Living Stones Volume 4 Issue 1
January 2014
A Magazine For Freemasons
Ryan J.Masonic Flynn Artist The Illuminated
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4 The Triple Dot 6 Tradition
9 Drawing Distinctions 13 The View from the Master’s Chair 16
Man’s Need for
Ritual
20
The Winding Stairs
23
Don’t Pray, Work
26
A Romantic Look at the Hiramic Legend
29 The Craftsman’s Symbology
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The Triple Dot
T
he other day I was reading an article in “Masonic Society Journal” Issue 21 about the triple dot symbol (.ˑ.).
by John McDermid Going back to the beginning of this paper; what does the triple dot symbol mean in Freemasonry? Let’s put it all together and unveil the code.
The article was quite interesting. However, I believe, as It has been observed that the dot shows the Alpha and with most things with Freemasonry there is more to be Omega, the beginning and end, everything but nothing, explored behind this symbol (.ˑ.) to find the truth. and the origination and a conclusion as well as a Higher Power or the Creator. The triple dot symbol is a three part symbol that starts with a symbol that is often overlooked. The upright triangle is the alchemy symbol of fire which equals light, and the Supreme Being shedding His benign This symbol is a simple symbol and applies to all of the influence over the Lodge. “As the sun rises in the east to different bodies and rites of Freemasonry. open and enliven the day, so is the WM placed in the east to open his [ ], and employ and instruct…” The first symbol is the dot. Yes (.) a period or dot is a symbol of huge importance in Freemasonry. Why? Last but not least is the symbol of the number three (3). We plant the seed at the first knock, the second knock is “The dot (.) is both an origination and a conclusion, a reply for growth, and the third and final knock is the encompassing all the possibilities of the Universe within growth of something real. it, a seed full of potential and a symbol of the Supreme Being.” (Nozedar, 2010). It could be argued that those who are currently sitting in the East are a Higher Power because they rule and instruct The second symbol is the triangle. The “triangle shares their Lodge in Freemasonry. I would caution, however, all the symbolic significance of the number 3...In ancient that sitting there with the wrong mindset could burn you. times, the triangle was considered synonymous with light, You are after all playing with fire (pun intended). when firmly on its base it represents fire...the equilateral triangle is a harmonious form, which is also used to This is why, in my understanding, those who are sitting indicate a Higher Power.” (Nozedar, 2010). in the East can, if they wish, include this misunderstood symbol of the triple dot in their name. So you see, so far we have two symbols that indicate “Supreme Being” and “Higher Power” and the alchemic That said, once out of the East the upright triangle should symbol of fire or light, the third part of the symbol is the be inverted to indicate the progression toward the West. number 3. In conclusion, I hope this short explanation sheds some “In Hindu philosophy the meaning of the numbers light on this one small but very important symbol of accurately convey the idea of the changing of the seasons Freemasonry. As always, there is more to be said, but that as well as man’s progress: 1) Seed, 2) Germination, 3) is another paper... Sprouting.” (Nozedar, 2010). Reference: As most of us know, 3 is the start to make a perfect Lodge, Nozedar, A. (2010). The Illustrated Signs & Symbols the first primary officers are 3. The symbolism behind Sourcebook. London England: Harper Collins. the number 3 is: “Spirit, Communication, and Wisdom.” (Nozedar, 2010). Sincerely and Fraternally John McDermid M:.M:. Another way to look at it is: (.) is the Creator, (.-.) forms Whitecourt Lodge #153 Intellect, (.ˑ.) creates soul. Whitecourt, Alberta. Canada. The number 3 gives us this potential circle-which it becomes the first true magical number. 4
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Tradition
by Taylor Kleineick for, spreading Brotherly love. They are supplemental to our Traditions of Purpose. Traditions of Purpose stand in stark contrast to those of Happenstance. They are deliberate, symbolic, and well thought out. Our ritual is a Tradition of Purpose each phrase used, placement during a degree, and its structure. It was designed to impart specific knowledge, emotions, and connections.
F
reemasonry needs its traditions. Tradition defines freemasonry, connects the fraternity to the past, and unites strangers in foreign lands. These sacrosanct traditions are the nucleus of the Craft; there are however other less vital and sometimes deleterious traditions. Traditions of Purpose are those venerable traditions which were intentionally created for specific purposes by specific means. Details are connected to the goals by design. They include our rituals, modes of recognition, equality among Brothers, and debate before a vote. The Craft is also full of traditions of routine or utility and I will call them Traditions of Happenstance. What day Lodges meets, if dinner is before or after a meeting, what kind of candles are used are in the potpourri Traditions of Happenstance. Details of Happenstance Traditions are not connected to the goal or there is no definite goal. For instance, choosing between lasagna and spaghetti for a dinner does not affect significantly the quality of Brotherhood at the dinner. One kind of tradition is more important that the other. Traditions of Happenstance are often started for their usefulness or pragmatic benefits. They are not necessarily meant to stand against time unaltered. Often an event will be started and continue some time before becoming habit and then that habit becomes a Lodge tradition. Over time that tradition can become a chore, a tedious chore that few want to be part of. We can think of a pancake breakfast that was a huge success and brought many Brethren together but over the years it became a nuisance until finally becoming a shadow of what it once was, or worse becoming an insult to the purpose it started
Changing any tradition is contentious in Lodge, which I find puzzling. We are called Freemasons, and “Free” should have a special meaning to us. Free has been attributed to many different meanings, the one important for this discussion is the idea that we are free thinkers, those who can think beyond themselves and personal circumstances. As a Freemason we develop our ability to choose our own course and change our minds and actions when need be. We grow as men to be people who choose the right path despite hardship or being uncomfortable. The human mind is naturally conservative; it resists change (not political conservatism). In cultivating our intellect we develop the ability to free ourselves from the laziness and shortcuts of our own mind. Traditions of Happenstance should not be a contentious topic if we have all developed out ability to choose and control our natural tendencies. If it is beneficial for a Lodge to change a Tradition of Happenstance, then it should. A Tradition of Happenstance may have diverged from its goals and a new one can be made to greater effect. The worst situation is one in which the details of Tradition of Happenstance become more important than the goal. Since the two are not necessarily tied, the details should never take priority over the goal. Let’s image a Lodge that has been around for a century and always met on the first and third Tuesday. When the Lodge was founded one hundred years ago it chose the first and third Tuesday because the other Lodges in the area met on other days and those Tuesdays offered the best chance to get visiting Brethren. Now it is 2013 and the Lodge is nearly inactive. Every first and third Tuesday only enough Brethren gathered to open the Lodge, when at long last the crucial number of needed could not be met due to work obligations changing for one Brother. In panic, the idea of changing meeting days was brought
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Tradition
by Taylor Kleineick
up, a great debate was brought up, and finally a letter sent out. The question was “what meeting days would work best for you?” It had been over a hundred years since the question was asked and times had changed. The secretary found that the best day for a meeting would be on the first and third Wednesdays, and twenty Brothers would be able to and would actually come to Lodge.
We need to be free thinking and able to change when our Traditions of Happenstance no longer fulfill their use. It requires flexibility in thinking that we as Masons should be cultivating. The argument that we cannot change a tradition because it’s a tradition should irk any student of the Trivium. We can be creative and build new traditions that fill the same rule our old Traditions of Happenstance did. We can find ways to share Brotherly love, for instance Now two paths are possible. At the next meeting the the Widows Sons Motorcycle Club allows Brothers to get debate started again with a defense of Tuesday remaining together and ride, some men love riding more than eating. the meeting day since it has been the tradition for a century There are many things we can change in the Craft without and because of that tradition it should stay the same. No harming our Traditions of Purpose and we are obligated to other argument is given and the Lodge keeps meeting do so for the sake of our Brothers and the institution. on those days. Every meeting becomes a scramble to fill chairs and all talk is given to the poor state of the Lodge and how to get new members. The Lodge slowly suffocates itself because it stuck to a detail rather than the goal. It is possible that the Brethren who would rather meet on Wednesday form a new Lodge, more likely they will demit to another Lodge. The second path is the vote goes in favor of changing the meeting day. The argument being that Masonry is not about what day we meet but about meeting for work, we might need a new quarry. The Lodge meetings become more exciting and the fellowship grows, debates are lively and don’t go in circles. The Lodge survives. As it concerns Traditions of Happenstance, the minute they stop being useful to the Lodge they become harmful. They are not the traditions that unite Masons across time and space nor do they convey the importance of being Masons. They are meant to be tools, and if a tool breaks, it only makes sense to replace it. I do not make the case that our Traditions of Purpose need changing or should ever be changed; in fact I am strongly against that. I would hate for an important detail to be lost to pragmatism. Our Traditions of Happenstance serve our Traditions of Purpose, which take precedent. Traditions of Purpose are analogous with the Greek orders of architecture. They are the originals and the ones that we should esteem most. Traditions of Happenstance are the Roman orders and they are simulacrums. They are be used to great effect but are not of the same caliber as the Greek. They are modifications to simplify a process or add ornaments, for example, using a light bulb instead Bro. Taylor Kleineick of buying candles or having breakfast clubs for more High Point Lodge #773 fellowship. Monroe, OH 6
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Drawing Distinctions
by John Nagy
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Drawing Distinctions
by John Nagy
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Drawing Distinctions
by John Nagy
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Drawing Distinctions
by John Nagy
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View from the Master’s Chair
I
am truly blessed and honored to have recently been elected and installed as the 5th Worshipful Master of Lodge Veritas No. 556, in Norman, Oklahoma. I, like almost every current or Past Master that I’ve ever spoken to, have mixed emotions about the position. On one hand, there is a sense of satisfaction, in that I feel as if I’ve completed something, or finally reached a summit, especially given the fact that I have been a Blue Lodge officer for the entirety of my Masonic career. I began the chairs at my mother Lodge, before leaving my mother Lodge to focus exclusively on Lodge Veritas when it was created. There is also a since of urgency given that unless I am elected to another term, I only have one year to accomplish the agenda and goals that I have been putting together over the past several years. Finally, there is also a sense of isolation, given that in a very real way the Worshipful Master is on an island in the East, and all eyes symbolically and literally look to him for direction. Above all though, there is a feeling of duty and responsibility that I owe to not only my Lodge, but the fraternity as a whole. The weight of all of these feelings washed over me throughout my first meeting in the East, and upon reflecting on them, I have a few insights that I feel are worth sharing.
by Jason Marshall
etc. During our circumambulations all members and guests make the first circumambulation together, then the non-officers and guests fall off after passing the doors, then non-dais officers fall off on the second circumambulation, and then finally during the third full circumambulation the dais officers (J.W., S.W., and W.M.) take their stations. During our circumambulations the Worshipful Master is always part of the group, that is until the S.W. takes his position in the West, which then leaves the Worshipful Master to finish the journey eastward to his seat all alone. It is a very surreal feeling to be the person who not only travels the furthest in the circumambulations, but it is poignant that the journey is completed alone.
In talking with Brethren, I have jokingly called this last stage of the Master’s circumambulation the “checkered mile,” given that our Lodge room has checkered tile; however, upon reflection I’m not so sure that was just a joke. Looking back on my Masonic career I’ve accomplished a lot of things, some with the aid of others, and some on my own where I have had to travel a solitary path. I am pleased to say that I have done a lot of things right, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve also made mistakes, some very big mistakes I still carry the scars from. Therefore, the checkered pavement, and the last checkered mile that I walk toward my station in the East really reflects the Masonic teachings that the checkered pavement represents the foundational level of Masonic work and the good and evil (Light and Dark) elements of life. In the journey toward M.L. we are each traveling eastward, and along that path there will be ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies; however, we each have the choice to decide whether the checkered pavement will make us bitter, or if we will use it to make us better. We will also face times in our journey, where we must push forward on our journey alone, if even for My first meeting as Worshipful Master was surreal a short period of time. in many ways. First, my Lodge performs a fairly unique entrance, where the entire Lodge, and visitors, Upon taking my seat, I was struck by the dramatic view enter the Lodge together by performing clockwise of the altar which was dimly lit by the candlelight of the circumambulations. There are several reasons for this, Lodge room, and framed by the smoke rising from the which include: ceremonially cleansing the sacred space, pot of incense in front of it. While I had a similar view establishing a sense of group intention (Egregore) in the West, there was a very different feeling viewing it regarding the work at hand, and on a practical level it from the oriental chair. I think the difference in feeling is convenient to have all of the Brethren come in at the was in large part due to the Master’s position of power same time in order to make sure that all cellphones are distribution within the Lodge. As a Senior Warden, I had off, everyone is properly clothed, everyone is actually to react to the will of the Worshipful Master, while as ready to start, signal an end to casual conversations, the Worshipful Master the other officers, and Brethren January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
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View from the Master’s Chair
by Jason Marshall
Kabbalistic Tree of Life pattern. The Tree of Life acts like a circuit board of spiritual energy. The power begins at the top sephirot Keter, which then flows from one sephirot to another until finally ending in the lowest sephirot Malkuth, which then manifests its energy into the world in which it resides. The sephirot act like switches and relays on an electric circuit board that react in specific ways as energy moves through them. In the same way, the duties of officers manifest as the orders (power) of the Master travels through the Lodge.
as a whole, have to react to my will and pleasure. I don’t say this in an egomaniacal way, because there is a great deal of responsibility that comes with the power instilled in a Worshipful Master. The Worshipful Master’s position represents the sun, Light, wisdom, and King Solomon himself. Therefore, the Master is not only in charge of the organizational aspects of the Lodge, but he is the transmitter and facilitator of Light within the Lodge, and as such he has a tremendous responsibility. The power of the Worshipful Master isn’t absolute, because he must still rely on the other officers to perform the work of the Lodge. First, the power to open and close the Lodge flows from the Master to the Senior Warden, who then communicates the Master’s order (Transmits the power) to the Junior Warden, who then transmits the order to the Craft. This is similar to how the Tree of Life works in the Kabbalistic tradition. Each Kabbalistic world contains ten sephirot, which are arraigned in the familiar 14
In order for there to be an orderly Lodge, the pillars of wisdom, strength, and beauty must also be present, and once again the Master must rely on others for these to manifest. The Worshipful Master represents the pillar of wisdom, yet he must still rely on the Senior Warden (strength) and the Junior Warden (beauty). Basically, when you have wisdom to contrive and strength to support, then you will have beauty to adorn, and if even one of the pillars is absent, incomplete, or disharmonious, the other three will surely fail. Therefore, the Master must take care to ensure harmony and unity of purpose among all of the officers and Brethren, especially between himself and the Wardens. My first meeting seemed to move very quickly, and before I knew it, it was time to close the meeting. While I have often heard and been part of the recitation of the closing charges where the Junior Warden states that we should act according to the plumb of rectitude, and the Senior Warden states that we should meet on the level of equality, and finally the Worshipful Master states that we must part upon the square of virtue and morality; reciting these as Master, reminded me of the duty of the Master to keep peace and harmony within his Lodge, which is often no simple task. While my Lodge is a small Lodge, which is in-line with Traditional Observance principles, there is still plenty of drama. Even before my tenure as Master began, I had been privy to a great many back-channel, drama-filled discussions regarding someone who is upset with another Brother for some reason (often trivial). So these charges reminded me that the Master often has to not only be a leader, but also a referee among Lodge members. Peace and harmony do not simply happen, it takes hard work at times. Finally, after the closing charges, my Lodge meets at the altar for a chain of union, which is followed by our Lodge song, and then finally we circumambulate counter-
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View from the Master’s Chair
by Jason Marshall
clockwise out of the Lodge room to close the sacred space. The chain of union is a reminder for me of the bonds that unite us into a sacred band of Brothers, this bond can be strong or weak, depending on the commitment and work that formed and maintains those bonds. While I am lucky and blessed that I have inherited a Lodge with strong bonds, my job as Master will be to not only preserve those bonds, but strengthen the bonds, and through degree work and affiliations, add additional blocks to the spiritual building that forms our Lodge. The counter-clockwise circumambulation that I lead out of the Lodge room is a reminder for me that as the Worshipful Master I am the representative of the Lodge 24/7 during my tenure, even if I am outside of the tyled Lodge. Therefore, anything that I do, whether good or ill, will reflect back on the Lodge. I think this is the most important and unnerving thing for a Master. While running the meeting is relatively simple, and with planning relatively drama free, it is a bit unnerving to realize that my every action inside or outside of a tyled Lodge is a reflection of my Lodge as a whole. Accordingly, if I take an unpopular stance, my entire Lodge, whether they like it or agree with it, has ostensibly taken the same stance. Therefore, as Master I must take special care to utilize and reflect the teachings of our fraternity in all aspects of my life, so that I not only reflect positively on my Lodge, but the fraternity as a whole, which has blessed my life in so many ways, and granted me the opportunity to lead my beloved Lodge Veritas.
Worshipful Bro. Jason E. Marshall is a practicing attorney in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is a charter member and Sitting Master of Lodge Veritas #556, in Norman, Oklahoma, He is also a charter Member of Chapter Veritas #103, in Edmond Oklahoma. Jason is the author of the blog: www.LivingInTheNow.net. We are excited to congratulate Jason on the publishing of his new book! Check it out on Amazon here: http://amzn.com/1605320706
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The Rites of Manhood: Man’s Need for Ritual by Bro. Brett McKay
Our modern world is nearly devoid of rituals – at least in the way we traditionally think of them. Those that remain – such as ones that revolve around the holidays – have largely lost their transformative power and are often endured more than enjoyed, participated in as an obligatory going through of the motions. Ritual has today become associated with that which is rote, empty, meaningless.
Yet every culture, in every part of the world, in every era has engaged in rituals, suggesting they are a fundamental part of the human condition. Rituals have even been called our most basic form of technology – they are a mechanism that can change things, solve problems, perform certain functions, and accomplish tangible results. Necessity is the mother of invention, and rituals were born out of the clear-eyed perspective that life is inherently difficult and that unadulterated reality can paradoxically feel incredibly unreal. Rituals have for eons been the tools oes modern life ever feel excruciatingly flat to humans have used to release and express emotion, build you? A bleak landscape devoid of layers, rhythm, their personal identity and the identity of their tribe, bring order to chaos, orient themselves in time and space, interest, texture? effect real transformations, and bring layers of meaning Are you ever haunted by the question “Is this all there is?” and texture to their lives. When rituals are stripped from our existence, and this fundamental human longing goes Have you ever looked at an old photo and felt that the unsatisfied, restlessness, apathy, alienation, boredom, scene held such an inexplicable richness that it seemed rootlessness, and anomie are the result. you could practically step right into it? The Rites of Manhood The barren flatness of modern life is rooted in many things, including mindless consumerism, the absence of In the coming year we plan to do in-depth posts on some of significant challenges, and the lack of shared values and the rituals that have been most central to the meaning and norms, or even shared taboos to rebel against. But what is making of manhood, such as rites of passage, initiations, and oaths. This week we will be laying the foundation for the solution? these posts in two articles; the first will set up a definition Many would be quick to say faith, or philosophy, or of ritual, and the second will explore the many ways rituals are so vital for a full and meaningful life. relationships. All good answers.
D
But what is it that vivifies beliefs to the extent they can transform your perspective not simply for an hour on Sunday, but also in the mundane moments throughout your week? What can move an understanding of abstract truths from your mind into your very sinews? What can transform superficial ties with others into deep and meaningful bonds? The answer I would suggest is ritual. 16
Today we’ll provide a little context as to the nature of ritual and why it has largely disappeared from modern societies. What Is Ritual? According to Catherine Bell, professor of ritual studies and author of the preeminent textbook on the subject, ritual has been traditionally defined as an action that lacks a “practical relationship between the means one chooses to
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achieve certain ends.” For example, shaking hands when you meet someone can be considered a ritual as there is no real reason why grabbing another’s hand and shaking for a second or two should lead to acquaintanceship. It is a culturally-relative gesture; we might very well greet each other with a pat on the shoulder or even no physical contact at all. As another example, washing your hands to clean them is not a ritual since there exists a clear practical relationship between your action and the desired result. But if a priest splashes water on his hands to “purify” them, that’s a ritual, since the water is largely symbolic and not really meant to rid the hands of bacteria.
the course of a Mass. Disciplined invariance suppresses “the significance of the personal and particular moment in favor of the timeless authority of the group, its doctrines, or its practices,” and “subordinates the individual and the contingent to a sense of the encompassing and the enduring.”
Rule-governance. Rituals are often governed by a set of rules. Both war and athletics are examples of activities that can be quite ritual-like when their rules regulate what is and is not acceptable. Rules can both check and channel certain tensions; for example, the game of football channels masculine aggression into a form Bell lists six attributes of rituals: of ritualized and controlled violence. On occasion the rules fail to sufficiently check the tension that is always Formalism: This is a quality rooted in contrast and how bubbling right at the surface, as when a chaotic brawl restrictive or expressive the accepted code of behavior is breaks out amongst players. That the game reflects a for a given event/situation. For example a backyard picnic similar submerged tension within society at large is part is very casual and will not feel like a ritual because there of why the audience finds the ritual so compelling. are few guidelines for how one may express oneself. A very formal dinner, on the other hand, has a more limited Sacral symbolism. Ritual is able to take ordinary or range of accepted behaviors and thus can feel quite ritual- “profane” objects, places, parts of the body, or images, like. Bell argues that while we sometimes see formality and transform them into something special or sacred. as stuffy, since it curbs more spontaneous expression, “Their sacrality,” Bell writes, “is the way in which the formalized activities are not “necessarily empty or object is more than the mere sum of its parts and points to trivial” and “can be aesthetically as well as politically something beyond itself, thereby evoking and expressing compelling, invoking what one analyst describes as ‘a values and attitudes associated with larger, more abstract, metaphoric range of considerable power, a simplicity and relatively transcendent ideas.” Thus something like and directness, a vitality and rhythm.’ The restriction of incense can be a mere mixture of plants and oils designed gestures and phrases to a small number that are practiced, to perfume a room, or, when swung from a censer, can perfected, and soon quite evocatively familiar can endow represent the prayer of the faithful ascending into heaven. these formalized activities with great beauty and grace.” Performance. Performance is a particular kind of action Traditionalism. Rituals are often framed as activities that – one that is done for an audience. A ritual always has carry on values and behaviors that have been in place an intended audience, even if that audience is God or since an institution’s creation. This link to the past gives oneself. Tom F. Driver, a professor of theology, argues the ritual power and authority and provides the participant that “performance…means both doing and showing.” with a sense of continuity. The ritual may simply harken It is not a matter of “show-and-tell, but do-and-show.” to those who came before, as when university graduates Human are inherently actors, who wish to see themselves don the gowns that were once typical everyday classroom as characters in a larger narrative, and desire the kind of wear for scholars, or it may actually seek to recreate drama inherent in every timeless tale. Rituals function as a founding event – as in the American celebration of narrative dramas and can satisfy and release this need. Thanksgiving. In the absence of ritual, people resort to doing their “showing” on social media and creating their own drama Disciplined invariance. Often seen as one of the most – often through toxic relationships or substances. defining features of ritual, this attribute involves “a disciplined set of actions marked by precise repetition and The more of these attributes a behavior/event/situation physical control.” Think of soldiers marching in drill step invokes, the more different from everyday life and ritualor the sit/stand/kneel pattern followed by Catholics during like it will seem. The fewer of these attributes present, January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
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the more casual and ordinary it will feel.
Rituals can in fact be large or small, private or public, personal or social, religious or secular, uniting or dividing, For a more simple definition of ritual, here’s one that conformist or rebellious. Funerals, weddings, presidential works: thought + action. A ritual consists of doing inaugurations, church services, baptisms, fraternal something in your mind (and often feeling something in initiations, and tribal rites of passage are all rituals. your heart), while simultaneously connecting it to doing Handshakes, dates, greetings and goodbyes, tattoos, table something with your body. manners, your morning jog, and even singing the Happy Birthday song can be rituals as well. Whither Ritual? In many traditional societies, almost every aspect of life was ritualized. So why is there such a dearth of rituals in modern culture? The embrace of ritual in the Western World was first weakened by two things: the Protestant Reformation’s movement against icons and ceremonialism and the Enlightenment’s emphasis on rationalism. Historian Peter Burke, argues “the Reformation was, among other things, a great debate, unparalleled in scale Rituals fall into a wide variety of categories. Theorist and intensity, about the meaning of ritual, its functions Ronald Grimes lists 16 of them: and its proper forms.” Many Protestants concluded that Rites of passage Marriage rites Funerary rites Festivals Pilgrimage Purification Civil ceremonies Rituals of exchange (as in worshipers making sacrifices to the gods in hope of receiving blessings from the divine) Worship Magic Healing rites Interaction rites Meditation rites Rites of inversion (rituals of reversal, where violating cultural norms is temporarily allowed, as in men dressing like women) Sacrifice Ritual drama
the kind of rituals the Catholic Church practiced gave too much emphasis to empty, outward forms, rather than one’s internal state of grace. They rejected the “magical efficacy” of rites to be able to do things like change bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ.
The important thing to understand about rituals is that they are not limited to very big, very formal events. The magical efficacy of ritual was attacked from the other 18
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side by Enlightenment thinkers. As discussed above, ritual is inherently nonrational since there is no practical relationship between the action and the end result. It is not rational to think that painting one’s body before battle will offer protection, that a rite of passage can turn a boy into a man, or that smoking a peace pipe can seal a treaty. Thus, ritual began to be associated with the superstitions of primitive peoples.
disdain for ritual, it is a human art form and practice which should be revived. It is true that ritual can be used for good or for ill, yet its benefit is so great that fear of the bad should not lead us to throw out the baby with the bath water. Even if a man sees no place for ritual in his faith, he can have great use for it in other areas in his life (indeed, if his faith is completely unritualized, he has all the more need for other kinds of rituals). We will argue that even the most rational man might make room in his life for some Suspicion of ritual again grew after World War II, in the “magic,” and that while ritual may seem constraining, it wake of the way in which ritual ceremonies had been used can paradoxically be incredibly empowering and even to solidify loyalty to the Nazi cause. liberating. How that might be so, is where we will turn next time. Cultural embrace of ritual then really began to unravel during the social movements of the 1960s, which Sources: emphasized free expression, personal freedom, and Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions by Catherine Bell individual emotional fulfillment above all. Rituals — Liberating Rites: Understanding the Transformative which prescribe certain disciplined behaviors in certain Power of Ritual by Tom F. Driver situations, and require a person to forfeit some of their individuality in service to the synchrony and identity of the group — constrain spontaneity and the ability to do whatever one pleases. Ritual thus came to be seen as too constraining and not sufficiently “authentic.” For these reasons, the use of and participation in rituals has been greatly curtailed. Or perhaps as historian Peter Burke argues, we’ve just replaced old rituals with new ones: “If most people in industrial societies no longer go to church regularly or practice elaborate rituals of initiation, this does not mean that ritual has declined. All that has happened is the new types of rituals—political, sporting, musical, medical, academic and so on—have taken the place of the traditional ones.” But the new rituals – watching sports, attending music festivals, checking Facebook, shopping, visiting a strip club on your 18th birthday — are light on nourishment and do not satisfy. Traditional rituals provided a mechanism by which humans could channel and process that which was difficult to grapple with – death, maturation, aggression – allowing the participant to discover new truths about themselves and the world. New rituals, if they can even really be called such, attempt to deny anything ugly in life (lest that lead you to close your wallet) and present a shiny, glossy façade — “confetti culture” – that facilitates passive consumption and turning away from examining given assumptions.
Editor’s Note: Living Stones Masonic Magazine is partnering with Author- Bro. Brett McKay, creator of the very popular book and site - The Art of Manliness. (www. artofmanliness.com) Bro. Brett who is a member of Veritas Lodge #556 in Norman, OK, has offered to let us publish some of his articles from time to time that fit our Masonic magazine and the interests of our readers. Brett’s site also contains a forum for Freemasons: http://community.artofmanliness.com/group/freemasonry
So please head over to his site and take some time to peruse his wonderful information and sign up for the Masonic group in his discussion forums. Let him know you came because of Living Stones...and most especially look for further articles of his in upcoming issues In our next article, we will argue that despite the cultural exclusively in Living Stones Masonic Magazine! January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
19
The Winding Stairs
by Robert Kalian
“The entrance for the middle
story was on the south side of the house; one went up by the winding stairs to the middle story”
F
1 Kings 6:8
rom the above passage, the Masons of the last century adopted the symbol of the Winding Stairs and introduced it into the Fellow Craft degree where, ever since, it has remained the American Rite. In one of the high degrees of the Scottish Rite, the Winding Stairs are called cochleus.
The whole of the Winding Stairs is a mere myth, without any other foundation than the slight allusion of the Book of Kings and derives its only value from the symbolism taught in its lesson of the 2nd degree.1 “It is in the symbols where our Masonic strength lies.” Symbolism and its usage are as old as time itself. Ancient Egyptians communicated knowledge and teachings in their symbols. Actually, because of the lack of literacy, man’s earliest instruction was by means of symbols. The learned Faber, writer of ancient origins, remarks that “allegory and personification were peculiarly agreeable to the genius of antiquity.” 2 Masonry is the expression of an idea which is derived from the comparison or contrast of some object of moral conception or attribute. Thus the plumb in a symbol of rectitude; the level of equality; the beehive of industry. 3 In our Masonic ritual during the instructional process, we present to the neophyte the varied expression and meaning of the idea of rectitude, or uprightness of conduct. To study and compare these physical objects or symbols as pictured in the Winding Stairs and extracted from them the moral ideas they are intended to express is to make oneself acquainted with the symbolism of Masonry. To know the formulas of Masonry is of little value by itself, as to know so many words and sentences in some foreign language. To know even the meaning of the symbols is but little unless that knowledge adds to our wisdom.
realities of a Masonic career … A straight stair, a ladder hides neither secret or mystery at its top. But the stairs which wind hide each step from the climber; what is just around the corner is unknown.” The flight of winding stairs is symbolic of the rough and ragged twisting and turning path of human life. 4 Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century B.C., taught geometry-using numbers as symbols of spiritual truths, contending that all things are in numbers. In the Winding Stairs, we have the most comprehensive exposition of the symbology of numbers contained in our rituals.5
Taking the first flight, we have the first complete numbers formed by the union of the first odd and first even numbers. The ancient Greeks and Romans had great veneration for their numbers and esteemed it as the triad. The ancient Gods were divided into three classes – Brother Carl H. Claudy, one of the greatest Masonic Celestial, Terrestrial, and Infernal; and the sons of Saturn, writers states, “The Winding Stairs are the symbol of the among whom the world was divided, were three. Other 20
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The Winding Stairs
evidence of the ancients’ veneration for their numbers (three) is found in Jupiter’s three-forked thunderbolt and Neptune’s trident.6 Brethren will notice the triad running throughout all of our work.7 The second flight of stairs is said to refer to the five senses; the five Orders of Architecture; the five Officers who hold a Lodge; the lecture desk mainly with the five orders of Architecture, which are taken as representative of the organization of Society. The Egyptians had a special veneration for the number five as representing the universe: earth, water, fire, air, and the spirit.8
by Robert Kalian
of seven branches. These are only a few of the many examples that could be given to show the number seven has, at all times among all nations, been regarded as a symbol of perfection. The total number of steps is fifteen and its significance that this was a sacred number among the Jews was because the letters of the Holy Name was a figure in which the nine digits were so arranged that when added together, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally made fifteen.10
Standing at the foot of the Winding Stairs, the neophyte The third flight of seven stairs is said to represent the becomes aware of the fact that, although the course is seven who make a Lodge perfect and the seven liberal toilsome and winding, it is ever upward. Nature does arts and sciences. It’s the number seven that opens up a not stand still, neither can man. Evolution is forward not very wide field of speculation. Seven is the number of backward and the march of time involves man’s destiny. perfection containing the first complete numbers and the square of the first even numbers, or as Pythagoreans “The highest faith still makes the highest man, describe it as being made up of the number three and For we grow like the things our souls believe, four which represent the triangle and the square and the And rise or sink as we aim high or low.” perfect figures.9 - Author unknown11 Solomon took seven years building the Temple which The first three steps represent the triangle, an emblem was dedicated in the seventh month and the festival lasted of the deity, and draw the Freemason candidate’s seven days. The candlestick in the Temple consisted attention first to his duty to God. Without a belief in January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
21
The Winding Stairs
by Robert Kalian
God and reverence for his Creator he cannot successfully RESOURCES: accomplish the first stage of his journey to the Middle 1. William J .Hughan, 32° and Edward L. Hawkins M.A. 30° - An Chamber where he hopes to receive his wages. The second flight of five steps symbolizes Organized Society and impresses upon him his duty to his neighbor. The Order of Architecture reminds him of the union of man and society and the development of the social state from that of nature. Masonry itself is a result of civilization, and we claim that it has been one of the most successful means of extending the provisions and structure of mankind. MAN has a duty to society, and the Freemason candidate must religiously discharge that duty if he’s to rise above the animal.
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry; p. 850 Ibid p. 751 Ibid p. 751 Jerry Marsengill PM, Oklahoma Mason V 35 n1, July 1969, p. 4 Transitions of the Masters and Past Masters Lodge, New Zealand, No 130, V5 n 12, November 1926, p. 136 6. Ibid, p. 136 7. Ibid, p. 136 8. Ibid, p. 137 9. Ibid, p. 137 10. Ibid, p. 138 11. Ibid, p. 138 12. Ibid, p. 138 13. William J .Hughan, 32° and Edward L. Hawkins M.A. 30° - An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry; p. 851 2. 3. 4. 5.
I slept and dreamt that life was beauty, I woke and found that life was duty. - Author unknown12
A very preliminary step to the attainment of Divine Truth is symbolized by The Word and the quest for the Lost Word. It must be remembered that a reward was promised to the neophyte for his laborious ascent of the winding stairs. Now what is the reward of the Speculative Mason? Not money, not corn, nor wine, nor oil. All three are passive symbols. His wages are truth. Having received his wages, knowledge of Divine Truth is symbolized in the Freemason by the lost word, for there is no feature in Masonry more fascinating than its age-long quest of the “Lost Word” – The Ineffable Name – a quest that never tires or tarries. There is no royal road to Freemasonry. We must, as have all Masons and all men before us, climb the winding stairs of life, and after having proven worth be admitted into the middle chamber – to the place of wages, refreshment, and rest, and to receive from him who sits there to pay the wages to the faithful, the results of our earthly labors. What mote yitt be? What may this mystery of Masonry be?
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WB Robert Kalian was raised a MM in 1969 in Overseas lodge #40 in Cranston Rhode Island. He affiliated with the Scottish Rite Valley of Providence in 1970 and served as Master of E.L. Freeman Lodge #41 in Pawtucket, RI. In May, 1976 Bob received the highest award of from the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island the Exemplary Masonic service award for his writing of the Bicentennial history of Rhode Island Masonry and the creation of the Rhode Island Freemason newspaper, now in its 40th year of publication.
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Don’t Pray, Work
by Cliff Porter theory continued that if we did so, we would have enough “extra” money, or our own money left, to invest in realistic retirement strategies that would prove more viable than collecting a small check at the age of 88. A rather youngish reporter commented, “We are all victims of the same poor planning.” She went on to say that we need some sort of retirement safety net because we could not, as a people, be trusted to save for ourselves.
The following is an excerpt of Cliff’s upcoming book, 10 East Steps to Being a Heretic. The premise of the book is humorous, but takes a serious look at our current religious practices in order to find a much more loving relationship with Deity. Cliff is barred membership in the church of his youth because he is now a Freemason, a heretic.
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very once in a great while, we all go against our better judgment and tune in to one of the national news channels. The last time I tuned in, the story of the day was the economy. Republicans had just won huge victories in the House, slightly less, but impressive victories in the Senate, and Nancy Pelosi’s statement that there was nothing wrong, nothing to see, and the Democrats would remain in power seemed about as accurate as anything once said by Newt Gingrich when he held similar sway with the Republicans who had lost power in similar fashion just a decade before.
That was a rather long introduction to prove a singular point, but it was necessary to paint the picture of the time and date of this observation. The words, “We are all victims of the same poor planning,” are important here and illustrate the point we are discussing. We are not victims of planning. When something is planned or not, we are the result of it. In reality, we are not even dealing with planning; we are dealing with a complete lack of it. But to spend all our money and call ourselves victims is a joke. The idea that we are victims of our own inability to take care of our poor meager selves is rubbish, but it feels good so it sells. It sells in politics because it allows us to blame others for our material circumstances and it sells in religion because it allows others to take charge of our spiritual circumstances. I mean, come on, I hire someone to do something as simple as my taxes, how can I be expected to understand all the ins and outs of my own eternal life, right?
There seems to be three places or moments in a person’s There were some who wished to take aim at Social life when finding God is a certainty; when a man is Security, and there was much debate about how to incarcerated, when he faces death, and when he finishes “reform” the program. The idea from simply refraining the act that creates life, he will call God’s name or reach from dipping into the Social Security honeypot was no out in prayer. longer enough. Congress could not stop themselves from refraining, so the story went that something had to be Prayer has become the language of the desperate and the last bastion of the lazy. The devolution of prayer as the done. howl of the foolish is a symptom of the apathy that has One radical speaker said that we should do away with become everyday life. Tolerance and harmony are falsities Social Security all together. He went on to say it was a of the desire to pretend there is unity instead of laboring failed program, we dipped into it for programs that were to achieve real oneness. not social and not security, and so it amounted to an extra tax. He continued that eventually you would need to be Thus we have councils of churches like the Evangelical in your 90s to collect, making the program a joke. We Church Alliance, which seeks to unify churches and should, he declared, stop calling this extra income tax a credential pastors, but still has churches within its own retirement program and do away with it all together. His ranks back biting and harming one another. Even alliances January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
23
Don’t Pray, Work
by Cliff Porter
where denominational independence is maintained causes False tolerance has become the mantra of the liberally splintering. minded and fear of failure causes even the most brave to keep their definitions to themselves, all to the detriment of This laziness, this idleness, this destruction of our society. communication with God is a direct result of failing to define the role of God in our lives and faith within our The language used by the false pretenders of faith, the hearts. Understand that the Heretic does not seek to spiritual cowards of the church, and of the lazy mind is, anthropomorphize Deity, but we must define God for unfortunately prayer. Well, they call it prayer, although it ourselves, we must have a concept of Him that was not is more the desperate wailings of those who choose not to carved and manipulated by others so that when we are labor in the quarry of their own faith. yelling at one another we understand who’s in the fight and what we are yelling about. When someone asks a Heretic, Prayer and the “kingdom within us” are extraordinary. “Why do you love God?” The Heretic has an answer and Prayer, all by itself, changes lives; it builds buildings, it is not a fear based autonomic response drilled into his establishes governments, and raises empires. It is an or her head from a Sunday school teacher or scowling nun expression of one of the most beautiful philosophies that with a ruler. It is an answer found within the spark that has ever existed, and we, as its guardians, we as images resides within his or her heart. It is the seed of communion of the most high, refuse to define it in our lives for the with God planted there with hard work and labor. purpose of false harmony. The knee jerk reaction from the chronic schismaticism of the evangelical fundamentalist is that it has become commonplace within metaphysical communities, for the sake of false harmony, to claim that God is anything and everything, that morality is relative, and that any and all symbols mean only what the particular viewer intends for them to mean. Worse, foolish statements such as, “You can’t truly define faith or morality” have become the norm in a sea of idle minds that would rather leave faith and God with no definition in our lives rather than have the courage to define these terms for themselves.
In fear of offending those who have never, or may never, appreciate the philosophies of freedom, independence, and a personal and loving God, we have removed our mystical tradition to the point that we know it not. Prayer then becomes the mantra of the desperate, a desperate scream to a God we love not, in hopes that between His rage and hate, He will find mercy on the lowly and meek. We surrendered control of our salvation, declared good deeds a sin, and now we wail to a God we hate in hopes that He will hear us just once. So, even the most loving men, with good intentions of undoing the dissension of the fundamentalist, refuse to assign meaning to a symbol and to define a personal God within them, so that a man who might assign a different meaning might not be offended. Or, worse, the men are afraid that they are weak minded and might be found wrong by someone who they considered intellectually superior. Intellectual cowardice is the sin of men who worship at the altar of the lazy. Those who have little patience, but are less than completely lazy, often rush to the Eastern philosophies for fast food enlightenment, and after an elementary introduction to comparative religion, believe they have found truth. All of a sudden the world is Buddhist, Christ is a fraud, and they speak with little kindness toward their own Western traditions, although their understanding of the Eastern
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Don’t Pray, Work ones is limited and usually extremely flawed. The Eastern philosophies contain much beauty, but they are a way of life and not a Google search. The tragic result of the abbreviated belief system is often some bogus teaching or preaching that morality is subjective. “Skuvbalon!” as the Apostle Paul might have said.
by Cliff Porter laudable undertakings. The difference is this: The Heretic searches from the inside out for the answers. When the answers are found, the Heretic takes action in labor. They work to achieve the inspiration granted within their faith and intellect.
The faith of the Heretic is definable. It is labor.
Hoping things will change is not an aerobic exercise, but working to make those changes is Godly, good, and The prayer of the Heretic is labor, work, courage, and downright heretical. self-reliance, while being in love with your Creator all at the same time. Why is it work? It is because the Heretic is forced to discern truth from falsehood with reason, logic, and common sense. There are pitfalls for the Heretic. With desire to prove that we are Heretical, tolerant, and liberal in the classical sense, or liberated in our faith, we are in danger of going overboard if lazy and falling into moral relativism. When we do this, we create fundamentalist reactions. How? When we fail to declare even the most bizarre and horrible of behaviors or faiths as false and ridiculous, the natural reaction from the outsider is to reject all of the Heretic teaching and latch onto the safety of fundamentalism and discern only “one” truth. Fundamentalism is seen as more tolerable than having everything be a truth. So as the Heretic shakes off orthodoxy, they must be careful to do so in favor of logic, reason, and research; not for the sake of standing out or standing alone. So, the road of the Heretic here becomes a rough and ready one. It requires one to know why they believe, not just what they believe. Then, the Heretic is, as mentioned previously, to take responsibility for their actions in life. It is a twofold life of labor. One in which we labor for our faith and then labor as a result of that faith in our lives. We labor toward morality and right for its own sake. On prayer itself, life is a prayer. When we come to understand our nature as one with God and we are within W.B. Cliff Porter is a published author and speaker from His presence at all times, how can living not be a prayer Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also a founding/charter and living morally not be a just and right prayer? member and Past Master of Enlightenment Lodge #198 AF&AM of CO, His first book, The Secret Psychology This is not to say that the Heretic does not call out to of Freemasonry, as well as his latest book A Traditional God. We do. We give thanks, we ask for forgiveness for Observance Lodge are available on Amazon Books. our failings, and we call upon the blessing of Deity in our January 2014 Visit us online at: www.LivingStonesMagazine.com
25
A Romantic Look at the Hiramic Legend
by Charles Harper Sr.
the “higher degrees” by 1730. Before there was mention of the Hiramic Legend being practiced in Lodges only a few years earlier, there were definitively only two degrees of the speculative Craft. Men were initiated, and then made speculative Master Masons. In Freemason’s Guide and Compendium, author Bernard E. Smith states that there is a reference to Hiram in the Cooke Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century: “And ye Kyngis sone of Tyry was his maist. Masen.”2 He goes on to state that in the Grand Lodge Manuscript No. 1 of 1583, that King Hiram is referred to as Iram, and the son is called Aynone, a master of Geometry and chief master of Solomon’s Masons. This thinking, which can feed into the mind of reasonable sense as Geometry, is said to be the superstructure upon which Freemasonry is built. This is a logical beginning of the Legend, especially if one notes the many references to Hiram in its many spelling forms through many of the following manuscripts. It is likewise interesting that at the same time this legend is being unofficially developed, the changes in culture in Great Britain with the thinking of man are occurring as well in a time called The Age of Reformation.
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The Age of Reformation, which occurred during the late 17th century, was when the exploration of the derivative of an individual’s conscience choice between good and bad was pit against the Biblical authority of the Papal in the Church’s authority of where thought originated, and the suppression of scientific conclusions of the soul; and it is the same time when the appearance of the Hiramic Legend in its rude form began to surface. So what are we seeing here? Hiram appeared as a master, i.e. a symbol of Geometry, which can be seen as a scientific process of examining man’s determination of his conscience choice between doing what is right, and what is wrong. Philosophers such as Diderot, Rousseau, Galilei, and Voltaire, who we know was initiated into Freemasonry, started to emerge and present philosophies that excited the minds of society. Men such as Galilei began to challenge “Free-masonry became hermetic for one small class of biblically based teachings on the Earth-centered universe its members, it became for all the rest only a system of with his telescopically assisted observations of the orbital morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.”1 paths of the planets. Writings began to be very explanative This sentence in the book Esoterika, translated and of the freedom of conscience, scientific theories of the annotated by Illustrious Brother Arturo De Hoyos, sparked evolution of the world, and the enlightenment period a deep curiosity within me. It is well accepted that the 3rd kicked into high gear, placing the Papal in a position that degree was added to the speculative Craft as the first of weakened the authority of the Church over the minds of men. The problem for the Church was that the thinkers of he Hiramic Legend is a distinctive part of speculative Freemasonry that is required to be a part of the ritual of the 3rd degree in every regular and well governed Lodge. Every Master Mason of a regular and recognized Masonic jurisdiction tracing its origins to the first Grand Lodge of London, England in 1717 has at least taken a special part in this degree. It is the culmination of the journey through apprenticeship, and being passed into becoming a Fellow of the Craft. It is curious, this addition to the degrees of speculative Craft Freemasonry and the age of Romanticism coming into popularity at the same time. There are curious parallels that exist. These parallels could hold the path to the true meaning of the purpose of the Hiramic Legend and why it became the culmination of the Master Masons Degree.
1. Pike, A. De Hoyos, A. (2008) Esoterika, the Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry, pg. lx 26
2. Smith, B. (1950) Freemasons Guide and Compendium, pg. 304
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A Romantic Look at the Hiramic Legend the time thought that “God may have created the universe, but, like a great clockmaker, He left it to the laws of nature to run the world in an ordered, mechanical way that was completely discoverable by human reason.”3 As the Enlightenment period began, men such as Robert Moray and Elias Ashmole, both gentlemen, one of which was a Hermeticist, Ashmole, the other an aristocrat, Moray, were initiated into the operative Craft as nonoperative Masons. The Hiramic Legend, not officially a part of Masonic Ritual at this point, was still being ushered along as an instrument, a vessel, a symbol if you will, of information. Hiram was still seen as a geometric figure in this period. But as enlightenment began to be suppressed once again, we see that philosophers began to change their writings from blatant theories, into stories. Why? Fear of persecution. Enlightenment led to such wars as the French Revolution, where the National Assemble in France was establish in 1789, and in an attempt to limit the “Catholic Church’s power, the assembly confiscated its lands, dissolved all monastic orders and convents, and declared all priests and bishops to be civil employees who would be elected, answerable not to the Pope but to the
by Charles Harper Sr.
people of France. All clergy were required to take an oath of loyalty to the new state; the vast majority refused to do so.”4 Those who opposed the Monarchy were seen as traitors and were captured and executed. As this writing changed from a style exhibiting enlightenment to romanticism, so did the Hiramic Legend. The story turned from geometric to biblical in the 18th century. Why? Did the story tellers, the speculative Masons, out of a foresight of suppression to come, preempt the suppression of speculative Freemasonry by changing Hiram from science to biblical before the surge of the Church to oppress those of free thought occurred? What better way to hide information in plain sight from those who would seek to destroy it? The growth of Hiram in Masonic history evolved from science, truly having its birth in hermeticism and alchemy as is easily shown in the entire second section of the 3rd degree ritual, into a legend, a story. This transformation is much the same as philosophers began to illustrate thoughts of philosophy through stories of hypothetical persons and accounts. They used stories such as Honoré de Balzac’s short story “The Conscript” to illustrate to the world the suppression of free will and choice of the people by the Monarchy, following the direction of the Papal, in a manner that evaded the notice of the Church. Hiram was no longer a geometric symbol of scientific thought; he became the biblical Hiram of Tyre, the son of a widow of the Tribe of Naphtali, in Masonic reference. Is this what evades many practicing Masons from tapping into the truth, the Light, of Freemasonry? Are too many Masons today blinded by the appearance of the vessel, the fine China, the music and laughter, instead of the cargo it is holding? Conceal, and never reveal, is what we as Masons are taught to do. How much thought is given by the masses of the Fraternity as to what we are concealing though? Brother Cliff Porter, and other notable Masonic scholars, states time and time again that it is not our signs and words that make a man better because if it were, the fraternity has failed in finding a way to make a man a better one. I have never witnessed a man walk into our Lodge, receive the degrees, be shown the sign and given the pass of a Master Mason, and walk out the Lodge with a glow of enlightenment. I believe he has only been given the cypher, which I believe is all our ritual is, a cypher.
Elias Ashmole 3. Van Tuyll, P., Bahm, K., Enright, K. (2011) Historical Contexts and Literature.
4. Van Tuyll, P.
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27
A Romantic Look at the Hiramic Legend
by Charles Harper Sr.
The journey is to find the key. Each man must journey into shovel, static in hand, and never employ it to remove the the ritual, into discussion, and into his own consciousness soil to find the clay hiding beneath. to find the key. The key is purposely hidden in the same fashion that the road to continued enlightenment had to be hidden during the enlightenment/romanticism period, in the Hiramic Legend. I sat in Brother John Nagy’s Building Better Builders workshop in 2011. It lasted upwards of five hours. I had my mind blown away. He did explain some things that were new to me, but more importantly, he explained how to use many of the symbolic tools I already knew the meanings too. What his workshop did was unlock my train of sight so that I could now apply all that I had already learned through reading and memorizing, and see my key. All that I read, and learned, in my previous years of Freemasonry became only surface material as it had no depth before his workshop. A shroud had been lifted from my vision and I found MY KEY to the cypher called Masonic ritual. A bomb figuratively exploded in my mind. All it took was the right discussion, the right visit, the right engagement into a different culture of Masonry, for me to finally see how Freemasonry was beneficial in making me a better man, and how I could apply what was in me, to the world; My True Charity. This is the point, and purposeful distraction, of the path to enlightenment in Masonic ritual.
Br. Charles Harper is an Illinois Freemason in Illumination Lodge no. 5 and Pleiades Lodge no. 478. A member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, Lafeyette Chapter No. 2, Chicago Council No.4 and the St. Bernard Commandery No. 35. Internet Lodge no. 9659 of the United Grand Lodge of England. Brother Harper also serves as the Secretary of Illuminati Council No. 495 of the AMD.
Some will continue to follow the surface of the words, as it plays into the safety net of Freemasonry, that part that is most accepting outwardly to a society that finds comfort in relating to a specific religious dogma for participation. Check out Bro. Charles Harper’s new book Freemasonry They will board the vessel of the outward language of in Black and White. Masonic ritual, romantically travelling, ever safely to that undiscovered country, not ever realizing what was http://www.freemasonryinblackandwhite.com contained in the cargo hold. Others, the minority, the Ashmoles of the Fraternity, will continue to exist as the minority. They will continually be the ones who do not get lost in the romantic notions, place their hands on the tools in the hold, and use them as intended. The question is, how long will the Ashmoles of the fraternity sit in that cargo hold of this ship, alone, in the bottom, while the party continues on the main deck? My Brethren, the romanticism period is for the profane, let them have it. Isn’t it time to place the importance on the enlightenment purposefully protected from society, again? Isn’t it now time to employ the tools, instead of holding them for the beauty of the craftsmanship? One cannot find diamonds simply by looking at the coal. One cannot make designs by simply looking at the chalk. One cannot build with his 28
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The Craftsman’s Symbology Editor’s note: The following is a portion of a chapter from Bro. Anthony Mongelli’s book The Craftsman’s Symbology which he has generously allowed us to print as an example of his fine book..it can be purchased here: http://www.anthonymongelli.com
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t has been my experience that the lodge-room fixtures most wondered about amongst the profane, upon their fixing eyes upon them, are the enigmatic pillars. There is no great wonder in this, given that even the majority of Masons know nothing other about them then what is related in the ritual – particularly in the Middle Chamber Lecture of the Degree of Fellowcraft.
by Anthony Mongelli various cultures and times. We are informed that the pillars of the lodge room represent the celebrated pair that loomed at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple (Coil, 1961; Mackey A. G., 1874; Lawrence, 1912). We will reserve our discussion of these mysterious pillars until the end of this section. Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, relates that the progeny of Seth1 erected two pillars – one of brick and the other of stone – on which they inscribed their discoveries concerning a “peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order,” that they might not be lost in the cataclysms which Adam had foretold2 (Whiston, 1835). Herodotus3 wrote of twin pillars found in a temple of Heracles4 in the Phoenician city of Tyre: “….I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of Heracles at that place, very highly venerated. I visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings, among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of smaragdos5, shining with great brilliance at night.” Theophrastus6 confirms the existence of the emerald pillar in Chapter XXIII of this work, “On Stones” (Mangin, 1875). Before discussing the possible significance of the emerald and gold pillars, let us first consider the Pillars of Hercules. Greek mythology relates that the hero Hercules7, son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, murdered his children in a fit of madness. The god Apollo, via the Oracle at Delphi, places upon Hercules a weighty
Reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple; note the vaunted pillars flanking the entrance.
The pillars carry tremendous significance with regards to the initiatic process – both within The Craft and within various Mystery traditions of antiquity. As we have done in our study of the circumpunct and of the apron, we will range about seeking after pillars and their significance in
1. The third son of Adam and Eve, and brother to Cain and Abel. 2. According to Josephus, Adam had predicted that the world would be destroyed once by a cataclysmic fire and once by a cataclysmic flood. 3. Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian of the 5th century BCE (ca. 484 BCE–ca. 425 BCE) and is regarded as the “Father of History:” As he was the first to use the term. He is known for writing The Histories. 4. Hercules. 5. Emerald. 6. Greek philosopher who succeeded Aristotle as leader of the Peripatetics and refined the work of Aristotle in botany and other natural sciences, logic and metaphysics. He is noted especially for his work Characters. 7. “Hercules” is the Roman version of Heracles.
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The Craftsman’s Symbology penitential yoke: he was to submit himself to his cousin8 for a period of twelve years, who ultimately prescribes for him the famed Twelve Labors9 (Pache, 2009).
by Anthony Mongelli Anciently, cattle were deemed a sign of affluence, being prized as things of very great value (Pomeroy, 1999); indeed, in Homeric poems the worth of things is expressed in cattle (Schaps, 2004). Geryon kept his cattle in a dark cave at night (Hyde, 1904; Murray, 1935). In the prosecution of this labor, the hero had more to deal with than Geryon alone – he was attacked by the twoheaded dog Orthus11.
Two-headed Orthus slain, Athenian red-figure kylix, ca. 6th Century BCE. Bronze statue of Hercules, 2nd century BCE.
The last of the mandated labors was one of robbery – Hercules was to steal the cattle of the monster Geryon, who dwelled on the island of Erytheia10 and was described as having three heads, six arms and six legs (Hard, 2004; Murray, 1935). In short, Hercules bested and slew Geryon, seizing his herds and driving them eastward to Eurystheus, his kin and taskmaster. An examination of the significance of Hercules’ cattle raid will enrich our discourse upon the eponymous pillars he reared, and shall also have bearing on the significance of the other pillar pairs we will touch upon. Moreover, it is my favorite amongst the Herculean labors, and I think some time spent reflecting upon several metaphors of this tale will not be spent in vain.
8. Hercules’ cousin was Eurystheus, King of Tiryns, in Argolis in the Peloponnese. 9. Eurystheus originally prescribed ten labors, but he refused to acknowledge two of them because Hercules’ had enlisted help in performing these. Accordingly, Eurystheus commanded that two more tasks be performed, bringing the total number of labors worked by Hercules to twelve. 10. Meaning “red place.” Also of interest – the cattle were red. It has been suggested that this signifies a place of the setting sun; the area of the world where Hercules’ Pillars were situated was believed to be the western most edge. (Schefold, 1992; Murray, 1935) 30
Let us begin first by treating the possible significance of Orthus. Quite a diverse symbolism has been attached to dogs, within which we will find the dog deemed guide between the world of life and death12 (Valborg, 2007; Ronnberg, 2010). The dog has also been thought to signify the will (Gaskell, 1923). In Hercules’ killing of Orthus, we may see mastery over a will fractured by bivalency (as represented by the two heads); the vanquishing of this grotesque beast may symbolize our commitment to a unity of purpose and single-mindedness in our regenerative labors. Orthus has been seen as the closest analog to the Roman Janus13 (see image on previous page), the deity with one forward and one backward-looking face (Littleton, 2005). In dispatching the canine warden of thresholds, perhaps we announce that we no longer vacillate between realms, but rather move Eastward presently and solely. The portals of regression have been closed.
11. Orthus was brother to the better-known three-headed dog Cerberus. 12. The Kongo People of the Atlantic coast of Africa say that dogs have two sets of eyes – one of this world and the other for the spirit realm. 13. Janus was one of the oldest Italianate deities. He was the guardian of all entrances, thresholds, beginnings, and endings. The month January is name for him. He is depicted as having two faces looking in opposite directions.
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The Craftsman’s Symbology
by Anthony Mongelli
Janus on a silver quadrigatus minted in Rome, early 2nd Century BCE. Courtesy of Ethnucoins.
In driving cattle that were kept in a cave, we actively rescue a thing of great worth from a place of darkness. Consider that the cave is generally a symbol of the unconscious, and also of the tomb and the womb (Stewart, 2005; Ronnberg, 2010). As Hercules brought up treasure from the blackness of a cave into the light of the day, so should we seek to imitate him in bringing forth our glory from the sepulcher of our flesh to the Light.
Goddess Ushas pulled by seven ruddy cows.
We find a similarly-themed tale in Hindu mythology – that of Vritra and Indra.16 According to the Rig-Veda17, the dragon Vritra18 (a chthonic deity) dammed-up the waters of the world, and also held captive – in a cave - a herd of red19 cows. Indra killed Vritra, loosed the waters and freed the cows. The waters made to flow again by Indra are said to be life-giving and equate to soma,20 (Eck, 2012) while the red cows are identified with Ushas, goddess of the Dawns (Lang, 1913). Indra performed another feat: he cleft the mountains to let the streams flow forth21 through the world, and then pillared apart heaven and earth and set the sky between them (Fontenrose, 1959; Lopez, 2010; Eck, 2012). The division of heaven and earth is symbolic of the division between spirit and matter. Of particular interest to us is in this section is another of Hercules’ exertions – not required by his cousin - which Hercules performed in the far west while fetching those red cattle.
The constellation Hercules.
Geryon was a chthonic14 deity (Curtis, 2011; Lindsay, 1965; Elderkin, 1924), and chthonic deities represent earth and the primal instincts (Drury, 2011; Holland, 2009). The killing of Geryon may signify the victory over the base and material. Indeed – the sum of Hercules’ labors may signify the struggle of the individual for immortality (Cirlot, 1971). His sins expiated through suffering and great striving, Zeus immortalized Hercules in placing him amongst the stars; our work is to be partakers in a like transmogrification – to be free, to be the stuff of stars, to be celestial, to be eternal…to be gods15. 14. Chthonic deities are associated with the earth, and therefore the material world. 15. The words of Manly Hall are fitting here: “Man is god in
Anciently, the Pillars of Hercules were deemed the boundary of the known world and the human domain (Shahar, 2004; Wheelwright, 1830); it was held that ruins.” 16. in Hinduism, the leader of the gods and the lord of heave. 17. An ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. 18. The personification of drought and the enemy of Indra. 19. The red color of the cows in the story of Indra signify the reddish-hued dawn (Kramrisch, 1983). Note that Geryon’s herd was also red. 20. In Hinduism, the nectar of the gods and the elixir of immortality, and a favorite drink of Indra. 21. Here we find another similarity to the story of Hercules: both Seneca and Pliny relate that rather than climb over a mountain blocking his way, Hercules smashed through it with his club, and thereby created the Strait of Gibraltar.
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The Craftsman’s Symbology
by Anthony Mongelli
Hercules erected the pillars to mark the farthest western extent of his exploits. As for the geography of the so-called Pillars of Hercules22, they are the two promontories that mark-out the Strait of Gibraltar; while the Rock of Gibraltar is universally accepted as the northern promontory, the identity of the southern has been debated from antiquity23 (Hamilton, 1892; Sterrett, 1923).
harmoniously resolved. Manifestation is based on duality, and the interoperation of male-female, positive-negative, spirit-matter, etc. (Knight, 2001) What is here manifested is the glorious spiritual dawn, brought about by the rising Light of the East. Direct your journey toward that Orient in the hope that, as Peter wrote, “the day star arise in your hearts.25”
Recall that heaven and earth were held apart with the fixing of the celestial vault by Indra, and that this may be held to signify the spirit-matter duality - which is also the chief philosophic signification of the Pillars of Hercules. Hercules set-up the pillars, i.e., created the Strait of Gibraltar, before venturing out to Geryon on the Island of Erytheia24 (MacMillan, 1892; Freeman, 2012). He proceeded to slay Orthus and Geryon, and then began his journey back to Eurystheus, driving forth the red cattle (emblematic of the dawn).
Returning now to the pillars of emerald and gold in the Tyrian temple of Hercules: What might they signify? Our study may be informed in considering a classical alchemical emblem – that of the green lion and the golden sun which he devours. The green lion symbolizes mercury while the sun symbolizes gold; the green lion eating the sun signifies the alchemical operation of dissolving gold by the agency of mercury (Thompson, 1932; Marlan, 2005; Brown J. C., 1913). The product of this process of dissolution is an amalgam of mercury26 and gold, i.e., a combination of gold and mercury.
Onward, betwixt the pillars!
Let us note two aspects of this return journey: first, Hercules and his bounty had to proceed between the pillars, and second, they were traveling eastward. In this we may see the path traveled along the middle pillar of the Qabalistic Tree of Life – that place of equilibrium where opposites are 22. It is interesting to note that the emerald and gold pillar mentioned earlier were found in a temple of Hercules in Tyre; the maker of the pair of Solomonic pillars was a Tyrian. Posidonius (or Poseidonius) – a Greek stoic philosopher, astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of approximately the 1st Century BCE) equates The Pillars of Hercules with two inscribed bronze pillars found in the Temple of Heracles in Cadiz, Spain (West, 1997). The Tyrian artificer who wrought Jachin and Boaz worked them in bronze. 23. Discussed by Strabo in his Geographia. 24. Supported by Seneca and Pliny, who relate that Hercules smashed through a mountain rather than climb over it, thereby creating the Strait of Gibraltar. This is something that would have been done on the way to Geryon. 32
Green lion devouring the sun, from the Rosarium Philosophum, 16th Century. 25. 2 Peter 1:19 26. An amalgam is an alloy (a mixture of two or more metals) of mercury with at least one other metal. In the case of the green lion and the sun, we would achieve a mercury-gold amalgam. Mercury readily amalgamates with gold.
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The Craftsman’s Symbology Mercury has been regarded as feminine in aspect; from Ashmole’s Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum27: “Our sulphur is our masculine, our mercury our feminine…the very mother of every metal” (Ashmole, 1967). Rothgeb quotes from Concerning the Secrets of Alchemy: “Philosophical mercury is a feminine, life-giving substance” (Rothgeb, 1992). The sun is considered representative of the masculine28 (Jennings, 1892; Goldsmith, 1924), as well as signifying both sulfur and gold (Federmann, 1968; Greenberg, 2006; Haeffner, 2004). Sulfur - yellow as the sun - burns avidly, while the mirror-like, sterling sheen of mercury evokes the silvery and feminine moon (Ball, 2006).
by Anthony Mongelli Helios, Apollo, Ra, Tonatiuh29) is generally ouranic.30 The emblem of the green lion consuming the sun, then, symbolizes the alchemical operation of amalgamating, i.e., combining fiery, spiritual and masculine gold (Sol) with watery, earthly and feminine mercury (Mercurius) – in short, the creation of a philosophical hermaphrodite (recall the bicephalic rebis). The cryptic gold and emerald pillars of the Tyrian temple of Hercules may well have carried a similar signification, in that they embordered a spot of harmony and resolution, where opposite energies combine in a metaphysical alloy, the progeny of Father Sulfur (the sun, lion,
♀.)
♂) and Mother Mercury (the
“Loving Couple”, Maithuna, Eastern Ganga dynasty, 13th century Orissa, India. Here they portray the “sacred marriage,” a harmonized union of opposites, referred to in the Western tradition as the “Hieros gamos.”
In the amalgamation of philosophical mercury and gold, we may contemplate the union of opposites – male and female, spirit and matter. This may be further reflected in that Mercury is generally a chthonic deity (Schaff, 1909; Haeussler, 2007) while the apotheosized sun (e.g.,
27. A compilation of English alchemical literature selected by Elias Ashmole. Ashmole was a 17th Century English antiquarian, historian, alchemist, astrologer and Freemason. 28. The association of mercury with the female and the sun with the female has generally been the case, but each has also been associated with its opposite. In the case of mercury, it has even been considered to be hermaphroditic (Gibbons, 2003; Long, 2006). If dual-sexed, it could be the mate of the sun despite the solar gender.
Bro. Anthony Mongelli,Jr is the current Junior Warden and Ritual Director of LaGuardia Lodge No. 1130 (Staten Island, New York). He is also a Royal Arch and Cryptic Mason, and Knight Templar, and is the Sr. Warden of the newly-constituted Antares Council No. 532 Allied Masonic Degrees. Purchase his book The Craftsman’s Symbology here: http://www.anthonymongelli.com
29. Aztec sun god. 30. Or “Olympian,” i.e., of the heavens. Note the distinction between chthonic and ouranic is not an absolute. Dionysus, Demeter, and even Hermes (Mercury) are examples.
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Book Review ~ Freemasonry Defined Title: Freemasonry Defined, Using History to Understand the Fraternity Author: Shawn M. Gorley ISBN # 978-1-301-304-48467-3 Available via - www.shawnmgorley.com Review: Rarely do I do book reviews anymore, as I have seen the system abused and corrupted by those who wish to simply gain free books, provide insincere reviews, and thereby provide nothing of real value to either reader or writer. This is one of my few exceptions. Bro. Gorley has written a truly valuable book worth a read by any level Freemason. We Freemasons being the lovers of history that most of us are, many should find his book most fascinating, for contained within the pages are numerous historical tidbits and stories many of which even I did not know. Bro. Gorley’s down to earth, personal approach to the writing makes it a comfortable, quick, and easy read, but do not be misled, the content is anything but simple. Bro. Shawn formulates through his collection of historical accounts, stories, and facts, an overall perspective of Brotherhood, Fraternity, and Intent that more convinces the reader of his opinion. You will enjoy, as did I, the events, facts, and stories as they unfold. Robert Herd Editor
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