The Three Great Lights of Masonry - Ancient Craft
Postado Segunda-feira, 11 Maio, 2009 as 9:32 PM pelo Ir:. HUELEN LODGE A.F. & A.M.Santiago, Chile
Presented by Carlos Morales
The Three Great Lights of Masonry are the Holy Bible, Square and Compasses. The Volume of the Sacred Law (no matter what religion) is an indispensable part of a Lodge. The open Bible signifies that we should regulate our conduct according to its because its teachings because it is the rule and guide of our faith and is a symbol of man's acknowledgment of his relation to Deity. The Square is a symbol of morality, truthfulness and honesty. To "act on the square" is to act honestly. The Compasses signifies the propitious use of action and is a symbol of restraint, skill and knowledge. We might also properly regard the Compasses as excluding beyond its circle that which is harmful or unworthy. The Square and Compasses are recognized by the general as the symbol of Freemasonry.
The symbolism of the square and compasses is seen in many ancient carvings and artwork. A stonecutter's square has been seen to represent the earth, while the compasses has related to the arc of heaven. Thus their union has represented the union of heaven and earth. The Volume of Sacred Law can also represent God's communication to man through scripture and inspired writings. The triple symbol can also be seen as representing God's expression through the creation of heaven and earth.
Three Great Lights are also consistent with the three-tier system of Blue Lodge Masonry. One way of interpreting the triple symbolism is seeing human nature as divided into three parts -body, mind and soul- with a Degree for each part. In the same way, the Three Great Lights are the guiding principles of the three natures: the Square to the body, the Compasses to the mind, and the Volume of Sacred Law for the soul.
Upon the Altar of every Masonic Lodge, supporting the Square and Compasses, lies the Holy Bible. The old, familiar Book, is our Volume of Sacred Law and the Great Light in Masonry. The Bible opens when the Lodge opens; it closes when the Lodge closes. No Lodge can transact its own business, much less initiate candidates into its mysteries, unless the Book of Holy Law lies open upon its Altar. Thus the Book of the Will of God Rules the Lodge in its labors, making its work a worship.
The Bible is mentioned in some of the old manuscripts of the Craft long before the revival of Masonry in 1717, as the book upon which the covenant, or oath, of a Mason was taken; but it is not referred to as a Great Light. For example, in the Harleian script, dated about 1600, the obligation of an initiate closes with the words: "So Help Me God, and the Holy Contents of this Book”. In the old ritual, of which a copy from the Royal Library in Berlin is given by Krause, there is no mention of the Bible as one of the Lights. It was in England, due largely to the influence of Preston and his fellow workmen, that the Bible came to its place of honor in the Lodge. At any rate, in the rituals of about 1760 it is described as one of three Great Lights.
No Mason needs to be told what a great place the Bible has in the Masonry of our day. It is central, sovereign, supreme, a master light of all our seeing. From the Altar it pours forth upon the East, the West, and the South its white light of spiritual vision, moral law, and immortal hope. Almost every name found in our ceremonies is a Biblical name, and students have traced about seventy-five references to the Bible in the Ritual of the Craft. But more important than direct references is the fact that the spirit of the Bible, its faith, its attitude toward life, pervades Masonry, like a rhythm or a fragrance. As soon as an initiate enters the Lodge, he hears the words of the Bible recited as an accompaniment to his advance toward the light. Upon the Bible every Mason takes solemn vows of loyalty, of chastity, and charity, pledging himself to the practice of the Brotherly Life. Then he moves forward from one degree to another, the imagery of the Bible becomes familiar and eloquent and its music sings its way into his heart.
There has been more dispute about the Bible than about any other book, making for schism, dividing men into sects. But Masonry avoids both intolerance and sectarianism. It is essentially religious, but it is not dogmatic. The fact that the Bible lies open upon Altar means that man must have some Divine Revelation-must seek for a light higher than human to guide and govern him. But it lays down no hard and fast dogma on the subject of revelation. It attempts no detailed interpretation of the Bible. The great Book lies open upon its Altar, and is open for all to read, open for each to interpret for himself. The tie by which our Craft is united is strong, but it allows the utmost liberty of faith and thought. It unites men, not upon a creed bristling with debated issues but upon the broad, simple truth which underlies all creeds and over-arches all sects- faith in God, the wise Master Builder, for whom and with whom man must work.
Herein our gentle Craft is truly wise, and its wisdom was never more needed than today, when the Churches are divided and torn by angry debate. However religious teachers differ in their doctrines, in the Lodge they meet with mutual respect and good will. At the Altar of Masonry they learn not only toleration, but appreciation. In its air of kindly fellowship, man to man, they discover that the things they have in common are greater than the things that divide. It is the glory of Masonry to teach Unity in essentials, Liberty in details, Charity in all things; and by this sign its spirit must at last prevail. It is the beautiful secret of Masonry that all just men, all devout men, all righteous men are everywhere of one religion, and it seeks to remove the hoodwinks of prejudice and intolerance so that they may recognize each other and work together in the doing of good.
Like everything else in Masonry, the Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol- that is, a part taken for the whole. It is a symbol of the Book of truth, the Scroll of Faith, the Record of the Will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years- the perpetual revelation of Himself which God has made, and is making, to mankind in every age and land. Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere every Book of Faith in which men find help for today and hope for the morrow. For that reason, in a Lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament alone may be placed upon the Altar, and in a Lodge in the land of Mohammed the Koran may be used. Whether it be the Gospels of the Christian, the Book of the Law of the Hebrew, the Koran of the Muslim, or the Vedas of the Hindu; it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea- symbolizing the Will of God revealed to man, taking such faith and vision as he has found into a great fellowship of the seekers and finders of the truth.
The Square is unmarked and with legs of equal length, a simple try-square used for testing the accuracy of angles, and the precision with which stones are cut. Since the try-square was used to prove that angles were right, it naturally became an emblem of accuracy, integrity and rightness. As stones are cut to fit into a building, so our acts and thoughts are built together into a structure of Character, badly or firmly, and must tested be by a moral standard of which the simple try-square is a symbol.
So, among Speculative Masons, the tiny try-square has always been a symbol of Morality, of the basic rightness which must be the test of every act and the foundation of character and society. From the beginning of the revival in 1717 this was made plain in the teaching of Masonry, by the fact that the Holy Bible was placed upon the Altar, along with die Square and Compasses. In one of the earliest catechisms of the Craft, dated 1725, the question is asked: "How many make a Lodge?” The answer is specific and unmistakable: "God and the Square, with five or seven right and perfect Masons." God and the Square, Religion and Morality, must be present in every Lodge as its ruling Lights, or it fails of being a just and truly Constituted Lodge. In all lands, in all rites where Masonry is true to itself the Square is a symbol of righteousness, and is applied in the light of faith in God.
The Square Rules the Mason as well as the Lodge in which he labors. As soon as he enters a Lodge, the candidate walks the square steps around the Square pavement of a rectangular Lodge. All during the ceremony his attitude keeps him in mind of the same symbol, as if to fashion his life after its form. When he is brought to light, he beholds the Square upon the Altar, and at the same time sees that it is worn by the Master of the Lodge as the emblem of his office. In the North-East Corner he is shown the perfect Ashlar, and told that it is the type of a finished Mason, who must be Square-man in thought and conduct, in word and act. With every art of emphasis the Ritual writes this lesson in our hearts, and if we forget this first truth the Lost Word will remain forever
For Masonry is not simply a Ritual; it is a way of living. It offers us a plan, a method, a faith by which we may build our days and years into a character so strong and true that nothing, not even death, can destroy it. Each of us has in his own heart a little try-square called conscience, by which to test each thought and deed and word, whether it be true or false. By as much a man honestly applies that test in his own heart, and in his relations with his fellows, by so much will his life be happy, stable, and true. It is the first obligation of a Mason to be on the Square, in all his duties and dealings with his fellowmen, and if he fails there he cannot win anywhere.
In our study of the Square we saw that it is nearly always linked with the Compasses, and these old emblems, joined with the Holy Bible, are the Great Lights of the Craft. If the Lodge is an "Oblong Square” and built upon the Square (as the earth was thought to be in olden time), over it arches the Sky, which is a circle. Thus Earth and Heaven are brought together in the Lodge- the earth where man goes forth to his labor, and the heaven to which he aspires. In other words, the light of Revelation and the Law of Nature are like the two points of the Compasses within which our life is set under a canopy of Sun and Stars. Of the heavenly side of Masonry the Compasses are the Symbol, and they are perhaps the most spiritual of our working tools.
As the Light of the Holy Bible reveals our relation and duty to God, and the Square instructs us in our duties to our Brother and neighbor, so the Compasses teach us the obligation which we owe ourselves. What that obligation is needs to be made plain; it is the primary, imperative, everyday duty of circumscribing his passions, and keeping his desires within due bonds.
In short, it is the old triad, without which character loses its symmetry, and life may easily end in chaos and confusion. It has been put in many ways, but never better than in the three great words: self-knowledge, self-reverence, self-control; and we cannot lose any of the three and keep the other two. To know ourselves, our strength, our weakness, our limitations, is the first principle of wisdom, and a security against many a pitfall and blunder. Lacking such knowledge, or disregarding it, a man goes too far, loses control of himself, and by that very fact loses, in some measure, the self-respect which is the stone of a character. If he loses respect for himself, he does not long keep his respect for others, and goes down the road to destruction.
The laws of nature throw about us their restraining bands, and there is no place where their wit does not run. The laws of the land make us aware that our liberty is limited by the equal rights and liberties of others.
How to use the Compasses is one of the finest of all arts, asking for the highest skill of a Master Mason. If he is properly instructed, he will rest one point in the innermost center of his being, and with the other draw a circle beyond which he will not go, until he is and able to go farther. Against the littleness of his knowledge he will set the depth of his desire to know, against the brevity of his earthly life the reach of his spiritual hope. Within a wise limit he will live and labor and grow, and when he reaches the outer rim of the circle he will draw another, and attain to a full-orbed life, balanced, beautiful, and finely poised. It is the Compasses that help us to keep our balance, in obedience to the Greek maxim: “Think as a mortal” -that is, remember the limits of human thought.
Santiago, Chile, November 2003
About the author:
Carlos Morales was born in Santiago on November 22, 1937. He signed the bylaws of Huelen Lodge in 1987, and became WM in 1994, occupying the chair for two years. He is also a regular member of Franklin Lodge (under Grand Lodge of Chile). Currently he is Huelen’s Junior Deacon. Bro. Carlos Morales obtained his MD diploma at the University of Chile in 1961 and specialized in neurological otolaryngology; he has made successfully post graduate programs in Chile and in the UK, and is presently Professor of his specialty at University of Chile.
<<
Categoria Public.Int (RSS), Trabalhos (RSS)