[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

emblem in the Lodge as the Master Pillar; but in
point of fact it is foreshadowed from the beginning
in the P., to which the Candidate is taught to
"advance in due form," which means in the attitude
of a supplicant "humbly soliciting" what will
presently be granted. The posture prescribed for
the occasion is symbolic of the attitude of mind and
heart which we expect from him.
The P. in the First Degree is an ordinary material
object, a substituted symbol, but as
81
we discover very soon, it is situated at a point
of the compass which is suggestive of light and
proves ultimately to be the place where light is
obtained. Accordingly, in the Second and Third
Degrees, when the Candidates are asked to
make their way to that spot, we no longer
remember the P., but instead we speak of
advancing to the E., where one day we shall
find this same Pillar that we are inquiring
about.
That point is practically what the F.C. describes
as "the middle of the building," and what the
M.M. calls "the centre." It is in fact the place
where the Sun rises, where the knowledge is
acquired.
And passing from the Lesser Mysteries of the
Craft to the Greater Mysteries of the Chapter,
we shall find that the matter is further
elucidated. We may be told that the R.A. is
comparatively a new thing, dating only from the
middle of the eighteenth century. But the R.A.
has preserved for us what is undoubtedly the
pith and marrow of the Craft, having protected
it from profanation at a time when there was
great danger of the Cowans invading the
Lodge. The meaning of what the M.M. calls
"the
82
centre" becomes perfectly clear when the
three M.M.'s from B. report their discovery of
"something like the base of a P. or C.," which
eventually turns out to be the key to our whole
system. It is when the Mason has discovered
the block of white marble, the Altar of Incense,
the Double Cube, that he qualifies for
exaltation to the high rank which the Chapter
confers.
And that the Tradition of the R.A. is not a
modern invention can be proved by
reproducing what Philostorgius wrote about the
year A.D. 364 - more than 1500 years since -
concerning an old story which had reached
him. In one of the various attempts made to
rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, he says,
while the ground was being prepared, a stone
slipped from its place and there was exposed
to view a deep cutting or well. One of the
workmen being then let down by a rope, he
found himself in a subterranean chamber,
which proved to be rectangular in form. As this
place was flooded, the workman had to wade
in water up to the ankles, but he had the
happiness of discovering a small column which
stood there, and which, when brought to the
surface, as he himself was drawn up, was seen
to have some inscription,
83
which began with these words: "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God." The parallel
is sufficiently like our version of it, to make us
feel that there is some foundation for what the
P.S. rehearses in the Chapter.
THE PLACE OF LIGHT IN THE
LODGE
Learning originated in the East, and thence
spread Westwards. It has been so, too, with
our Craft. The name "Orient," which on the
continent of Europe is given to the G.L., means
the place of sunrise, where the G.M. is
supposed to preside, because he is the
fountain of light and power for the whole Order.
This explains also why all over the world the
seat assigned to the W.M. of a Lodge is at the
E. As the sun opens and enlivens the day from
the E., so he opens the Lodge from that
quarter for the employment and instruction of
Masons.
The P. is at the E., and it is there that the
candidate obtains the light that will dispel the
darkness from his mind. And he can only
84
reach that point by a certain "method" which calls
for instruction from someone who has travelled that
way before; this conveying a double lesson, viz.,
that in our quest for truth, we should avail ourselves
of the experience of others, and that we should be
most careful to take our bearings, and to proceed in
the right direction.
The three perambulations are a representation of
our pilgrimage as we seek the light, and as we
march up and down N. and E., and S., and W.,
passing in view of those present not only are we
recognised as " fit and proper persons to be made .
. .," but we are squaring the Lodge, thereby
showing that we have learned to harmonise the
varied experiences of our life with a definite ideal.
The steps taken by the E.A. at the critical moment
have been said to correspond to the first three
stages of the Creation before the Sun began to
shine, but they also are emblematic of those
strivings of the mind in the past, which have
resulted in as many strides forward, each bolder
than the preceding, each bringing us nearer and
nearer to the light, until it has been attained. For
although we speak of the Candidate as in a state of
darkness, his darkness
85
is only relative; the words he repeats in the S.O.,
"Which may heretofore have been known by me,"
imply that we give him credit for a modicum of
Masonic knowledge, although most probably it has
so far been inarticulate.
In life we are conscious of having been guided by a
mysterious Providence, whose ways are
inscrutable; and now, too, we are being led by
invisible but friendly hands, and something that is
done for us has made us feel that " no danger can
ensue." All this is very striking to the Initiate.
Our fathers travelled from E. to W., and then back
to the E. And similarly we all have to travel; first,
with the sun, until it sets, then back to the E. The P.
is by no means the Mason's goal; rather, it only
marks the starting point of his Masonic career.
There he learns much that is new to him, and he
makes a great advance; but harder efforts and
longer processes will follow in due time, and he will
not stop where he stands; he will move on.
The legends about Hercules teach the same thing.
His name (the Latin variant of the
86
Greek "Herakles ") is derived from the Semitic
Ha Rakel, "The Traveller," and it was given to
him because, having started from the E., he
reached the utmost bounds of the W., where
he erected the famous Pillars that marked both
the confines of the physical world and the
porchway, or entrance, of the next. Afterwards
he returned to the E., and was acclaimed as a
God. And this is also our appointed mode of
procedure: when the E.A. has emulated that
historic example and come to occupy the seat
which the S.W. has in the West, he is able to
return to the symbolic E. (the place where he
first saw the light), and this time he will be
installed as W.M.
THE ACT OF ILLUMINATION
Before the Candidate is allowed to see any
thing, when he is examined as to his motives,
we are careful to ascertain whether he is
prompted by a general desire of knowledge; for
(the darkness he is in being designed as a
preparation for what is coming) we want him to
ponder over certain truths and thereby assist
him in evoking the inner vision.
87
It is while the Initiate is at the P., in a very
strange position, and after he has declared "the
predominant wish of his heart," that the veil -
the symbol of his ignorance - drops, and the
light comes; but, as we know, with us the
posture of the body is at times "an emblem of
the mind," and in this particular instance, that
which the Ritual prescribes is full of meaning:
the Initiate comes not merely as a Seeker but
as a Supplicant who is anxious to learn.
When again he stands up, he becomes
conscious of a change that has taken place in
himself, and this feeling of his is echoed by the
W.M. as he greets him: " Rise, newly obl . . d [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]