Symbols
are not a recent innovation, but have been in use ever since the first hominids
endeavored to communicate with their associates, even preceding articulate
speech. Before speech, the only available means of communication was by
gestures, with which it was sought to convey some physical need or personal
desire. As a natural reaction, sounds were uttered in conjunction with
particular gestures, in due course becoming recognisable as representing the
gestures themselves. Words thus evolved, providing a simpler means of
expressing needs and desires. From that time onwards the roles of sound and
gesture were reversed in communication, gestures being used only to give
emphasis when required. Variations of these basic words gradually came into
use, differentiating between objects and actions as well as qualifying them.
Thus a rudimentary grammar developed concurrently with the evolution of
coherent speech, which immutably incorporated symbolism as an integral part of
everyday life. Coherent speech soon
fostered a desire to create visual records, leading in turn to the development
of the written word.
In its
original form, writing was a series of crude pictograms that represented
individual words, again interchanging the roles of speech and symbols. Thus
were developed the cuneiform writing of Sumeria, the hieroglyphs of Egypt, the
conventionalised characters used in Chinese and Japanese writing and the very
simple pictograms of the American Indians.
As language became more sophisticated, pictographic and hieroglyphic methods
of writing became inadequate, because the embellishments of oral expression could
not be recorded. This gave rise to the development of the early scripts, such
as the Sinaitic and Hebrew, which were based on an alphabet having characters
representing physical objects. Alphabets developed over many centuries, from
those of Assyria and later of Egypt, which used several hundred symbols to
represent syllables. These were followed by the Sinaitic script and its Hebrew
derivative, which used symbols to represent consonants, leaving the vowels to
be understood. These symbols gradually became stylised in the final stage of
writing, represented by both the Greek alphabet and its Roman derivative, which
have symbols for consonants and vowels, allowing every nuance of oral
expression to be recorded.
Language
and writing are two of the greatest intellectual achievements of the human
race, without which all other achievements would not have been possible.
Language and writing transcend the realms of personal intercommunication and
the maintenance of records, facilitating both logical thought and rational
evaluation. This complex use of symbols enables the mortal mind to contemplate
the wonders of the creation and the Divine promise of a life hereafter, as well
as to explore and progressively to solve the mysteries of the universe. This
clearly distinguishes humankind from all other life on earth.
There
can be no doubt that speech and writing, in the process of their evolvement
through the ages, have established themselves as the most pervasive of all
symbols in the modern world. But writing was derived from previously acquired
abilities to draft other symbols, utilising a variety of methods. For example,
the cuneiform script of Sumeria was an adaptation of the wedge shaped imprints
made by a stylus upon wet clay tablets, from about 3,200BC. The hieroglyphic
writing of Egypt was painted on papyrus from 2,800BC or even earlier, using
techniques similar to those first developed by the Magdalenians for their cave
paintings from as early as 15,000BC. Texts, such as the Canaanite inscriptions
on Ahiram’s sarcophagus unearthed at the ancient city of Gebal, now called
Byblos, have been carved on stone from at least as early as 1,100BC, using
metal chisels and gravers. These and other practical aspects of the arts and
crafts have been interwoven with the technique of writing from its inception,
thus greatly enhancing the evolution of the symbols.
In the
early stages of the development of articulate speech, symbols referred almost
entirely to those objects required for subsistence, augmented by a few symbols
reflecting actions of practical importance in everyday life. As speech became
more sophisticated and writing developed, additional symbols were introduced to
reflect the abstract ideas beginning to formulate in the human mind. The
earliest recording of abstract ideas relates to the concept of the
transmigration of the human spirit to a life hereafter when the body dies, as
is graphically illustrated by hieroglyphic inscriptions in the tombs of the
Egyptian pharaohs. With the advent of cursive writing abstract ideas could be
expressed even more vividly, as exemplified in Ecclesiasts, wherein the
preacher portrays the transitory nature and consummate emptiness of earthly
life and the certainty of death, counterbalanced only by the sure hope of the
immortality of the soul.
The
sacred writings of all religions include allegories, or long and elaborate
stories, which illustrate moral principals that frequently are not stated
specifically, being left for the recipient to discover. Briefer parables also are used, typically
showing the application of a moral precept in a familiar situation, so that
abstract principles are represented in a concrete and vibrant form. The
relevant attributes of implements and other well known objects are used in a
similar fashion, to demonstrate the requirements for proper moral conduct. This
use of symbols to convey important religious messages reached its culmination
in the century preceding the Christian era, with the introduction of the pesher
technique. Pesher is a Hebrew word that signifies an interpretation or explanation,
being derived from peshitta, another Hebrew word which means simple, or plain.
Peshitta and its adjectival form, peshito, also are Syrian words. They are used
to designate the principal version of the Old and New Testaments translated
from the ancient Syriac and sometimes called the Syriac Vulgate. Pesher in the
Old Testament signifies “interpretation of dreams”, but in scrolls of the
Christian era it is used to explain that a section of text has a second or
special hidden meaning. Many Old Testament texts are used with the pesher
technique to convey special messages, some having been established by tradition
over hundreds of years.
The
domain of freemasonry has included the design and construction of ecclesiastical
buildings throughout their history. This has demanded an intimate and detailed
knowledge of religious doctrines and tenets, which must be reflected in the
structure and especially in the detail of its ornamentation. King Solomon’s
Temple, completed about 950BC after seven years and more under construction, is
a pre-eminent example of the vision and inspiration required in the conception
and erection of such a building.
Every
feature of that magnificent edifice was of religious and symbolic importance.
The details provided in the first books of Kings and Chronicles preclude any
doubt of the comprehensive knowledge that the masons and their associated
artificers had of the symbolism embodied in the structure and its lavish
furnishings, both inside and outside. The renowned Jewish historian, Josephus,
records that when Herod the Great restored the second, or Zerubbabel’s Temple,
around the beginning of the Christian era, not only did he carry out the work
piecemeal to avoid interrupting the usual ritual observances, but also trained
1,000 priests as masons to build the shrine.
The
restoration was completed in 64AD, but the temple was completely destroyed by
the Romans in 70AD. Operative masons were then engaged continually in the
massive construction projects of the Roman Empire, until the fall of Rome,
which was captured by the Visigoths in 410AD. This was followed by the invasion
of northern Italy by Attila the Hun in 452AD, then the sacking of Rome by the
Vandals in 455AD. However, Constantinople had become the Christian capital of
the Roman Empire in 330AD, in direct opposition to heathen Rome. As the Byzantium
Empire it established Christianity in the East, carrying out the first great
wave of Christian ecclesiastic building. These great works surpassed even the
efforts of the Persian renaissance, continuing unabated until Constantinople
fell to the Turks in 1453AD. As the Dark Ages from the fifth to at least the
ninth century drew to a close in western Europe, an incredible era of cathedral
building was ushered in, spanning the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
Even in Britain, seriously hampered by the Reformation in the mid-1500’s, work
on ecclesiastical buildings continued into the 1700’s. Hundreds of churches, castles and civic
buildings were constructed. Chartres
Cathedral in France, the first in the “Gothic” style, is a renowned example.
York Minster in England is another prime example; frequently called “poetry in
stone”, it was some two and a half centuries in building.
These
events spanned almost 3,000 years, usually under ecclesiastical influence or
control, whence the underlying principles of speculative freemasonry and its
symbolism largely derived, developing in parallel with the operative art. All
extant records of the ceremonials in operative lodges confirm that symbols
played a vital part in the teachings of operative free masons, which stimulated
the development speculative contemplation. The incorporation of symbols into
the rituals of purely speculative lodges was a natural extension of this long
established practice. Indeed, having regard to the principles actuating those
who formed the first purely speculative lodges, this was an inevitable outcome which
prompted them to describe freemasonry as “a peculiar system of morality, veiled
in allegory and illustrated by symbols”, aptly defining one of its central
tenets.
Freemasonry
encompasses all of the symbolism deriving from the ancient mysteries and the
great religions of the world. This does not suggest that every such symbol is
used, or that the usages are identical, but that all important aspects of
symbolism have been incorporated in the teachings and rituals of freemasonry.
In particular, preparation in a personal sense is used to establish an
appropriate receptiveness for moral instruction; masonic implements and other
appropriate subjects are used as symbols to illustrate and teach specific moral
principles; parables provide ethical instruction in some of the shorter
rituals; the exoteric stories in some of the more expansive rituals are woven
round elaborate allegories, establishing a basis for the communication of
fundamental precepts; and the esoteric interpretations of several of these
allegories are concealed in a manner analogous to the pesher technique used in
sacred writings of the early Christian era.
The
first symbol encountered in freemasonry is preparation, as in the ancient
mysteries. It combines mental disposition, meditation and symbolic purification,
coupled with the wearing of appropriate apparel and accoutrements. Darkness is
an essential precursor of light, which light is attained by trial through a
symbolic journey. All of these aspects are involved when initiating an
apprentice into a lodge of operative free masons, but the traditional degrees
of speculative freemasonry do not include any symbolic ablution except in one
of the installation ceremonies in the Royal Arch. Baptism by immersion was the
final step in admission to the early Christian church, as it still is in some
sects. But in most modern Christian sects, babies clothed in white are baptised
by sprinkling with water, under the guardianship of an adult, their symbolic
journey being completed later when they are taught the seven bitter agonies of Christ,
learn the creed and are admitted into communion. Muslims perform a ritual
ablution before entering their mosque for prayer, as well as completing their
symbolic journey perambulating round the Kaaba when performing their pilgrimage
to Mecca. All other important religions also include some form of symbolic
preparation, journey and acquisition of light, this procedure having been
regarded from time immemorial as a spiritual rebirth.
The
various modes of recognition entrusted to candidates are symbols of importance,
most being of ancient origin when trade secrets were “mysteries” and the
knowledge of them had to be guarded jealously. A wide range of the mason’s
working tools, materials, gauges and methods are used symbolically to provide
moral instruction, often, though not necessarily referring to work on King
Solomon’s temple. The temple is a pre-eminent symbol in freemasonry. It is an
emblem of a glorious futurity, as was Ezekiel’s mystical temple for the Jews
held captive in Babylon. Many aspects of the temple’s construction and
dedication about 950BC, its final destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 587BC and
the construction of the second temple by Zerubbabel between 537BC and 515BC
after the return from captivity in Babylon, are incorporated in dramatic detail
in parables in the traditional degrees. Features of the temple, such as the two
great pillars at the entrance, also are used as symbols. Many of the symbolic interpretations
are so well known as to have become a part of everyday usage, some early enough
to have been recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures.
An
important mystical theme is hidden beneath the superficial moral theme of the
more important allegories, which are in the nature of the “Passion Plays” of
the Middle Ages. The first allegory relates to a late stage in the construction
of King Solomon’s Temple, when several of the workers feared that they would
not be given the modes of recognition and therefore would not be able to obtain
work after the completion of the temple.
When the principal architect was accosted he remained true to his vows
and was slain, so that substitute modes of recognition had to be used thereafter.
The
superficial story is that death is preferable to dishonour and that we must
perform our allotted tasks whilst we can, believing that we will be a rewarded
appropriately in a life hereafter. The esoteric message is that mortal death is
only a gateway for the resurrection of the spirit, which can be achieved by
steadfast faith in the Most High. The theme continues in a dramatic allegory in
the cryptic degree of Royal Master, with the promise that the “True Word” will
be preserved in a place of safety, esoterically signifying that the “True Word”
transcends all mortal delinquency and can always be found through faith.
The
second allegory connects the foregoing allegories, also relating to the construction
of the first temple. In its various forms it relates to either the great
cornerstone or to the keystone required to complete the arch of the secret
vault. In the superficial story a diligent and faithful mason prepares a
beautiful piece of stonework, essential to complete the structure. Because it
can not be found on the plans it is rejected and work comes to a standstill.
When the missing stone is recovered and work continues, the skilful craftsman
receives his just reward. The esoteric meaning is that the acceptance or
rejection of this life’s work is not within the province of mortal man, the
gates of victory being opened only through the grace of that living Stone which
the builders rejected, but which became the chief cornerstone, as foretold in
Psalm 118 and confirmed in I Peter 2.
A
subsequent allegory relates to the period after the destruction of the first
temple, when the captives in Babylon are released by the Decree of Cyrus and
are instructed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The ceremony called “passing the veils”
concerns three sojourners who journey to Jerusalem and present their credentials
to the Sanhedrin, asking to be given work on the new temple. However, the veils
allude to the Tabernacle erected by Moses and the Scripture readings refer to
the Exodus story, replicating a ceremonial carried out every seven weeks by the
Therapeutae Essenes of Qumran in the first centuries BC and AD, exhorting
obedience to the Covenant until the second coming of the Lord. The moral is
revealed in the allegory of the Royal Arch, when the sojourners are put to work
to clear away the rubbish in preparation for the second temple. Through their diligence
the “Lost Word” is recovered, teaching that all men are equal in the sight of
God and that the lowest work will receive full and just reward if properly
carried out. The esoteric lesson is that salvation can be found only through a
complete faith in the “True Word”, representing the present, future and eternal
“I Am”.
This paper was written by Brother
Don. Falconer of Sydney, Australia and is copyright to him. Please respect this
in any dissemination