This file is copyright (c) 1995 The Philalethes Society and all
          rights including any redistribution rights are reserved by the
          copyright holder. Permission to quote from, redistribute or to
          otherwise use these materials must be obtained from the
          copyright holder directly by contacting The Philalethes,
          Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt
          Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel: 416-293-8071 Fax:
          416-293-8634 or CIS: 71202,22
          MASONIC SYMBOLS  THEIR USE AND ABUSE

          (Delivered at the Annual Banquet of the
          Allied Masonic Degrees, 25 February 1995)

            Wallace McLeod, F.P.S.


               Let's ponder the meaning of Masonic symbolism.  We
          approach the topic with diffidence, because a few years ago
          Allen Roberts wrote a superb book called The Craft and its
          Symbols, that should be in the hands of every Mason.  So I
          shall steal some ideas from him, and borrow a few words
          from myself, and see where it takes us.
               Freemasonry is said to be "a beautiful system of
          morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."
          Allegory and symbol certainly play a large role in it, but they
          are not restricted to it.  If you have a clear notion of how they
          work, you may find a deeper understanding of Masonry and
          its meaning.
               A symbol, according to the dictionary, is "something
          that stands for, represents, or denotes something else (not
          by exact resemblance, but by vague suggestion, or by some
          accidental or conventional relation)."  Some symbols occur
          so frequently in daily life that we have stopped thinking of
          them as symbols.  The most familiar ones are the letters of
          the alphabet.  There is no reason why one kind of curling line
          should stand for a hissing noise, or why something that looks
          like a couple of bee-hives side by side should make a
          humming sound;  but we all accept them without thinking.
          Other symbols in common use include the numerals (1, 2,
          3), mathematical and monetary signs (plus, square root,
          dollar), and musical notation (treble clef, flat, semiquaver).
          Such symbols are indispensable for almost any kind of
          communication.
               Another type of symbol is found in the arts, both
          graphic and verbal.  It represents something abstract by
          something that we can perceive with our senses, above all
          by sight.  So white stands for purity, the dove and olive-branch for peace, the skull and crossbones for poison, and
          the eagle for the United States.
               In literature the symbol often occurs in combination
          with one of the traditional figures of speech, simile, or
          metaphor.  Robbie Burns tells us that his sweetheart is
          beautiful to see and to hear, and he tells us this by
          comparing her to other things.
                    O, my luve is like a red, red rose,
                         That's newly sprung in June.
                    O, my luve is like the melodie,
                         That's sweetly play'd in tune.
               Shakespeare tells us that the problems of life are like
          the missiles hurled by an attacking enemy, and that
          difficulties roll in upon us like the waves of the ocean.  That's
          the imagery behind the familiar words,
                    To be or not to be  that is the question;
                    Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
                    The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
                    Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
                    And by opposing end them?
               In a little poem by Walter Savage Landor, life is
          compared to and symbolized by a warm fire.
                    I strove with none, for none was worth my
          strife.
                         Nature I loved, and after Nature, Art.
                    I warmed both hands before the fire of life.
                         It sinks, and I am ready to depart.
               A symbol's associations go far beyond its simple
          pictorial meaning.  It can be used, not merely to facilitate
          thought, but even to shape it.  Who can be afraid of death if
          it is symbolized by putting out to sea, as in Tennyson's
          familiar words?
                    Sunset and evening star,
                         And one clear call for me!
                    And may there be no moaning of the bar
                         When I put out to sea.
          Who can be afraid of death if it is symbolized by falling
          asleep, as in Bryant's Thanatopsis?
                    So live, that when thy summons comes to join
                    The innumerable caravan which moves
                    To that mysterious realm, where each shall
          take
                    His chamber in the silent halls of death,
                    Thou go not like the galley-slave at night,
                    Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and
          soothed
                    By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
                    Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
                    About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
               For the Freemason, every character, figure, and
          emblem has a moral tendency, and serves to inculcate the
          practice of virtue in all its genuine professors.  The principal
          rounds of Jacob's ladder are faith, hope, and charity.  Chalk,
          charcoal, and clay stand for freedom, fervency, and zeal.
          The square represents morality, the level equality, and the
          plumb rule justness and uprightness of life and conduct.  The
          three pillars are wisdom, strength, and beauty.  An ear of
          corn near a stream of water is plenty.  The four tassels are
          temperance, fortitude, prudence, and justice.  The five steps
          are the five noble orders of architecture, and also the five
          senses.  The seven steps represent the seven liberal arts
          and sciences.  All these symbols are explicitly defined in the
          ritual, and I suppose we are obliged to accept these
          definitions, and are not at liberty to disagree.
               But the symbols are not always explained for us.  If
          you have a flair for interpreting them, there is ample scope to
          indulge your talents.  There's no harm in that.  It may help
          you in your personal development.  But how far can we go?
          Let's look at a few examples of how the symbols have been
          read by others.  There's a book by Foster Bailey, called The
          Spirit of Masonry.  He tells us that the three degrees can
          foretell the future:  having passed through the Entered
          Apprentice or physical age, and the Fellow Craft or
          intellectual age, we now stand at the threshold of the Master
          Mason or spiritual age;  a new revelation will soon restore to
          us the true lost word.  Moreover, we learn, the two great
          pillars represent the constellation Gemini;  so the Craft
          began in the Age of Gemini, more than 6500 years ago.
               Or there's another book, by Arthur Ward, entitled
          Masonic Symbolism and the Mystic Way.  There we learn
          about the Working Tools of the Entered Apprentice:  the
          chisel stands for intellect, the common gavel for will, and the
          twenty-four inch gauge for vital feeling.  This is not what the
          English ritual says;  it says that they stand for accuracy,
          labor, and perseverance.  When we push on to the Second
          Degree, Ward tells us that the Working Tools "are essentially
          the same powers, but in the intense and spiritual form
          possessed by the higher Self within;  they are reached and
          shared by the personal man in the practice of meditation."
          So the plumb rule turns out to be spiritual insight, the square
          is spiritual intuition, and the level is spiritual inspiration.
          Again, that's not what the ritual says.
               A few years ago W. Kirk MacNulty wrote
          Freemasonry:  A Journey through Ritual and Symbol.
          He says that the three Craft degrees recapitulate the
          development of the individual person, and encourage further
          development.  The Entered Apprentice Degree (or the
          Ground Floor of the Temple) represents the physical or
          material being, Jung's "individual consciousness."  The
          Fellow Craft (or Middle Chamber) represents the soul or
          psyche, Jung's "personal unsconscious."  The Master Mason
          (or Holy of Holies) is the spiritual being, Jung's "collective
          unsconscious," one step closer to the Divine.
               And non-Masons can shed light on our symbolism.  A
          fascinating study by Katharine Thomson, called The
          Masonic Thread in Mozart, tells us that "the number three
          has a special significance in Freemasonry.  Most of the
          songs are in three-part harmony....  Many songs are in triple
          time;  threefold repetitions are frequent, and major triads are
          of particular importance....  In Mozart's music certain keys
          are specifically associated with Freemasonry, notably Eb
          major ... [with] the key signature of three flats."
               Other Mozart specialists argue that The Magic Flute
          is clearly a Masonic opera.  They note the three chords
          repeated three times, the three attendants of the Queen of
          the Night, the three boys, the three doors, the three trials,
          and so on.
               Besides these familiar published sources, you will find
          that sometimes an older and respected Mason has his own
          interpretation of some of the symbols, arising out of his
          knowledge and experience.  More than one mature brother
          has disclosed to me that, no matter what we say,
          Freemasonry is fundamentally Christian, because the
          equilateral triangle is an emblem of divinity, and it can refer
          only to the Christian Trinity.
               It may well be so.  These examples are all personal
          interpretations.  Can we take them as correct?  Arthur Ward
          says, "If you find a key which translates a cypher message
          into sense, you know for certain that you have the key of the
          cypher;  similarly, if you find an explanation which makes
          sense of a series of symbols you have their true meaning."
          This is the problem.  If we accept subjective interpretations
          by Masons, how can we exclude subjective interpretations
          by non-Masons?
               In the Masonic ritual, God is called "the Great
          Architect of the Universe."  For me, this is a simple
          metaphor;  the universe is like an immense mansion or
          temple, and the Creator of the universe is compared to the
          builder.  Nothing secret or disrespectful about that!  But in
          1986 a Canadian religious magazine called The
          Presbyterian Record published an attack on Freemasonry,
          saying that the Great Architect of the Universe was the name
          of the false god "that the Masons worship at their altar."  And
          two years ago, Dr James Larry Holly, the man who
          orchestrated the Southern Baptist campaign against the
          Masons, said that to call God a Great Architect "is
          derogatory to the True God's creative omnipotence.  An
          architect only puts together from the materials already at
          hand.  God creates from nothing."
               Actually a bit of research discloses that the term
          "Great Architect" was introduced into Freemasonry in 1723
          by the Presbyterian minister, James Anderson, and that he
          got it from the works of John Calvin, one of the founders of
          Presbyterianism.  The modern dogmatists are attacking an
          expression that was used by one of the great theologians of
          all time!
               We all know that the square and compasses form a
          symbol that stands for Masonry.  But there's more to it than
          that.  The fundamentalist Pastor Ron Carlson, who has
          spoken about Freemasonry in evangelical churches in many
          parts of America, says that the square represents the earth,
          the compasses represent the sky, and the square and
          compasses when united represent the sky impregnating the
          earth with its showers;  that is, they represent sexual
          intercourse.
               But there is more to come.  There's a man called Ed
          Decker, who has written a book called What you need to
          Know About ... Masons.  And in it he tells us that the evil
          square and compasses are permanently enshrined in the
          plan of this city.  I quote:  "Take any good street map of
          downtown Washington D.C. and find the Capitol Building....
          The left leg [of the compasses] is represented by
          Pennsylvania Avenue and the right leg by Maryland Avenue.
          The Square is found ... with the intersection of Canal Street
          and Louisiana Avenue.  The left leg of the Compass stands
          on the White House and the right leg stands on the Jefferson
          Memorial....  On top of the White House is an inverted five-pointed star....  The point rests squarely on the White
          House....  The center of the pentagram is 16th Street where,
          13 blocks due north of the very center of the White House,
          the Masonic House of the Temple sits at the top."  This must
          show that the Masons have been running the country since
          the beginning!
               The same writer tells us that, when the new Mason
          says he wants "Light," and it is given to him at the command
          of the Worshipful Master, this is wrong, because Light is
          salvation, and comes only through Jesus.  See John 8:12:  "I
          am the light of the world;  he that followeth me shall not walk
          in darkness, but shall have the light of life."  And again, Dr
          Holly, whom we just mentioned, speaks about Masonic light:
          "This is blasphemous," he says.  "Jesus Christ is the Light of
          the World.  No other light is revealed in the Word of God."
          Pretty strong language!
               Pat Robertson, in his book The New World Order,
          says that the Masonic All-Seeing Eye is found in the Great
          Seal of the United States on the back of the dollar bill.  This,
          he tells us, is "the eye of an ancient Egyptian deity, Osiris,
          who is revered in ... the sacred rites of the Masonic Order."
          It follows that Masonry still preserves the pagan mysteries,
          and is incompatible with Christianity or Judaism, because the
          All-Seeing Eye belongs to an Egyptian god.
               And you will be aware that a number of these people
          are convinced that the truncated pyramid, likewise found on
          the reverse of the dollar, in fact points to the International
          Masonic conspiracy to take over the world, because it
          corresponds to a symbol that was used by the Illuminati of
          Bavaria in the 1770s.
               These interpretations are every bit as plausible as the
          others, but they are all contrary to the spirit of Masonry as it
          is reflected in the symbols that are explained in the ritual,
          and they are all anti-Masonic.
               There is a real problem here.  If a symbol in one part
          of the world resembles another in a different part of the
          world, does that mean they are related, or that they mean
          the same thing?  If we look at an ancient Greek statue, and
          see that its pose resembles a modern Masonic gesture,
          does that mean that it portrays a Mason?  If we find that the
          Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen was buried wearing an
          apron, does that mean he was a Mason?  I could refer you to
          written texts that say he was.  To me, this is obviously
          preposterous, and I decline to discuss it further.
               But in the very same way, the anti-Masons confuse
          similarity with identity, and accept only one interpretation for
          any symbol.  We noted that Pat Robertson objects to the All-Seeing Eye, because it is pagan.  I can't help wondering if
          his Bible includes the words, "The eyes of the Lord are in
          every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs
          15:3), or "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the
          whole earth" (2 Chronicles 16:9).  This sounds to me as if
          the God of the Bible also has an all-seeing eye!
               We noted that several of these people object to the
          new Mason asking for "Light," because light can only be the
          salvation of Jesus Christ.  But the Bible itself uses light in
          various senses.  It can stand for life:  "Wherefore is light
          given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul?"
          (Job 3:20).  It can represent joy and prosperity:  "Light is
          sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart"
          (Psalm 97:11).  It can mean moral excellence:  "The path of
          the just is as the shining light....  The way of the wicked is as
          darkness"  (Proverbs 4:18).
               And of course in literature light means many things,
          and its precise application is derived from the immediate
          context.  In a poem by Arthur Hugh Clough, light clearly
          means hope, in time of despair, that the future will be
          brighter:
                    And not by eastern windows only,
                         When daylight comes, comes in the
          light.
                    In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
                         But westward, look, the land is bright.
          In general, warmth, light, fire, and day regularly stand for
          "life."  But at one point in Paradise Lost Milton calls upon
          Light to help him.  This is appropriate in a literal sense,
          because his story is moving from the gloomy realm of Satan
          to the ethereal brightness of Heaven.  We are also reminded
          that Milton, because of his blindness, could not see the light
          like other men.  But finally we learn that here the light is
          symbolic, and represents poetic insight.
                    Shine inward, and the mind through all her
          parts
                    Irradiate;  there plant eyes, all mist from thence
                    Purge and dispose, that I may see and tell
                    Of things invisible to mortal sight.
               In the educational world, the lamp of learning clearly
          represents knowledge.  And so too in Masonry, in the First
          Degree the darkness is the darkness of ignorance and the
          light is the light of knowledge;  in the Third, it is the darkness
          of death.  It is stupid and dishonest of the Fundamentalists to
          say that "light," wherever it occurs, must be the salvation of
          Jesus Christ.
               In Masonry, the symbols need not be consistent, but
          they can stand for different things.  The twenty-four-inch
          gauge can represent the twenty-four-hour day, and also
          accuracy.  The square stands for morality, but also for the
          Worshipful Master.
               Should we go on and worry about numerical
          symbolism?  Obviously the Masons are not the sole owners
          of certain numerals.  Is the number three Masonic?
          Consider:  Three Little Pigs, Three Blind Mice, Goldilocks
          and the Three Bears, Three Men in a Boat, Three
          Musketeers, Three Stooges, Three Coins in a Fountain,
          Three-penny Opera, Three strikes and you're out.  Are these
          all Masonic?
               Or again, what about five?  We hear of a Five-act
          play, the Five Books of Moses, Five Nations of the Iroquois
          Confederacy, the Fifth Amendment, the five-sided building
          known as the Pentagon, the five athletic contests of the
          Pentathlon, five o'clock shadow, five Great Lakes.  Are these
          all Masonic?
               Or shall we worry about seven?  Snow White and the
          Seven Dwarfs, Seven League Boots, Seven Pillars of
          Wisdom, Dance of the Seven Veils, Seven Brides for Seven
          Brothers, Seven-Percent Solution, Seven Wonders of the
          World, Seven Hills of Rome, Seven Years War, and the
          Seven Seas.  Are these all Masonic?
               Or should we brood about music?  We mentioned a
          few minutes ago that the key-signature of Eb was particularly
          Masonic, because it has three flats.  So I looked through the
          hymn-book, and discovered that, not only "Abide with me,"
          but also "Be Thou my vision," and "O happy is the man who
          hears" are Masonic.  Or, when we turn to an old song book,
          so are "Believe me if all those endearing young charms,"
          "Drink to me only with thine eyes," and "Shenandoah."  Do
          we believe that?
               I am prepared to say that every Mason may interpret
          the symbols as he wishes, provided that they are not
          explicitly explained in the ritual in some other fashion.  It can
          help the individual Mason in his spiritual growth or moral
          evolution.  But I do not believe that he should attempt to
          impose his own interpretations on other Masons as if they
          were gospel truth, and cannot be denied.  In my more
          intolerant moments I apply the name "mystical nuts" to such
          people.  And there are a lot of them.  I think of Foster Bailey,
          and Albert Churchward, and Manly P. Hall, and A. E. Waite,
          and Arthur Ward.  My advice would be to avoid them like the
          plague.
               Do you see the nature of the problem?  I'm prepared
          to agree with Foster Bailey that one of the functions of
          Freemasonry is "the erection of our spiritual temple."
          Indeed, we are told in one part of the ceremonies, "From the
          foundation laid this evening, may you raise a superstructure
          perfect in its parts and honorable to the builder."  But the
          precise way in which this is to be done is not, in my opinion,
          specifically taught in Freemasonry.  The brotherhood is
          explicitly intended to be a group of men of high ideals and
          moral purpose, who believe in the omniscience,
          omnipotence, and omnipresence of a Supreme Being, who
          have shared certain deeply moving experiences, and who
          are striving, each in his own way, to improve himself, and to
          make the world a better place in which to live.  Because of
          these common beliefs and experiences, Freemasonry is in
          effect an affinity group, a group of men who enjoy each
          other's company.
               Interpret the symbols how you wish, by all means.
          But, unless the interpretation is confirmed in the ritual, be
          very careful about what you tell others.  And don't let the
          Anti-Masons shove a false interpretation down your throat.

          Bibliography

          Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry (Tunbridge Wells,
                         1957).
          Ed Decker, What you need to Know About ... Masons
                         (Eugene, Oregon, 1992).
          James L. Holly, The Southern Baptist Convention and
                         Freemasonry (Beaumont, Texas, 1992; vol. 2, 1993).
          W. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry:  A Journey through
                         Ritual and Symbol (London, 1991).
          W. McLeod, ed., Beyond the Pillars (Hamilton, Ont., 1973).
          W. McLeod, The Grand Design (Highland Springs, Va.,
                         1991).
          Allen Roberts, The Craft and its Symbols (Richmond,
                         1974).
          Pat Robertson, The New World Order (Dallas, 1991).
          Katharine Thomson, The Masonic Thread in Mozart
                         (London, 1977).
          Arthur Ward, Masonic Symbolism and the Mystic Way
                                                  (London, 1913).
          CAPTIONS TO ILLUSTRATIONS
                    (with their suggested locations)


               Figure 1.  Standard symbols in common use.
                    (near page 1 of text as submitted)


               Figure 2.  Selected Masonic Symbols.
                    (near page 4 of text as submitted)


               Figure 3.  The square and compasses and the
               Pentagram, as they are allegedly depicted in
               the street-plan of Washington, D.C.  (Some of
               the lines have to be imagined, and some of
               them are not quite straight.)
                    (near page 7 of text as submitted)


               Figure 4.  The Reverse of the Great Seal of the
               United States.  Some people say that the All-Seeing Eye and the Truncated Pyramid are
               both Masonic symbols.
                    (near page 8 of text as submitted)


               Figure 5.  A Portrait from Ancient Egypt.  Can
               that be a Masonic apron he's wearing?
                    (near page 8 of text as submitted)