually, in time, began to incorporate
them. Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410. About 19 years later the Vandals
conquered North Africa. By 450 all the remaining pagan temples were being
destroyed and anyone known as pagan could not hold office. If it wasn't
for a few pagan nobles, what knowledge there was would have been lost. The
first known Christian writer to use the term 'seven liberal arts' was
Cassiodorus who lived from 480-575. This curriculum was adopted and
basically remained fixed all throughout the Middle Ages. Its ultimate
expression taking form at the Cathedral School at Chartres in 12th century
France.
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The Old Tales
As I mentioned earlier, Capella's treatise The Marriage of Philology
and Mercury is the earliest known depiction of the seven liberal arts as a
unified course of study. But besides being a description of the seven arts
there is also a story being told -an allegory. The tale goes like this:
"Mercury, after some successful attempt to secure a suitable wife,
consults Apollo, who advises him to marry Philology, an astonishingly
erudite young lady. The suggestion meets with the approval of both
parties, and Philology after considerable preparation and instruction, is
wafted to the upper heavens, where her marriage is to take place before a
Senate' consisting of gods, demigods, and philosophers. The connection
between the setting and the seven liberal arts becomes clear when an
elderly but attractive lady named Grammar, one of the seven learned
sisters, is introduced to present her discipline first to the assembled
wedding guests. The seven sisters, personifications of the seven
disciplines, have commonly been referred to as bridesmaids. What they
actually were are handmaids presented by Mercury to his bride. The
marriage of Mercury and Philology has been taken, both early and late, to
symbolize the union of eloquence and learning, the arts of the trivium and
the quadrivium." (Stahl, Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts, p.
24)
About a thousand years later, seemingly after the peak of the seven
liberal arts as a unified study we find reference to the seven liberal
arts with Dante. He refers to the seven liberal arts in both his Divine
Comedy started in 1302 and in the Convivio written in 1304. In the Comedy
we encounter the Seven Arts in the Inferno. Explaining this episode one
writer on Dante informs us: "The fire that enveloped the castle of pagan
learning was unique because within, though there had been separation from
God, there had been no opposition. Entering the castle of seven walls by
the gates of the seven liberal arts, Dante found himself among the
representatives of the greatest thought of the past." (Inferno IV, 68-69)
(Flanders, Symbolism in Medieval Thought, p. 172) In the Convivio or
"Banquet", a later work, Dante associates the seven planetary heavens with
the seven liberal arts.
There are a few old Masonic legends beginning about 1350 regarding the
seven arts that, in my opinion, provide hints as to their more spiritual
purpose. We find older but similar legends in the Near East -even back to
Babylonia. One such, a Hebraic version tells us that: "... Eve instructed
Seth and his siblings to record on tablets of stone and baked clay the
word of Archangel Michael when he ordered them from the Garden of Eden.
The tablets would survive whether flood or fire destroyed the world."
(Curl, The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, p. 28) Later, we find the
story a little different: "Zoroaster was said... to have inscribed all
seven liberal arts on fourteen columns (seven on brass and seven on brick)
to preserve them against destruction by a vengeful God. ...Later medieval
versions claim that after the Flood both pillars were found, one by
Pythagoras and one by Hermes Trismegistus ..." (Curl, The Art and
Architecture of Freemasonry, pp. 28 - 29) Although somewhat changed, they
play a significant role in the Old Charges. One of the tales is right out
of the Regius Manuscript (dated about 1390). Following the part on the Ars
Quatuor Coronatorum (The Four Crowned Artisans) and the Tower of Babel
(which was said to be built seven miles high!) is the mention of the Seven
Arts. That part reads like this: "Many years after the good scholar
Euclyde Taught the craft of Geometry wonderfully wide. So he did at that
time introduce Many other divers crafts Through the grace of Christ in
Heaven. He established the Seven Sciences." And a similar legend is found
in the Cooke manuscript (dated around 1410) but it is more elaborate. In
the Dowland MS. (1500) we find basically of the same story: It tells of
how the worthy sciences were preserved through the Deluge. Simply,
Lamech's children (one was Tubal-cain) knew God was going to destroy the
world but did not know in what fashion -fire or water- so they chiseled
their knowledge on two pillars of stone.
Another tale is told in a seventeenth century copy of an earlier work
called a Commentary by Toz Graecus, philosopher of great renown, on the
books given by Solomon to Rehoboam concerning the Secret of Secrets. We
are told that: "The preface reveals that Solomon gathered his vast
learning into a book intended for his son Rehoboam, which he locked up in
an ivory coffer concealed in his tomb. Later Toz (Thoth) discovered it,
and as he was weeping for his incapacity to understand its contents, an
angel of the Lord came to reveal its meaning to him, but enjoined him not
to disclose it to any but those who were worthy of it. We also learn,
thanks to the Liber de secretissimo philosophorum opere chemico (fifteenth
century) that Hermes traveled to the Valley of Hebron, where Adam was
buried, and there found seven tablets of stone written before the Deluge,
containing the doctrine of the Seven Liberal Arts." (Faivre, The Eternal
Hermes, p. 95)
In an article about the Royal Ark Mariner degree, the author R.M.
Handfield-Jones, in speaking about the association of Noah with
Freemasonry makes the following observation:
"In the first known MS Constitution, the Regius Poem, there occurred on
line 537 a passing reference to Noah and the Flood. From then onwards from
the Cooke MS every Masonic Constitution contains allusions to Noah, not
however to the Flood and the Ark but to his finding the two great pillars
inscribed with the seven liberal arts and sciences. The date of the Regius
poem is about 1390 but like the Cooke it bears evidence of being derived
from an earlier document written in 1350. Here therefore as early as the
middle of the 14th century we have the Noah story appearing in association
with Masonry, but the flood and the Ark take a secondary place to the two
pillars found by Noah AFTER the Flood." (Handfield-Jones, The Royal Ark
Mariner Degree, pp. 15-16)
Of course representations of the seven liberal arts were emerging in
many arenas of the Middle Ages. It is believed that the stone carvings on
the Chartres Cathedral were the first such personifications of the seven.
These were done in the twelfth century. In paintings we find many
examples, one is a fourteenth-century fresco of Thomas Aquinas. It
pictures Aquinas in the midst of a very crowded scene with figures
representing saints, the virtues, the patriarchs, and of course the seven
liberal arts. This fresco can be found on the walls of a Dominican convent
in Florence. And we find, as well, many artistic representations in
manuscripts of the era.
When we get up to the institutional beginnings of Freemasonry when
James Anderson published the Constitutions of Freemasons in 1725, he
included these statements: "Adam, our first parent, created after the
Image of God, the great Architect of the Universe, must have had the
Liberal Sciences, particularly Geometry, written on his Heart; for ever
since the Fall, we find the Principles of it in the Heart of his
Offspring..." (Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 213) Jumping ahead
again to early in this century we find in the "Emulation" ritual the
question being asked and answered: "Why do seven or more make a perfect
Lodge? Because King Solomon was seven years and upwards in building,
completing, and dedicating the Temple at Jerusalem to God's service. They
have a further allusion. To the seven liberal arts and sciences, namely,
..." and they are then named individually with a short definition of each
given. And so now, in the modern American version, we find in the
Fellowcraft degree only the mere association of the arts and sciences with
the seven steps of the winding staircase. There is no elaboration nor even
any definition that informs the candidate.
To conclude this section, one can see that just a short look at the old
tales and legends surrounding the seven arts emphasize their importance -
and their importance from antiquity. Although we don't know for sure, it
seems probable that the seven liberal arts had larger parts in the ritual
the earlier we go. If nothing else the candidate was certainly very aware
of the legends and stories surrounding them so that the ritual would
probably have had much more meaning to him than maybe it has to us. Being
steeped in the lore would have triggered deeper responses because the
language of myth and symbol is that of the soul. This is a glaring
reminder of just what we have lost in modern masonry. To strip freemasonry
of its stories and myths will destroy it. The rituals will become
meaningless formalities destined to be changed and shortened for the sake
of convenience.
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Strange and Mixed Companies - the Tall Tales
This section may seem tangential to the main theme of this work but
there is some justification for its inclusion. Here I want to briefly talk
about St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the Knights of the Temple, and Dante
Alighieri. As most of you probably already know, there are more than a few
interesting interconnections between the three. Some are actual and some
are inferred. But by bringing these to light here, I hope to produce a
better "feel" for this time in history as well as show the high esteem the
seven arts were held and how they were represented. It should help us
understand the power and wisdom of what was transmitted to us and clarify
one possible rivulet that at some time at the far end of the level of time
converged with other rivulets and emerged as Freemasonry.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 -1153)
Bernard was born into a family of some nobility in the Burgundy region
of France. His father was a knight as were his brothers. By the time
Bernard had reached his twenty-fifth birthday he had become the abbot of a
Cistercian monastery. The Cistercians, by the way, were known for their
architectural skill. "Gothic appeared everywhere at the same time in the
Christian west; always in the Benedictine or Cistercian abbeys, Cistercian
above all. ... Gothic appeared after the first Crusade and more
particularly after the return in 1128 of the first nine Knights Templar."
(Charpentier, The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral, p. 36.) Also, we find
the statement: "The influence of Cistercian upon the first gothic
architecture is beyond question." (Otto von Simson, The Gothic Cathedral,
p. 56) Bernard went on to become one of the most influential men in
twelfth century Europe. By the time he died he had written at least 3,500
pages of religious work. Although there are many colorful aspects of his
life, there are only a few pertinent here, namely, his special type of
mysticism, his connection with the Chartres Cathedral and his relation
with the Knights Templar. Even after his death his influence was strong;
we find him again portrayed in Dante's Divine Comedy.
Bernards' mystical theology was based on love and knowledge. He taught
that there were four consecutive degrees in the soul's progress in
experiencing God's love. The soul becomes more immersed in Divine Love as
it conforms to Divine Will. The disorder of human life is ultimately due
to the separation and conflict of the human will from the Divine Will.
Changing and redeeming can only come about through love, in Bernard's
view. It is only love that can unite the division of wills. That is why
his mysticism has been labeled "affective mysticism" or "bride mysticism".
The mystical union with God comes about through a union of wills, not
personalities or beingness (There is always a substantive union of the
soul and God). Spirituality becomes almost a courtship between two lovers
and he wrote some 86 sermons on The Song of Songs attributed to King
Solomon. The mysticism of Bernard worked in the world through a balance of
contemplation and action. It was a process of bringing the will closer and
closer to reflect the Divine Will through contemplation and bringing that
Will into the world through action.
Another aspect of Bernard's theology was his dedication to the Holy
Virgin. "He gave impetus to two devotions that flourished in the later
Middle Ages, becoming major forces in subsequent spirituality: devotion to
Mary and to the humanity of Christ." (G.R. Evans, Bernard of Clairvaux:
Selected Works, Preface by E.H. Cousins, p. 5) Titus Burckhardt speaks of
the ambiance of the times: "…various currents flowed together and formed a
new and reawakened cult of the Holy virgin: the longing for the Holy Land,
the true home, the need to turn to the maternal mercy of God, and the
chivalric cult of the celestial Lady as the epitome of nobility of soul,
innocence and beauty. St. Bernard himself, who know how to call forth the
highest spiritual powers of his contemporaries, is said to have been the
first to use the chivalric mode of address notre Dame (Our Lady) for the
Mother of God." (Titus Burckhardt, Chartres and the Birth of the
Cathedral, p. 60.) Bernard had many connections with both the cathedral
and school at Chartres.
There were many points of contact between Bernard and the Knights
Templar. The Council of Troyes (1128) set the regulations (the so-called
Rule) by which the Templars would act. It was Bernard's cousin, Hugh of
Payns, who became the first Grand Master of this Order that had been
established in Jerusalem. And it was Hugh of Payns who requested Bernard
to write his famous treatise In Praise of the New Militia (sometime
between 1128-1136). Bernard was obviously torn in regards to the idea of
monks (holy types) and knights (warrior types) and the problem of uniting
them into one person. This was quite a struggle for Bernard but one he
gradually resolved. Being that their duties lie in the Holy Land, Bernard
wrote a collection of meditations for the Templars that were based upon
the sacred sites of the area (such as the Temple, the cities of Bethlehem
and Nazareth, on Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher) and events that occurred
there. In this way, the knights could lead a contemplative life while "out
in the field". Yet, the main point here is that the Cistercians were the
guiding force of the Templars who later built castles and churches
themselves.
The last thing about Bernard of Clairvaux I wanted to bring to your
attention was his part in the Divine Comedy of Dante. Of course, I am sure
that we have all read this masterpiece of Medieval literature so I do not
have to go into any great detail explaining it! But I will refresh your
memory anyway. The Commedia is a story about Dante's journey through the
three regions of hell, purgatory, and paradise. On this journey he
describes what he experiences and who he meets at every level, and
sometimes sublevels of these three zones. He has three guides through this
process whereas one is his beloved Beatrice, who embodied all that was
good and beautiful, and as his guide, she leads him to higher and higher
realms - almost but just short of the highest sphere of Paradise. It is at
this point that he meets St. Bernard of Clairvaux who then guides his
vision to the Ultimate Sphere.
The Knights Templar (between 1120 & 1128 -1312)
The Knights of the Temple were started by a few knights probably in
1119 about eighteen years after the first crusade. Their first Grand
Master was Hugh of Payns. By 1128 when they were officially established by
the Council of Troyes but consisted of only nine knights. Nevertheless,
they gradually grew in power and prestige to become a major power in
Europe. According to Malcolm Barber: "During the thirteenth century the
Order may have had as many as 7,000 knights, sergeants and serving
brothers, and priests, while its associate members, pensioners, officials,
and subjects numbered many times that figure. By about 1300 it had built a
network of at least 870 castles, preceptories, and subsidiary houses,
examples of which could be found in almost every country in western
Christendom." (Barber, The New Knighthood, p. 1) We also know that there
was cross influence between the Templars with the Islamic communities and
sects known as the Karmates, the Ismailis, the Fatimites, and the
Assassins. Some of these were initiatic societies such as the Ismailites
who conferred ritual degrees to their members.
But for the Templars this all ended with the mass arrests of the
knights in France in October on Friday the 13th, 1307. The 22nd and last
Grand Master Jacques de Molay, after being held and tortured for almost
seven years was executed March 18, 1314. Of course not all of the Templars
could be arrested. This fact might be contrary to what some people have
been led to believe. But even some of those that were arrested were later
released for various reasons. Again Barber explains that even after being
arrested and later released: "Most of those... received pensions and some
even continued to live in former Templar houses; others were sent to the
houses of other orders like those of the Cistercians and Augustinians,
especially in England, ..." (Barber, The New Knighthood, p. 304) And then
some just went back into society. Professor Antoine Faivre of the Sorbonne
tells us that: "...the Knights Templar supported and considerably
developed the freecrafts and, after the disappearance of the order,
entered into the corporations of builders." (Faivre, Modern Esoteric
Spirituality, p. 51) Things were easier in Portugal for the Templars. In
1319, the Militia of Christ was formed and some former Templars were
members. But at this time the religious military orders were going out of
public favor and secular knighthood became increasingly popular. Some of
the more interesting orders to freemasons (because they are mentioned in
our lecture on the apron) included: The Order of the Garter formed in
England in 1348; the Order of the Star in France in 1351, and later the
Order of the Golden Fleece in 1429.
And as Faivre informs us: "The year 1429 was marked by an event having
a major influence on the esoteric thought of modern times; this was the
creation of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Philippe the Good, duke of
Burgundy, ...The Order possessed a beautiful symbolism in dress and
ritual, over which generations of alchemists would ponder, at least up to
the eighteenth century." (Faivre, Modern Esoteric Spirituality, p. 69) The
orders of chivalry were springing up all over Europe, many whose central
theme was much like the theme borrowed from Dante, that of the idealized
woman, who appears as the guide for man on his quest. We find this same
theme in the Troubadours, the lyric poets of the 11th -13th century in
France who sung of chivalry and courtly love.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
So that brings us to Dante. He began the Commedia in 1302, before, of
course, the arrests of the Templars. He began work on the Convivio in
1304. Of these works I have already spoken. What I want to point out is
his incredible detail of mapping the three zones of the universe. Although
there is no doubt that Dante was strictly Christian there is evidence of
other influences as well. Titus Burckhardt points out that:
"The type of epic poem describing the path of the knower of God in
symbolical form, is not rare in the Islamic world. It may be surmised that
certain of these works were translated into the Provencal language, and we
know that the community of the 'Fedeli d'Amore' to which Dante belonged,
was in communication with the Order of the Temple, which was established
in the East and open to the intellectual world of Islam." (Burckhardt, The
Mirror of the Intellect, p. 96)
There are other interesting things about Dante. The following long
quote is out of Rene Guenon's book on Dante:
"In the Vienna Museum there are two medallions, one representing Dante
...on the reverse side both bear the letters F.S.K.I.P.F.T., which Aroux
interprets as: Frater Sacroe Kadosch, Imperialis Principatus, Frater
Templarius. ...we think it should read Fidei Sanctoe Kadosch. The
Association of the Fede Santa, of which Dante seems to have been a leader,
was a tertiary order of Templar filiation, justifying the name Frater
Templarius; its dignitaries bore the title of Kadosch, a Hebrew word
meaning 'holy' or 'consecrated', ...It is not without reason then that
Dante takes St. Bernard, who established the rule of the Order of the
Temple, as his guide for the completion of his own celestial journey."
(Guenon, The Esoterism of Dante, p. 7)
In trying to understand Dante's work, Guenon considers the significance
of the symbolic regions that Dante illustrates in the Divine Comedy. The
hints Guenon says are in the later work, the Convivio or Banquet where
Dante associates the seven liberal arts with the celestial realms. Dante
says: "To see what is meant by this third heaven, I say that by heaven I
mean science, and by heaven, sciences." (Convivio,ll, Ch. XIV) Guenon says
that: "These regions are in reality so many different states; and the
heavens are, literally, spiritual hierarchies: that is to say, degrees of
initiation." (Guenon, The Esoterism of Dante, p. 8)
And he links them all as we can see in the following lengthy quote:
"But what exactly are these 'sciences' understood under the symbolic
designation of the 'heavens', and must we see therein an allusion to the
'seven liberal arts' so often mentioned elsewhere by Dante and his
contemporaries? What leads us to think that this must be the case is that,
...'the Cathars had, as early as the 12th century, some signs of
recognition, passwords, and astrological doctrine (they conducted their
initiations at the vernal equinox). Their scientific system was founded on
the doctrine of correspondences: Grammar corresponded to the Moon,
Dialectic to Mercury, Rhetoric to Venus, Music to Mars, Geometry to
Jupiter, Astronomy to Saturn, and Arithmetic or Illumined Reason to the
Sun.' Accordingly, to the seven planetary spheres -the first seven of
Dante's nine heavens - corresponded the seven liberal arts respectively;
and precisely these same designations are depicted on the seven rungs of
the left upright of the Ladder of the Kadosch (30th degree of Scottish
Masonry)." (Guenon, The Esoterism of Dante, p. 8)
We can conclude this section by pointing out the incredible tapestry
interwoven in this period. We know of the connections between Bernard and
the Cistercians with the Cathedral and School of Chartres (just to name
one actually), and the Templars. We know their architectural influence
upon both. We also know the importance the Seven Liberal Arts were to
architecture and theology. And we know that they were taught extensively
at the school of Chartres; so much so, it is generally accepted that the
Seven Liberal Arts reached their zenith at this place. Later we see Dante
represent them in a celestial and spiritual way. We also see a version of
the Celestial Lady in Dante that we saw earlier with Bernard and as well
in the stonework of Chartres where personifications of the Seven Arts
surround the Virgin. So this inevitably brings us to a more detailed
examination of the deeper meanings that must be within the seven liberal
arts and how these arts inform the spiritual dimension of architecture.
This will bring us to the next section.
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The Vision of the Temple
Mystical Architecture
One way of understanding our work as Freemasons is the idea that we are
building 'that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' We have
our symbolic tools to build and design, our arts and sciences to inform
and guide our work, and the prototype to emulate -King Solomon's Temple.
Down through human history there have been many monuments that have sought
to embody that very spirit in order to be a living icon for the world to
see. The Cathedral of Chartre is considered by many to be just such an
example. Like many gothic cathedrals it was dedicated to the Holy Mother.
And to many, she represented the human soul. Titus Burckhardt explains:
"According to the Medieval theologians the Virgin Mary, by virtue of
the innate perfection of her soul, possessed all the wisdom of which man
is capable. A direct reference to this wisdom is to be found in the
allegories of the seven liberal arts which, just outside an inner circle
of adoring angels, decorate the tympanum of the Door of the Virgin. In the
Medieval context the seven sciences were not exclusively empirical
sciences, as are those we know today. They were the expression of so many
faculties of the soul, faculties demanding harmonious development. This is
why they were also called arts. ... The seven planets, on the other hand,
govern, according to the ancient viewpoint, the world of the soul. And
Mary is the human soul in all its perfection." (Burckhardt, The Mirror of
the Intellect, p. 77)
We can naturally come to the question of how do we express and develop
these faculties and where does it lead us? Burckhardt answers that there
is a "reciprocal relationship between knowledge and will, ... Knowledge of
the eternal truths is potentially present in the human spirit or
intellect, but its unfolding is directly conditioned by the will, ..."
(Burckhardt, The Mirror of the Intellect, p. 89) This same Platonic
sentiment is echoed in our Second Degree with the words: "... a fund of
science and industry is implanted in man ..." So if we assume that
knowledge of the eternal truths is available and within the human soul,
the question then becomes how do we gain access into that interior Temple?
Burckhardt has already answered by saying that the key is the will. To
fully understand the solution it is necessary to understand the medieval
mind. In their world-view everyday life was lived in the presence of the
supernatural.
The overwhelming notion was that you could behold sacred reality with
your senses. Therefore, to approach the Cathedral was to be on the
threshold of the spiritual dimension for it was considered to actually be
a representation of ultimate reality. How was this ability developed? It
was through the seven liberal arts. These seven arts, studied in the
special way they were taught, guided their intellects to approach the
hidden light behind the world. They had to learn how to see it. The
invisible underlying structure of Reality, the Truth could be apprehended,
and this apprehension had as its foundation, the senses. So the temple of
God demanded exact building codes. And the prototype for the House of God
was Solomon's Temple. The key to building the temple was geometry. One
author on the subject of sacred geometry explains that:
"In the same way that the Logos is a mediator between unity and
multiplicity, the temple is a mediator between heaven and earth, the
timeless and the temporal. Therefore, ever since the earliest times,
religious architecture has been rooted in the timeless principles of
"sacred geometry." By basing sacred architecture on the principles of
transcendent form and harmony, temple architects expressed the harmony of
heaven on earth. Not only do ancient temples express this harmony, but,
through the use of gematria, they were designed to attract the spirit to
which they were consecrated." (Fideler, Jesus Christ: Sun of God, p. 216)
Included in the concept of sacred geometry are all the liberal arts. If
nature is the true temple of God's dwelling, then cosmic and natural laws
must be the trestle board. These laws are the laws discovered by the
practice of the seven arts. These include such things as the
interconnection between numbers, ratios and proportions in such areas as
arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. It was thought that the same
laws linked and even bound the microcosm to the macrocosm.
The masters of Chartres (and Dante after them) were inheritors of the
tradition of Augustine, the Platonists and the Pythagoreans. Like these
philosophers of old they considered geometry to have an anagogic function:
"that is, its ability to lead the mind from the world of appearances to
the contemplation of the divine order." Or in other words: "...that number
may guide the intellect from the perception of created things to the
invisible truth in God." And it is believed that it was the combination of
the Platonic cosmology and the spirituality of Clairvaux that produced
gothic art.
Another very pertinent concept we find at Chartres is that God is the
architect of the universe; and, as masons this is particularly close to
our heart. The teachers of the school of Chartres:
"… identify the Platonic world soul with the Holy Ghost in its creative
and ordering effect upon matter; and thy conceive this effect as musical
consonance. The harmony it establishes throughout the cosmos is
represented, however, not only as a musical composition but also as an
artistic one, more specifically, as a work of architecture. ...the
theologians of Chartres, the notion of the cosmos as a work of
architecture and of God as it architect has a special significance, since
they assume a twofold act of creation: the creation of chaotic matter and
the creation of cosmos out of chaos. Since the Greek word kosmos signified
ornament as well as order, it was plausible to view matter as the building
material, the creation proper as the 'adorning' of matter by the artful
imposition of an architectural order. In the Platonic cosmology, moreover,
the masters of Chartres could detect the design and method according to
which the divine architect had built the universe, the cosmic temple,..."
(Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, p. 29.) This dominant view is also thought
to have caused a sociological phenomenon. Here is another fact that should
be of particular interest to freemasons in search of their roots. It is
interesting to realize that clerics were mostly responsible for building,
and the term architectis was not used very often. But: "... the revival of
the term in the mid-thirteenth century coincided exactly with the
sociological change that transformed the humble master mason into the
architect of the thirteenth century, no longer considered a mere craftsman
but the 'scientist' or theoreticus of his art." (Simson, The Gothic
Cathedral, p. 30.)
It was then considered that only he who had mastered the seven liberal
arts was entitled to the designation 'architect'. (Simson, The Gothic
Cathedral, p. 31.)
And: "... it was the School of Chartres that dramatized the image of
the architect ...by depicting God as a master builder, a theoreticus
creating without toil or effort by means of an architectural science that
is essentially mathematical. The Platonists of Chartres, moreover, also
defined the laws according to which the cosmic edifice had been composed.
... And in submitting to geometry the medieval architect felt that he was
imitating the work of his divine master." (Simson, The Gothic Cathedral,
p. 31) We could, as well, characterize it as participating in the divine
work.
Another aspect of the gothic cathedral was its quantum leap in dealing
with the use of light. This development in the history of architecture is
of notable importance. Some have even characterized it as being a
development way ahead of its time. The gothic architecture provided
opportunities for more light:
"In the Cathedral of Chartres the architect has realized the
cosmological order of luminosity and proportion to the exclusion of all
other architectural motifs and with a perfection never achieved before.
Light transfigures and orders the composition in the stained- glass
windows. Numbers, the number of perfect proportion, harmonize all elements
of the building. Light and harmony... are not merely images of heaven,
symbolic or aesthetic attributes. Medieval metaphysics conceived them as
the formative and ordering principles of creation, principles, however,
that only in the heavenly spheres are present with unadulterated clarity.
Light and harmony have precisely this ordering function in the gothic
cathedral." (Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, p. 228)
I think the significance of the above to Freemasonry is self-evident.
In the very least it should speak to what we should be doing as masons. It
may possibly remind us of the high calling that the tradition of
Freemasonry embodies which leads us to the imperative injunction to
maintain its integrity. And this reminder leads us to the next part of
this paper -the art of memory.
The Art of Memory
The practice of the art of memory developed to a very high level in the
Medieval world. This practice was done by memorizing a series of places
such as that found in a building. In these places you place other images
to remind yourself of certain things. We also know that the art of memory
was cultivated at Chartres. (Carruthers, The Book of Memory, p. 87) Its
spiritual employment is illustrated by the reference to the word arca.
Basically the word arca means a wooden chest or box mostly used for
storage. As Mary Carruthers states in her work The Book of Memory :
"But there is another meaning of arca which is associated from earliest
times with the process of Scriptural lectio and study. As arca sapientiae,
one's memory is the ideal product of a medieval education, laid out in
organized loci. One designs and builds one's own memory according to one's
talent, opportunities, and energy. That makes it a construction, an
edificatio. As something to be built, the trained memory is an arca in the
sense understood by the Biblical object called Noah's Ark, the
construction of which occupies some detail in Genesis, and the Ark of the
Covenant, ..." (Carruthers, The Book of Memory, p. 43)
Why we want to practice the art of memory is explained by Avicenna by
pointing out that there is a connection between memory and spiritual
experiences: "The images produced during dreams and trances will disappear
unless they are associated with images that are already in memory storage,
already familiar and accessible to recollection. Thus even direct
inspiration requires the immediate assistance of human memory, though in a
way more mysterious than that of ordinary dreaming or consciously
controlled recollection." (Carruthers, The Book of Memory, p. 59)
In Augustine's Confessions we read that he finds God through the
memory. (Confessions, X, 25-6) Not in any image though. It is the Platonic
conception that knowledge of the divine is a type of recollection
(anamnesis). "In the doctrine of recollection, the soul's education is
described as a process of reawakening by means of contacts with the
sensible world that functioned as mnemonic prods, reminding the soul of
the Platonic Forms. Theurgy should be seen as the development and
translation of this epistemological theory into a ritual praxis where the
prods of sensate experience were carefully controlled in rites designed to
awaken the soul to the Forms." (G. Shaw, Theurgy and the Soul, p. 24.) It
was something we had "lost" thus something to search for within our soul.
There were many systems of training the memory. The development of these
systems gradually became extremely elaborate. One example is the treatise
on memory by Johannes Romberch, a Dominican. He explains one system as
using "...the cosmos as a place system, ...we see the spheres of the
elements, of the planets, of the fixed stars, and above them the celestial
spheres and those of the nine orders of angels ...This type of artificial
memory may be called the Dantesque type, ...because Dante was influenced
by such an interpretation of artificial memory,..." (Yates, The Art of
Memory. pp. 115-116)
Giulio Camillo (1480-1544), who was one of the most famous men of the
sixteenth century, constructed a wooden memory theater. It was very
elaborate and is explained in the following manner:
"The theater rises in seven grades or steps, which are divided by seven
gangway representing the seven planets. ... the solitary spectator' stands
where the stage would be and looks towards the auditorium gazing at the
images on the seven times seven gates on the seven rising grades. ...we
can see that the whole system of the Theatre rests basically upon seven
pillars, the seven pillars of Solomon's House of Wisdom. ...By these
columns, signifying most stable eternity, we are to understand the seven
Sephiroth of the super-celestial world, which are the seven measures of
the fabric of the celestial and inferior worlds, in which are contained
the Ideas of all things both in the celestial and in the inferior worlds.
...As Sephiroth in the supercelestial world they are here equated with the
Platonic ideas. Camillo is basing his memory system on first causes, on
the Sephiroth, on the Ideas; these are to be the 'eternal places' of his
memory." (Yates, The Art of Memory, pp. 136-137)
And his way of using it is illustrated by the following description:
"Thus, following the custom in ancient theatres in which the most
important people sat in the lowest seats, Camillo has placed in his lowest
grade the seven essential measures on which, according to magico-mystical
theory, all thins here below depend, the seven planets. Once these have
been organically grasped, imprinted on memory with their images and
characters, the mind can move from this middle celestial world in either
direction; up into the super- celestial world of the Ideas, the Sephiroth
and the angels, entering Solomon's Temple of Wisdom, ..." (Yates, The Art
of Memory, pp. 138-139)
The result of this practice is nothing short of profound:
"In this atmosphere, the relationship between man, the microcosm, and
the world, the macrocosm, takes on a new significance. The microcosm can
fully understand and fully remember the macrocosm, can hold it within his
divine mens or memory. ...That there is a strong Cabalist influence on the
Theatre is obvious. ...For Camillo, it is the correspondence of the seven
planetary measures of the celestial world with the supercelestial
Sephiroth which gives the Theatre its prolongation up into the
supercelestial world, into the abyss of the divine wisdom and the
mysteries of the Temple of Solomon." (Yates, The Art of Memory, p. 148)
In much of this work the idea is to reproduce the celestial world
within. Giordano Bruno's (1548 -1600) work continues the same theme:
"In relation to the fundamental zodiacal images, the planet images,
moon station images, houses of the horoscope images of Bruno's list of
magic images, move on the wheels of memory, forming and reforming the
patterns of the universe from a celestial level. And the power to do this
depends on the Hermetic philosophy, that man is in his origin divine, and
organically related to the star-governors of the world. In 'your
primordial nature' the archetypal images exist in a confused chaos; the
magic memory draws them out of chaos and restores their order, gives back
to man his divine powers." (Yates, The Art of Memory, p. 217)
This concludes the section on the art of memory. The development of
this art grew to encompass a mental representation of the entire cosmos as
conceived in the medieval world. Its use became as an object of
contemplation through the use of will and imagination. Much of the
structure of the process was inspired by the Hermetic sciences including
Cabala and astrology as well as Pythagorean number mysticism. As the
building of this cosmic temple proceeded, it provided the necessary link
of the mind with the Divine World. Our journey has taught us that it is
the understanding of the Pythagorean/Platonic view of the universe as well
as the knowledge of the Hermetic art that provides us with the key to
uniting the microcosm with the macrocosm, heaven and earth, and
rediscovering that which was lost.
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The Inevitable Conclusions
We now find that we have come full circle and have ended up back to the
two pillars -the opening subject. From these old tales we remember that
one pillar was found by Hermes and the other was found by Pythagoras.
Remember also that within these two pillars the whole wisdom of the world
was said to be inscribed. And this wisdom was divided into basically seven
categories - the Seven Liberal Arts. From these old tales we can receive
some glimmer of the high esteem in which these arts and sciences were
held. They were not only tales told among the public but were woven into
the old masonic legends.
We then considered the role of the Cistercians on gothic architecture
and the building crafts and that one special monk, St. Bernard, having
influence all over Europe, promoted the devotion to the Blessed Virgin,
developed a mysticism based on love and set down the Rule for the Knights
Templar. The Templars increased in power and influence, built castles and
churches all over Europe, had numerous contacts with the religious orders
in the Holy Land, and after their suppression, many went into the building
trades or back to the monastaries. We know that the School of Chartres
studied deeply the Platonic, Neoplatonic, and Pythagorean philosophy and
blended it with Christianity. We know that the Seven Liberal Arts were
developed to their zenith at this time and place. Scholars from all over
Europe went to study there. We looked at how the Cathedral was a symbol of
the Holy Virgin that also represents the human soul in its perfection. And
it was the study of the Seven Liberal Arts that promoted this
accomplishment. We then considered Dante's alleged involvement with the
Fideli d'Amore and his masterpiece of the Commedia which represents the
Idealized Woman and St. Bernard as his guides to the highest spiritual
realms. There is no doubt that we could spin some tall tales with the
implications that are so obvious.
In the final section, the subject shifted to the human endeavor of
building with the express purpose of representing the spiritual dimension.
Understanding the nature of the spiritual dimension demanded extensive
study of the Seven Liberal Arts so that what was built was in harmony with
and embodied the divine. We also discussed how at one point there
developed the idea that only one who had mastered the seven arts could be
designated an architect. From there this paper considered the development
of the art of memory utilizing temple design to enhance its purpose. And,
that some practitioners incorporated cabalistic, hermetic, astrological
and numerology to develop this art into a spiritual practice. It was
considered that developing mental representations to mirror the eternal
and unchanging divine world and processes would bring about spiritual
revelations. In other words, the practices would aid the soul in its
ascent to the divine world. It would, in truth, give one the vision of the
celestial temple.
All this brings me to the inevitable conclusion that the origins of the
fraternity of Freemasonry can be found emerging from this background.
There have been several masonic historians who hold that the fraternity is
merely a romantic continuation of building guilds. And there are some who
go to the other extreme and hold to fabulous speculations that the
fraternity had its origins in secret rites brought back by the Templars
from the Holy Land. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle once we take
into account all the strange and mixed companies that were interacting at
the time. The origins of our fraternity probably can be traced to the
building guilds. But this is no humble beginning as we can see from above
what incredible projects and spiritual ambitions they were pursuing. There
may also be Templar influence as it is a fact that they themselves were
prolific builders and many returned to the building trades after their
suppression. We know that later in European history these great building
projects came to an end. There were many cultural changes that made the
old ways obsolete or impossible. Yet, we may think that there were those
who felt that the tradition should be preserved even though the operative
craft diminished.
Finally, this tradition that Freemasonry perpetuates and is the
foremost custodian of has itself begun to diminish. It is not only the
changes in culture that have caused this as the passage of time itself
will produce an erosion of original intentions. Yet, this erosion is not
inevitable if the fraternity itself will refresh its original purpose. The
key to this refreshment is a revival of the means by which a speculative
mason becomes an architect of the soul. And the means, my brothers, are
the study and practice of the Seven Liberal Arts.
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An Appendix: The Application of Masonic Principles to the Fraternity's
Future
The following remarks are a departure from the historical consideration
of the Seven Liberal Arts and focus upon the application of these same
Arts to our own Fraternity. It is a mistake to say that because Masonry
has done something one way in the past that it should necessarily continue
that practice into the future. It is not necessarily the practice that we
should carry forward but the principles. For example, Freemasonry has
always promoted religious liberty within the brotherhood. But in the
beginning of historical masonry that religious liberty meant that
Christians of any denomination could be masons. It was not till later that
Jewish members were allowed within the Fraternity. The principle of
religious tolerance was expanded. And now in these times we have again
expanded these principles as we recognize brothers of virtually all the
world's faiths. This same principle has enlightened us along racial lines
as well. It is not the past practices of freemasons that should guide us
into the future but the ageless principles of the Fraternity.
Masonry has to have a spiritual vision as we enter the 21st century. We
must decide what we want freemasonry to be in the future. We must build an
ideal form to which masonry can eventually unfold. Without it we are
rudderless, we will continue to splash about until perhaps we go down for
the third and last time. Our traditional vision is embodied but hidden
within the Seven Liberal Arts. The principles of our ageless craft can be
found there as well. These very same principles are to be contemplated and
then applied through our actions. In my opinion, this is the true work of
our Craft. The pursuit of these Arts will lead the Fraternity into once
again becoming the depository of Wisdom -a reputation it would then
deserve and one it had earned.
Before our Fraternity can truly embody the vision that the seven
liberating arts personify; that is, the soul actualizing its inherent
potential, there are some glaring irregularities and deficiencies that
need to be dealt with and overcome. We need to recognize the times in
which we live and how society has changed and will continue to change and
even change drastically in ways probably beyond our present capacity to
imagine. The Seven Liberal Arts have a central role in the method of our
improvement in the Craft of Freemasonry. It seems as if the true and
deeper meaning of the Seven Arts has been long forgotten; even though a
few of the Arts have developed into a serious study as of late (e.g.
sacred geometry and the spiritual dimension of music). But it seems that
most of this work is being done outside the Fraternity - which should be
surprising being that the Seven Liberal Arts are or should be the chief
pursuit of a mason's labor. It is an unfortunate situation that has
developed and maybe there are social and historical reasons why this is
so; but there are also important and even imperative reasons why now is
the time to remedy that situation; the remedy, that is, of reestablishing
the Seven Liberal Arts as the central focus of Masonic endeavor.
As we approach the Twenty-first century Freemasonry has to face many
challenges. Challenges which some have even characterized as crisis. The
precipitous fall in membership clearly being of major concern. Many
theories have come forward to explain these challenges and to provide
remedies to alleviate them. It seems that the most prevalent across this
land is to make it easier on the prospective candidate to become a mason
because we do not have the time anymore for all that "stuff". But there
may be other reasons for this decline and it may not be due to time
constraints. One only needs to consider the major social changes of our
society and compare them with the prevailing views the general public has
of our Fraternity. How are we perceived? Are we perceived as a progressive
positive agent for a better society or as representing another weight of
social stagnation. It is curious that there are some in our Fraternity who
want to "modernize" our Craft by removing any barriers and accomplishments
as requirements for advancement in the quest to make masonry more
palatable to the modern man. But the modern educated man who is at least
somewhat sensitive to social issues sees that our Fraternity has
completely failed to address the gender issue which has been one of our
culture's most pressing social challenges in the last few decades. Being
that our Fraternity was previously a guiding light of society for much
that we hold precious in Western Civilization, is it not odd that society
has now moved into a superior moral position on this issue?
So instead of Freemasonry embodying the ideal of society and being
proactive in issues of social justice, Masonry is now an inferior social
force as we go into the twenty-first century. How are we being perceived?
The issue of feminine masonry is probably just one of the possible reasons
why a modern man may not want to associate himself with a society that
does not permit females entrance.
Another possible reason for failing membership is the issue addressed
here; that of the institution of Freemasonry as a repository of Wisdom.
Are we now perceived as a repository of wisdom as we once were? Just as it
has to be very hard to characterize any institution as representing
wisdom, truth, beauty and justice that won't allow female members
-approximately half the population; it must be very hard to see the
Fraternity as such a repository of wisdom if the very means of achieving
and maintaining that Light has been buried and forgotten.
The means given to us for increasing the light of wisdom are the Seven
Arts which we can only find a passing reference of them in the Second
Degree -a mention merely associating the Seven Arts with the Seven Steps
of the Winding Staircase. As shown by their history and demonstrated by
the role they played in medieval spiritual life, it is almost certain why
they were included in the rites of Freemasonry. They were the central
focus; they were what truly made a man a mason; and, transformed him into
a working builder of the Great Architect, like a priest unto his God.
Another glaring inequity being perpetuated in modern Freemasonry is the
fractionalization of the various Orders. Being that the essence of the
teachings found within the Seven Liberal Arts transcend culture and
religion, as they are the very principles of Freemasonry, and are designed
to lead the mind to the realms of the Spirit thereby universalizing
spiritual endeavor, it is curious that masonry has itself fallen prey to
an odd type of sectarianism. I am speaking of the Orders that demand
allegiance to a particular religion either on the petition for membership
or within the obligation. These practices are divisive. Although this
practice is consistent with masonry's past, it is not compatible with the
future of Freemasonry nor its necessary evolution. There have been and are
now notions to change this abomination. But the proposals thus far, in my
opinion, have been unsatisfactory. There is no place in Masonry to require
someone to be a certain religion; indeed, it is against every principle of
Freemasonry. Therefore, any such requirements in either the petition or
obligation to an Order should be expunged at the earliest possible time.
There is no need to change the Christian or other religious nature of the
rite. Its intrinsic Mystery should remain intact. The point is that no
Rite of Masonry should require a fully qualified mason to denounce his
particular religion in order to participate in and appreciate the
Mysteries of another. In fact, this should be encouraged.
As we are all within the same Fraternity we should participate in and
promote the Mystery traditions of all as well as welcome others into our
own. And that, my brothers, is the true Unity and Light of the Spirit of
Freemasonry shining through the triangular prism of Faith, Hope, and Love
and reflecting the sevenfold spectrum of the Liberating Arts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barber, Malcolm. The New Knighthood
Burckhardt, Titus The Mirror of the Intellect
Chartres and the Birth of the Cathedral
Carruthers, Mary The Book of Memory
Charpentier, Louis The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral
Curl, James Stevens The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry
Denning & Phillips. The Magical Philosophy (3 volumes)
Dunbar, H. Flanders Symbolism in Medieval Thought
Evans, G.R. Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works
Evola, Julian The Mystery of the Grail
Faivre, Antoine, ed. Modern Esoteric Spirituality
The Eternal Hermes
Fideler, David Jesus Christ: Sun of God
Guenon, Rene The Esoterism of Dante
Hutchens, Rex R. A Bridge to Light
Shaw, Gregory Theurgy and the Soul
Simson, Otto von The Gothic Cathedral
Stahl, William & Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts
Johnson, Richard
Yates, Frances The Art of Memory
The Rosicrucian Enlightenment
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