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A Basic Historico-Chronological Model of the
Western
Hermetic Tradition
Masonic Initiation of
Today Viewed as a Process
PART VI
If masonic Initiation is examined, not as a
matter of textual analysis but rather as a lived-through
experience, it becomes clear fairly quickly that it is a
process in which there are some Hermetic features. For the
individual candidate his Initiation is a process that begins even
before he makes his application for admission to membership. The
Master and the rest of the Brethren must be assured that he is
‘properly prepared’. A clue as to the two-fold nature of
this preparation is given in one of the answers which a newly made
freemason is required to give to the Master during a short
interrogation before he can be passed to the Second
Degree:
Where were you first prepared to me made a
mason?
In my heart.
Where next?
In a convenient room
adjoining the Lodge.
His preparation is, therefore
- spiritual and then
- physical.
The physical preparation of a Candidate for
Initiation is made dramatic so that he will always remember it,
but few English-speaking freemasons seem to have given much
thought to the nature of the previous spiritual preparation
which it is assumed the Candidate will have effected in the
secrecy of his own heart. That is not surprising because nowhere
in any English Craft ritual are Brethren told in so many words
what might be the nature of this prior, inner preparation.
Nevertheless, there are six clues about it in the interrogation
which a Candidate is put through by the Master just after he has
managed to cross the threshold.
- He declares himself to be a free
man and to be of the full age of 21 years (these are, of course,
simple matters of fact that are easily verified).
- He professes a belief in God and declares
that he puts his whole trust in Him in ‘all cases of difficulty
and danger’.
- He asserts that he has presented himself
for Initiation of his ‘own free will and accord’.
- He assures those present that he has not
been influenced by ‘any mercenary or other unworthy motive’
(i.e., that he not come expecting to gain some kind of mundane
advantage from membership of the Order).
- He states that his real reasons for
coming forward are that he has
- a sincere desire for knowledge and
- an equally sincere wish to make himself
‘more extensively serviceable’ to others.
- He claims that he has already acquired ‘a
favourable opinion preconceived of the Order’ and believes that
the order will help him to acquire this deeper knowledge and an
ability to render himself ‘more extensively serviceable’ to
other people.
These are the declarations which all
freemasons have to give in open Lodge. If they reflect that
genuine preparation which was wrought in their hearts even before
they came forward to the Master’s pedestal, then they were indeed
‘properly prepared’ to take full advantage of the ceremonials
which were only the beginning of the process of their true
Initiation.
The idea of masonic Initiation being a
process can be illustrated in three ways.
- Consider the fact that the implements
which the newly-made freemason is presented are working
tools. Now forget, for a moment, that each of them can be
interpreted symbolically and ethically. As symbols they all have
meanings that are deeper than those which are communicated in
explicit terms. The crucial fact is that they are instruments of
labour. Hence, they are a collective reminder that
- hard work is the lot of Man on Earth
and
- sustained and patient effort are the
defining characteristics of a true and conscientious craftsman
in the daily use of his working implements, whatever they might
be.
As a freemason, however, the new member
has left the multitude of workers in the ordinary, profane
world. Willingly, he has put his hands to a task that demands
not only sustained effort but efforts that are not usually
demanded of those still left in that profane
realm.
- Next consider the idea of process and
struggle referred to in that injunction to the Candidate to
‘make a daily advancement in masonic knowledge’. Naturally, the
first feeble steps in this are becoming familiar with the
content of the rituals and committing whole passages of it to
memory. This is an ancient method of mental self-improvement
(i.e., a form of mental training used to train orators and
lawyers ) and has been very ably described by Frances Yates in
her books The Art of Memory (1966) and The Theatre of
the World (1969).
- However, mere intellectual assent to the
principles inculcated in the rituals is not enough. To fulfil
the purposes for which a Candidate is initiated, he must
assimilate these instructions and the symbols and allegories
into his daily life. And that is not always easy, of course! It
is sometimes very difficult to act according to masonic
principles in a world in which he may have to deal with other
folk who are not actuated by the same principles. Nevertheless,
he does have a real responsibility to adhere as faithfully as he
can to those principles – no matter that may cost. Fortunately,
not many are called upon to face the supreme test but in their
everyday lives they do come up against many small matters that
test. These are the ‘repeated trials and approbations’ to which
the First Degree ritual refers and they do not always come from
outside. Sometimes, indeed often, the tests originate
internally.
Now this distinction between the objective
world outside of ourselves and the subjective world within
ourselves is crucial in order to deepen an appreciation of what is
meant by ‘masonic Initiation’. The apparently simple act of
leaving the outside world and entering a Lodge room can be
regarded (as can be seen in the French ritual to which I shall
refer below) as a symbolic action that represents
- a withdrawing from the material realm - a
profane world in which we acquire crude, unrefined experience
only via our five physical senses – and
- an entering into a subjective realm, an
inner world, a world of which we have more immediate, direct and
emotional experience.
Actually, in addition to the
non-masonic realm of ordinary daily existence, there are
three such inner, subjective worlds between which there can
be some conflict occasionally.
- A man inhabits the world of his emotions
and instincts wherein he experiences pleasure, and sorrow,
attraction and repulsion. Desire and aversion. This is the realm
of passions, appetites and standards.
- Simultaneously, a man inhabits a world of
reason in which he exercises his intelligence and acquires and
perfects those manifold skills that are essential for him to
master his physical environment.
- At the same time, however, there is a
third realm – a spiritual dimension – beyond the limitations of
the other two in which a man’s soul strives with more or less
success towards eventual union with the Deity.
But there are four realms of a
freemason’s existence through which he must pass:
- the ordinary profane world;
- the world of ethical standards or
morality;
- the intellectual world of arts and
sciences and
- the spiritual dimension in which he
communicates with the Deity.
And all four are alluded to by a curious
symbol that appears on some of the First Degree Tracing boards but
which is only alluded to in a curious piece of dialogue in the
opening moments of the Third Degree. The Master and the two
Wardens engage in a short catechismical exchange with the Master
asking the questions to which he presumably knows the
answers.
Q. Brother Junior Warden, whence come
you?
- From the East, Worshipful Master.
- Wither directing your course, Brother
Senior Warden?
- Towards the west.
- Brother Junior Warden, what inducement
have you to leave the east and go to the west?
- To seek for that which was lost which, by
your instruction and our own endeavours, we
hope to
find.
- Brother Senior Warden, what is that which
was lost?
- The genuine secrets of a Master
Mason….
Q. Brother Senior Warden, where do you
hope to find them.
A. Upon the centre.
Q. Brother Junior Warden, what is a
centre?
A. That point within a circle from which
every part of the circumference is equally distant.
Q. Brother Senior Warden, why upon the
centre?
A. Because that is the point from which
a Master Mason cannot err.
You will see this encapsulated in an
otherwise neglected symbol illustrated as Fig. 1. I propose to deconstruct this image which is
crammed with meaning because most of that meaning is ignored in
English-speaking Lodges today.
The symbol of a plain circle, with a central
dot and two parallel tangents drawn vertically, appeared in the
rituals first the middle of the 18th century when the
Lodges had begun to furnish their own rooms to reflect
developments in the doctrines of the Order much further. By then
the Masters had acquired pedestals (sometimes referred to as the
Altars) on which open copies of the Bible would be placed. On the
front of these pedestals and in full view of the Brethren there
would be large pieces of card fixed. On those cards would be drawn
simple circles of such dimensions that the circumferences could
touch the outer, perpendicular edges of the pedestals, the edges
of the surfaces on which the Bibles rested and the floors which
had been covered with cloths coloured with back and white squares.
In the centre of these circles would be drawn a single dots or
points. At a later stage, there were two parallel lines drawn as
tangents to the circles to represent the two outer edges,
perpendicular edges of the pedestals.
What can be made of this? It is an image
that has provided almost endless fun for those who have become
involved in interpreting masonic symbolism. Here are a few random
examples.
- Bro. Thomas Smith Webb (1771-1810),
writing in his Freemason’s Monitor (1797), claimed
that
the point represents the individual
Brother and the circle the boundary lines of his duty to God and
his fellow creatures.
- Bro. Rev. Dr. George Oliver DD
(1782-1867), writing in his Antiquities of Freemasonry
(1823) was of the opinion that
the circle is a primordial symbol, dating
from the Paradise of Eden, the Point being that emblem of Divine
omnipresence – the centre everywhere and the circumference
nowhere! The perpendicular parallel lines represent the two
trees in the Garden of Eden – the Tree of Life and the Tree of
Knowledge.
- Later that same century, Bro. John
Fellows, in his Mysteries of Freemasonry (1871),
concluded that
the Point in the Circle represents the
Supreme Being: the Circle indicates the annual circuit of the
Sun; and the parallel lines mark out the solstices within which
that circuit is limited. The freemason, by subjecting himself to
‘due bounds’, in imitation of ‘that glorious luminary’, will not
wander from the path of duty.
- Bro. J M S Ward, in his Freemasonry
and the Ancient Gods (1921), thought that the parallel lines
represent the solstices, or day and night, or good and evil, or
male and female etc., etc. He seemed to be introducing some
extremes into his interpretation but he did make the point which
may be significant:
when travelling round the circle, we are
compelled to touch both these poles and thereby gain through
bitter experience that education of the soul is the chief reason
for our birth into this material world.
He went on:
If we were simply being whirled for ever
around the circle of Fate, our outlook would be hopeless but we
are ourselves the compasses and the point which rests on the
centre is that Divine Spirit with in each of us and is,
therefore, that centre from which we cannot
err.
- According to some of the early versions
of William Preston’s Lectures the two lines were taken to
represent the two Saint Johns: that on the left symbolised St
John the Baptist and that on the right symbolised St John the
Evangelist – the two Patrons of the medieval mason craft.
Preston pointed out that, so far as he was concerned:
the two parallels in modern times are
applied to exemplify the two St Johns as Patrons of the Order
whose festivities are celebrated near the solstices of those
times when the Sun, in its zodiacal career, touches these two
parallels.
These two saints protected the medieval
stonemasons’ Craft and half-yearly Festivals were held to
commemorate their Feast Days – 24 June and 27 December
respectively – which were conveniently six months apart. In the
early decades of speculative Freemasonry these festivals were
retained as occasions on which the Masters of the Lodges could
be ‘chaired’. In an era when English speculative Freemasonry was
still Christian in outlook, these figures of the two saints
represented the beginning and the end of the Christian
dispensation as boundaries of freemasons’ experience: the
Baptist was the representative of the start of Christ’s
ministry, while the Evangelist, then believed to have been the
author of the apocalyptic Revelation at the end of the New
Testament, was the representative of the conclusion of Christ’s
work on the final Day of Judgement. Thus the two parallel lines,
as minimalist symbols of the two Saint Johns, were
representative of the entire Christian dispensation from its
beginning in the River Jordan to its conclusion on the glassy
plain before the Great White Throne.
The neatness with which the zodiac,
the sun, the two solstices, the two saints and the half-yearly
‘chairings’ of Masters of Lodges are all made to inter-lock is
typical of the early 18th century
mentality.
- Later, when the ritual became
de-Christianised, this Christian interpretation of the two lines
was replaced by others. For example, in some detailed MS notes
of the Lectures which were being used the
mid-18th century, there are the following
catechismical exchanges mentioning the dedication of King
Solomon’s Temple:
- How is this dedication designated in
Lodges?
- By a point within a circle within two
parallel lines described as tangents to that circle.
- Why?
- As representing the centre of the
Universe, the Divine Architect, Whose goodness we represent by
the sun and for the benefits we derive from that great
luminary.
- What does the circle represent?
- The zodiac is here represented as the
prescribed path of the sun’s system to mark the limited nature
of the most wonderful creatures we behold.
- What do the parallels represent?
- The tropics, to remind us of the Supreme
Being Who has set bounds to all creatures and prescribed
the
limits of planetary
systems.
There was an alternative interpretation of
the two parallel tangents that began to emerge at about the same
time (see Fig. 2). The line on the left was now
taken to represent Moses, the giver of the moral law, or the realm
of morality; that on the right was taken to represent King
Solomon, who was not only the presiding Builder of the Holy Temple
(itself a metaphor for the freemason’s true enterprise) but also a
personification of wisdom. Thus the two simple parallel lines came
to stand for Moses who represented the realm of ethical conduct
and for Solomon who represented the world of intellectual
endeavour. The Bible, touched by the circumference of the circle,
came to represent the third of those inner worlds inhabited by a
freemason referred to above: the realm of the spirit, or man’s
highest spiritual aspirations and communication with the Word of
God. However, the circumference of the circle also touched the
black and white squares of the carpet on the floor of the Lodge
room. These black and white checks have always been taken, ever
since their first appearance in Lodge rooms, to represent the
vagaries of the mundane or profane world with its light and dark,
its joys and sorrows, its good and bad, its disappointments and
triumphs, its certainties and uncertainties.
A favourite interpretation in an important,
pioneering study of masonic symbology from the later part of the
18th century by Bro. William Hutchinson FSA (1732-1814)
is as follows:
As the steps of Man are trod in the
various and uncertain incidents of Life, as our days are
chequered with a strange contrariety of events, as our passage
through this existence (though sometimes attended with
prosperous circumstances) is often beset by a multitude of
evils – hence are our Lodges furnished with mosaic work to
remind us of the precariousness of our mortal state on this
earth – Today our feet may stride in prosperity; tomorrow we
trotter on the uneven paths of weakness, temptation and
adversity. Whilst this emblem is before us, we are instructed
to boast of nothing, to have compassion and to give aid to
those who are in Adversity … Such is this existence that there
is no station in which Pride can be stably founded
…
The circle, a traditional symbol for
eternity, can be interpreted as that track described by freemasons
as they pursue their self-appointed task and pilgrimage while
inhabiting the four realms described. It is bounded, like this
circle, on four sides: on the left by the line that represents the
realm of morality (Moses); on the right by the line that
represents the realm of the intellect or wisdom (Solomon); at the
top by the Bible representing the world of the spirit and at the
bottom by the squared pavement representing the profane,
precarious and ordinary world.
Clearly the point within the centre of the
circle was put there to remind Brethren that a proper, undistorted
circle could be drawn to touch equally each of the symbolic
representations of the four inhabited worlds but only if the
centre was used. Imagine, therefore, that the individual freemason
is a pair of compasses. One of his legs is extended on the point
and the other is used to describe the circumference of the circle
that will just touch each of those four realms in turn. If the
freemason deviates from that point (i.e., if he steps away from
the designated centre) then the circle which he can describe
cannot touch those four realms equally. There will be an
inevitable distortion such that one or more of them will be
favoured to the exclusion or detriment of the others. In other
words, if he does not move away from the central point, the circle
which he can describe will touch them all equally.
The point from which a freemason cannot err
is that in the centre of the circle because the track which he can
describe (by living his life truly and constantly in complete
accordance with the principles he is taught in his Lodge) will
proceed touching all of those four inhabited realms with
equanimity and harmony. If he leaves that point, then his track
through though four realms will become unbalanced, characterised
by excessive attention to one or other of those realms to the
neglect of the others. Thus, this simple symbol serves to remind a
freemason that excessive mundane activity, excessive dedication to
ethical conduct, excessive intellectualism or even excessive
concentration of things of the world of the spirit will distort
his total existence. A freemason’s inhabiting of the four realms
should ideally receive due care and cultivation, keeping each
realm in true perspective and recognising the proper limits and
proportions of each. In this way his life, taken as a whole, will
become balanced and symmetrical. In this way he may become a
Perfect Ashlar, one that is fitted for its proper place in the
spiritual temple.
Frankly, however, not much is made of this
Hermetic image or any of the others which have been mentioned
already in this paper. The general level of Hermetic exploration
on a regular basis in English-speaking Lodges is now minimal.
Their present state of philosophical impoverishment has
accumulated for more than 150 years since the compromise
formulation which defined Freemasonry in minimalist terms at the
union of the two rival Grand Lodges in London in 1813. That Union
created the present UGLE which has formally shunned making any
clear recommendations regarding possible interpretations of
symbols or even propounding any syllabus for systematic study. It
does not even espouse an official ritual and, to this day, there
are several popular rituals in circulation. Their textual
differences are, of course, minimal largely because of the
explicit ‘doctrinal’ injunction that it is not possible for any
one to introduce any major innovation into the body of Freemasonry
without properly seeking and obtaining the express permission from
the UGLE. Much is made of avoiding such innovations, thereby
preserving the so-called ‘Landmarks’ of the Order, but the UGLE
has made no known effort to define what they might be. This is a
policy of avoidance, of what not to do rather than a proactive one
that might engender further spiritual growth among its
adherents.
The UGLE has not propounded any agreed list
of these defining ‘Landmarks’ of the fraternity. A document,
adopted in 1949, printed thereafter as part of the ‘Introductory’
section in each successive edition of the Book of Constitutions
and entitled ‘Aims and Relationships of the Craft’, might be
assumed to set out the fundamental principles but, in summary form
(as below) these are simplistic:
- Belief in ‘the Supreme Being’ is a
sine qua non to membership;
- The Volume of the Sacred Law, whatever
that might be, must be open when a Lodge is open for its
meetings;
- All candidates must take their
Obligations by touching that particular sacred book;
- All freemasons must be peaceful and
law-abiding subjects who obey the laws of whichever country they
happen to reside in but without denying their primal allegiance
which they owe to their own sovereigns;
- All freemasons, as ordinary citizens, are
entitled to hold their own political opinions but, while in
Lodge meetings (i.e., while acting as freemasons) they cannot
discuss political or religious topics;
- Freemasonry is totally impartial as to
relations between governments and parties and towards political
philosophies.
There is nothing much of Hermeticism here.
Indeed, the UGLE expressly refuses to participate in any
conferences that are designed to examine the principles and
symbols of Freemasonry generally while Clause 11 of its declared
‘Aims’ states that ‘There is no secret with regard to any of the
basic principles of Freemasonry’ but the UGLE will ‘in no
circumstances … enter into a[ny] discussion with a view to any new
or varied interpretation of them’ – especially when such
gatherings are organised by, or which include, [irregular]
freemasons who they claim do not adhere to these few basic
principles. American freemasons have not been nearly so reticent
but they have hardly revealed any thinking that might be called
‘Hermetic’. For instance, over 70 years ago Albert G. Mackey (in
his Encylopaedia of Freemasonry, 1925 and in his
Jurisprudence of Freemasonry, 1927) compiled an interesting
analysis of the lists of ‘Landmarks’ that were being propounded by
24 Grand Lodges in the USA and an authoritative commentary on this
compilation was published in The Philalethes Magazine (May,
1946). It is worthwhile quoting this listing in summary form if
only to demonstrate the poverty of thinking.
- Freemasons must believe in the existence
of the Supreme Being, in the certain revelation of His will, the
resurrection of the body and the soul’s immortality.
- They take solemn Obligations and use
traditional means of mutual recognition.
- Symbols – derived from Solomon’s Temple,
the legends of that king and his partners in the temple
building, the observed habits and customs of the construction
workers so employed and from the instruments and materials used
therein - are used ritually to teach moral virtues, goodwill and
the doctrines of natural religion.
- Freemasons must obey the moral laws and
the government of any country in which they reside.
- The Grand Master is the sovereign of the
Order, the Worshipful Master is the presiding officer of the
subordinate Lodges and the Grand Lodge is the only governing
body within its territorial jurisdiction.
- Each Lodge is entitled to be represented
by its three principle officers at meetings of the respective
Grand Lodge.
- Lodges alone have the power to initiate
and are free to administer their own private business.
- All candidates for initiation must be of
majority age, free-born, strong and healthy. They must be voted
for openly and in secret by all of the subscribing members of
the Lodge and only after careful investigation as to their
character and background.
- All freemasons, as freemasons, are equal
and all Lodges and Grand Lodges are equal in status.
- No member of the Order may be installed
as a Master of a Lodge unless he has served at least the office
of a steward of that Lodge, unless he obtains a special (prior)
dispensation from the Grand Master.
- The content of the Obligations, the means
of mutual recognition and the ceremonies used by the Lodges in
the conferment of the Degrees are secret and must be kept as
such by all members.
- No innovation can be made in ‘the body of
Freemasonry’ because the ‘Ancient Landmarks’ are the supreme law
of Freemasonry and they cannot be changed or repealed.
Leaving aside the various criticisms that
might be levelled against these ‘fundamental principles’, it is
clear that even these more elaborate listings do not contain much
that could be called ‘Hermetic’. Indeed, the distinctly
non-Hermetic feature is the explicit refusal to allow any
exploration of the symbolism and legends by subjecting them to
discussive analysis. That is not how the giants of the western
Hermetic tradition behaved in the past!
It was perhaps to remedy this perceived
doctrinal diffidence that various other institutions have emerged
in the English-speaking masonic world. For instance, almost every
Province in England has at least one ‘lecture’ Lodge to which
Brethren may belong. These meet usually only three or four times
each year when a lecture on some aspect of masonic history (or
more rarely symbolism) is delivered by a guest speaker. This is a
typical sharman-disciple relationship with the non-interactive
bestowal of information, some historico-philosophical insight and
interpretations. There are also a few genuine research Lodges.
Full membership to these is limited though their annual
transactions are published widely. Mostly these bodies are
concerned with charting the ‘archaeology’ of Freemasonry. The most
important, and oldest, of these is the famed ‘Quatuor Coronati’
Lodge. It is worthwhile pointing out in the present context, that
one its earliest members was Bro. Dr Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) and
he made several attempts to steer the representatives of the
prevailing ‘authentic’ school of masonic historiography into
considering the possibility of Freemasonry having more occult
origins. That approach was ridiculed then and anyone who has tried
to make similar suggestions since then has received a similar
response generally from the members.
In contrast to this somewhat narrow
orthodoxy the Masonic Study Society was founded in London in 1921
by Alvin L. Coburn, James S. Ward and Walter L. Wilmshurst et
alia. Their aim was to encourage the study of masonic
symbolism, to chart its origins and possible interpretations along
anthropological lines. Avoiding the methodology espoused by the
so-called ‘authentic’ school, this group is still active and
studies Freemasonry in light of cultural phenomena that are
broadly similar, in the past and present. They use approaches that
have been adopted in the fields of comparative religion and
folklore studies. They view Freemasonry as a living organism.
Their published transactions are circulated world-wide and devote
special attention to the symbolic and mystical interpretation of
the various masonic Degrees. The Dormer Study circle, founded also
in London in 1938, has almost exactly similar objectives though it
meets more frequently. Their discussions tend to be rather more
free ranging than those of the MSS. But these efforts (and there
are many others throughout the English-speaking masonic world) to
broaden the methodology of masonic research have never prevailed
widely and the ‘authentic’ school, preoccupied with its self
–appointed mission to chart only the archaeology of Freemasonry,
still dominates scholastic efforts.
Of course, it could be claimed that this
official diffidence in propounding an official line in doctrine or
the interpretation of symbols is deliberate. It was adopted
knowing that the Brethren would be facilitated thereby in
formulating their own interpretations. If they were allowed the
freedom to do that then they could grow more profoundly in
spiritual insight. If that were the reason, then it has failed
because, in the English-speaking masonic world, at the individual
Lodge level, most Brethren have become preoccupied with rank
within an ever-expanding organisational hierarchy, regalia and
other externalities. They pay great attention to the correct,
meticulous performance of the rituals but seldom are they given
opportunities are examine or debate the detail or the underlying
principles. Their so-called Lodges of Instruction have become
Lodges of rehearsal when the ceremonial skills of serving officers
are perfected. It has always been the mark of institutions in
terminal decline that they become obsessed with the minutiae of
organisation, with procedures, status and the things that they
take to represent status. They generate masses of paper in the
mistaken supposition that to document problems is to solve
them.
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