MASONIC EDUCATION COURSE
THE EUROPEAN CONCEPT
by Kent Henderson and Tony Pahl
Kent Henderson,
PGSwdB, is current (1996) Secretary of both Lodge Epicurean No. 906 and Lodge
Amalthea No. 914. A trained educator, he is a Past Master of The Victorian
Lodge of Research No. 218 and co-editor of its annual Transactions. He is
a graduate of the Grand Lodge of South Australia's Masonic Education Course, and
the author of many papers and books on freemasonry including Masonic World Guide
(Lewis Masonic, London, 1984) and The Masonic Grand Masters of Australia (Drakeford,
Melbourne, 1989). He is a member of most other Masonic Degrees and Orders, and a
past master in many. Tony
Pahl, a Vietnam Veteran who served in the Royal Australian Air Force
for 20 years, is a foundation petitioner and Immediate Past Master of Lodge
Epicurean No. 906. He is a Chairman of the Lodge's Education Committee and a key
member of its Promotions & Ceremonial Committee and possesses a wide knowledge
of freemasonry, particularly its ritual and ceremonial aspects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING FREEMASONRY (PART 1)
UNDERSTANDING FREEMASONRY (PART 2)
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FIRST DEGREE
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECOND DEGREE
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE THIRD DEGREE
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INTRODUCTION
After a considerable time in
planning, the Masonic Education Course for "European Concept" lodges was
introduced in 1996. The course is simple in concept and application, yet
comprehensive. Its aim is to provide new brethren with a broad, yet thorough
knowledge of the Craft.
The Course is divided into three
sections, for the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. Each
Section has four parts. For
each section, candidates are presented with the course material. They are asked
to read the reference material provided and answer the comprehension questions
applicable to each. The lodge
holds various seminars for candidates in combination with lodge rehearsals and
selected meetings. Candidates bring their completed assignments, and these are
discussed and "corrected" thereat. Where a candidate cannot make a particular
Seminar, these are passed to his lodge mentor/tutor, or to an appointed member
of the Lodge Education Committee.
Each candidate is additionally
required to learn the answers to the "verbal" questions set for each degree.
The rules for promotion are as follows:
(1) No candidate can receive more than one degree
in a calendar year, except in exceptional circumstances through the agreement of
the Master and the Lodge Education Committee.
(2) No candidate can be approved for promotion to
the next degree until having:
(a) satisfactory completed the
relevant components of the Education Course, and
(b) proven his competency in the answers to the
relevant "verbal" questions to the satisfaction of the Lodge Education
Committee, or a delegated member(s).
(3) A newly-raised Master Mason
cannot receive his Grand Lodge Certificate, nor be invested in any lodge office
other than Steward, until he has satisfactorily completed Section Three of the
Course.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There is NO reason
why this Masonic Education Course cannot be applied in any lodge not structured
on the "European Concept". "European Concept" Lodges do not claim any
copyright for the course, and any craft lodge is most welcome to implement and
use it.
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UNDERSTANDING FREEMASONRY
A peculiar System of Morality
Freemasonry is so frequently quoted as 'a
peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols'
but, let us now examine that statement with a view to finding out just what is
meant by the phrase and how it arose.
'A peculiar system of morality' - well - word
values tend to change over the years and the word 'peculiar' in this sense means
particular or special; the morality in question has its roots in a philosophy
and a code inspired by the bible as a whole.
In mediaeval times skilled craftsmen in various
trades banded together to protect their crafts and permitted only those who had
been trained, taught, proved, and trusted to pursue their skills. It was a means
to outlaw pirates from producing inferior work and thus betray the trust of the
architect, the master, or the commissioner of the work. From such early control
development escalated in the 14th to the 17th centuries and there is ample
evidence in both England and Scotland that such a trade control included
instruction in matters beyond their crafts and skills; traces of that form of
instruction can be found in modern times. As an illustration let us take the
little booklet supplied on admission to the Freedom of the City of London which
is entitled Good Advice to Apprentices; or The Covenants of the City Indenture
(familiarly Explained and Enforced By Scripture.) from a copy dated 1863 the
first two items, from eleven are 'familiarly Explained', are here quoted:
'During which term the said Apprentice his
Master faithfully shall serve' - that is he shall be true and just to his Master
in all his dealings, both in word and deed; he must not only keep his hands from
picking and stealing, and his tongue from lying and slandering; he must also
abstain from doing him any manner of injury, by idleness, negligence, or
carelessness; by deceiving, or defaming, or any kind of evil speaking; but he
must learn and labour to do him a true and real service.
Several biblical quotations are listed in
support of those injunctions including:
Ye must be faithful in all things. (Timothy
iii, 11)
In all your labours let no iniquity be found. (Hosea xii, 8)
and in addition to those there are quotations
from Leviticus xix,11; Ephesians iv,25; Deuteronomy xxv,16; and Proverbs xii,19.
The next example is:
'His secrets keep' - that is he shall conceal
the particular secrets of his art, trade, or science, without divulging or
making any one privy to them to the detriment of his Master, whose interest may
very much depend on a peculiar management and knowledge of his business. To
behave thus is to serve faithfully; and fidelity is the glory and perfection of
a servant, as his want of it is his greatest discredit and reproach.
Only one biblical extract is given in support of
that:
Discover not a secret to another, lest he that
heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away. (Proverbs xxv,
9, 10 )
That booklet perpetuates injunctions similar to
those written into the Old Charges dating from the 14th century. It was from
those manuscripts the Revd. James Anderson compiled the first book of
Constitutions of the Freemasons in 1723. It was officially sanctioned by the
premier Grand Lodge founded in London in 1717, and became the means by which
Speculative Freemasonry was to be governed.
Under the sub-heading 'City Freedom' in the Good
Advice booklet the following appears: Apprentices who have faithfully served
their Masters can obtain the Freedom of the City, which confers many advantages,
for the sum of 5s only.
And that is followed by a Note which states:
Masters should enrol their apprentices at the
Chamberlain's Office within twelve months from the date of their Indentures,
it being for their mutual advantage. ... Persons who give false testimony,
forfeit their freedom. All who come to the Chamberlain's Office to enrol, turn
over, or make free their Apprentices, must bring the copies of their own
freedom with them.
The Entered Apprentice was thus guided,
encouraged, taught the skills of the craft, and if he faithfully served his
Master for the period of indenture, at least seven busy years, he obtained the
Freedom of the City of London and by becoming a Fellow of his craft was then on
his way to becoming a Master if that was his ambition. But, according to a
reference quoted by Douglas Knoop in The Mason Word, his Prestonian Lecture for
1938: 'Actually fewer than 50 per cent of the apprentices bound in London took
up their freedom.'
The earliest record among the surviving Old
Charges is the oft-quoted Regius Poem, or Halliwell MS dated c. 1396. It is
headed in Latin - 'Here begin the constitutions of the art of Geometry according
to Euclid', and among the fifteen Points and the fifteen Articles, is the
following, but quoted in modern English: The third Point must be severely with
the 'prentice know it well,
His master's counsel he keep and close,
and his fellows by his good purpose;
The privities of the chamber tell he to no man,
nor in the lodge whatsoever they do;
Whatsoever thou hearest or seest them do,
tell it to no man wheresoever you go;
The counsel of the hall, and even of the bower,
keep it well to thy great honour,
Lest it would turn thyself to blame,
and bring the craft into great shame.
(From a modern transcript by Roderick H
Baxter, Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 1922.
British Masonic Miscellany Vol 1)
It is worthy of notice here that the Regius Poem
ends with the expression 'So mote it be' and that archaic expression is still
used in Freemasonry. There is no question that Freemasonry was and still is ' a
peculiar system of morality' that has stood the test of time. The essence of the
principles then taught are still to be found in the modern Charge after
Initiation, the first printing of which was by W. Smith in The Pocket Companion
published in 1735 and has remained unchanged in the basic wording.
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Veiled in
Allegory
Let us turn to the expression 'veiled in allegory', and in that connection,
note that the bible is full of accounts of incidents and stories that cannot
possibly stand up to modern analysis and in consequence has provided much that
has to be taken as allegory. Indeed the most effective teaching designed to
capture full interest was given in parable form using an example that was common
knowledge. Perhaps the clearest illustration of this is given in the Gospel
According to St. Mark (chap. iv, 2-9) in the story of the sower who went forth
to sow.
...and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came
and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth:
and immediately it sprang up, because it had not depth of earth: But when the
sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And
some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no
fruit. (but) others fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and
increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some hundred(fold).
Communicating in that manner, in whatever subject but based upon elements
already known and understood by an audience, has its greatest value in that it
can be esoteric and therefore selective, separating those who are 'properly
prepared' to appreciate an inner meaning of an otherwise plebian story, but of
interest to everyone. The story just quoted ends with the comment: 'And he said
unto them, He that hath no ears to hear, let him hear', or in other words - he
who understands, will understand!
Stories from the bible have long been the subject of Mummers Plays, Miracle
Plays, Morality and Passion Plays. They portrayed incidents that people learned
as children and that stayed with them all their lives which were, in those days,
centred almost entirely upon church or cathedral. Dressing up and acting in a
fantasy world was not only an t retained some control over the text which
paraphrased the sacred writings.
Conder also gave lists of various towns and cities to shew the proliferation
and here is a random choice as an example of that:
48 plays listed at York in the year 1430
25 at Chester from 1268 to 1577
42 at Coventry in 1468
30 at Wakefield in 1425
27 at Newcastle from 1285 to 1675.
The period that he took ranged from the 12th to the 17th centuries and in
that time similar evidence was forthcoming from other places in England, from
north to the south and from east to west. Various parts of London where plays
are known to have been presented are also mentioned but, regretfully, no texts
have survived in that connection.
The only subject related to building is the one entitled 'Building of the Ark
and the Flood' at Wakefield but no entry as to who performed it; at Newcastle it
was appropriated by the Shipwrights under the t
itle 'Noah's Flood'; in that city it is even possible that the Master Mariners
may have had something on that theme. The carpenters had the 'Burial of Christ'
and the Masons had 'The Corpus Christi' Plays; but nowhere did the masons have a
play linked with their craft and quite often they joined with another craft for
their project. Nowhere is the building of Solomon's Temple shewn to have been a
subject among the extensive list so one might search in vain for traces of the
Hiramic Legend; the Morality Plays may well have provided a pattern or a form
for it when it did arise for adoption. The earliest record of it is given in the
masonic exposure, Masonry Dissected, written and published by Samuel Prichard in
1730.
There is no mention of the building of King Solomon's temple in the earliest
manuscript, the Regius Poem of c. 1396 and it received only scant mention in the
Cooke MS of c. 1410. Whilst in that one the central character is not named he is
identified there as'... the kings son, of Tyre, as his (Solomon's) master
mason'. Into the next century, the Downland MS c. 1550, the reference is :
The king that men called Iram . . . had a son (named) Aynon, and he was
Master of Geometrie, and was chief Master of all his Masons and was Master of
all his gravings and carvings, and all manner of Masonrye that belonged to the
Temple.
In that case not only is Hiram Abif deemed to be the son of the King of Tyre,
a commonly held interpretation of the name, but we find one of a large variety
of spellings invented or copied phonetically for the master craftsman. But there
is absolutely nothing about the Hiramic legend which surely must be treated as
the most prominent allegory that was still to come into Freemasonry.
In 1723 the Revd. James Anderson compiled and published the first book of
Constitutions of the Freemasons in which he included a so-called history of the
mason craft both operative and speculative which he gathered from the manuscript
of Old Charges where legend, myth, and fairy tale often became confused with
history. Whilst he gave much attention to the biblical account of the master
craftsman being sent by Hiram King of Tyre to Solomon King of Israel, and to
interpretation of the Hebrew construction of the words 'Hiram' and 'Abif' there
was no mention of any drama involving his death which is, of course, legendary
having absolutely no foundation in fact nor biblical history because it is pure
fiction.
In Anderson's 2nd edition, published in 1738 eight years after Prichard's
exposure, Masonry Dissected, the examination of the Hebrew construction is
repeated but the subject taken a step further by the following footnote:
But tho' Hiram Abif had been a Tyrian by Blood, that derogates not from his
vast capacity; for Tyrians now were the best artificers, by the encouragement of
King Hiram: and those Texts testify that God had endued this Hiram Abif with
Wisdom, Understanding, and mechanical Cunning to perform every Thing that
Solomon required, not only in building the Temple with all its costly
Magnificence, but also in founding, fashioning and framing all the holy Utensils
thereof, according to Geometry, and to find out every Device that shall be put
to him! And the Scripture assures us that He fully maintain'd his Character in
far larger Works than those of Aholiab and Bezalleel, for which he will be
honoured in the Lodges til the End of Time.
Anderson's last remark there - 'for which he will be honoured in the Lodges
till the End of time' - is probably an indication of the use of the drama, after
a style of the Miracle Plays, but in this case performed under tyled conditions
as they are still performed in some Jurisdictions. Regarding the completion of
the Temple, Anderson wrote:
It was finish'd in the short space of 7 Years and 6 Months, to the Amazement
of the World when the Cape-stone was celebrated by the Fraternity with great
Joy. But their Joy was soon interrupted by the Sudden Death of their dear Master
Hiram Abbif, whom they decently interred in the Lodge near the Temple, according
to ancient Usage. After Hiram Abbif was being mourn'd for, the Tabernacle of
Moses and its Holy Reliques being lodged in the Temple, Solomon in a General
Assembly dedicated or consecrated it.
In that account the 'sudden death' happened after the completion of the
Temple and not during its construction. In accordance with the edict - '. . . .
he shall build an house unto my name 'King Solomon dedicated the temple to the
Holy Name, or in Hebrew terms Ha Shem. The Holy Name is allusive in that whilst
both Enoch and Noah 'walked with God' (Gen v, 22: vi, 9) there is no mention in
the bible of them being given the Name. Biblical records state that the
Patriarch Abraham, Hagar the mother of Ishmael, and the Patriarch Isaac 'called
upon the name of the LORD' which tends to credit them with knowing it (Gen. Xii,
8: xii, 4: xvi, 13: xxvi, 15) but it would appear that the name granted to them
was of descriptive character only and that is borne out by the statemente of
Moses - ' I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of
God Almighty (in Hebrew - El Shaddai), but my name JEHOVAH (in Hebrew-Jod He Vav
He) was I not known to them' (Exod. Vi, 3). The name JEHOVAH is an Anglicized
manufactured word to accommodate the Hebrew characters - the Tetragrammaton - Ha
Shem - and as they are consonants, the vowels known only to the priesthood and
with such limited use by them, the original pronunciation has been lost.
The possession of the name of a person meant a close affinity or relationship
with that person, but possession of the Holy Name was the highest privilege and,
by masonic fable, was known by the three Grand masters. In order to avoid its
full pronunciation the word was shared between them by syllables and the 'sudden
death' of one of them brought an
end to that practice; there was no question of the appointment of another to
replace him and that gave rise to a substitute - or 'the Masonic Word'. The
attempt to revive or 'raise' Hiram Abbif in order to recover from the dead, as
it were, the secret that he had in life has been submerged in a welter of
interpretations that include the fable of the Noah incident mentioned in some of
the Old Charges, a subject not from biblical history, the raising of the widow's
son by the action of Elijah (1 Kings xvii, 17-23) a similar raising of the son
of the Shunammite woman by Elisha (2 Kings iv, 34-35) and the young man by St.
Paul (Acts xx, 9-12). They are resurrection allegories, effected through divine
influence, but nowadays compared with the 'kiss of life' action.
In a symbolical interpretation 'The Name' of 'the Mason Word' is ever lost
whenever mankind turns away from his faith in the Almighty, in whatever form, or
by whatever Name he is known. Biblical history records the conquering of
Jerusalem, the destruction of Solomon's temple, the Exile of the Jews to
Babylon, and the subsequent return to Jerusalem to re-build the City and a
Second Temple. That sequence provided the 'Recovery' theme - the completion of
the Master Mason's degree, and is a subject dealt with in the Royal Arch.
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Illustrated by
Symbols
'Illustrated by symbols' is the final item for this examination and here we
have to distinguish between a tangible object, or symbol, upon which has been
bestowed a meaning or representation completely different from its form, eg, an
anchor is just an anchor to the seafarer but symbolically it is widely taken to
represent Hope; the other distinction from the tangible is the intangible and
what better example of that is a handshake to represent friendship in greeting;
the whole world seems to know that it is a symbolic means of recognition among
Freemasons!
Symbols may be universal and can transcend all language, classic examples of
which are road and traffic signs, but even such common signs or symbols may
still be endowed by some organised groups of societies where meanings are given
to such mundane objects but known only to themselves. Freemasonry abounds with
such symbols through which abstract ideas may be presented; they provide the
visual aid.
Not all that Albert G. Mackey wrote on Freemasonry is acceptable to modern
masonic students, but that does not mean that all his work is dismissed. Here is
what he had to say on Symbolism in his Encyclopedia, first published in 1873.
In Freemasonry, all the instruction in its mysteries are communicated in the
form of symbols. Founded as a speculative science, on an operative art, it has
taken the working- tools of the profession which it spiritulizes, the terms of
architecture, the Temple of Solomon, and everything that is connected with its
traditional history, and adopting them as symbols, it teaches its great moral
philosophical lessons by this system of symbolism.
Mackey also wrote:
The older the religion, the more the symbolism abounds. Modern religions
may display their dogmas in abstract propositions; ancient religions always
conveyed them in symbols. Thus there is more symbolism in the Egyptian
religion than the Jewish, more in the Jewish than the Christian, more in the
Christian than the Mohammedan, and lastly more in the Roman (Catholic) than
the Protestant . . . Any inquiry into the symbolic character of Freemasonry,
must be preceded by an investigation of the nature of symbolism in general, if
we would properly appreciate its particular use in the organisation of the
Masonic Institution.
It is possible that some people might argue with that, but it does provide
food for thought!
In reply to comments on their Paper - 'Masonic History Old and New' given to
Quatuor Coronati Lodge on 2 October 1942, (AQC Vol. 55, pp.285-323). Douglas
Knoop and G. P. Jones stated:
There is no evidence to suggest that masons themselves (i.e., operative
stonemasons) moralized upon their tools. Though the Regius Poem is full of
moral precepts, and the Cooke MS rather less so, in neither of these early
manuscripts, nor in later versions of the MS Constitutions, those peculiarly
masonic documents written about Masons for masons, is there any sort of
symbolism based upon masons' tools. Had the masons made use of such symbolism
in their teachings, one would have expected some reference to it in surviving
documents.
Another useful statement of theirs was 'The Philosophy and symbolism of
masonry are quite distinct from the history of masonry' and that is a point of
differentiation that is constantly overlooked by some freemasons and masonic
writers.
During the long period of transition from operative to speculative masonry in
the 17th and 18th centuries the scientific, Philosophical, the studious, those
who made up the intelligentsia many of whom indulged in studies of alchemy,
mysticism, and Kabbalistic pursuits , providing what has been termed a fringe of
the craft undoubtedly left their marks in its construction. The mystical
writings of such people had a strong influence and would account for the
adoption of certain symbolism, traces of which, however slim are there to be
found.
Symbols can be classified as a form of pictorial shorthand, examples of which
are to be seen in stained glass windows in churches, some of which are indeed
visual sermons in themselves. Emblazonment in heraldry also provide examples
where a symbol in that context can mean so much in regard to family name, a line
of succession, marriage, property, county, and countless other meanings so
cryptically displayed. Symbols therefore can mean all things to all men but an
inner meaning can be made to apply in the context in which persons have been so
informed.
Tangible forms of freemasonry are usually explained to the membership in
ceremonial or lectures, and in the case of the Lectures which can be so
informative insufficient use is made of them; there is a lack of stress placed
on that area of explanation for much that is contained in the book of Working
according to that used in a member's lodge.
The intangible symbols are much more difficult for brethren to appreciate for
they can often be bent to suit whatever interpretation that may be preferred,
and an inner meaning only applies in circumstances in which one has been so
informed. It may be truly said that we are given all the ingredients but the
mixing is left to ourselves. Let us take the expression 'The Mason Word'
appropriately used by Douglas Knoop as the title for his Prestonian Lecture in
1938, he commented as follows:
The justification for stressing the importance of the Mason Word as a
factor in the development of masonic ceremonies lies in the fact that it
consisted of something substantially more than a mere Word. Thus, the Rev.
Robert Kirk, Minister of Aberfoyle, writing in 1961, says the Mason Word 'is
like Rabbinical Tradition, in a way of comment of Jachin and Boaz, the two
Pillars erected at Solomon's Temple (1 Kings, 21) with an Addition of some
secret Signe delyvered from Hand to Hand, by which they know and become
familiar one with the other.'
The preamble to The Abstract of Laws for the Society of Royal Arch Masons (as
it was called when issued in 1778) was more clear in the point as it included
the following:
. . . We also use certain signs, tokens and words; but it must be observed,
that when we use that expression and say THE WORD. It is not to be understood
as a watch-word only, after the manner of those annexed to the several degrees
of the Craft, but also theologically, as a term, thereby to convey to the mind
some idea of that great BEING who is the sole author of our existence, and to
carry along with the most solemn veneration for his sacred Name and Word, as
well as the most clear and perfect elucidation of his power and attributes
that the human mind is capable of receiving; . . .
The 'Mason Word' is the most intangible symbol of all intangible symbols used
in Freemasonry. Without some acquaintance with the Law of Moses, otherwise
called the Torah, or the Pentateuch, where we became acquainted with the gradual
revelation of His holy will and Word and the development which ensued from that
biblical period, one cannot begin to understand what has now become so obscured.
It was not the intention in this short review to take individual symbols as a
study, nor to develop a treatise based solely upon symbolism, such an exercise
would take several volumes and would raise a proliferation of discussion or
argument, sound or otherwise; each would have an interpretation of a sort, some
that are held to the exclusion of all else. However, it must be stressed that
the bible, the Patron Saints of the Christian church, the observances of Holy
Days, all provided the very foundation for this 'peculiar system of morality'.
The system has gathered accretions from other religions, and various mystics
from different backgrounds to the extent that its simple form has been swamped;
it really has become 'veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols', some of
which have failed to stay the course but nevertheless did leave a mark or trace
e here and there to be re- discovered and perhaps enjoyed by the industrious
student of Free and Accepted masonry in the future.
The state of contention between brethren regarding some matters that are
dealt with in lectures or ceremonial was the subject of an appropriate comment
by the author of Three Distinct Knocks, a masonic ritual exposure published in
1760. Here is what he inserted at the end of the part of the Fellow-Craft
(p.45):
Some Masters of Lodges will argue upon the Reasons about the holy Vessels
in the Temple and the Windows and Doors, the Length, Breadth and height of
every Thing in the Temple, Saying, why was it so and so? One will give one
Reason; and another will give another Reason, and thus they will continue for
Two or Three Hours in this Part and the Master-Part; but this happens but very
seldom, except an Irishman should come, who likes to here himself talk,
asking, why were they round? Why were they square? Why were they hollow? Why
were the Stones costly? Why were they hewn Stones and Sawn Stones, &c. some
give one reason and some another; thus you see that every Man's Reason is not
alike. Therefore, if I give you my Reason, it may not be like another; but any
Man that reads the foregoing and following Work, and consults the 5th, 6th,
7th and 8th Chapters of the first Book of Kings, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of
the second Book of Chronicles may reason as well as the best of them; . . .
If ever there was a common-sense summing up of the situation that surely must
be it; getting back to basics and building from there, staying within the proper
context and treating interpretation for what it is, nevertheless searching among
the symbols and allegories to find the intention of the compilers, will help
anyone to get Freemasonry into perspective.
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UNDERSTANDING FREEMASONRY (PART 2)
In Part 1 of this subject it was stated that
speculative freemasonry emerged as a biblical exercise and when, at the turn of
the 18th century re-arrangement of ritual and procedure was undertaken, obvious
Christian references were either deleted or conveniently screened. The objective
was to create a uniformity that would be acceptable to brethren of other faiths.
The first step was for the "Moderns" to make such changes in their practice that
were at variance with the "Antients" and that was done through the Lodge of
Promulgation from 1809 to 1811. Those efforts were crowned with success when the
union (of the two rival Grand Lodges) was effected in December 1813. Then
followed the Lodge of Reconciliation which officially lasted from 1813 to 1816
but in 1827 a similar body was revived to deal with the Ceremonial for the
Installation of Master in private lodges.
If is not uncommon for some brethren to think
and speak of freemasonry as if it were a specific unified entity, but that was
not the case then and is not so now, other than in the highest principles that
are encouraged by its practice. It is a development from numerous forms, and
variations continue in many jurisdictions. From the varieties of ritual and
procedures that were in existence, the eventual agreed form adopted in England
was still beset with quirks and idiosyncrasies that local custom had no
intention of releasing; but even those practices at times suffered from the
hands of "improvers" which sometimes resulted in items becoming isolated from
the original context creating illogical problems for brethren who were to
follow. In order to analyse modern items and to find basic reasons for their
adoption it is necessary to look into the background, to return to whatever
evidence may be found in manuscript material or the later published masonic
exposures.
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Just, Perfect and Regular
As an illustration of how easily something may
change and its importance lost through carelessness, let us take the reply that
is no uncommon when a Candidate is being questioned prior to being Passed to the
Fellowcraft Degree:
Q. Where were you made a Mason?
A. In the body of a Lodge, just perfect and regular.
In that answer the essential comma between
"just" and "perfect" is omitted and the masonic sense of the reply completely
lost, not only for the Candidate but seemingly for his sponsors.
In the majority of early Catechisms, dating from
the Edinburgh Register House MS in 1696, to the published ritual exposure
Masonry Dissected in 1730, there is only slight variation in the description; it
is either "a true and perfect lodge" or a "just and perfect lodge"; there is no
mention of "regular". But by the time we get to William Preston's First lecture
of Freemasonry published in 1775, but probably compiled earlier and rehearsed in
his Grand Chapter of Harodim from 1772 onwards, we find those adjectives
described in Section 1, Clause iii:
Where were you made a Mason?
In the body of a lodge, just, perfect, and regular.
What is a lodge of Masons?
Any number of Masons assembled for the purpose of explaining Masonry.
What makes a lodge just?
The Sacred Law unfolded. Because it is understood to contain the dictates of an
unerring Being; it must therefore be considered the standard of truth and
justice.
What makes it perfect?
The number seven (it then goes on to explain the liberal arts and
sciences)...."three form a lodge, five hold a lodge, and seven of more make it
perfect".
What makes a lodge regular?
The Charter, Warrant and Constitution.
It is worthy of mention here that Lodge Nos 2,
4, and 12 in the English Constitution do not have warrants, all being recorded
as "Time Immemorial".
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Irregular Steps
With regard to the word "regular" - but this time applied to steps, the
question is sometimes raised "Why does the Candidate have to take three awkward
steps of different lengths when being guided from West to East on his first
advance? But that was not always so. The earliest real evidence in that respect
is to be found in an anonymous catechism published in A Mason's Confession, that
has an attributed date of 1727, and states:
.....three chalk-lines being drawn on the floor, about an equal distance,
as at A, B, C,....says the Master, "Come forward"...so coming over the first
line with one foot, while he sets the other square off at A;...Coming over the
second line with one foot, while he sets the other square off at B;....Coming
over the third line with one foot, while he sets the other square off at C;
...so he comes over the three lines setting his feet thrice in the form of a
square.
The diagram in that book shows the steps were equal in length.
In later publications floor-drawings had much more detail and showed that the
first step was designed for the Entered Apprentice Candidate where he knelt on
the appropriate knee and took his Obligation. The second was for the Fellowcraft
ceremony and the third step for the Master Mason, with instructions regarding
kneeling and Obligations.
Three District Knocks, published in 1760 describes what is understood to have
been Antients ceremonial. After having been presented to the Junior and Senior
Wardens and the Master, the Candidate is sent back to the West "to receive
instructions" which are described as follows:
Q. What were the instructions that were given?
A. The Senior Warden taught me to take one Step upon the first Step of a right
Angle oblong Square, with my left knee bare bent, my Body upright, my right
Foot forming a Square, my naked Right hand upon the Holy Bible, with the
Square and Compasses thereon, my Left hand supporting the same; where I took
that solemn Obligation or Oath of a Mason.
In Pritchard's Masonry Dissected, published in 1730, we have:
Q. What did the Senior Warden do with you?
A. He presented me, and shew'd me how to walk (by three steps) to the Master.
That appeared before the Antients Grand Lodge was formed. We have no evidence
that the three steps were irregular of different length, but the whole subject
rests upon the word "regular" which is highlighted when the Candidate is
conducted to the right of the Master after taking his Obligation. It is there he
is shown how to take his "first regular step in freemasonry". Under close
supervision from the Junior Deacon on his approach from the West to East he was
prevented from inadvertently taking the regular step which is the one he will
use for the rest of his masonic career.
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The Three Great
Lights
When the three great though emblematical lights if freemasonry, have been
explained to the Candidate his attention is then drawn to the three lesser
lights situated in the East, South and West. That distinction in lights was no
always so and it is of interest to read what was published in the Dialogue
between Simon, a Town Mason, & Philip, a Travelling Mason; although having an
attributed date of c. 1740 it may well have been derived from an earlier source.
At that juncture it has this catechism:
Q. What did you see before you were made a Mason?
A. Nothing I understood.
Q. What did you see afterwards?
A. Three grand Lights.
Q. What do you call them?
A. The Sun, the Moon, and the Master.
Q. How do they Rule and Govern?
A. The Sun the Day, the Moon the Night, the Master the Lodge.
Q. Where stood the Master?
A. In the East.
Q. Why in the East?
A. To await the rising of the Sun to set the Men to their Work.
Q. Where stood the Wardens?
A. In the West?
Q. Why in the West?
A. To wait the Setting of the Sun, and to discharge the Men from their Labour.
In that snippet there is quite an element of the operative stonemason
builder's dawn to dusk working day. The reference to the Sun and Moon may well
have been inspired by the description in the Book of Genesis (chap. i, 16):
And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night; he made stars also.
Later in that catechism in the Dialogue there is a return to the subject:
Q. You said you see three great Lights, did you see no other light?
A. Yes, one far surpassing Sun or Moon.
Q. What was that?
A. The Light of the Gospel.
In a period when Christian influence was abundant, that reference may well
have meant The Gospel According to St. John. Many early manuscripts and
publications have the following, or similar:
Q. From whence come you?
A. From the Holy Lodge of St. John.
As the Patronal Festivals of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
were strictly observed in freemasonry.
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Ornaments,
Furniture and Jewels
It is quite a common custom for a brother, on completing the ceremony of the
Third Degree, to receive a copy of the Working that is used in his lodge, but
far too few have their attention drawn to the existence of the Lectures of the
Three Degrees; it is a publication that would lead to a better understanding of
what is contained in the Craft ritual. The Fifth Section of the First Lecture in
that book has:
Q. Of what is the interior of a Freemason's Lodge composed?
A. Ornaments, Furniture and Jewels.
Q. Name the ornaments.
A. The Mosaic Pavement, the Blazing Star, and the Indented or Tessellated
Border.
Q. Their situation?
A. The Mosaic Pavement is the beautiful flooring of the Lodge, the Blazing Star
the glory in the centre; and the Indented or Tessellated Border the skirtwork
around the same.
This is what Samuel Pritchard published:
Q. Have you any furniture in your Lodge?
A. Yes.
Q. What is it?
A. Mosaic Pavement, Blazing Star, and Indented Tarsel.
Q. What are they?
A. Mosaic Pavement, the Ground Floor of the Lodge, Blazing Star the Centre, and
Indented Tarsel the Border around it.
In a Paper given to Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 1916 (AQC Vol 29, p307) on
Tracing Boards, Bro. Dring wrote to Professor W. A. Craigie, Editor of the
Oxford English Dictionary, and published his reply which confirmed that the word
Tarsel was actually a 15-16th century variant of Tassel.
Owing to the licence in spelling in the early masonic period, and the
careless misuse of wording it is not difficult to see how "tessellated" became
"tassellated"; yet the two are far apart, with the former, composed of
tesserae "or regularly chequered" and the latter "adorned with tassels".
Masonry Dissected was the basis from which translations into French were
mounted, and bearing in mind the natural aptitude those brethren have for
embellishment, masonic ritual exposures which were published in France, or
influenced by them from the mid-18th century onwards, carried descriptions or
illustrations of floor-drawing which were the result of faulty interpretations.
Classic examples come from La Reception Mysterieuse 1738, in which the
relative portion has:
The pavement of the Room is decorated with Mosaic work, the comet is in the
centre, & the Room is carpeted all round with a brocade of gold.
Pritchard's "Blazing Star" became "the comet" and his "Border round about it"
became a "brocade of gold". In the masonic ritual exposure Le Secret des Franc
Macons, 1742, all three items were changed. Pritchard's "Mosaic Pavement" became
"Mosaic Palace". "Blazing Star" became "Star-spangled canopy". "Indented Tarsel"
became "Houpe dentellee".
The late Bro. Harry Carr, in Early French Exposures (p73) interprets "Houpe"
as "tuft or Tassel" and "dentellee" as "toothed or indented". It is entirely due
to faulty translations from English to French, and later from the reverse
process that we see tassels on the four corners of some checkered carpets. The
English ritual exposure Jachin and Boaz published in 1762 was a re-translation
from French to English. In the portion after the Candidate has sealed his
Obligation and been entrusted it has:
He is also learnt the Step, or how to advance to the Master upon the
Drawing on the Floor, which in some lodges resembles the grand Building,
termed a Mosaic Palace, and is described with the utmost exactness. They also
draw other figures, one of which is called the Laced Tuft, and the Throne
beset with stars...
Later in that catechism is the following:
Q. Had you any covering to your Lodge?
A. Yes, a cloudy canopy, or divers Colours, or the Clouds.
That item gave full influence for those brethren who decided to have ceilings
of lodge rooms decorated with sky, clouds, stars and the sun and moon, to which
the signs of the Zodiac were sometimes added as a border. Some attractive
examples of that artistry are still seen in various Masonic Halls.
In an inventory, taken in 1771 by members of the Lodge of Refief (No. 42)
which meets at Bury, Lancashsire, we find:
1 Carpet. 4 Brass letter, E. W. N. S. A Brass Sun, Moon and a letter G,
etc. A Painted Square Pavement, and indented Tarsel. There is an example of
the importance given to the indented border in the Minutes of Royal Sussex
Lodge which met at Worthing in February 1823:
Order'd that Bro. Palmer be desired to add to the form of the Lodge an
Indented Border forthwith.
In that sense, "the Lodge" meant the floor-drawing which in that period was
either painted on oilcloth, or an early Tracing Board. But, probably it was an
oilcloth because two years later in the records of the same lodge is "the
present of a Tracing Board" which was obtainable from masonic equipment
suppliers and was then becoming a standard feature. In two manuals, published in
the U. S. A., The True Masonic Chart by Jeremy Cross (1824) and Illustrations of
Masonry by Capt. William Morgan (1827), there are specific connecting of the
Blazing Star with Christianity:
The ornaments of a Lodge are the Mosaic Pavement, the indented Tessel and the
Blazing Star. The Mosaic Pavement is a representation of the ground floor of
King Solomon's temple; the indented tessel that beautiful tesselated border, or
skirting, which surrounds it; and the blazing star in the centre is
commemorative of the Star which appeared to guide the wise men of the East to
the place of our savior's nativity. The Mosaic pavement is emblematical of human
life, chequered with good and evil; the beautiful border which surrounds it,
those manifold blessings and comforts which surround us, and which we hope to
enjoy by a faithful reliance on Divine Providence which is hieroglyphically
represented by the Blazing Star in the centre.
Later in that section there is an explanation of the four Cardinal Virtues,
Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice, but no connection made between
those and the tassels at the four corners of the indented border which is so
often seen.
The earliest evidence available that shows the Houpe Dentellee or Tasselled
Cord, but not as a border, is to be found in Catechisme des Franc-Macons
published in 1744. It is depicted as an ornament at the head of the "Plan of the
Apprentice Fellow's Lodge" as that illustration is called. Again we are indebted
to Harry Carr who ably researched these masonic exposures and published a
collection of them, translated into English with a commentary on each, under the
title Early French Exposures 1737-1751 (Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 1971). He drew
attention (pp. 320-1) to this item which was described as the "Cordon de Veuve"
or the "Widow's Cord" explaining that it was an addition to the coat of arms on
the occasion of the death of an armigerous husband and in heraldry was known by
that expression. Ingenuity played its part in bringing that item to a lodge
floor- drawing, or Tracing Board, presumably on the grounds that all brethren in
freemasonry are brothers of Hiram Abif who was a widow's son. Examples are still
to be seen where crudely drawn tasselled cords surround drawings on lodge
boards, and even on some Royal Arch banners.
Various designers in the late 1790's and early 1800's included tassels at the
corners of a patterned border which surrounded the chequered pavement or carpet,
as well as on Tracing Boards of that period. An early example is to be seen in
John Cole's Illustrations of Masonry published in 1801. An interesting Tracing
Board was lodged in the Provincial Grand Mater's room at Barnstaple, Devon. It
has initial letters at the four corners, not tassels, P for Prudence, T for
Temperance, F for Fortitude, but unfortunately the J for Juctice has hardly
survived the test of time. That Tracing Board was originally with other lodge
furniture in the Royal Cumberland Lodge at Bath, in Somerset,, and dates back to
the late 18th century. It was sold in 1843 and how it came to Barnstaple was the
subject of a Paper by Bro. Bruce Oliver printed in the Transactions of Quatuor
Coronati Lodge (AQC Vol 55, pp. 109-133).
At the end of the Sixth Section of the Craft Lectures there is a Charge which
includes the Cardinal Virtues:
May Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth, in conjunction with Temperance,
Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice, distinguish Free and Accepted Masons till
time shall be no more.
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Furniture of the
Lodge
The Craft Lectures assert that the furniture of
the lodge consists of "the Volume of the Sacred Law, the Compasses and the
Square" as describes them as:
....the Scared Writings are to rule and govern
our faith, on them we Obligate our Candidates for Freemasonry. So are the
Compasses and Square, when united, to regulate our lives and actions.... The
Sacred Volume is derived from God to main in general; the Compasses belong to
the Grand Master in particular; and the Square to the whole Craft.
Q. Why the Sacred Volume from God to man in
general?
A. Because the Almighty has been pleased to reveal more of his Divine Will in
that Holy Book than he has by any other means.
Whilst "the Volume of the Sacred Law" now
officially describes whatever is binding on the conscience of the Candidate,
according to his faith, in the early period of organised Freemasonry it was
unquestionably the Bible. Evidence is to hand that from 1396 onwards it was
markedly Trinitarian as will be seen from the following examples, the first from
Grand Lodge MS No 1 dated 1583, (phrased in modern language):
The might of the father in Heaven and the
wisdom of the glorious Son through the grace and goodness of the Holy Ghost,
that being three persons and one God, be with us at our beginning, and give us
grace so as to govern us here in living that we may come to his bliss that
never shall have ending. AMEN.
The conclusion to that Roll has:
These Charges that we have now rehearsed unto
you and all others that belong to Masons ye shall keep, so help you God and
your hallydome, and by this book in your hands unto your power. Amen so mote
it be.
The second example is from the William Watson MS
and is dated 1687 one hundred years later. Experts have classified this as
"being at least second only in importance to the celebrated Cooke MS of early
fifteenth century (Old Charges of British Freemasons W. J. Hughan, London 1895)
it ends with:
These charges that we declared and recorded
unto you ye shall well and truly keep to your power, so help you God and
Holidome and by ye contents of this book.
Those examples place beyond doubt that "this
book" implied the Bible; the use of the archaic word "halidom", however spelt,
intended the obligation to be deemed a holy undertaking. But, yet another
manuscript is worth quoting in this context as it supplies further detail and,
as it is dated c1700, brings us near to the Premier Grand Lodge of 1717:
First you are to put the person who is to get
the word, upon his knees; and after a great many ceremonies, to frighten him,
you make him take up the Bible; and, laying his right hand upon it, you are to
conjure him to Secrecy, by threatening, that, if he shall break his Oath; the
Sun in the firmanent & all the Company there present, will be witness against
him, which will be the occasion of his damnation. (Chetwode Crawley MS)
By the time we reach the Revd James Anderson's Constitutions of the
Freemasons, published and officially adopted in 1723, when Freemasonry had
opened its doors to men of other religions providing that such faith
acknowledged a Supreme Being, we find under the section relating to Behaviour,
sub-section 2:
....Therefore no private pique or quarrels must be brought within the Door
or the Lodge, far less any quarrels about Religion, or Nations, or State
policy, we being only, as Masons, of the Catholic Religion above mention'd; we
being also of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds, and Languages, and are resolved
against all Politics, as what never yet conduc'd to the Welfare of the Lodge,
nor ever will. This charge has always been strictly enjoin'd and observ'd; but
especially since the Reformation in Britain, or the Dissent Secession of these
Nations from the Communion of Rome. (1st Edn. 1723, p54).
But in the 2nd Edition, published in 1738 (p144), under the sub-title
"Concerning God and Religion" we read:
...In Antient Times the Christian Masons were charged to comply with
Christian Usages of each Country where they travell'd or work'd; But Masonry
being found in all Nations even of divers Religions, they are now only charged
to adhere to that Religion in which all men agree (leaving each Brother to his
own particular Opinions) that is, to be Good Men and True, or Men of Honour
and Honesty, by whatever Names, Religions or Persuasions they may be
distinguished;... thus Masonry is the Center of Union and the happy means of
conciliating Persons that otherwise must have remain'd at a perpetual
distance.
The position today is made abundantly clear and guidance is contained in the
published Basic Principles of Grand Lodge Recognition in 1929:
That all initiates shall take their obligation on or in full view of the
open Volume of the Sacred Law, by which is meant the revelation from above
which is binding on the conscience of the particular individual who is being
initiated.
Further clarification to that was agreed between the Grand Lodges of England,
Ireland, and Scotland, in August 1938. It was subsequently published by each
Grand Lodge as Aims and Relationships of the Craft and contained the following:
3. The first condition of admission into, and membership of, the Order is a
belief in the Supreme Being. This is essential and admits of no compromise.
4. The Bible, referred to by Freemasons as the Volume of the Sacred Law, is
always open in the Lodges. Every Candidate is required to take his Obligation
on that book or on the Volume which is held by his particular creed to impart
sanctity to an oath or promise taken upon it.
From the established practice in the English Constitution the Square and
Compasses rest upon the Bible at every meeting, but in a multi-faith membership
relative Holy Writings will rest alongside each other, eg, the Bible as whole
for Christians, The Torah, or Old Testament for Jews, Koran for Muslims,
Bhagvada Gita for Hindus, Zend Avesta for Parsees, and so on. Under the Grand
Lodge of Israel three volumes are laid alongside each other on the Pedestal thus
catering for the three religions prominent in that country. The Square and
Compasses are placed upon that which is to be used for an Obligation. The Grand
Master is from each religion in rotation.
It is the custom in many lodges for the Bible to be open at a particular
section, according to the ceremony to be performed, and a relative extract read
out to enlighten the brethren. Such a commendable practice can only add to the
solemnity of the occasion.
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A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FIRST DEGREE
In our Journey through the First Degree we meet
a series of challenges. No doubt we all remember that first challenge: "Do you
feel anything?" That first incident was designed to intimate to us that we were
about to engage in something serious and solemn. We were no sooner inside the
Lodge than we were faced with the second challenge: "Are you free?" Then, when
we vowed that we were unfettered, body, mind and soul, the blessings of the
Almighty was invoked on the proceedings. Then, without a pause, came the third
and most important challenge of all: "In all cases of difficulty and danger, in
whom do you put your trust?" There is, of course, only one answer, but that
answer is the confession of a simple faith - the simple faith of Masonry. We do
not enquire a candidate's religion, but we do insist on a belief in a Supreme
Being - faith in the Great Architect of the Universe is the rock foundation on
which the whole Masonic edifice is built.
Of the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope
and Charity, the last is, of course, the greatest - "chief among the blessed
three", as we sing in our ode - but Faith is necessarily the first, the starting
point in any approach to God. And so we find right at the beginning of our
Masonic career a profound emphasis on a simple faith. But let us continue our
journey.
We enter the Lodge room from the West,
symbolizing the gateway of life, not birth, but the beginning of life. Being the
gateway to life, it will also eventually be the gateway from life, but that
comes much later in our story. We travel down the North side, the place of
darkness, symbolizing the development of life - the time spent by the embryo in
the mother's womb, or the seed in the darkness of the earth. Then we arrive in
the East, where we receive the light, symbolizing birth.
In his circumambulation of the Lodge our
candidate follows the path of the sun, which, of course, rises in the East,
reaches its zenith in the South - at least it does in the Northern Hemisphere,
where our ceremonies originate - then sets in the West, and returns to the East
through the hours of darkness.
Our candidate knocks, three times at the Junior
Wardens pedestal and three times at that of the Senior warden. These three
knocks have a profound significance; they betoken the three degrees, which in
turn represent man's approach to God in each of the three phases of nature: a
physical approach, a mental or intellectual approach, and a spiritual approach.
The candidate, of course, knows nothing of this at this stage, but the pattern
of our three degrees is based on this fundamental principle.
We advance to the East by three irregular steps,
symbolizing stepping into the unknown. The first is a timid step, full of
caution; the second a little bolder, indicating rising confidence, and the third
quite bold, because fear has now been dispelled. The first part of the sign of
an Entered Apprentice has the same significance - reaching into the unknown.
The predominating number of this degree is
three, just as five and seven are the numbers of the other two degrees, and so,
as the candidate kneels he forms three squares: the first with his leg, the
second with his foot, and the third with his arm. His hand in this position is
an emblem of concealment - he takes a vow of concealment - and it is worthy to
notice that the words used, "hele and conceal", have the same meaning: "hele:
being derived from the Anglo-Saxon, the language in use before William the
Conquerer arrived from Normandy, and "conceal" being derived from the Norman
French that he brought with him, thus establishing a second language in England.
Freemasonry here used a word fro each language to make sure that it was not
misunderstood. This might throw a little light on the age of our ritual.
Both these words mean to "cover up", just as
does our other word "heal", which was derived from the same Anglo-Saxon word "helan".
The thatchers of roofs, particularly in Cornwall and Devon, are called "heelers"
to this day, and our nurseryman use that word when they cover the roots of a
plant with earth, till they are ready to place it in the ground.
The obligation is obviously twofold, in as much
as we may neither do certain things ourselves, nor permit them to be done by
others; but the word "indite", which is not properly understood, makes the
obligation threefold. Its meaning is "to direct or dictate what is to be uttered
or written". If we may not permit a second person to direct or dictate what is
to be uttered or written to a third person, the word has a profound significance
on our obligation.
When God accused Cain of Abel's murder, he
answered: "Am I my brother's keeper?" The word "indite" in our obligation shows
that we are our brother's keeper. The mere passive witnessing a brother thus
violating his obligation implies the violation of our own.
We are made a Mason in the body of a Lodge
"just, perfect and regular". The word "just" in this instance has the archaic
meaning of "correct". As it does in the investiture of the Treasurer when we use
the words "just and regular accounts". What makes the Lodge "just", what makes
it "perfect", and what makes it "regular"? The Sacred Volume open on the
Master's pedestal makes it just, and complete. The number seven makes it
perfect, as we learn in the words of the First Tracing Board, with a
confirmation of that in the Second Tracing Board, as you, no doubt, remember.
The warrant or charter of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria makes it regular.
Without the Sacred Volume to make the Lodge just and complete, the presence of
"seven regularly made Masons" to make it perfect, and the warrant or charter to
make it regular, no Lodge can conduct the ceremony of initiation.
After the candidate has received the light, he
takes his first regular step in Freemasonry, which he does in the for of a tau
cross. When I was in India several years ago, I noticed that they used the same
words as we do regarding the placing of the candidate's feet, but they added the
words: "so as to form the letter T". This is quite right, as the English letter
T is the equivalent of the Greek letter tau, and the three emblems in the form
of an inverted letter T on the apron of an Installed Master are tau crosses. The
letter tau is the nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet.
In its original form of a cross, it is probably
the most ancient of all sacred signs. It is depicted on the oldest monuments in
Egypt, Assyria, Persia and Hindustan. According to Mackey, Moses marked this
sign on the fore head of his brother, Aaron, when he anointed him as the first
High Priest of Israel. It was this sign that Ezekiel caused to be marked on the
foreheads of the righteous, who were thereby saved from death. In India it is
the sign of the Brahma, the creator, the first of the Hindu Trinity, and used by
Brahmins, the highest caste in that religion. It was highly revered by the
ancient Druids, and is, of course, the most sacred sign of Christianity.
We form a tau cross in each of the three
degrees, and when we are exalted in the Royal Arch - which it is claimed, is not
another degree, but the completion of the third - we find the three crosses
united in the "triple tau".
As the left-hand side symbolizes evil, we always
take a step with the left foot, as symbolical of putting down evil, before we
make this sign. The Latin word for "left" is sinister, which accounts for the
ominous significance attributed to this English word.
The word of the degree is a Hebrew word, whose
meaning gives us the key to God's covenant with Israel, of which to name of the
pillar was intended to be a constant reminder, as we see form this paraphrasing
of the covenant: "In the strength of Jehovah shall the king rejoice, for He will
establish the throne of David and his kingdom to his seed forever". The pillar
has nothing really to do with the great grandfather of David, only inasmuch as
they both bore the same name, thus the name of one serves as a reminder of the
other.
"Have you anything to give?" Here Brethren, is
our fourth challenge, and, although at the time we were prevented from accepting
that challenge, now that we are Freemasons, we are bound to accept, for we have
so much to give - our time, our energy, our devotion. To disregard this
challenge is to condemn ourselves to lack of interest, which so often becomes
that fatal attitude of apathy.
The ancient Greeks had three words - eros,
philia, and agape which are translated to the same English word "love", but to
the Greeks they had three distinct meanings. Eros was the love between the
sexes; philia the love of man for man - brotherly love; and the third, agape,
something far greater - the love of God for man, which, of course, knows no
bounds. The equivalent of agape in the Latin language was caritas, and it is
from this word that our word "charity" is derived, and it has the same meaning.
It seems to have been somewhat degraded in the outside world, but in Freemasonry
it still has that deeper meaning. We cannot hope to attain to such a love, but
we can strive to emulate it to the best of our ability.
Faith, as I have already mentioned, is
necessarily the first step in any approach to God, and the three degrees in
Freemasonry represent our approach to God in the three phases of our nature. We
belong to God, body, mind and soul. It is Hope that enables us to take the next
step, but Charity, that sublime virtue derived from an emulation of God's love
for man, must be the greatest, and so we depict it on our Tracing Board as the
top rung of the ladder.
The North-east charge is a dramatization of this
great virtue; it reminds us of our obligation to relieve the distress of our
indigent brother, and this reminder is constantly
repeated at the conclusion of every meeting in
the Tyler's Toast. During my Masonic career I have heard several interpretations
of the Tyler's Toast, but the following has so appealed to me that I have
forgotten the others.
According to this interpretation the Tyler's
Toast is meant to remind us of the time, when we stood on the North-east corner
of the Lodge, and listened for the first time to these words "... it cannot be
denied that we have many members of rank and opulence amongst us; neither can it
be concealed that among the thousands who range under its banner, there are some
who, perhaps from circumstances of unavoidable calamity and misfortune, are
reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty and distress. On their behalf it is our
usual custom to awaken the sympathy of every newly initiated Brother, by making
such a claim, etc." The charge concludes with the words: "...should you, at any
future time, meet a Brother in distress who might solicit your assistance, you
will remember those peculiar moments when you were admitted into Freemasonry ...
and cheerfully embrace to opportunity of practicing towards him that virtue that
you now profess to admire."
When we honour this toast to our distressed
Brethren we think of them as being dispersed to the four points of the compass
over the surface of land and water, and so we point, but not to the South, for,
symbolically speaking, we are standing in the South, but we point to the other
three - straight ahead to the North, left to the West, and right to the East. We
do this three times in allusion to the three degrees, which in turn allude to
the triple nature of man - body, mind, and soul - for man must dedicate himself
to God in each of the three phases of his nature, and in each of the three
degrees to represent our approach to God in that particular phase of our being.
When we find ourselves face to face with the
distressed Brother, what might we be called upon to do in order to carry out
this obligation?
Well first of all, we may have to thrust our
hands into our pockets where we keep our money. However, financial aid may not
be his greatest need; perhaps he is depressed, downcast, discouraged, and our
sympathy, counsel, or encouragement could give him renewed strength to fight
life's battle. He may have all the money he needs, and yet be destitute of
faith, of hope, and of course, it is our duty to share our faith, our hope, and
our courage with him. Our aid to this distressed Brother could take yet a third
form; perhaps he is aged, invalid, blind, or otherwise handicapped, and so
unable to something that we could do for him - some physical task that we could
do for him with these hands.
Yes, our aid will come from our pockets, from
our hearts, or from our hands, and so we indicate each in turn. And we do it
three times for the same reason that we pointed three times: body, mind and
soul; hand, head and heart; north, west and east. And in silence, because
whatever aid we render to our distressed Brother will forever remain a secret
between the giver and the receiver.
"To our next merry meeting" we say with the
hands in this position. The hand in this position always symbolizes concealment,
as it was thus that we took our obligation. This time it is a double
concealment, representing concealment in two places. It is not only what
occurred in the Lodge Room, but also what occurred here at the festive board,
where we honour this toast, that is not to be divulged to the outside world.
We call our place of refreshment "the South",
because the cathedral builders always erected their lodge on the sunny side of
the construction, which in the Northern Hemisphere is the south. It was here
that our ancient Brethren took their refreshment, and so the place of
refreshment came to be called the "South".
It has been well said: "Faith is lost in sight,
Hope ends in fruition, but Charity extends beyond the grave through the
boundless realms of eternity".
This sounds like a riddle, but it is profound
truth, because faith is the assurance of things not seen, and when we finally
see, then we believe through sight, and no longer through faith - "Faith is lost
in sight". As hope exists only in the expectation of possession it must
necessarily cease, when the thing desired is at last enjoyed: "Hope ends in
fruition; but Charity, exercised here on earth in acts of mutual kindness and
forbearance, is still to be found in the world to come in its most sublime form
as God's mercy to His erring creatures".
In the Reasons for Preparation we are told that
our right arm was made bare in token of our sincerity, and to show that we are
able and willing to work. This, Brethren, is yet another challenge, similar to
"give", because unless we are prepared to work diligently in gaining knowledge
and carrying out the teachings of the Craft, we are sentencing ourselves to the
same fate as those who do not give. The important point is that both "give" and
"work" imply involvement.
Again in the Reasons we are told: "There was not
heard the sound of a hammer or any other implement of iron". To my knowledge
there are four references to this in the Sacred Volume. The first is a warning,
which is given in Exodus 20:25, where we read: "And if thou wilt make me an
altar of stone, thou shalt build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thine
tool upon it, thou hast polluted it".
The second is an instruction, which is given in
Deuteronomy 27:5, where we read: "And there shalt thou build an altar unto the
Lord thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon
them".
We know that the command was carried out,
because it is recorded in Joshua 8:30-31: "Then Joshua built an altar unto the
Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the
children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar
of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron".
The fourth reference shows us that this law was
observed in the erection of King Solomon's Temple, for in the First Book of
Kings 6:7, we read: "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones
made ready, before they were brought hither; so that there was neither hammer
nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building".
I will mention but two things in the Tracing
Board, and the first of these is a pair of things, the Rough and Perfect
Ashlars. Both of these ashlars are reminders of the necessity for moral
behaviour and the importance of developing the intellectual faculty. In the
ritual we are told: "The Rough Ashlar is a stone, rough and unhewn as taken from
the quarry until, by the industry and ingenuity of the workmen, it is modelled,
wrought into due form, and rendered fit for the hands of the more expert
craftsman; this represents man in his infant or primitive stage, rough and
unpolished as that stone, until by the kind care and attention of his parents or
guardians by giving a liberal and virtuous education, his mind becomes
cultivated, and he is thereby rendered a fit member of civilized society. The
Perfect Ashlar is a stone of true die or square, fit to be tried by the S. and
C.s; this represents man in the decline of years, after a regular well-spent
life in acts of piety and virtue, which cannot otherwise be tried and approved
than by the S. of God's word, and the C.s of his own self-convincing conscience.
Dr Mackey (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its
kindred Sciences) presents the same idea in these words: "The Rough Ashlar, or
stone in its rude and unpolished conditions, is emblematical of man in his
natural state - ignorant, uncultivated, and vicious. But when education has
exercised its wholesome influence in expanding his intellect, restraining his
passions, and activating his mind, he is then represented by the Perfect Ashlar,
which, under the skilful hand of the expert Craftsman, has been smoothed and
squared and fitted for its place in the building".
Dr. Joseph Fort Newton (The Builders) clothes
the idea in these beautiful words: "Freemasonry insists that its members shall
be men, free men of adult age and of good report; as the stones of King
Solomon's Temple were hewn and chiselled and shaped and polished, far away, so
that without the sound of axe or hammer, they might be softly, silently set in
the place that awaited them; so in the Lodges of freemasonry the characters of
its members are silently, secretly smoothed and shaped, until the rough stone
becomes the Perfect Ashlar, the long pilgrimage is over, the working tools are
laid down, and the finished stone finds its last resting place in the great
temple of humanity, which the Great Architect has been building since the world
began:.
Now let me add the thought contained in the last
verse of that poem by Lawrence Greenleaf, entitled "Temple of Living Stones":
"Although our past achievements we with honest
pride review,
As long as there's Rough Ashlars there is work for us to do;
We still must shape the living stones with instruments of love,
For that eternal mansion in the paradise above;
Toil as we've toiled in ages past to carry out the plan;
'Tis this: the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of man".
In ordinary everyday life, when we speak of a
"rude or "Polished" mind, of an "upright" man, who is a "pillar" of society, of
meeting on the "level", and acting on the "square", we are using words that
found their origin in our Masonic Craft; and when we speak of putting someone
through the Third Degree, we are thinking of an ordeal, and our Masonic ordeal
teaches us that we cannot rely on our own worth, no matter how virtuous, nor yet
on all the science and accumulated knowledge of mankind, but only on the sure
grip of faith; all else will prove a slip and fail us in the hour of trial.
Which brings us back to the point where we
stared our journey, and where we answered that most important challenge: "In all
cases of difficulty and danger, in whom do you put your trust?" Our answer, "In
God", is a confession of faith, the simple faith of Masonry is its very
cornerstone, its first and greatest landmark, the basis of its plan, its
purpose, its promise. There is no other foundation - upon faith in God,
Freemasonry builds its temple of Brotherly love, Relief and Truth.
As he has for most things, Dr. Newton (The
Builders) has something apt to say about the simple faith; and so I will
conclude this chapter with his words: 'Out of this simple faith grows by
inevitable logic the philosophy which Freemasonry teaches in signs and symbols,
in pictures and parables. Stated briefly, stated vividly, it is that behind the
pageant of nature, in it and over it, there is a Supreme Being, who initiates,
impels and controls all; that behind the life of man and his pathetic story in
history, there is a righteous will, the intelligent conscience of the Most High.
In short, that the last thing in the universe is mind, that the highest and
deepest thing is conscience, and that the final reality is the absoluteness of
love; higher than his faith cannot fly, and deeper than his thought cannot dig".
The other reference I wish to make to the
Tracing Board is not to two things like the Ashlars, but to three things, the
pillars. They warrant a chapter on their own.
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THE THREE GREAT PILLARS
The column of office of the Junior Warden is the pillar of the Corinthian
Order. It is an emblem of beauty, and points out that he is to adorn the work
with all his powers of genius and active industry, to promote regularity among
the Brethren by his precept and example, and the discriminating encouragement of
merit.
The outstanding feature of the Corinthian Order is the acanthus leaf, the
introduction of which is attributed to Callimachus, the celebrated architect of
ancient Greece. Long before the Christian era a Corinthian maiden, who was
betrothed, took ill and died before the time for the appointed marriage. Her
faithful and grieving nurse placed on her tomb a basket containing many of her
toys and covered it with a flat tile. It so happened that the basket was placed
immediately on top of an acanthus root, which then grew up and around the
basket, and curled around the weighty resistance of the tile, exhibiting a form
of foliage, which was, on being seen by the architect, perceived as a potential
form of architecture. He adopted it as a model for the capital of a new order of
architecture, perpetuating in marble this story of affection.
It is the most elaborate of the three Greek orders, the other two of which
are the Ionic and the Doric. It gained great favour with the Romans, who tried
to improve on it with the Composite, but the Corinthian has steadily maintained
its popularity. The finest Greek example is the choragic monument of Lysicrates
in Athens. The Roman examples include the Temple of mars at Ultor, The temple of
Vespasian, the third range of the Colosseum, and the Pantheon.
Emblematically, this column is female, and its distinguishing characteristics
are lightness and beauty. In proportion its length is nine to eleven times its
diameter, and in Freemasonry it represents Hiram Abif.
When Hiram, King of Tyre, which was the chief city of Phoenicia, accepted
King Solomon's invitation to support him with men and materials for the building
of the Temple, he sent his outstanding man to take charge of the construction.
This is recorded in the First Book of Kings 7:13, where we read:
"And Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow
of the tribe Napthali, and his father was a man of Tyre."
His father , therefore, was a Phoenician, but his mother was an Israelite.
Some Masonic scholars contend that this man of tyre was his step-father, and
that his real father, his mother's first husband was a man of the tribe of Dan,
making him fully an Israelite by birth. The history of Tyre goes back to the
fifteenth century B.C. (The City of Tyre was about one hundred and sixty
kilometres from Jerusalem.).
Hiram Abif, or being translated, Father Hiram, was a very talented man, as we
can see from the passages of scripture. The first records:
"Hiram was a worker in bronze, and he was full of wisdom, understanding and
skill for making any manner of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did
all his work."
And the other passage (The Second Book of Chronicles 2:14) records the words
of Hiram, King of Tyre, in describing the man he was sending:
"He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood; and
in purple, blue and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all, sorts of
engraving, and to execute any design that may be assigned to him with your
craftsmen, the craftsmen of my Lord David, your Father."
His skill as a Mason is certified by the famous archaeologist, Professor
Smythe, who tells us that there were stones as large as 11.81 metres long, 2.13
metres high, and 2.44 metres wide, and that these were formed so as to fit and
rest on the natural rock foundation, and that the joints between these stones
were so perfect that the blade of a knife could not be inserted between them.
A stone of these dimensions would weigh about 140 tonne, and had to be moved
into position without the aid of any kind of machinery, for this was before the
invention of even the system of pulleys mentioned in the first Tracing Board.
This enormous mass had to be dragged along an first conceived by King David, but
for several reasons this mighty warlike King could not commence the work,
although he did discuss the matter with Hiram, King of Tyre. It was left to his
son, Solomon, upon his ascent to the throne to make a treaty with that monarch,
who was to support him so ably with men and materials.
Phoenicia was a buffer state between Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, and, except
for brief periods of independence, was politically overlorded in turn by these
three great powers, but as a trading, seafaring nation, the Phoenicians never
completely lost their independence. They were the outstanding financiers and
money-lenders of their day, and had extensive overseas resources - Carthage, the
great rival of Rome, was started as a colony of Phoenicia. Tyrian ships visited
what is now known as the British Isles, and it has been established that their
country actually operated the tin mines in Cornwall, which are still yielding
tin today. It was this tin that was mixed with copper to make the bronze
pillars, the great laver, and the many ornaments of the Temple.
Not only did Hiram, King of Tyre, supply Solomon with the architect himself,
Hiram Abif, but with many thousands of menatzchin, or prefects, or more
familiarly speaking overseers, who were the artificers or skilled tradesmen.
They were to oversee the vast number of unskilled labourers, who were drawn
mainly from the satellite peoples of Israel, such as the Moabites, and other
indigenous tribes. These unskilled labourers loaded timber from the forests of
Lebanon onto the ships that were to transport it to Joppa, from where it was
transported to Jerusalem. The Phoenicians supervised the preparation of the
stones in the quarries, and their placement in the building, after the unskilled
labourers had transported them there, again under the skilled workers of Tyre.
The metal work was cast in the Plain of Jordan, in the clayground between
Succoth and Zeredatha under the supervision of Hiram Abif and his skilled
artificers.
It took seven and a half years to complete the Temple, and then only by
working the unskilled labour at ten thousand a shift, thanks to the wonderful
support of Hiram, King of Tyre, whose honesty and integrity were bywords in his
day. Of course, he was not doing this for nothing. His was a trading nation, and
he wanted his caravan routes kept open, and in this way Solomon was able to
repay him, besides supplying him with goods that Tyre itself could not produce.
Hiram came to the throne at the early age of nineteen years, and he reigned
for thirty-four years, dying at the age of fifty-three. He is mentioned only
twice in our ritual. The first time is in the First Tracing Board in that part
which is repeated in our installation ceremony as the Address to the Pillars,
where we are told that he is represented by the Doric column of the Senior
Warden. The second reference is even less specific: in the rather negative
statement, that he was one of the three Grand masters who bore sway at the
building of the Temple at Jerusalem. His importance would seem to warrant a more
passing reference.
He was the king of a country which, although it has left us no record of its
achievements, is credited with doing much towards the improvement of the art of
writing and, by some, even with the invention of the alphabet and the system of
ciphers that we use today. Thanks to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, and
to Herodotus, the Greek historian, we are enabled to know as much as we do.
The original inhabitants of Phoenicia were the Canaanites with an admixture
of Amorite and Hittite, and unlike the ancient peoples were not primarily
farmers but a nation of artificers, sailors and merchants. They are credited
with the discovery of Polaris, the Pole Star, and are recognised as the first to
chart their course by the stars. They are also credited with the invention of
glass. The country was for many years under the domination of Egypt.
We were told in a lecture ("Hiram and His Kingdom of Tyre") given in the
Lodge of Research by Wor. Bro. McConnell, that alone of all the Tyrian Kings the
name of Hiram is attached by popular tradition to a still existing monument - a
great weather-beaten sarcophagus of unknown antiquity, raised aloft on three
huge rocky pillars of stone, and looking down from the hills above Tyre, over
the ruins of the city and harbour, and still called the "Tomb of Hiram". Bro.
Senior warden has the honour and privilege of representing Hiram, King of Tyre.
The column of the Worshipful Master is the pillar of the Ionic order, a style
of architecture that is 3,200 years old. It is part Egyptian and part Assyrian,
and combines the strength of the Doric with the beauty of the Corinthian order.
It is an emblem of wisdom and points out that the Master is to combine wisdom
with strength and firmness of mind and beauty of persuasive eloquence in the
government of the Lodge. This pillar represents Solomon, King of Israel, who was
renowned for his wisdom.
The story of King Solomon begins with the story of Ruth, one of the many
beautiful stories in the Sacred Volume. Because of famine in the land of
Palestine, a certain man of Bethlehem, Elimelech by name, went with his wife
Naomi, and their two sons to live in the land of Moab. There the two sons grew
to manhood, and took to themselves wives from among the daughters of the people
of Moab. When Elimelech died, Naomi was left in the care of the two sons; but
when the two sons died, Naomi decided to return to her own country. Both the
daughters-in-law would have returned with her to Bethlehem, had not Naomi
succeeded in persuading one of them to remain with her own Moabitish people, but
the other who was called Ruth, insisted on returning with her, saying: "Your
people shall be my people, and whithersoever thou goest, there I go also." And
so Ruth travelled with Naomi to Palestine.
Back in Bethlehem, Naomi sent Ruth to glean corn in the field of her kinsman,
Boaz, as was the custom in those days. When Boaz saw Ruth gleaning in his field,
he asked his men who the woman was and when told that she was the
daughter-in-law of his kinswoman, Naomi, he went forth and spoke with Ruth,
inviting her to glean in all his fields. He then instructed his men not to
disturb Ruth, but to let fall full ears of corn, that she might go away well
laden.
This story fills the four chapters of the Book of Ruth, but suffice it to say
that Boaz fell in love with Ruth and married her. Their son, Obed, was the
father of Jesse, and therefore the grandfather of David, making Boaz the great
grandfather of David, who was, of course, a prince and ruler in Israel.
Although a man of war, David led a singularly blameless life till he fell in
love with Bathsheba, the wive of Uriah, the Hittite, a captain in David's army.
David seduced Bathsheba, and when he found her with child he called Uriah before
him, made a full confession of his guilt, offering to marry her; but Uriah
refused to divorce her. Shortly afterwards Uriah was killed in battle. David was
accused by Nathan the prophet of being implicated in the death of Uriah by
assigning him to a mission of danger and it is recorded that David made no
attempt to deny it.
This and the numbering of people were David's two sins, but they were fully
atoned, for the Almighty thought fit to punish David in the same manner as was
punished that other great servant of the Almighty, Moses, for his sin, by the
denying of the realization of his life's ambition. Moses, who led the Israelites
out of their Egyptian bondage, and through the forty years of wandering in the
wilderness, dreamed of the day when he would lead them into the promised land.
Moses died knowing that the following day they would cross the border under the
leadership of his successor, Joshua. David, who had devoted his whole life to
the service of God, dreamed and planned of building a magnificent temple to the
glory of the Lord God of Israel, but died when those plans were almost ready and
arrangements completed, leaving the execution of the beloved task to his son,
Solomon, who followed him into the throne of Israel.
Bathsheba, whom David later married, bore him that son who became the most
famous and illustrious of all Kings of Israel, and who gained such fame for his
wisdom that his name has been a byword for at least three thousand years.
As an illustration of the wisdom of Solomon, a story is told of two women,
who came before him, both claiming to be the mother of the same child. After
listening to their story, Solomon ordered that that the baby be cut in half with
a sword, and half of the body be given to each claimant. One of the women was
quite willing for this to be done, but the other became violently agitated, and
falling to her knees before the King, begged and pleaded for the life of the
baby, renouncing all claim to be its mother. The King smiled kindly on the
wretched women, and said: "Arise, woman and take the living child and depart in
peace, for you who would not have it slain, are obviously the mother."
To Solomon's lot fell the great honour of fulfilling his father's cherished
ambition, and it is upon the circumstances surrounding the erection of that
magnificent temple, that our Masonic art is founded. Claims that its regal
splendour and unparalleled lustre far transcend our ideas are not exaggerated,
for the gold and silver alone on present day values would be worth thousands of
millions of dollars.
Solomon wrote many of the wise sayings in the Book of Proverbs, he wrote the
Song of Solomon, and the Book of Ecclesiastes, the last chapter of which is one
of the gems of literature, and had he written nothing else, the philosophy of
life contained in that chapter would have been enough to immortalize the name of
Solomon.
Solomon was a wise and capable ruler, a mighty prince, whose reign was filled
with prosperity and peace. The First temple at Jerusalem will always be known as
King Solomon's Temple, and the Master's seat in the Freemasons' Lodge will
always be known as King Solomon's Chair. May the story of King Solomon never
end.
The master of the Freemasons' Lodge is thereby the worthy representative of
King Solomon, and as such we salute him.
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A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECOND DEGREE
It seems a misnomer to call this chapter ''A Journey through the Second
Degree'' as the Second Degree is itself a journey; in fact it is the Masonic
journey. The First represents sunrise birth, beginning the Third represents
sunset death, the end; but the Second represents the rime between sunrise and
sunset, between birth and death, the distance between the beginning and the end,
However it is intended to conduct the reader through the Second Degree following
the order of the ceremony, touching on its highlights, and adding some
Interpretation and explanation, as we did in the First Degree As we make this
journey let us keep n mind the main aim and purpose of the Second Degree, which
is to Inculcate the importance of developing the intellectual faculty. so that
its attainments may lift us to a truer and fuller appreciation of the wonderful
works of the Almighty Creator.
In the Second Degree the Lodge is opened on the Square that great Masonic
emblem of the Golden Rule, of doing unto others as in Similar cases we would
wish that they should do to us. or as we Freernasons put it, of acting on the
Square. this is the way of life that Freemasonry leaches, and has ever taught,
that is, to so harmonise our conduct in this life as to render us acceptable to
that Divine Being, from whom all goodness springs, II is thus fitting that the
candidate for the Second Degree should gain admission by the assistance of the
Square.
In the First Degree the Brethren are asked to take notice that the candidate
is about to pass In view before them, but in this Degree the word ''now'' is
added -- "is now about to pass in view before them" -- reminding us that now s
the time to remember our Creator; and that now Is the time to perform; our
allotted task while it is yet day. In the Second Degree the sun is always at its
meridian.
The predominating number of this degree is five, and so the candidate
advances to the East by five steps, as though ascending a winding staircase. The
Winding Staircase, to my mind, is the greatest symbol in the Second Degree.
However, we will deal with that when we come to the Tracing Board, and then you
can judge for yourself.
As the candidate kneels for the obligation, the number five again
predominates for in doing so he forms five squares, thus: the first with his r
.. l..; the second with his l... 1 .., the third with his r.. h ... , the fourth
with his l...a... and the fifth with his t . .. In numerology five is the number
of social relations thus identifying it with the Masonic Square and the five
points of fellowship, but that of course, belongs to the Third Degree.
In the Secrets we are told: "for it was in this position that Moses prayed
fervently to the Almighty ." This alludes to the lime when an army of Israelites
under the command of Joshua were engaged in battle with the Amalekites. Now,
even though they were greatly outnumbered, the Almighty had assured Moses that
the Israelites would prevail as long as Moses held his hand in this position as
a sign of prayer and a token of the faith of Israel that numbers were of no
importance when the Almighty was on their side. This incident is recorded in the
Book of Exodus 17: 11-12, where we read: "And it came to pass, when Moses held
up his hand, that Israel prevailed and when he let down his hand, Amalek
prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under
him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
one side, and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady till the
going down of the sun,"
The word of the degree is a Hebrew word, the meaning of which is w . . . e .
. ., and when conjoined with that in the former degree forms the key to God's
covenant with Israel as we will readily see, when we repeat the covenant: "in
the strength of Jehovah shall the king rejoice, for He will establish the throne
of David and his kingdom to his seed forever." This is the real importance of
the word; the fact that the Assistant High Priest bore the same name as the
southern pillar is incidental, but it did provide our ancient Brethren with a
ready means of remembering the name of the Pillar.
There is no account of the dedication of the Temple in the Bible, but that
event is amply recorded by the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, in his work,
Jewish Antiquities. In his account we find that Zadok has become the sole High
Priest of Israel, whereas in the reign of King David he shared that office with
Abiathar. Abiathar, however, was later found guilty of treason by King Solomon
for aiding and abetting Adonijah in his abortive attempt to seize the throne.
The King could not, of course, put to death anyone who had borne the Ark of the
Covenant, but Solomon did banish Abiathar, and that is the last mention of him
in the Sacred Volume. Josephus states quite clearly that Zadok, as the High
Priest of Israel, officiated at the dedication of the Temple, but he makes no
mention of an assistant high priest. ii he had one, and he probably did, that
assistant's name could have been the same as the southern pillar, because King
David appointed a man by that name as one of his twenty-four section leaders or
concourses, as they are called in the Sacred Volume, when he re-organized the
priesthood, and it would be from their ranks that we could expect such a
promotion to come. It could well be that one of our Masonic legends has
preserved a name that history has recorded nowhere else. Our ritual does not
refer to the name of Zadok, the High Priest, but only to that of his assistant,
who assisted him at the dedication, and only because his name was the same as
the southern pillar.
In the South east Charge we are told: "You are now placed in the South-east
part (of the Lodge), to mark the progress you have made." This is the fifth time
that the word "progress" is heard in this degree. The first time was when it was
used by the Tyler, when he reports: "who has been regularly initiated into
Freemasonry, and has made such progress" the second time is when those words are
repeated by the Inner Guard in his report to the Master; the third time it comes
from the Master himself, when he announces: "Your progress in Freemasonry is
marked''; and the fourth time it is spoken by the S.W., when he says: "I invest
you with the distinguishing badge of a F.C. Freemason to mark the progress".
Thus we hear the word "progress" five times in the Second Degree - five is the
predominating number of the Degree and progress, of course, is the central theme
of this Degree - progress from sunrise to sunset, from birth to death, from
beginning to end.
The working tools of an E.A Freemason are those used to prepare the stone for
the hands of the more expert workman, but the working tools of the Second Degree
- the Square, the level, and the Plumb Rule -- are the tools of the expert
craftsman, the skilled mason responsible for the correct interpretation of the
architect's designs, and for their faithful execution in the building. His,
therefore, are the most important of all the tools, and the charge in which they
are presented to the candidate is probably the most inspiring in all our Masonic
ritual. The candidate who really absorbs its philosophy can hardly fail to
become a worthy Freemason. Let me now present to you those tools in the reverse
order.
The Plumb Rule, giving us the true vertical line, is the emblem of integrity,
which embraces the attributes of kindness, moderation, justice and truth, the
essential virtues of the just, upright and steadfast man, of whom the Roman
poet, Horace, over two thousand years ago:
The man of firm and righteous will;
No rabble clamorous for the wrong;
Nor tyrant's brow, whose frown may kill,
Can shake the power that makes him strong.
Odes 111. 3,1-4
The Level, giving us the true horizontal line, is the emblem of equality, and
teaches at all men are equal, inasmuch as they are all subject to the same
infirmities, all hastening to the same goal, and all to be judged by the same
immutable law, regardless of race, colour, creed or tongue. In this sense the
Level is the perfect emblem of brotherhood Thus, the Plumb Rule gives us the
true vertical line, and the Level gives us the true horizontal line; and when
the true vertical and the true horizontal meet, they form an angle of ninety
degrees, or the fourth part of a circle, which, of course, is the Square. Now we
see that the Level and Plumb Rule are complementary to the Square, and
understand the reason that these tools are worn by the three principal officers
-- the Master and his two Wardens.
And that brings us to the Square, but we have already mentioned it when we
dealt with the opening of the Lodge, However, there are two comments that could
be added at this juncture.
In the earliest known Masonic catechism there is this question: "How many
make a Lodge?" and the answer is given as: "God and the Square, and five or
seven right or perfect Masons". This sounds like a riddle, but it is easily
explained. "God and the Square": knowing the meaning of the Square, we are
immediately reminded of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. To
love God and our neighbour is to keep all the commandments, which, of course, is
what Christ meant when he said "On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets." And now for the rest of the answer: "with five or seven right or
perfect Masons". Five is right and seven is perfect, because "five hold a lodge"
and so five is the right number to form a Masonic quorum; and seven is perfect
because, as the First Tracing Board tells us: that is the number of "regularly
made Masons, without which number no lodge is perfect".
The second comment is that in the year 1830, when a very ancient bridge was
being rebuilt near Limerick in Ireland, the architect found under the
foundation-stone an old corroded brass square with this inscription (cited in
The Builders, p. 56):
"I will strive to live with love and care,
Upon the level and by the square"
In the Final Charge of this Degree we are told that: "as a Craftsman, in our
private assemblies, you may offer your sentiments and opinions on such subjects
as are regularly introduced in the lecture." To what lecture does this refer,
and when may we expect to receive this privilege? This is a question we are all
entitled to ask, and there is, of course, an explanation. Our ritual, adopted in
1889, at the time of the union of the four constitutions then operating in this
State, is basically the English Emulation Ritual, but with modifications
borrowed from the Scottish, Irish, and Victorian rituals then in use. This was
done with the object of appeasing the Brethren belonging to the other
constitutions; but the added enrichment gained from the inclusion of the gems
selected from these other rituals has given us what is generally considered to
be the finest Masonic ritual in the world. The lectures mentioned are the
Catechetical Lectures which, although part of the Emulation Ritual, were not
incorporated in our present ritual, an omission which is to be regretted, as
they are not only an essential part of Freemasonry, but also because we are
thereby denied a valuable privilege. Our Grand Lodge, however, has copies of
these Catechetical Lectures and encourages their use. The "third, last, and
grand reason" mentioned in the First Tracing Board is found in these same
lectures, and has recently been included in our ritual.
We will deal with just one thing in the Tracing Board, which has been
purposely left to the end, and that is the Winding Staircase which, as I have
already claimed, is the greatest symbol in the Fellowcraft Degree, Its seven
steps, the seven liberal arts and sciences -- grammar, rhetoric, logic,
arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy -- symbolise the ultimate attainment
of a F.C. Freemason, starting from the very beginning of man's intellectual
progress. Our first intellectual advance is made possible by the development of
language, thus enabling us to communicate with our neighbour, and so widen the
field of our knowledge, which would otherwise be restricted to our own personal
experience.
Grammar is the foundation of language, and so it must be the first step on
the intellectual ladder. It is not enough, however, to master the structure of
language; we must be able to put it into practice and the art which teaches us
to speak copiously and fluently on a subject is rhetoric, and so we move to the
second step. Even the most grammatically correct and skilfully delivered
language is just an empty senseless flow of words unless it contains logic, and
so we continue to rise to the third step.
Having climbed these three steps, we are then equipped to exchange knowledge
with our neighbour. The F.C. were paid their wages in specie, that is coin or
money, which here is a symbol for knowledge, because knowledge, like money,
increases with usage and exchange. This exchange of knowledge enables us to
compare -- to compare what we know with what our neighbour knows. The science of
comparison is arithmetic; its ciphers and measurements are but the means that it
uses; and so arithmetic, the fourth step, symbolises the beginning of knowledge
Our acquisition of knowledge brings us to step number five, the predominating
number of this Degree, and there we find geometry, which is established as the
basis of our art. Geometry, the science of harmony in space, presides over
everything. We find it in the arrangement of a fir cone, in the spiral of a
snail shell, in the chaplet of a spider's web, and in the orbit of a planet. It
is everywhere, as perfect in the world of atoms as in the world of immensities.
The snowflake is a perfect example of the geometry of God: circles, triangles,
pentagons, hexagons, and parallelograms, more exact and delicate than the
deftest hand could trace. And this Universal Geometry tells us of a Universal
Geometrician, whose divine compasses have measured all things, and so we realise
that the development of the intellectual faculty is assuredly leading us even to
the throne of God.
Then Geometry leads us to the next step, because music is the geometry of
sound. Every note in the musical scale is exactly double the wavelength of the
corresponding note in the preceding octave, and each note in a chord is in
logarithmic progression. Music moves with measured step and cannot free itself
from geometry without dying away in discord. Music is the concord of sweet
sounds, and concord is all the law of God. Geometry brought us close to God, but
music brings us closer still:
There is music in the sighing of the breeze;
There is music in the gushing of a stream;
There is music in all things, if men have ears;
This Earth is but an echo of the spheres.
Byron.
Seven is the number of completion, and on the seventh and uppermost step we
find astronomy by which we are taught to read the wisdom, power and goodness of
the Grand Geometrician of the Universe in the wonder of the heavens. With the
aid of astronomy we may observe the motions of the heavenly bodies; we may
measure their distances, and calculate their periods and eclipses; but our
finite minds may not even hope to comprehend the magnitude of God's handiwork.
In the words of the poet, Dryden:
How can the less the greater comprehend?
Or finite reason reach infinity?
Reach infinity! We cannot even contemplate it. We can, however, extend our
researches into the hidden mysteries of nature and science; so let us do just
that, and merely contemplate the magnitude of God's handiwork, and see how far
our finite mind can extend. For example to travel the enormous distance of 1
million kilometres would be to completely circle the earth 25 times, and if we
could maintain a constant speed of 114 kilometres per hour, it would take us the
whole year to complete the journey; and yet the speed of light is so great, that
it can traverse 1 million kilometres in a fraction over three seconds. If we
could travel at this impossible speed for just eight minutes, we would reach the
sun, a distance of 154 million kilometres; but to reach the outer edge of our
own home galaxy, the Milky Way, we would need to maintain this fantastic speed
for 80,000 years. It is quite impossible, of course, for us to comprehend the
extent of 80,000 years, having no experience with which to make a comparison;
suffice it to say, that just one- tenth of that period would take us back to the
year 6017 B.C., before the Nile Valley was settled by the people who would later
build the pyramids, the oldest construction in the world. Then, when we consider
that this galaxy, whose magnitude is so far beyond our comprehension, is just a
tiny speck in the known universe, our finite mind is completely overwhelmed.
And beyond the known universe stretches the vaster unknown, of which we are
but dimly aware through our most powerful modern telescopes receiving light that
started on its journey before this planet was born. All this vaster than vast
universe with its incalculable billions of stars, each many millions of times
the size of this earth, moves and revolves in obedience to a great unseen power
with a precision that is perfect. No! We can never hope to comprehend; but it is
here on the seventh step of the winding staircase that we may really contemplate
the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator.
As F.C. Freemasons we are expected to make the liberal arts and sciences our
constant study, that we may better be enabled to discharge our duty as
Freemasons, and estimate the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator. When we
reach the uppermost step of the Winding Staircase, astronomy conducts us through
the paths of heavenly science till we stand at the very foot of the throne of
God, of which we are as yet granted but the merest glimpse.
The winding staircase leads us up
By steps of four plus three;
Four is of earth and three's divine,
A perfect unity.
First step is Grammar, and beyond
There follow orderly
Six other steps until on high,
We find Astronomy.
And as we climb step after step,
One thing is plain to see;
It is the greatest symbol,
In the Fellowcraft Degree.
We tread its steps one by one, ever onward, ever upward, without moving away
from the centre, that point from which we cannot err; with our horizons ever
widening, but the way ahead always out of sight. Then we reach the door of the
Middle Chamber, which we find open. It is open only because the experience of
the climb has trained our mind to see God in His Universe; and so we enter and
find the letter "G".
Brethren, it is only by climbing these stairs -- it is only by developing the
intellectual faculty -- that we may reach the summit and find the letter "G" in
the Middle Chamber. That is to find God in our own heart, and be filled with a
consciousness of His infinite wisdom, of His incomprehensible power. His
boundless love and mercy, and the awesome eternity of the time and space of His
Universe. When we can do this, we have completed our journey through the Second
Degree. It is then, and only then, that we can claim to be Fellowcraft
Freemasons.
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KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
"As it is the hope of reward that sweetens
labour, where did our ancient Brethren go to receive their wages?"
"into the middle chamber of King Solomon's
Temple."
And where was the middle chamber? To answer that
question it is necessary to explain the architecture of the Temple, and the
compilers of our ritual, somewhere between 1611 and 1881, obviously took many of
these things from the Authorised Version of the Bible. However, I will do that
from the Revised Standard Version, which is much more reliable, and point out
the differences between them as we go. The Authorised Version was published in
1611; the Revised Standard Version in 1881.
The architecture of the Temple is explained in
the First Book of Kings, so let us begin at Verse 2 in chapter 6: "The house
which King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide
and thirty cubits high." Using present day units of measurements we can now give
the size as approximately 30 metres long, 10 metres wide and 15 metres high. Our
immediate reaction is that it was not a very large structure. That is quite
correct, but we must remember that the congregation did not enter that Temple,
but performed their worship in the inner court to the East of the Temple.
Actually, the Temple was a little larger than those measurements, as you will
soon see Moreover, it was not its size, but its magnificence which so
distinguished the Temple.
Verse 3: "The vestibule in front of the nave was
twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in
front of the house." So the vestibule, or porch, as it is called in the
Authorised Version and in our ritual, was the full width of the Temple, and five
metres out of the total length of 30 metres, leaving 25 metres still to be
accounted for.
As verse 4 merely describes the windows we will
omit that and proceed to the next verse.
Verse 5: "He also built a structure against the
wall of the house, running round the walls of the house, both the nave and the
inner sanctuary, and he made side chambers all round." We see from this verse
that the outside of the building was actually greater than 30 metres by 10
metres, as these side chambers added to both the length and the width. When the
text says "all around" that, of course, would add to both sides and to the back.
Verse 6: (Here we find a description of the side
chambers): "The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six
cubits, and the third was seven cubits broad; for around the house he made
offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted
into the walls of the house." The important thing we have to learn from this
verse is that the side chambers were three storeys high, of which there is
further proof.
Verse 7: This verse we have already quoted in
the "Journey through the First Degree", but, as we are now reading from the
Revised Version, let us repeat it: "When the house was built, it was with stone
prepared in the quarry; so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was
heard in the house while it was being built."
Verse 8: "The entrance to the lowest storey was
on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle storey,
and from the middle into the third." The Authorised Version translates "middle
chamber" instead of "Lowest storey", "right side" instead of "south side",
"winding stairs" instead of "stairs", and "middle chamber" instead of "middle
storey". If the next floor above the ground floor was the middle storey, then
those side chambers were definitely three storeys high.
I will omit verse 9 as it is irrelevant, and
just quote seven words in Verse 10: "each storey was five cubits high". This
means that the side chambers were three times 2.5 metres, which is 7.5 metres or
2.5 metres lower than the main or central part of the building.
From there we pass over five verses to Verse 16,
which tells us: "He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of
cedar from the floor to the rafters, and he built this within as an inner
sanctuary as the most holy place." In our ritual we refer to this "inner
sanctuary" as the "Sanctum Sanctorum", Latin words which mean "holy of holies".
Verse 17 tells us: "The house, that is the nave
in front, was forty cubits long". If the whole length is 30 metres, less the 10
metres of the inner sanctuary, then the remaining 20 metres must include the 5
metres of the vestibule, leaving 15 metres for the "holy place" which was
between the inner sanctuary and the vestibule.
Verse 20 repeats the dimensions of the inner
sanctuary but mentions also the height of the inner sanctuary as twenty cubits,
which is about 10 metres, or two-thirds of the height of the building.
So we see from all this that the winding stairs
were not in the vestibule as depicted on the vast majority of our Tracing
Boards, but in the side chambers, which were reached by a door leading from the
vestibule. This door we refer to in the Second Tracing Board with the words:
"they got there by the porchway or entrance on the south side". Thus we see that
this entrance was on the south side of the vestibule, and not on the south side
of the Temple. Then to get to the "middle chamber" or second storey, one had to
enter the Temple through the only entrance, which was between the pillars on the
east, turn left, pass through the arch, and climb the stairs to that floor. The
Tracing Board in No. 4 Lodge Room in our Masonic Centre in East Melbourne is the
best I know, although those in rooms 5, 6 and 7 are also good. This Tracing
Board, however, depicts the stairs as spiral, which seems very doubtful to me:
winding stairs, yes, but I do not believe that spiral stairs were built nearly
three thousand years ago.
However, there are some other things in the
Second Tracing Board, which really need some explanation.
"The height of these pillars was seventeen
cubits and a half each." Our word "cubit" is derived from the Latin word cubitas,
meaning "elbow", because the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of
the middle finger is the length of a cubit, which on the average man is about 45
centimetres. That makes the pillars about 7.9 metres high.
"They were made of molten brass". These words
have obviously been taken from the Authorised Version of the Bible, because
brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The latter was unknown in those days,
whereas bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and it is known that Phoenicians
operated a tin mine in Cornwall. a mine which is still yielding tin to this day.
As Tyre was the chief city of Phoenicia, it was Phoenician craftsmen that were
sent by Hiram, King of Tyre, to Solomon for the building of the Temple. We read
in the First Book of Kings 7:15: "For he cast two pillars of brass." In the
Revised Standard Version this is changed to: "For he cast two pillars of
bronze."
With the weight of 8.41 grams per cubic
centimetre, it is easy enough to calculate that their weight would be nearly 40
tonnes each. To cast them in one piece would greatly tax the capacity of the
most modern foundry. Hence we must assume that they were cast in sections and
assembled on the site.
According to the book Timna by Beno Rothenberg,
(Thames and Hudson, 1972), the copper for this bronze was mined in Mount Timna,
near the Wadi Araba south of the Dead Sea. Archaeologists have proved that these
mines have been operated for over six thousand years and they are still yielding
copper today.
"They were cast in the plain of Jordan, in the
clayground between Succoth and Zeredatha". This would place their casting near
the junction of the Jabbok and the Jordan rivers, the latter of which flows into
the Dead Sea.
"They were further adorned with two spherical
balls". This would seem to be a flight of someone's imagination, as there is no
mention of them in the Sacred Volume. The point has been made that in those days
it was not known that the world was round. We cannot place too much reliance on
that assumption, because Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the Earth
rather exactly about 250 B.C., and according to the account of his action, it
was merely to confirm a theory that was already held. "Spherical balls" look
like a misunderstanding of the word "pommels" in the Second Book of Chronicles
4:12, where it means chapiters -- the head of the columns.
The kings of Israel were crowned in front of the
South Pillar and the priests were anointed in front of the North Pillar.
"Here depicted by an ear of corn" Our Tracing
Boards were designed by a man named Harris, who generally speaking, has done a
very good job, as it is impossible to depict both inside and outside of the
Temple, except in the ingenious manner to which I have already referred. Not
knowing the Hebrew language, Harris asked for the meaning of the word, so that
he could depict it on the Tracing Board, and when told that it was a homonym,
that is a word with two distinct meanings, he adopted the obvious course, and
depicted both meanings. I do take exception to the fall of water outside the
main entrance to King Solomon's Temple, which stood on top of Mount Moriah. That
other Tracing Board also surmounts that difficulty.
"Jephtha, the renowned Gileaditish general".
Jephtha was a Gileadite in two ways. First, he was a descendant of Gilead, who
was a grandson of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, and who became such a
famous man in Egypt; and secondly, Jephtha's own father was named Gilead. He was
his father's firstborn, but he was illegitimate, and his two stepbrothers, born
in wedlock, one day drove him from the paternal abode. He journeyed to the land
of Tob, where he eventually became famous as a soldier. Not long after he had
left home the Gileadites were defeated in battle by the Ammonites, and after
eighteen years of subjection the Gileadites sought the assistance of Jephtha to
effect their liberation At first Jephtha attempted to raise an army from his own
kinsmen, the Ephraimites, but, finding them unwilling, he raised his army
without their aid. He not only defeated the Ammonites, but he took from them the
valuable treasure as spoils of war. When the Ephraimites heard of this, they
became covetous, and claimed a share of the spoil, with the result that Jephtha
had to turn round and defend himself against his own kinsmen.
"Five hold a Lodge in allusion to the five noble
orders of architecture". I have already mentioned four of these in the chapter
entitled "The Three Great Pillars", but not in their correct order. They are the
Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite; of these three are Grecian in
development and two Roman. It is the three of Grecian origin -- the Doric, Ionic
and Corinthian -- that are used in our Lodges.
Our Tracing Boards took the place of the old
Trestle Board, which had been removed from the floor of the Lodge to the wall,
and in older rituals, was known as the Tarsel Board.
"When our ancient Brethren were in the Middle
chamber, their attention was peculiarly drawn to certain Hebrew characters, here
depicted by a letter G, denoting God, the Grand Geometrician of the Universe."
The Hebrew character that immediately comes to mind is the letter gimmel, the
third letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is in the form of a gallows square, as
is also the letter gamma, the third letter of the Greek alphabet used by
Pythagoras to denote "geometry".
Both gimmel and gamma have the same sound as the
English letter G. Records show that in the early days after the formation of the
Grand Lodge of England, when working the Second Degree, it was the custom to
place a gallows square over the Blazing Star of Glory in the Centre, but
somewhere since the gallows square has evidently been replaced by its English
equivalent. The letter G has come to be closely associated with the Blazing
Star, giving rise to the impression that the G denotes God. Actually the letter
belongs strictly to the Fellowcraft Degree, and for this reason F.C. Freemasons
were once known as "Letter G Men". In Freemasonry the letter G denotes geometry,
just as it did in the system of Pythagoras. It does denote God, of course, but
only in His role as Grand Geometrician of the Universe.
King Solomon's Temple is the theme of the whole
of Craft Masonry, but more particularly in the Fellowcraft Degree, whose working
tools are the Square, the Level, and the Plumb Rule, the instruments for
squaring the stone and so perfecting it as to render it fit for the intended
structure. We are the stones in this Temple, and every living stone should
strive to become the perfect ashlar.
"The Temple made of wood and stone must crumble
and decay, But there's an unseen fabric, which shall never pass away; Age after
age the Masons strive to consummate the plan, But still the work's unfinished
which our forebears began; None but immortal eyes may view, complete in all its
parts, The Temple formed of living stones -- the structure made of hearts."
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A JOURNEY THROUGH THE THIRD DEGREE
With our minds modelled by virtue and science,
the virtue of the First Degree, and the science, or knowledge, of the Second
Degree, we are prepared for the sublime experience of the Third Degree in
Freemasonry.
Man has a triple existence, inasmuch as he has a
three-phased nature. He has a physical existence, as do all other animals, but
man differs from other animals in that he has a mental or intellectual
existence. He has also a soul, which though very real is intangible. Although we
cannot see it or touch it, we can hear its voice, which we know as our
conscience, although we often refer to it as our heart. In our ritual it is
called the "voice of nature".
Thus, in the Sublime Degree, the degree of the
soul, the Lodge is opened on the Centre, that point from which we cannot err. We
may ignore our conscience, we may even try to stifle it, and a man may become so
hardened that its voice is barely audible, but it is still there, telling us
right from wrong, and it will never deceive us, for it is that point within the
centre from which we cannot err.
Seven is the number of completion or perfection;
three is the spiritual number and four is the earthly number, and when the two
combine we get Seven, the perfect number, and so in the Third Degree the
candidate advances to the East by seven steps, which are divided into three and
four. The three spiritual steps are taken slowly and reverently; the other four
are bold or marching steps.
Our journey through the Third Degree must
necessarily begin, as does the degree itself, by a retrospect or resume of the
degrees which we have already passed, that we may the better be enabled to
distinguish and appreciate the connection of our whole system, and the relative
dependence of its several parts. As we approach to God in each of the three
degrees, representing the three phases of our nature, we are able to view the
whole Masonic structure from each of these three angles, and so gain a complete
conception of the unique Masonic philosophy.
Our first journey is symbolised by Jacob's
Ladder, composed of many staves or rounds, pointing out as many moral virtues.
The three principal ones are Faith, Hope and Charity. Faith must necessarily be
the first step in any approach to God, and without Hope our journey would cease,
but Charity, that sublime virtue derived from an emulation of God's love for
man, must be our ultimate aim in the First Degree.
Our Divine Creator so loves man that he accepts
love of our fellow man, brotherly love, as love for himself, a truth beautifully
portrayed in a poem by James Leigh Hunt:
"Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold.
Now exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said:
'What writest thou?' The vision raised its head,
And with a look made all of sweet accord,
Answered:'The names of those that love the Lord'.
'And is mine one?' asked Abou.'Nay, not so.
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still and said:'l pray thee then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men.
The angel wrote and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo, Ben Adhem's name led all the rest."
Our second journey is symbolized by the Winding
Stair, portraying our mental approach to God. By developing our intellectual
faculty, we may the better be enabled to discharge our duty as Freemasons and to
estimate the wonderful works of the Grand Geometrician of the Universe, knowing
that, although we may observe the motions of the heavenly bodies, measure their
distance and calculate their periods and eclipses, we may not even hope to
comprehend the magnitude of God's handiwork.
Aristotle's principles remained unchallenged
until Galileo appeared on the scene, but his findings were outdated by Newton,
and when we thought that we had arrived at the ultimate truth, Einstein recast
our thinking with revolutionary discoveries. How can we know when we have
arrived at the ultimate truth? We can never know. Ultimate truth belongs to God
alone. Man's knowledge is much too frail a reed on which to lean,
notwithstanding that the main aim and purpose of knowledge is to enable us to
appreciate the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator.
We know from archaeological discoveries that the
ancient Egyptians had worked out the relationship between the radius and
circumference, and used it in their calculations; that they had an accurate
knowledge not only of the motion of the earth in relation to the sun and moon,
but of all the planetary system; that they had compiled a correct calendar,
based on a full knowledge of the motion of the earth; in fact, nothing is more
astonishing to those who study the records of the past than the knowledge of
science which these ancient Egyptian priests possessed.
Most of this knowledge, of course, was lost with
the fall of Egypt, but much of it has been rediscovered, though only in the last
few hundred years, and even then the world little knew that it had all been
known so long ago by these ancient Egyptian astronomers and left written in
signs and symbols on stones and papyri, which we are now enabled to decipher and
read.
Modern astronomers have calculated the period of
the Sun's orbit to be 25,827 years and now our archaeologists tell us that these
ancient Egyptians could have provided us with the precise figure.
About 250 years B.C., the ancient Greek
mathematician Eratosthenes was in Syene in the Egyptian province of Assuan at
the time of the equinox. Knowing that he was on the tropic, he decided to
measure the angle of the sun at mid-day. He found that it was exactly ninety
degrees as he had expected.
On the same day the following year, when he was
back home in Alexandria, he made the same measurement. He now found that there
was a variation of 7.2 degrees, which, of course, is the fiftieth part of a
circle, indicating that the 500 miles between Syene and Alexandria must be the
fiftieth part of the world's circumference. The resultant answer of 25,000 miles
differs from our latest calculation by a mere thirty miles.
What happened to this knowledge? The world seems
to have known nothing of this some two thousand years later, when Galileo was
thrown into prison by the Inquisition for claiming that the world was round. One
may sometimes wonder whether there are yet things to rediscover that were known
thousands of years ago, and whether the vast wealth of knowledge that is ours
today could too be lost. So much for the retrospect.
Our journey through this degree has hardly
started before it seems to come to an abrupt end, when we arrive at the brink of
the grave, but really it is far from finished, for, if our mind is ready, it is
at this point that we should begin the important contemplative stage. If we will
follow that course of contemplation, we will find that it is the greatest
journey of the three. We can well say "if we will", because many who wear the
badge of a Master Mason have yet to make this journey and thus become aware of
the potential immortality of the soul of man.
How do we know that the soul of man can be
immortal? We may have learned the lesson of the First Degree, and live in love
and charity with our neighbour, but even so we will not receive the answer to
this question. It will prove a slip. We may have learned the lesson of the
Second Degree, and have developed our intellectual faculty even to perfection,
but all the science and accumulated knowledge of mankind cannot reveal what
awaits us on the other side of the grave. It will prove a slip likewise.
Science may attempt to dissect and analyse, but
is forced to lay aside its instruments, unable to prove even that there is a
soul.
Then Reason makes its attempt. Plato and Cicero
endeavoured to prove through logic the immortality of the soul. its doubtful
that their arguments convinced either others or themselves. It is the same with
the modern psychologist; with all his fascinating studies on the workings of the
human mind, his feeble light must flicker out on the brink of the grave. It
proves a slip likewise.
There yet remains the sure grip of Faith, that
virtue which we confessed at the very outset of our Masonic career; that virtue
which enables us to ascend the first rung of Jacob's Ladder, the top of which
reaches to the heavens. If man's spirit be immortal, then surely we seek in vain
with the light of any earthly beam. Neither the rays of the sun, nor the light
of human knowledge can penetrate that gloom, that darkness, that ignorance,
which veils from our eyes all knowledge of a future life.
The eye of human reason cannot penetrate that
mysterious veil unless assisted by that light which is from above. What is this
light which is from above? To try to explain spiritual light to those who have
not experienced it is like trying to explain physical light to a blind man, and
to those who have the experience the explanation is, of course, quite
unnecessary. Let us, therefore, not dwell on that point at this juncture, but
attain our objective, I hope, another way and return to the point later. Suffice
to say that spiritual light must be sought within. Just as the letter "G" is
found in the Middle Chamber, we find God in our own soul -- symbolically
speaking, in our own heart.
Just as the First Degree represents the dawn of
day with its first gleam of light, and the Second Degree represents the fullness
of day, when we must get all our work done, so we now find ourselves in the
West, where the sun is sinking and we realise that darkness will soon be upon
us.
Thus we stand on the brink of the grave and,
peering across, as it were, to the other side, we realise that all beyond is
veiled in darkness. But if this realisation leads us to really contemplate, then
our darkness becomes so visible, that we come face to face with the mysterious
veil. This is when the faith that was born in the First Degree, and developed in
the Second, becomes that glimmering ray which enables us to penetrate the veil,
and so, in contemplation, we pass right through the grave, and begin the most
important stage of our journey.
This contemplation is our real journey through
the Third Degree. If we have mastered the lessons of the other two degrees, we
can make this journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and discover
that we are not afraid to die, and the still, small, but insistent voice of the
soul will not remind us in vain to remember now our Creator and to perform our
allotted task while it is yet day.
This voice of the soul - this voice of nature -
so insistently reminds us that it resides within this perishable frame, that, if
we will only listen, it certainly will inspire a holy confidence, that our
Creator will enable us to conquer death, or in the more poetic words of the
ritual "that the Lord of Life will enable us to trample the king of terrors
beneath our feet, and lift our eyes to that bright morning star."
What bright morning star? The universe is
composed of solar systems like our own, and each of these solar systems consists
of a central sun with its circle of planets, and each of these central suns,
like our sun, emits light. To us they are so many stars. Our sun is our star,
and when it rises it is the morning star. As an unknown poet has written:
We contemplate when the sun declines
Our death in deep reflection,
And when again it rising shines,
Our day of resurrection.
We watch that sun set with the fullest possible
confidence that it will rise again tomorrow, and if we have been among the
faithful and obedient of the human race - if we have been successful in each of
our other two journeys - then we can contemplate our own setting with that same
confidence; that is: "we may lift our eye to that bright morning star, whose
rising brings peace and tranquillity to the faithful and obedient of the human
race."
Our contemplation of the Emblems of Mortality
reminds us that our dust must return to the earth whence it came but our faith
in the Fatherhood of God insists on the immortality of the soul, and assures us
that our spirit will return to God who gave it. This is to believe that the soul
of man is a tiny spark of the Divine Being, and can therefore never die, and
will be at peace only when in perfect harmony with its divine source.
"Man is the measure of all things," said the
ancient sage, Pythagoras, "but man himself in the higher reaches of his being
cannot be measured. He is like an inlet of the sea; looking landward it is
limited; looking seaward it is linked with the infinite.
"I think God's thoughts after Him," said Kepler,
the famous German astronomer, several centuries ago as he looked through his
telescope to the stars. This is true of all human thinking, all noble living,
all upleaping aspiration. Truly He that made us set eternity in our hearts and
restless we must remain, until we find reunion with His will, in which is our
only peace.
In his well-known book, The Builders, from which
I have already freely quoted, Dr. Joseph Fort Newton asks us to consider what it
means to say that the soul of man is akin to the Eternal soul of the Universe.
It means that we are not just shapes of mud placed here by chance, but sons of
the Most High, citizens of Eternity, deathless as God our Father is deathless,
and that there is placed upon us an abiding obligation to live in a manner
worthy of the dignity of an eternal soul.
And so we see that what a man thinks, the purity
of his feelings, and the character of his activity and career, are of vital and
ceaseless concern to the Eternal. Here is a philosophy that lights up the world
like a sunrise, confirming the dim dumb certainties of the soul, evolving
meaning out of mystery and hope out of what would else be endless despair. It
brings out the colours of human life, investing our fleeting mortal years -
brief at their longest and broken at their best - with enduring significance and
beauty. It gives to each of us, however humble and obscure, a place and a part
in this stupendous plan; it makes us fellow workers with the Eternal in his
redemptive making of humanity, and it binds us to seek His will in every phase
of our being.
This belief - this philosophy - this simple
faith - based on the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, and the
immortality of the soul, is that same light which is from above. It is this
belief that enables us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet, and make
eternal plans for our soul; it is this belief that is the light of a Master
Mason.
We will never really complete our journey
through the Third Degree until the Almighty calls us to cease labour; until then
we can make the journey only in contemplation. This very contemplation will
teach us that the mysterious power of life that moves us now is an infinitesimal
spark of that infinitely vast and utterly incomprehensible power that impels,
controls, guides and rules the whole universe, in which time, and space - yes,
and love - are eternal.
May we never betray our own soul, so that it may
continue in harmony with the Divine Source whence it sprang; and when it has
fulfilled its mission in this life, may it return to that same source to which
it will ever belong. With the aid of this glimmering ray the soul now sees as
through a glass darkly, but in the life to come, it will know, as St. Paul tells
us, even as it is known.
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THE LEGEND OF HIRAM ABIF
As a degree the Third is not much older than 250
years - the first recorded mention is in the year 1723 - but the Hiramic Legend,
it seems, is much older than we realize. The Graham Manuscript, discovered as
recently as 1936, records events of the thirteenth century, and mentions similar
legends connected with Noah and Bezalel.
There are those that believe that the Hiramic
Legend is derived from a Phoenician interpretation of the Egyptian legend of
Isis and Osiris, and brought to England many centuries later by the Crusaders.
There it remained suppressed, because of the domination of Masonry by the Church
of Rome, which could not be expected to accept anything emanating from the Jews,
whom they intensely hated for their crucifixion of Christ. According to this
line of argument, the legend saw the daylight only as the domination of the
Church waned; but there is, of course, no proof of this, even if it does sound
feasible. Nevertheless, the Hiramic Legend is an indispensible part of
Freemasonry, and the following Prestonian Lecture plants a beautiful thought in
the mind of each of us, for we have all passed through the great Masonic ordeal.
Here is the lecture, "Making of a Nation", by George Draffen (1966):
"During the ceremony of the Third Degree,
which is so well named the Sublime Degree, you can hardly fail to have been
impressed by the tragedy of Hiram Abif. To understand it, and to appreciate to
the full its profound richness of meaning, is something that will remain with
you as long as you live.
"Since the drama of Hiram Abif is ritualistic,
it is a mistake to accept it as history. A ritualistic drama does not pay heed
to historical individuals, times or places. It moves wholly in the realm of the
spirit. The clash of forces, the crises and fates of the human spirit alone
enter into it, and they hold true of all men everywhere, regardless of who they
are or when or where. There was a Hiram Abif in history, but our Third Degree is
not interested in him. Its sole concern is with a Hiram who is a symbol of the
human soul, that is, its own Hiram Abif. If, therefore, you have been troubled
with the thought that some of the events of the drama could not possibly have
happened, you can cease to be troubled. It is not meant that they ever happened
in ancient history, but that they are symbols of what is happening in the life
of every man.
"For the same reason it is an inexcusable
blunder to treat it as a mere mock tragedy. Savage peoples employ initiation
ceremonies as an ordeal to test the nerve and courage of their young men, but
Freemasonry is not savage. Boys at school often employ ragging, which is
horseplay caricature of the savage ceremonial ordeals, but Freemasonry is not
juvenile. The exemplification of our ritualistic drama is sincere, solemn and
earnest. He who takes it trivially betrays a shallowness of soul, which makes
him unfit ever to become a Mason.
"Hiram Abif is the actual symbol of the human
soul, yours, mine, any man's. The work he was engaged to supervise is the symbol
of the work you and I have in the supervision, organization and direction of our
lives from birth to death. The enemies he met are none other than the symbols of
those lusts and passions, which are in our own breasts, or in the breasts of
others, and make war on our character and our life. His fate is the same fate
that befalls every man who becomes a victim to those enemies: to be interrupted
in one's work, to be made outcast from the lordship (or mastership) over one's
own self and, at the end, to become buried under all manner of rubbish -- which
means defeat, disgrace, misery and scorn. The manner in which he was raised from
that dead level to that living perpendicular again is the same manner by which
any man, if it happens to all, rises from self-defeat to self-mastery. And the
Sovereign Great Architect, by the power of whose word Hiram Abif was raised, is
that same God in whose arms we ourselves forever lie, and whose mighty help we
also need to raise us out of the graves of defeat, or evil, and death itself.
"Did you ever wonder, while taking part in that
drama, why you were personally made to participate in it? Why you were not
permitted to sit as a spectator?
"You were made to participate in order to
impress upon you that it was your drama, not another's there being exemplified.
No man can be a mere spectator of that drama, because it takes place in his own
soul. Likewise it was intended that your participation should itself be an
experience to prepare you for becoming a Master Mason, by teaching you the
secret of a Master Mason - which is that the soul must rise above its own
internal enemies if ever a man is to be a Master Mason in reality as well as in
name. The reality of being a Master Mason is nothing other than to be a master
of one's own self.
"Did you wonder why it was that the three
enemies of Hiram Abif came from his own circle, and not from outside? It is
because the enemies to be most feared are always from within, and are ignorance
and sins. As the Sacred Volume reminds us, it is not that which has power to
kill the body that we need to shun, but that which has power to destroy the
spirit.
"Did you wonder why it was that after Hiram Abif
was slain there was so much confusion in the Temple? It was because the Temple
is the symbol of a man's character, and therefore breaks and falls when the
soul, its architect, is rendered helpless, because the craftsmen are symbols of
our powers, and they fall in anarchy when not directed and commanded by the will
at the centre of our being.
"And did you wonder why the Lodge appeared to
neglect to explain this ritualistic drama to you at the end of the Degree? It
was because it is impossible for one man to explain the tragedy of Hiram Abif to
another. Each must learn for himself, and the most we can obtain from others is
just such hints and scattered suggestions as these now given to you. Print the
story of Hiram Abif upon your mind, ponder upon it; when you yourself are at
grips with your enemies recall it and act according to the light you find in it.
By doing so you will find that your inner self will give in the form of
first-hand experience that which the drama gave you in the form of ritual. You
will be wiser and stronger for having the guidance and the light the drama can
give to you."
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