Search Results for: masonic symbols

By H. Meij
Master, Harmony Lodge #18,
August 2009

Introduction:

There are so many symbols, words and phrases in Freemasonry used both as part of its rituals as well as part of its vocabulary, that studying and trying to understand the “meanings” them is a very worthwhile and a rewarding journey. One such prominent symbol and phrase, is the 47th problem of Euclid, which is one of the main symbols introduced in the Third Degree.

In the Blue Lodge, it is considered a great honor to be elected and serve as the Master of a lodge. It shows that the individual has attained maturity, leadership, charisma, and motivation, but above all, knowledge to be able to lead others. It is an initiation by itself, as the position brings with it a completely new set of responsibilities that are often not appreciated when accepting the position. At the end of serving as Master of a Lodge, many Past Masters are presented with a jewel, symbolizing the great appreciation of the Lodge towards their dedication. It also symbolizes something else ? that is that the individual has completed his “journey”, through the different positions of the Lodge, to a new plain.

The 47th problem of Euclid features prominently in many Past Master’s jewels. Selecting this symbol out of the thousands used in Freemasonry to represent one of its highest honors must mean that it is a very significant and central symbol of the Craft. Yet, sadly many Freemasons, even many Past Masters, do not know why it is so centrally featured in the Past Master’s jewel. Clearly the 47th problem is based on Geometry, and all Freemasons know that Geometry and Freemasonry are closely linked, but is this the only reason? What does the 47th problem of Euclid symbolize and mean? Of the 465 problems published by Euclid, why is the 47th so important? Why do Freemasons cherish it so?

An example of a Past Master’s Jewel featuring the 47th Problem of Euclid from England. Past Master’s jewel used in the USA often do not show the 47th Problem anymore.

The Foundation of Freemasonry?

The 47th problem of Euclid is often mentioned in Masonic publications. In Anderson’s “Constitutions” published in 1723, it mentions that “The Greater Pythagoras, provided the Author of the 47th Proposition of Euclid’s first Book, which, if duly observed, is the Foundation of all Masonry, sacred, civil, and military…”. Being mentioned in one of the first “official” speculative Masonic publications clearly indicates that the 47th problem of Euclid must be important. It is also mentioned in the Third Degree lecture, where we are taught that the “47TH problem of Euclid…….taught us to be general lovers of the arts and sciences”.

However, it is quite different to be referred to as the “Foundation of all Masonry, sacred, civil and military” that to be referred to as “taught us to be general lovers of the arts and sciences”. Has the importance of the symbolism of the 47th problem declined over time for some reason?

In order to understand whether the symbol has declined in importance or not, we first need to look at the 47th problem of Euclid itself.

The Discovery of the 47th problem of Euclid

Euclid wrote a set of thirteen books, which were called “Elements”. Each book contained many geometric propositions and explanations, and in total Euclid published 465 problems. The 47th problem was set out in Book 1, which is also known as “The Pythagorean Theorem”. Why is it called by both these names? Although Euclid published the proposition, it was Pythagoras who discovered it. We learn from the third degree lecture that:

“ This wise philosopher (Pythagoras) enriched his mind abundantly in a general knowledge of things, and more especially in Geometry, or Masonry. On this subject he drew out many problems and theorems, and, among the most distinguished, he erected this, when, in the joy of his heart, he exclaimed Eureka, in the Greek language signifying, “I have found it,” and upon the discovery of which he is said to have sacrificed a hecatomb. It teaches Masons to be general lovers of the arts and sciences”.

Actually, it was not Pythagoras who directly discovered the rule, as the Egyptians used the same principle for a very long time before Pythagoras, whereby they re-measured their fields after the annual flooding of the Nile washed out their boundary markers. Hence, Pythagoras is probably here referred to as being the one who proved that the process works.

History records that Pythagoras established a society with philosophical, religious and political aims. Shrouded in secrecy, they believed that only by truly understanding the universe could one achieve salvation of the soul, and as Divinity created all things, studying it over a period of several lifetimes, could bring one closer to Divinity itself. As such, it was believed that through study and reason could one start to understand Divinity. Clearly, reason is based on measurable things (such as through numbers and objects), and is easier to understand if expressed in that matter. Hence the society devoted much of its time to the mathematics, including Geometry. This line of thinking was incorporated in Freemasonry, which sets it opposite to the Church, which emphasizes faith over reason. Indeed, Pope Pius IX, in his encyclical, Qui Pluribus, dated 9 November 1846, attacked those who “put human reason above faith, and who believe in human progress.” Many people consider this to be a reference to Freemasonry.

This is interesting, because in the Book of Wisdom 11:20 we read:

“Even apart from these, men could fall at a single breath when pursued by justice
and scattered by the breath of thy power.
But thou hast arranged all things by measure
and number and weight.”

So the very “measurement of things” the Church objects to is mentioned in Scripture.

However, let us get back to how the 47th problem fits in Freemasonry.

What Does the 47th say?

The proposition states that: “In right angled triangles the square on the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares on the sides containing the right angle.”

What? In other words A2 + B2 = C2.
Many readers will feel like they have been returned to Geometry class. A simple illustration will probably refresh our memories.

The proposition is especially important in architecture. Builders have since ancient times used the theorem in constructing buildings by a process known as “squaring a room.” As the theorem states that 3 squared + 4 squared = 5 squared, a builder starts by marking a spot and drawing a line, say line A. This line is given the value of 3. The builder then marks another point, say point B and draws a line from it at a right angle to line A, and it is given the value of 4. The distance between line A and B is then measured, and if the distance between A and B is 5, then the room is squared. By inverting the process, a “squared” (or rectangle) room can be obtained.

The proposition is especially important in architecture. Builders have since ancient times used the theorem in constructing buildings by a process known as “squaring a room.” As the theorem states that 3 squared + 4 squared = 5 squared, a builder starts by marking a spot and drawing a line, say line A. This line is given the value of 3. The builder then marks another point, say point B and draws a line from it at a right angle to line A, and it is given the value of 4. The distance between line A and B is then measured, and if the distance between A and B is 5, then the room is squared. By inverting the process, a “squared” (or rectangle) room can be obtained.

Engineers who tunnel from both sides through a mountain use the 47th problem to get the two shafts to meet in the center. The surveyor who wants to know how high a mountain may be ascertains the answer through the 47th problem. The astronomer who calculates the distance of the sun, the moon, the planets, and who fixes “the duration of times and seasons, years, and cycles,” depends upon the 47th problem for his results. The navigator traveling the trackless seas uses the 47th problem in determining his latitude, his longitude, and his true time. Eclipses are predicted, tides are specified as to height and time of occurrence, land is surveyed, roads run, shafts dug, bridges built, with the 47th problem to show the way.

In some lodges, using this principle, a candidate symbolically “squares the Lodge” by being escorted around the Lodge three times during the Entered Apprentice ritual, four times for a Fellowcraft ritual, and five times for a Master Mason ritual, which completed his journey.

The 47th problem forms the basis of all ancient measurement units:
The 47th problem of Euclid formed the basis of a common set of measurements used by the Egyptians, especially in the building of the Great Pyramids. It gets a little technical, but a simple illustration will help us understand it better.

Please see the illustration above, which is not accurate due to a drawing, but will serve to illustrate the point. If we take a circle and draw in it a triangle (triangle A- B-C) which perpendicular is 300, base is 400, and by the 47th problem, the hypotenuse becomes 500 (any combination such as 3,4,5 will also work ? higher numbers are used for ease of explanation). Then if we draw a line from the angle of the perpendicular and the base through the hypotenuse to the circle, this line will be equal to 480.

The resulting two parts of the hypotenuse (A-D and D-C) will be equal to 180 and 320 respectively. Then if we draw another line from the point D (the intersector of the hypotenuse) to the perpendicular of the shortest side of the triangle (A-B), then line A-E will equal 108 and line D-E will equal 144.

Now we have all the measurements of the ancient world, that is 500, 480, 400, 320, 180, 144 and 108. Why is this important? If we take each unit to be a cubit (an ancient form of measurement), then 500 is the base of the Great Pyramid of Memphis. 400 cubits is the length of an Egyptian stadium (stadium is plural for stadia, and ancient measurement unit, based on a particular number of steps, also called a Khet by the Egyptians). 480 cubits is the length of the Ptolemy stadium, 320 cubits is the length of the Hebrew and Babylonian stadium. Furthermore, 180, which represents the smaller part of the hypotenuse, doubled gives 360 cubits, the Cleomedes stadium. By doubling 144 cubits gives 288 cubits, the Archimedes stadium. Finally by doubling 108 cubits we obtain 216 cubits, or the lesser Egyptian stadium.

In other words, this simple exercise formed the basis of all the lengths used by the Egyptians, and hence also once again indicates that its principle was well understood by the Egyptians, and hence taught by them to Pythagoras.

Conclusion

Clearly, the 47th problem helps us look at the universe, and all that is in it, through a system that we can understand clearly, for it is measurable. The Master’s jewel is the square, the base needed for the 47th problem (in many jurisdictions the square has the dimensions of 3:4 ? the Pythagorean dimensions). As the Master serves his position, he becomes more complete, and therefore the 47th problem of Euclid is dedicated on his jewel when he leaves office.

References:
Circumambulation and Euclid’s 47th proposition, by Reid McInvale
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, by Albert Mackey
Freemasonry, A journey through ritual and symbol, by W. Kirk
Master Mason, by Carl Claudy

The ROSICRUCIANS: Past and Present, at Home and Abroad

by Wm. Wynn Westcott, P.S.M., S.R.I.A., XI

It is well at certain times to consider our status as Rosicrucians, and to remind ourselves of the origin of the Society to which we belong, to notice how far we moderns have strayed from the original paths laid down by our Founder, C.R., and to take a note of the kindred Societies of Rosicrucians which are now in being, so far as we know of them.

With regard to past history we must not be surprised that extant published records are very scanty, for the purpose of the Rosicrucians was to be unknown to the people among whom they lived. Some few notable persons only appear to have had the right to function as recognized members of the Rosicrucian Colleges, for instance, Michael Maier the German student of Alchemy who died in 1662, and Dr. Robert Fludd of London and Bearstead near Maidstone who died in 1637.

The Star of Rosicrucianism is now once more in the ascendant and our Society has made rapid strides in the past ten years. It is curious to note that waves of interest in occult and mystical subjects, seem to sweep over a nation at intervals; periods of Rosicrucian enlightenment alternate with other periods of materialistic dogmatism.

We must remember that Rosicrucianism itself was “no new thing” but only a revival of still earlier forms of Initiation, and was a lineal descendant of the Philosophies of the Chaldean Magi, of the Egyptian priests, of the Neo-Platonists, of the Hermetists of Alexandria of the Jewish Kabalists and of Christian Kabalists such as Raymond Lully and Pic de Mirandola.

The nominal Founder of our Society–Christian Rosencreuz, did not invent, at least in our modern sense of the word, the doctrines he promulgated, and which we should now study. It is narrated that he journeyed to Arabia, to Palestine, to Egypt and to Spain, and in the seats of learning in those countries he found and collected the mystic lore, which was made anew by him into a code of doctrine and knowledge. On his return from these foreign travels he settled in Germany, founded a Collegium, selected certain friends and transformed them into enthusiastic pupils, and giving his new Society his own name, he laid the foundation of that scheme of Mystical Philosophy, which we are now here to perpetuate and carry into practice: let us remember that he died in the year 1484, that is so far back as the reign of our King Richard the Third.

The fratres of the original Collegium, who met in the “Domus Sanctus Spiritus,” or ” House of the Holy Spirit,” were learned men, earnest students and public benefactors. Their rules were: That none of the members should profess any art except to relieve the sick and that gratis; each one should wear the ordinary dress of the country, and should attend on Corpus Christi day at a general Convocation every year, whenever possible to do so; each one should seek a suitable pupil to succeed him: that the secret mark of each one should be C.R. or R.C., and that the Society should remain secret for 100 years.

As time went on the purposes and duties of the fratres became altered, the cure of the sick especially was taken over by the development of the medical profession.

About 1710, one Sigmund Richter, using the motto of “Sincerus Renatus,” published at Breslau his work called “The perfect and true preparation of the Philosophical Stone according to the secret of the Brotherhoods of the Golden and Rosy Cross.” In this volume we find a series of 52 rules for the guidance of Rosicrucian members; these rules are such as were likely to lead to useful and orderly lives.

Again, about 1785, there was published at Altona in Germany a most important volume of coloured theosophical plates with eludicatory words and phrases and several essays on Rosicrucian subjects: its title was “Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer”; it was in two portions. An English translation of some part of this work was published in 1888 by Franz Hartmann, a German Theosophist.

We catch a further glimpse of the purposes of the Rosicrucians at a later date, from a curious little tract relating to a French branch of the Society, which relates the Reception of Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom in the Mauritius–French colony–by the Comte de Chazal in 1794. I cannot say where the original MS. now is, but our copy was made by the secretary of the well-known Rosicrucian and crystal-gazer Frederick Hockley, who died in 1885. Bacstrom signed his pledge to fourteen promises;–to piety and sobriety, to keep the secrecy of his admission, to preserve the secret knowledge, to choose suitable successors, to carry on the great work, to give aid and charity privately, to share discoveries with his fellows, to avoid politics, to help strangers, and to show gratitude to those who had led to his reception, etc..

During a recent visit to East Africa I met in Natal a Mauritius born doctor whose wife was a Miss de Chazal, a native of Mauritius; among her ancestors about 1780-90 there was this M. de Chazal who was an eccentric genius and was considered to possess curious arts; he also became a notable Swedenborgian and held classes of mystical philosophy. The name is many times mentioned in a French history of Mauritius which was lent to me by Dr. Dumat of Durban. At the time of the French Revolution it would be natural for our count de Chazal to drop his title, as did many of the French nobility.

The aim of our own Society at the present day is to afford mutual aid and encouragement in working out the great problems of Life, and in discovering the Secrets of Nature; to facilitate the study of the system of Philosophy founded upon the Kabalah and the doctrines of Hermes Trismegistus, which was inculcated by the original Fratres Rosae Crucis of Germany, A.D. 1450; and to investigate the meaning and symbolism of all that now remains of the wisdom, art and literature of the Ancient World.

The Rosicrucian Societies of Anglia, Scotia and the United States, alike Masonic bodies, are by no means the only descendants of the original Collegium, for in Germany, and Austria there are other Rosicrucian Colleges of more direct descent than our own, which are not fettered by any of the limitations which Freemasonry has imposed upon us, and some of these, although not composed of many members, include students who understand many curious phenomena, which our Zelators have not studied. The German Rosicrucians keep their Colleges and membership entirely secret, they print no transactions nor even any notices, and it is almost impossible to identify any member.

The German groups of Rosicrucians now existing are much more immersed in mystic and occult lore than ourselves; they endeavour to extend the human faculties beyond the material toward the ethereal, astral and spiritual worlds: at the present time I understand that they use no formulated Ritual, but German Colleges have experienced a notable revival and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner are considered as giving an introduction of their system of occult Theosophy. Several of Steiner’s volumes are now available in English translations, such we his “Initiation and its Results,” “The Gates of Knowledge,” and “Way of Initiation.” They are well worthy of study.

The Societas Rosicruciana in Scotia, as well as the Societas Rosicruciana in the U.S.A. were branches from the same Rosicrucian source and sprang from a rejuvenation by Frater Robert Wentworth Little of that lapsed Rosicrucian College in England which is mentioned by Godfrey Higgins in his notable work “The Anacalypsis,” or “An attempt to withdraw the Veil of the Isis of Sais,” which was published in 1836; he remarks that he did not join the old College there referred to.

About fifty years earlier a certain eminent Jew named Falk, or Dr. Falcon, lived in London (a reference to whom will be found in the “Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry” by Kenneth Mackenzie) and was of high repute as a teacher of the kabalah and of other studies of a Rosicrucian character; he was indeed said to have magical powers. Falk could not have flatly affiliated to any Rosicrucian College because he was a strict Jew of the Jews, and the members of all true Rosicrucian Colleges have always been Christians, but perhaps not of an orthodox type, for there was a tendency in the teachings toward Gnostic ideals. Mackenzie classes Dr. Falk among the Rosicrucians of eminence, and certainly told me he had first hand evidence of his connection with the Society; many Christian students adopted a modification of the old Jewish kabalah, so perhaps some Jews have been allied to the Christian Rosicrucians.

Our own Magus Frater R. W. Little surrounded himself with several other notable Rosicrucian students, of whom I may mention the late Supreme Magus in Anglia, Dr. William Robert Woodman, a learned Kabalist and Hebrew scholar; W.J. Hughan, the great Masonic historian; William Carpenter, editor of Calmet’s “Dictionary of the Bible”; Alphonse Constant, better known as “Eliphaz Levi,” who gave Fratres Little and Kenneth Mackenzie much assistance, and was in return elected an honorary member of the Metropolitan College in 1873. Our Society unfortunately lost Frater Little at a very early age. Frater H. C. Levander, too, a Professor at University College, London, was a learned member; and took great interest in the mystic lore of the Society.

The late Lord Lytton, the author of “Zanoni” and “The Strange Story,” who was in 1871 Grand Patron of our Society, took very great interest in this form of Philosophy, although he never reached the highest degree of knowledge; for public reasons he once made a disavowal of his membership of the Rosicrucians, but he had been admitted as a Frater of the German Rosicrucian College at Frankfort on the Main; that College was closed after 1850.

Among the Fratres who have recently been ornaments to our Colleges, I may draw attention to the lately deceased and quaintly cultured John Yarker of Didsbury; to our late Adept of York, T. B. Whytehead, who was famous as an antiquarian: to Frater Fendelow of the Newcastle College, who was the author of a learned and suggestive Rosicrucian Lecture: to Frater F. F. Schnitger, who made deep researches into the French and German Rosicrucian Treatises: to Samuel Liddell Mathers, the translator of portions of the Hebrew “Zohar,” and to Frederick Holland, the author of “The Temple Rebuilt,” and “The Shekinah Revealed.” Another deceased Frater of eminence was Benjamin Cox of Weston-super-Mare, and with him I naturally couple the greater name of Frater Major F. G. Irwin, who, however has now also gone to a Temple far away.

Among the learned juniors of our Society, I may name Fratres Dr. Vaughan Bateson, Thomas Henry Pattinson, the Rev. C. E. Wright, Sir John A. Cockburn, W. J. Songhurst, Herbert Burrows, A. Cadbury Jones, W. Wonnacott, Dr. Wm. Hammond, Dr. B. J. Edwards, and Dr. W. C. Blaker.

Our Colleges need not languish for want of subjects of study; the narrative of the foundation of our Society is singularly suggestive of points for future investigation. The German “Fama Fraternitatis” of 1614, in an English translation by Thomas Vaughan of 1652, presents you with the History of Christian Rosenkreuz: its companion tract the “Confessio Fraternitatis” gives you a slight insight into the views of the Rosicrucians of a date a hundred years later. The “Chymische Hoctizeit” or “Chemical Wedding” by C.R., and the “Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians’ by F. Hartman, are tractates of Rosicrucian Allegory which will well repay, not only perusal, but deep study; while the elucidation of the whole set of Medieval Divinatory Sciences, Astrology, Geomancy, etc, are suitable themes for lectures in your College. For such as can understand medieval Latin a most interesting work is the “Oedipus Aegyptiacus” of Athanasius Kircher. It is desirable that our students should make themselves acquainted with the Ancient Mysteries of Egypt, of Greece and of Rome. The basis of the Western occultism of medieval Europe is the Kabalah of the medieval Hebrew Rabbis, to which I have published “An Introduction.” This philosophy, although at first sight barbarous and crude, yet will be found, when one has grown familiar with the nomenclature, to be a concrete, coherent and far-reaching scheme of Theology, cosmology, ethics and metaphysics, serving to throw light on many obscure Biblical passages and to suggest original views of the meaning of most of the allegorical descriptions found in the Old Testament. A copy of a very curious old Kabalistic picture from a Syriac Gospel with a descriptive essay by Dr. Carnegie Dickson, a notable Scotch Rosicrucian Adept, has just been given to our Library.

The works of the great Rosicrucian Kabalist, Eliphaz Levi, are, to those who read French with ease, a mine of mystic lore, full of fine imagery, and replete with magical formulas. His “Histoire de la Magie” is a storehouse of information relating to the Secret Sciences and Secret Fraternities of all times and among many nations, while in English the two volumes of the new edition of Heckethorn’s “Secret Societies” should be read as an introduction to deeper personal research.

The work of Franz Hartmann, named “Magic, White and Black,” I can recommend to serious enquirers, for it elucidates the real aims of the Higher Magic, with which alone we are concerned, and it clears away many misconceptions which exist in the minds of the uninitiated.

To such as desire to follow more closely the Old Testament religious element, I should advise a perusal of the commentaries of Dr. Mien Barnes on “Daniel” and “The Book of Revelation,” and the symbolical descriptions of the book of Ezekiel. On the Christian aspect I recommend “The Perfect Way,” or “The Finding of Christ,” by the late Dr. A. Kingsford; in this volume will be found worked out the broader scheme of Christian teaching which is so apt to be obscured by sectarian forms of worship. The tenets of this work are closely approximate to those of the earliest of the followers of Christian Rosencreuz, whose name was probably a mystic title, motto or synonym, and not a family cognomen:- “Christian” referring to the general theological tendency, and “Rosenkreuz” to the Cross of Suffering whose explanation and key may need a Rose or secret explanation.

There is one doctrine for the learned, and a simpler formula for those who are unable to bear it yet, even as the new testament itself tells us, of the Great Master who taught his immediate disciples the true keys, but to others he spake only in parables,–“and without a parable spake he not unto them.”

Such, my Fratres, are suitable subjects for the attention of your members, but there are many allied topics which might form suitable centres of interest and instruction, for example the whole range of church architecture as crystalised symbolism, the dogmas of the Gnostics, the several systems of philosophy of the Hindoos, the parallelism between Rosicrucian doctrine and Eastern Theosophy, for which read Max Heindel’s “Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception,” and that enticing subject, the origin and meaning of the 22 Trumps or symbolic designs of the “Tarocchi” or pack of Tarot cards, which Eliphaz Levi says form a group of keys which will unlock every secret of Theology and Cosmology. For such as are interested in the Alchemy of the past I recommend a perusal of “A Suggestive Enquiry into the Hermetic Mystery” 1850, by an anonymous author, and E. A. Hitchcock’s “Remarks on Alchemy and the Alchemists,” 1857. And, lastly, we may make researches into that most interesting problem–Did Speculative Masonry arise from the Rosicrucians? I am to understand that the German Rosicrucians say that before the Masonic revival of 1717 these were identical in Europe.

Let us not forget; that not only as Rosicrucians, but even as Freemasons, we are pledged, not only to Brotherhood and Benevolence, but also to look below the surface of things, and to seek and to search out the hidden secrets of Nature and of Science. Let us be in mind that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but that deeper study reveals the roots of knowledge, as well as increases our store of information. Let us not, with folded arms, float with the tide of indolence, but ever strive after increase of that true knowledge which is wisdom and remember that “to labour is to pray,” or as the Latin motto has it, “Laborare est Orare,” for the day.

THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN
The Masonic Service Association of the United States
VOL. 2 APRIL 1924 NO. 4

The Holy Bible lies open upon the Altar of Masonry, and upon the bible lie the Square and Compasses.  They are the three Great Lights of the Lodge, at once its Divine warrant and its chief working tools. They are symbols of Revelation, Righteousness, and Redemption, teaching us that by walking in the light of Truth and obeying the law of Right, the Divine in man wins victory over the earthly. How to live is the one important matter, and he will seek far without finding a wiser way than that shown us by the Great Lights of the Lodge.

The Square and Compasses are the oldest, the simplest, and the most universal symbols of Masonry. All the world over, whether as a sign on a building, or a badge worn by a Brother, even the profane know them to be emblems of our ancient Craft. Some Years ago, when a business firm tried to adopt the Square and Compasses as a trademark, the Patent Office refused permission, on the ground, as the decision said, that “there can be no doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic significance, universally recognized as existing; whether comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue.” They belong to such, alike by the associations of history and the tongue of common report.

Nearly everywhere in our Ritual, as in the public mind, the Square and Compasses are seen together. If not interlocked, they are seldom far apart, and the one suggests the other. And that is as it should be, because the things they symbolize are interwoven. In the old days when the earth was thought to be flat and square, the Square was an emblem of the earth, and later, of the earthly element om, as the sky is an arc or a circle, the implement which describes a Circle became the symbol of the heavenly, or sky spirit in man. thus the tools of the builder became the emblems of the thoughts of the thinker; and nothing in Masonry is more impressive than the slow elevation of the Compasses above the Square in the progress of the degrees. the whole meaning and task of life is there, for such as have eyes to see.

Let us separate the Square from the Compasses and study it alone, the better to see sits further meaning and use. There is no need to say that the Square we have in mind is not a Cube, which has four equal sides and angles, deemed by the Greeks a figure of perfection. Nor is it the square of the carpenter, one leg of which is longer than the other, with inches marked for measuring. It is a small, plain Square, unmarked and with legs of equal length, a simple try-square used for testing the accuracy of angles, and the precision with which stones are cut. since the try-square was used to prove that angles were right, it naturally became an emblem of accuracy, integrity, rightness. As stones are cut to fit into a building, so our acts and thoughts are built together into a structure of Character, badly or firmly, and must be tested by a moral standard of which the simple try-square is a symbol.

So, Among Speculative Masons, the tiny trysquare has always been a symbol of mortality, of the basic rightness which must be the test of every act and the foundation of character and society. From the beginning of the Revival in 1717 this was made plain in the teaching of Masonry, by the fact that the Holy bible was placed upon the Altar, along with the Square and Compasses. In one of the earliest catechisms of the Craft, dated 1725, the question is asked: “How many make a lodge?” The answer is specific and unmistakable: “God and the square, with five or seven right or perfect Masons.” God and the Square, Religion and Morality, must be present in every lodge as its ruling Lights, or it fails of being a just and truly constituted lodge. In all lands, in all rites where Masonry is true to itself, the Square is a symbol of righteousness, and is applied in the light of faith in God.

God and the Square: it is necessary to keep the two together in our day, because the tendency of the time is to separate them. the idea in vogue today is that morality is enough, and that faith in God if there be a God may or may not be important. Some very able men of the Craft insist that we make the teaching of Masonry too religious Whereas, as all history shows, if faith in God grows dim, morality becomes a mere custom, if not a cobweb, to be thrown off lightly. It is not rooted in reality, and so lacks authority and sanction. Such an idea, such a spirit, so widespread in our time, and finding so many able and plausible advocates strikes at the foundations, not only of Masonry, but of all ordered and advancing social life. Once let men come to think that morality is a human invention, and not a part of the order of the world, and the moral law will lose both its meaning and its power. far wiser was the old book entitled ALL IN ALL AND THE SAME FOREVER, by John Davies, and dated 1607, though written by a non-Mason, when it read the reality and nature of God in this manner: “Yet I this form of formless Deity drew by the Square and Compasses of our Creed.” For, inevitable, a society without standards will be a society without stability, and it will one day go down. Not only nations, but whole civilizations have perished in the past, for lack of righteousness. History speaks plainly in this matter, and we dare not disregard it. Hence the importance attached to the Square or Virtue, and the reason why Masons call it the great symbol of their Craft. It is a symbol of that moral law upon which human life must rest if it is to stand. A man may build a house in any way he likes, but if he expects it to stand and be his home, he must adjust his structure to the laws and forces that rule in the material realm. Just so, unless we live in obedience to the moral laws which God has written in the order of things, our lives will fall and end in wreck. When a young man forgets the simple Law of the Square, it does not need a prophet to foresee what the result will be. It is like a problem in geometry.

Such has been the meaning of the Square as far back as we can go. Long before our era we find the Square teaching the same lesson which it teaches us today. In one of the old books of China, called THE GREAT LEARNING, which has been dated in the fifth century before Christ, we read that a man should not do unto others what he would not have then do unto him; and the writer adds, “This is called the principle of acting of the square.” There it is recorded long, long ago. The greatest philosopher has found nothing more profound, and the oldest man in his ripe wisdom has learned nothing more true. Even Jesus only altered it from the negative to the positive form in His Golden Rule. So, everywhere, in our Craft and outside, the Square has taught its simple truth which does not grow old. The Deputy Provincial Grand Master of North and East Yorkshire recovered a very curious relic, in the form of an old brass Square found under the foundation of an ancient bridge near Limerick, in 1830. On it was inscribed the date, 1517, and the following words:
” Strive to live with love and care
Upon the Level, by the Square.”

How simple and beautiful it is, revealing the oldest wisdom man has learned and the very genius of our Craft. In fact and truth, the Square rules the Mason as well as the lodge in which he labors. As soon as he enters a lodge, the candidate walks with square steps round the square pavement of a rectangular lodge. All during the ceremony his attitude keeps ;him in mind of the same symbol, as if to fashion his life after its form. When he is brought to light, he beholds the Square upon the Altar, and at the same time sees that it is worn by the Master of the lodge, as the emblem of his office. In the north east corner he is shown the perfect Ashlar, and told that it the type of a finished Mason, who must be a Square-man in thought and conduct, in word and act. With every art of emphasis the Ritual writes this lesson in our hearts, and if we forget this first truth the Lost Word will remain forever lost.

For Masonry is not simple a Ritual; it is a way of living. It offers us a plan, a method, a faith by which we may build our days and years into a character so strong and true that nothing, not even death, can destroy it. Each of us has in his own heart a little try-square called Conscience, by which to test each thought and deed and word, whether it be true or false. By as much as a man honestly applies that test in his own heart, and in his relations with his fellows, by so much will his life be happy, stable, and true. Long ago the question was asked and answered: “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” It is the first obligation of a Mason to be on the Square, in all his duties and dealing with his fellow men, and if he fails there he cannot win anywhere. Let one of our poets sum it all up:

It Matters not whate’er your lot
or what your task may be
One duty there remains for you
, One duty stands for me.
Be you a doctor skilled and wise,
Or do your work for Wage,
A laborer upon the street,
An artist on the stage;
One glory still awaits for you.
one honor that is fair,
To have men say as you pass by:
” That Fellow’s on the square.”
Ah, here’s a phrase that stands for much,
Tis good old English, too;
It means that men have confidence
In everything you do.
It means that what you have you’ve earned,
And that you’ve done your best
And when you go to sleep at night
Untroubled you may rest.
It means that conscience is your guide,
And honor is your care;
There is no greater praise than this:
” That fellow’s on the square.”
And when I die I would not wish
A lengthy epitaph;
I do not want a headstone large,
Carved with fulsome chaff.
Pick out no single deed of mine,
If such a deed there be,
To ‘grave upon my monument,
For those who come to see.
Just this one phrase of all I choose,
To show my life was fair:
” Here sleepeth now a fellow who
was always on the square.”

THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN
The Masonic Service Association of the United States
VOL. 8 , AUGUST 1930, No. 8
Author Unknown

The wages which our ancient brethren received for their labors in the building of King Solomon’s Temple are paid no more. In the lodge we use them only as symbols, save in the dedication, constitution and consecration of a new lodge and in the laying of cornerstones, when once again the fruit of the land, the brew of the grape, and the essence of the olive are poured to launch a new unit of brotherhood into the fellowship of lodges; to begin a new structure dedicated to public use.

Corn, wine and oil have been associated together from the earliest times. In Deuteronomy the “nation of fierce countenance” which is to destroy the people “shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil.” In II Chronicles we read “The children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine and oil -” Nehemiah tells of a “great chamber where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn and the new wine and the oil into the treasuries.”

There are many other references in the Great Light to these particular forms of taxes. Money, tithes for religious purposes, wealth, refreshment. In ancient days the grapes in the vineyard and olives in the grove and the grain of the field were not only wealth but the measure of trade; so many skins of wine, so many cruses of oil, so many bushels of corn were to them as are dollars and cents today. Thus our ancient brethren received wages in corn, wine and oil as a practical matter; they were paid for their labors in the coin of the realm.

The oil pressed from the olive was as important to the Jews in Palestine as butter and other fats are among Occidentals. Because it was so necessary, and hence so valuable, it became an important part of sacrificial rites. There is no point in the sacrifice which is only a form. To be effective it must offer before the altar something of value; something the giving of which will testify to the love and veneration in which the sacrificer holds the Most High.

Oil was also used not only as a food but for lighting purposes; more within the house than in the open air, where the torch was more effective. Oil was also an article of the toilet; mixed with perfume it was used in the ceremonies of anointment, and in preparation for ceremonial appearances. The “precious anointment which ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard” as the quotation has it in our Entered Apprentices degree, was doubtless made of olive oil, suitable mixed with such perfumes and spices as myrrh, cinnamon, galbanum and frankincense. Probably oil was also used as a surgical dressing. Nomadic peoples, subject to injuries, could hardly avoid knowledge of the value of soothing oil.

With so many uses for oil, its production naturally was stimulated. Not only was the production of the olive grove a matter of wealth, but the nourishing and processing the oil gave employment to many. Oil was obtained from the olive both by pressing – probable by a stone wheel revolving in a large stone, mill or mortar – and also by a gentle pounding. This hand process produced a finer quality of oil. “And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.” (Exodus< 17:20.)

The corn of the Bible is not the corn we know. In many, if not the majority of the uses of the word, a more understandable translation would be simply “grain.” The principal grains of the Old Testament days were barley and wheat, and “corn” represents not only both of these, but all the grains which the Jews cultivated. Our modern corn, cultivated and cross bred was, of course, unknown to the ancients, although it might be going too far to say they had no grain similar to the Indian maize from which our great corn crop has grown.

An ear of grain has been an emblem of plenty since the mists of antiquity which shroud the beginnings of mythology. Ceres, goddess of abundance, survives today in our cereals. The Greeks called her Demeter, a corruption of Gemeter, our mother earth. She wore a garland of grain and carried ears of grain in her hand.

The Hebrew Shibboleth means both an ear of corn and a flood of water. Both are symbols of abundance, plenty, wealth. American Masonic use of a sheaf of wheat in place of an ear of wheat – or any other grain such as corn – seems rather without point or authority. As for the substitution occasionally heard of “water ford” for “water fall”, we can only blame the corrupting influence of time and the ignorance of those who have permitted it. Since a water Ford signifies paucity, the absence of water, while a water fall carries out both the translation of the word and the meaning of the ear of corn – plenty.

Scarcely less important to our ancient brethren than their corn and oil was wine. Vineyards were highly esteemed both as wealth and as comfort – the pleasant shade of the “vine and fig tree” was a part of ancient hospitality. Vineyards on mountain sides or hills were most carefully tended and protected against washing by terraces and walls, as even today one may see on the hillsides of the Rhine. Thorn hedges kept cattle from helping themselves to the grapes. The vineyardist frequently lived in a watch tower or hut on an elevation to keep sharp look-out that neither predatory man nor beast took his ripening wealth.

The Feast of Booths, in the early fall, when the grapes were ripe, was a time of joy and happiness. “New wine”__ that is, the unfermented, just pressed-out juice of the grape – was drunk by all. Fermented wine was made by storing the juice of the grape in skins or bottles. Probably most of the early wine of Old Testament days was red, but later the white grape must have come into esteem – at least, it is the principal production of that portion of the world today.

Corn, wine and oil form important and necessary parts of the ceremonies of the dedication, consecration and constitution of a new lodge.

Lodges were anciently dedicated to King Solomon, but as we all know, our modern lodges are dedicated to the Holy Sts. John. “And since their time there is represented in every regular and well governed lodge a certain point within a circle, embroidered by two parallel perpendicular lines, representing those Saints.”

This symbol of the point within the circle is far older than King Solomon’s Temple. The two lines which embroider it, and which we consider represent the Saints, were originally representative of the summer and winter solstices. The Holy Sts. John have their “days” so closely to the summer and winter solstices–(June 24 and December 27 are almost coincident to June 21 and December 21) that there can be little doubts that both lines and dates represented to our “ancient brethren” the highest and lowest point which the sun reached in its travels north and south. They are, thus, most intimately connected with the time of fecundity and harvest, the festivals of the first fruits, the depth of winter and the beginning of the long climb of the sun up from the south towards the days of warmth which that climb promised.

Hence corn, wine and oil – the produce of the land – are natural accompaniments to the dedication of a lodge which it is hoped will prosper; reap an abundance of the first fruits of Masonic cultivation and a rich harvest of ripe character from the seeds it plants.

Corn, wine and oil, poured upon the symbolic lodge at the ceremony which creates it, are essential to “erection” or “Consecration”. To the services of the Most High. From earliest times consecration has been accompanied by sacrifice, a free-will offering of something of real value to those who thus worship. Hence the sacrifice of corn, wine and oil – the wealth of the land, the strength of the tribe, the comfort and well-being of the individual – at the consecration of any place of worship or service of God.

Like so much else in our ceremonies, the idea today is wholly symbolic. The Grand Master orders his Deputy (or whatever officer is customary) to pour the corn; the Senior Grand Warden to pour the wine, the Junior Grand Warden to pour the oil upon the “Lodge” – usually a covered structure representing the original Ark of the Covenant. The corn is poured as an emblem of nourishment; the wine as an emblem of refreshment. And oil as an emblem of joy and happiness.

The sacrifice we thus make is not actual any more than Masonic work is physical labor. The ceremony should mean to those who take part in it, those who form the new lodge, that the symbolic sacrifice will be made real by the donation of the necessary time and effort and thought and brotherly affection which will truly make the new lodge an effective instrument in the hands of the builders. When the Grand Master constitutes the new loge, he brings it legally into existence. A man and a woman may be married by a civil ceremony without the blessing of God; so could a lodge be constituted, probably, without the ceremony of consecration. But as the joining of a man and a woman in matrimony is by most considered as a sacrament, to be solemnized with the blessing of the Most High. So is the creation of a new lodge essentially performed when it has been consecrated by the pouring of the corn, the wine, the oil – the wages of our “ancient Brethren.” Constitution, the legal enactment, may be the body of the making of the new lodge, but consecration is its spirit.

In the laying of a cornerstone the Grand Master also pours, or cause to be poured, the corn, the wine and the oil, symbolizing health, prosperity and peace. The fruits of the land are poured upon the cornerstone to signify that it well form part of a building which shall grow, be used for the purposes of proper refreshment, and become useful and valuable to men. The ceremonies differ in different Jurisdictions – indeed, so do those of the dedication consecration and constitution of a lodge – but the essential idea of the corn, the wine and the oil is the same everywhere, regardless of the way in which they are applied in the ritualistic ceremonies.

It probably matters very little what varieties of grain, of oil and of juice of the grape are used in these ceremonies. The symbolism will be the same, since the brethren assembled will not know the actual character of the fruits of the earth being used. To be quite correct, barley or wheat should be used for the corn, olive oil for the oil, and sacramental wine, such as is permitted by the Volstead Act for religious purposes, for the wine. It may be noted, however that “new wine” or unfermented grape juice was used by the Children of Israel as a sacrifice, as well as fermented wine, so that if there is any objection to the use of a permitted sacrificial wine, the ordinary grape juice in no way destroys the symbolism. Mineral oil of course, is oil, and it is a “fruit of the earth” in the sense that it comes from the “clay” which is constantly being employed for man’s use.” The oil of Biblical days, however, was wholly vegetable whether it was the olive oil of commerce, or the oil of cedar used in burials.

Corn, wine and oil were the wages paid our ancient brethren. They were the “master’s wages” of the days of King Solomon. Masons of this day receive no material wages for their labors; the work done in a lodge is paid for only in coin of the heart. But those wages are no less real. They may sprout as does the grain, strengthen as does the wine, nourish as does the oil. How much we receive, what we do with our wages, depends entirely on our Masonic work. A brother obtains from his lodge and from his Order only what he puts into it. Our ancient brethren were paid for physical labors. Whether their wages were paid for work performed upon the mountains and in the quarries, or whether they received corn, wine and oil because they labored in the fields and vineyards, it was true then, and it is true now, that only “in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread” To receive the equivalent of corn, wine and oil, a brother must labor. He must till the fields of his own heart or build the temple of his own “House not made with hands.” He must give labor to his neighbor or carry stones for his brother’s temple.

If he stand and wait and watch and wonder. He will not be able to ascend into the Middle Chamber where our ancient brethren received their wages. If he works for the joy of working. does his part in his lodge work, takes his place among the laborers of Freemasonry, he will receive corn, wine and oil in measures pressed down and running over and know a fraternal joy as substantial in fact as it is ethereal in quality; as real in his heart as it is intangible to the profane world.

For all of us, then, corn, wine and oil are symbols of sacrifice, of the fruits of labor, of wages earned. For all of us, so mote it be.