FORM AND EXTENSION

It is customary in speaking of the Freemasonic Lodge to which one belongs to think of a hall or room in an ordinary building in the physical world. Therefore, when its extension is mentioned, the ordinary ideas of its measurements in length, breadth and height come up in the mind. It is necessary, however, to think of much more than that, for the Lodge represents the universe at large, as is explained in the ritual of the Craft degrees of Universal Co-Masonry. In the description of the t … b …, we are told that the Lodge is in length from east to west, in breadth from north to south, and in depth from the zenith to the center of the earth, which shows that it is a symbol for the whole world.

The form of the Lodge-room, according to Dr. Mackey, should be that of a parallelogram at least one-third larger from east to west than it is from north to south. It should always, if possible, be situated due east and west, should be isolated, where it is practicable, from all surrounding buildings, and should be lofty, to give dignity to the appearance of the hall, as well as for purposes of health. The approaches to the Lodge room from without should be angular, for, as Oliver says, "a straight entrance is unmasonic, and cannot be tolerated." There should be two entrances to the room, which should be situated in the west, and on each side of the W.S.W.'s station. That on his right hand is for the introduction of visitors and members and, leading from the T.'s room, is called the T.'s or the outer door; the other, on his left, leading from the preparation room, is known as the "inner door" and sometimes is called the north-west door. Plate III shows the form of the Lodge and the positions of the principal objects in it, as usually arranged by Co-Masons of the British jurisdiction.

Plate III

The floor of the Lodge, technically speaking, is the mosaic pavement, which will be described among the ornaments of the Lodge. The correct shape for this is a double square - that is to say, a rectangle having a length double its breadth - and the Lodge may be thought of as a double cube standing on this floor. Considered as the entire room, the Lodge is a temple of humanity, and as such it may be taken to symbolize a man lying upon his back. In this position the three great supports correspond to important centers in the human body. The column of the R.W.M. is in the place of the head or brain; that of the W.S.W, corresponds to the generative organs, symbols of strength and virility, and also to the solar plexus, the great ganglionic center of the sympathetic system; and that of the W.J.W. corresponds to the heart, anciently regarded as the seat of the affections.

ORIENTATION

Three reasons are given in the ritual to explain why our Lodges are set east and west. In the first place, the sun rises in the east, and the sun is regarded in Masonry as a symbol of divinity. Secondly, all the western nations look to the east as the source of their wisdom. Thirdly, the Masons follow the precedent of the temple of King Solomon, which was set east and west in imitation of the arrangement of the tabernacle which was carried by the Israelites in their wanderings through the desert, and was always placed east and west when put down. It is certainly not sufficient to say that the early Masons oriented their Lodges merely because all churches and chapels ought to be so; rather the ecclesiastical rule spectare ad orientem was also a rule for the Masons.

As we have already said, the Egyptian origin of Masonry has been somewhat obscured by Jewish influence. When Moses introduced the Egyptian wisdom to the Jews they quickly gave their own coloring to it. They are a very remarkable race, in that they assimilate readily, but stamp their own decided characteristics upon whatever they take up. In this case, the Egyptians spoke of the great pyramid of Gizeh as the "House of Light", or more commonly "The Light" but the Jews were taught to interpret it as referring to the temple of King Solomon.

The real reason, however, for the careful orientation of the Lodge is magnetic. There is a constant flow of force in both directions between the equator and each of the poles of the earth, and there is also a current flowing at right angles to that, moving round the earth in the direction of its motion. Both of these currents are utilized in the working of the Lodge, as will be explained when we come to deal with the ceremonies. The world at large does not recognize the presence of these forces, which are not of the same order as those which influence a common steel or iron magnet, but there are some people who are sensitive to them to such an extent that they cannot sleep comfortably if they lie across them. Some of these people sleep best with the head to the north, others with the head to the south. Among the Hindus it is considered that only an ascetic should sleep with his head to the north. The householder, the man of the world, should lie with his head to the south.

THE CELESTIAL CANOPY

The ritual tells us that the covering of a, Freemason's Lodge is a celestial canopy of divers colors. This may very well symbolize the star-lit heavens which canopy the true temple of humanity, when we regard the Lodge as universal; but the reference to divers colors indicates another meaning, for the vault of the sky is not of various hues, except at sunrise and sunset, but is blue. The real celestial canopy is the aura of the man whom we have thought of as lying on his back; it is the vividly tinted thought-form that is made during the working of the Lodge. We see this symbolism appearing elsewhere also, in Joseph's coat of many colors in the V.S.L., in the Robe of Glory which the initiate puts on, according to the Gnostic hymn; and also in the Augoeides of the Greek philosophers, the glorified body in which the soul of man dwells in the subtle invisible world. Bro. Wilmshurst in The Meaning of Masonry also interprets the canopy as the aura of man, which is surely more reasonable than to suppose with Dr. Mackey that because the early Brethren met on the highest hills and in the lowest vales this symbol must refer to the over-arching vault of heaven.

THE ALTAR

The altar should be in the middle of the square nearest to the R. W. M., though this differs in different Obediences. In the Grand Lodge of England working there is generally no altar at all, or at the most only an appendage to the Master's pedestal; so that when the candidate is taking the O. he kneels before the pedestal of the R. W. M. In some Lodges the altar is a little east of the center of the floor, and in others it stands in the middle of the floor.

On the altar, or close to it, or hanging above it in the middle of the eastern square, there is in Co-Masonic Lodges a small light burning, usually enclosed in ruby-colored glass. This light symbolizes the reflection of Deity in matter, and it corresponds exactly to the light in Catholic churches which burns always before the Altar on which the Host is reserved.

Figure 02

Mackey, in his Lexicon of Freemasonry, speaks of the altar as:

The place where the sacred offerings were presented to God. After the erection of the Tabernacle, altars were of two kinds, altars of sacrifice and altars of incense. The altar of Masonry may be considered as the representative of both these forms. From hence the grateful incense of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, is ever rising to the Great I Am; while on it the unruly passions and the worldly appetites of the Brethren are laid as a fitting sacrifice to the genius of our Order. The proper form of a Masonic altar is that of a cube, about three feet high, with four horns, one at each corner, and having spread open upon it the Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses, while around it are placed in a triangular form and proper position the three lesser lights.

Fig. 002 is taken from the same source. The stars represent the three lighted candles and the black dot the vacancy in the north, where there is no light. In our Co-Masonic Lodges we follow the English custom of having the three candles beside the seats of the three principal officers, but they are still in the same relative positions. In this, as in other matters, there is no orthodoxy in Masonry.

The symbol upon the eastern side of the altar is a circle bounded on the north and the south by two lines. In the center there should be a point - the point within a circle round which a M.M. cannot err. The circle, as shown on the t … b …, is drawn the full size of the altar, so that it touches or almost touches the V.S.L. An explanation of this which is often given in Lodge lectures is that as the circle is bounded by two lines, which signify Moses and Solomon, and also by the V.S.L., anyone who keeps himself within that circle and follows the precepts of the V.S.L. as thoroughly as did Moses and Solomon will not err.

In ancient Egypt, however, long before the time of the Jews, it was already a symbol with many meanings. First of all, it was the symbol of the sun-god, Ra; secondly, it bore to the Egyptians the signification of the earth circling round the sun. That was with them a portion of the secret knowledge reserved for the Mysteries. There was a still older tradition, which held the circle to be the equator and the dot in the center to be the pole-star, whose position changes because of the precession of the equinoxes, in which the Egyptians took great interest. The inclination of the chief passage of the great pyramid was determined by the position of the pole-star of the period. This symbol was used once more to indicate the all-seeing eye - an idea easily suggested by the dot in the middle of the circle.

Another interpretation of the symbol by the Egyptians was particularly beautiful, and all Brethren will find it well worth remembering whenever their eyes fall upon it. The three columns, representing wisdom, strength and beauty, were stated to stand round God's throne, which was the altar itself, which they took to signify love. Thus the circle describes the love of God, and the two lines which bound it are the lines of duty and destiny or, to put the idea in Oriental terms, of dharma and karma. It was said that while a M.M. kept himself within the circle of the divine love, and bounded his actions by duty and destiny, he could not err.

The same device also signifies the first manifestation of the Deity. It was held by the Egyptians there were three successive manifestations; the first aspect far above our reach, the second and third successively lower, and their conception of these three was very similar to that of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity in Christianity and the Trimurti among the Hindus; in fact, practically all philosophical religions have recognized the triple manifestation of the Deity. In The Book of Dzyan the same emblem, but without the two lines, was used to denote the same reality, the first Logos or Word; while in Christian mysticism it signifies the Christ within the bosom of the Father. It was also considered to be a reflection of the Blazing Star which should be in the center of the Lodge ceiling, it being in this respect the same as the ever-burning ruby lamp. It symbolized His light that "burns ever in our midst" and "shineth even in our darkness". Some students of Masonry see the same symbol once more in many of the temples of the Druids and Scandinavians, which were formed of a circle of stones with one, generally taller than the rest, in the center.

PEDESTALS AND COLUMNS

"Our Lodges are supported by three great pillars - wisdom, strength and beauty," says the Masonic ritual, "wisdom to contrive, strength to support and beauty to adorn; wisdom to conduct us in all our undertakings, strength to support us under all our difficulties, and beauty to adorn the inward man. The universe is the Temple of the Deity whom we serve; wisdom, strength, and beauty are about His throne as pillars of His works, for His wisdom is infinite, His strength is omnipotent, and His beauty shines through the whole of the creation in symmetry and order. The heavens He has stretched forth as a canopy; the earth He has planted as His footstool; He crowns His Temple with stars as with a diadem, and from His hands flow all power and glory. The sun and the moon are messengers of His will, and all His law is concord. The three great pillars supporting a Mason's L … e are emblematical of these divine attributes."

Full-sized columns are rarely erected in any Lodges, but the W.S.W. and W.J.W. have miniature columns on their pedestals, and all three of the principal officers have usually larger columns beside them, upon which are supported their respective candles. In Craft literature various reasons are given for the presence of the three pedestals and for their arrangement. Some say that there are three because King Solomon had two other important people associated with him in the building of the temple; but the deeper fact is that the pillars on the t … b … and the columns near the pedestals of the three principal officers are intended to symbolize the three aspects of the divine life in manifestation, which have been spoken of by various religions as the Holy Trinity. In the earliest times in Egypt, as we have already explained, there were three kinds of Grand Lodges, with somewhat different methods of working, according as the R.W.M. represented wisdom, strength or beauty. In our modern days we have only one of these types, in which the Master's pedestal signifies wisdom, and the working is that of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Christ. In the now practically defunct Rite of Swedenborg the chair of the Master represented strength.

In the process of the development of our universe, the third member of the Trinity first exercised His portion of the divine power in preparing the world of matter; then the second Person put forth His energy, and that was the beginning of the evolution of conscious life. This is symbolized in the opening of the Lodge. At first the W. J. W.'s miniature column, which signifies the Third Person and the first outpouring of divine activity, is erect, but at the moment when the R.W.M. declares the Lodge open, that column is laid down and the W.S.W. raises his column to the vertical position. By the authority of the First Person, the Father, the Ruler of the world, the Second Person has now taken charge of the proceedings, and the work of evolution of the powers of consciousness is the order of the day in the open Lodge.

The three pillars, the columns and the pedestals, the candlesticks and candles, all mean the same thing. The column on the desk or pedestal of each of the principal officers of the Lodge is sculptured in a definite order of architecture which signifies his power or quality; his candlestick also is carved in the same design, and often it is depicted upon his candle as well. Our columns and candlesticks are now usually made of painted wood, but in reality they should be of three different kinds of stone; that of the R.W.M. should be of freestone, that of the W.S.W. of granite, and that of the W.J.W. of marble. These three kinds of stone are typical specimens of the three great classes of rocks freestone is aqueous or sedimentary; granite is igneous or plutonic, and marble is metamorphic. If wooden columns are used, they should be painted to resemble these stones.

Plate IV

ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE

In looking at any column, there are two principal parts to be considered - the column itself, and at the top of it the entablature which helps it to support the roof. Each of these two parts is divided again into three. The column has its base, then a long thin shaft, then the capital. The parts of the entablature are first the architrave, that comes out above the capital, then the friezes which is a straight piece with ornaments, and above that the cornice. In almost all these points the different orders of architecture vary.

The three orders of architecture in ancient Greece were the Ionic, the Doric and the Corinthian which are now assigned to the R.W.M., the W.S.W. and the W.J.W. respectively. Afterwards two others were added of Italian origin - the Tuscan and the Composite, which we do not use in Masonry. The three columns are shown in Plate IV.

Of the three Greek columns the Doric is the simplest. Its shaft has twenty shallow flutings, and its height is eight times its diameter. It has no base, and the capital is solid and quite plain. In the entablature, which is not usually reproduced in the officers' pillars, its frieze is characterized by triglyphs, representing the ends of joists, and metopes, representing rafters, and its cornice exhibits mutules. This column is considered to be formed after the model of a muscular full-grown man; it shows strength and noble simplicity.

The Ionic column has twenty-four flutings and a length nine times its diameter. Its capital is adorned with two volutes, and its cornice with dentils. It is thought to be modeled with the grace of a beautiful woman, the volutes being suggested by the dressing of her hair.

The Corinthian Column is by far the most beautiful. Its flutings are not different from the Ionic, but its height is ten times its diameter, which gives a slender and very graceful appearance. The capital is ornamented with two rows of acanthus leaves and eight volutes, which sustain the abacus.

The following story is told with regard to the origin of the Corinthian column. A Greek poet and architect named Calimachus once visited a cemetery and saw there the grave of a child, on which an acanthus plant had grown in a manner that struck the poet as so pleasing and beautiful that he had it cut in stone, and it became the original of the form now seen on the capital of every Corinthian pillar. On the grave there was a circular box of toys which had been put there by the nurse of the child in order to please its spirit - for at that time the idea was prevalent that departed spirits were in the habit of visiting their places of burial or sepulture, and were in a position to enjoy the objects placed there for them, or the counterparts of those objects, which thus became their possessions on the other side of death.

Plate V

On the top of the little box of toys the nurse had placed a flat tile to keep off the rain. It happened that she had put the box upon an acanthus root, and that the leaves had grown up and, when they reached the tile, had turned again to form a kind of fringe round it, with most beautiful effect. The acanthus plant grows wild all over Sicily and the south of Italy and Greece, and is everywhere charming.

The Tuscan column is the plainest of all; it has a perfectly plain base and top, the length of its shaft is only seven times its diameter, and it has no flutings. The composite column, on the other hand, is the most ornate of all, as it is an attempt to combine the beauties of the Ionic and the Corinthian. It has the same number of flutings and the same proportions as the latter, but combines with the acanthus ornament the volutes of the Ionic style.

The three columns are part of the Greek or classic style of architecture, which has always a flat or very slightly sloping roof, no arches, and many pillars arranged in rows, generally with a large shallow triangle, the pylon, at the front of the building. (See Plate V.)

In the religious architecture of Europe we find mainly the Gothic style. The guilds of Freemasons in the Middle Ages traveled over Europe in wandering bands, which were engaged in building churches. All the great Gothic building was cone, broadly speaking, about the same period, and at that time the famous cathedrals of Europe were erected by the Freemasons, who had the three orders. They were operative masons, but they had their practical secrets, and only they were able to do this kind of work. The Gothic was an entirely new method, departing altogether from the classic, and there is ample evidence to show that Freemasons were responsible for the change. The great cathedral of Cologne, for example, which has been five hundred years in course of erection and is not yet completed, was laid out by a man who signed himself with a sign known only by the M. M., and there are also documents to show that the early part of the building was done by Freemasons. It has the peculiar form of pointed arch, made by the intersection of two rising arches, which characterizes the Gothic style, differing both from the Norman and Roman styles with their rounded arches, and from the Saracenic or Byzantine with its serrated arches and round domes.

MEANING OF THE THREE COLUMNS

I am indebted for the following luminous suggestions to Bro. Ernest Wood. They are an interpretation of the three columns in the light of the principles embodied in his book, The Seven Rays, and I commend them to the careful study of the Brethren

In order to understand the full significance of the columns presided over by the three principal officers, we must recall the occult teaching of the great Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. In Their unity They are one Universal God in whom everything exists, whether it be animate or inanimate, for there is nothing but That. But in Their separate appearances, the Holy Ghost is the maker or builder of the outer world, and the Son is the life in all beings, the "light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world". Every material object in the world is part of the being of God the Holy Ghost in this large sense, and every life or consciousness is part of the consciousness of God the Son, who is the manifested Solar Logos. Behind these, invisible and beyond all imagining, is the ineffable glory and happiness of the Father.

Both the Holy Ghost and the Son are in turn triune; wisdom, strength and beauty are the three qualities of God the Holy Ghost, and they form the three supports of the objective world, as they also mark out its three divisions. These divisions are (1) the visible world of material objects, founded in beauty - God in things is seen as beauty; (2) the invisible energy with which the world is filled, and on which all things that are seen are built - this is the strength of God the Holy Ghost; (3) the universal mind, the world of ideas, the storehouse of archetypes, marking out the possibilities of material forms and relationships, which is seen in what the scientist calls the laws of nature - the wisdom of the Divine Architect, His settled plans. These are the three parts of any objective world; they constitute the Lodge, the building, in which life plays its part; and the three Pillars, Ionic, Doric and Corinthian, symbolize these three divisions of the world - the field of consciousness, as it has been called in the Bhagavad Gita.

All the living beings which people this world display the light of the divine life and consciousness in their varying degrees. They are all parts of God the Son, the Christ, the great sacrifice, the divine life crucified on the cross of matter. He also is a trinity, and this is seen in the three powers of consciousness appearing in man as the spiritual will, the intuitional love and the higher intelligence, which are the root of all human will, love and thought. Since the officers are the life in the Lodge, they represent these qualities in consciousness, which are called in Sanskrit philosophy Ichchha, Jnana and Kriya. The R.W.M. expresses the divine will of the Christ, directing the work to the perfecting of man; the W.S.W. represents the divine love of the Christ; and the W.J.W. the divine thought. These officers are to be known by their jewels, which represent will, love and thought respectively, not by the columns at which they preside.

Just as material energy is the strength in things, so is love the strength in consciousness; it is what has been called in Sanskrit terminology the buddhi in man, the wisdom that is direct knowledge of life, the energy of consciousness. It is the faculty in man with which he contacts and deals with life around him, while his thought is the faculty with which he deals with objective things. So when at the opening of the Lodge the W.J.W. lays down his pillar and the W.S.W. raises his, it symbolizes the fact that now we are interested in life, we are working upon man, upon consciousness, not upon material objects, as would be the case if we were building a material structure, and not the temple of man, his inner character, his immortal soul. The Great Architect is now building "a temple in the heavens, not made with hands".

Thus the columns represent the three qualities of the material Lodge, but the three principal officers express the three qualities of consciousness or life. Now the assistant officers must be explained. In his inner nature every man is a spiritual consciousness, threefold, as we have seen - but when we look at him in this world we see not the man himself but the body in which he lives, his material house, or rather, to use a more modern simile, his motor car in which he goes about to do the business of his life, to see what he wants to see and to work where he wants to work. That body, trained perhaps for a particular profession, brought up in the special culture of one of the nations, with its manners and habits of action, feeling and thought, constitutes his personality, the mask through which his voice can be heard in the world of outside appearances. This personality is fourfold - there is the physical body, then the etheric double or counterpart of that, then the emotional nature, then the lower mind - the last two constituting his own private storehouse and gallery of personal feelings and ideas. The S.D. stands for the lower mind, the J.D. for the emotional or astral nature; the I.G. for the etheric double, and the O.G. or T. for the physical body.* (*For a fuller study of these principles from this point of view, see Professor Wood's book, The Seven Rays.)

According to this interpretation the columns represent the three aspects of the outer world (the world of human tuition), but the three principal officers, who preside at their pedestals, stand for the three aspects of divine consciousness (the inner world of human intuition), as in the following diagram:

Diagram 1

THE PILLARS OF THE PORCHWAY

Referring to King Solomon's temple, the English Craft ritual says: "There was nothing in connection with this magnificent structure more remarkable, or which more particularly struck the attention, than the two great pillars which were placed at the porch or entrance." The ritual goes on to explain that these two pillars were set up at the entrance of the temple to remind the children of Israel, on their way to and from divine worship, of the pillar of fire which gave light to the Israelites during their escape from bondage in Egypt, and the pillar of cloud which proved darkness to Pharaoh and his followers, when they attempted to overtake them.

Their original significance, however, dates much further back than this. It is claimed that these two columns originally represented the north and south pole-stars. They were at first the pillars of Horus and Set, but their names were afterwards changed to Tat or Ta-at, and Tattu, the former meaning "in strength" and the latter "to establish", the two together being considered as the emblem of stability. Tattu is the entrance to the region where the mortal soul is blended with the immortal spirit, and thereby established for ever, as I have already explained in Chapter I. It seems strange that so many authors should speak of the north and south pole stars, when the fact is that there is no star of any consequence at the south pole. The southern pole of the heavens is situated in an unusually barren tract of the sky, and the nearest star of any consequence is that at the foot of the Southern Cross, which is no less than twenty-seven degrees from the pole.

On the tops of the two columns in the very ancient symbolism there were at first four lines or cross sticks, which were symbols of heaven and earth, as in Fig. 03.

Figure 03

How the four quarters or the square, or rather the two squares, arose may be understood from Fig. 04.

Figure 04

The first symbol shows the two eyes of north and south, with a connecting line. The second shows the line of Shu, where he makes a division at the equinox, and thus forms two triangles of Set and Horus; and the third figure completes the square of the four quarters. It is said that Tattu is thus the place established for ever, a heaven with its four quarters, as Tat represents the earth with its four quarters.

Figure 05 and 06

In the hieroglyphs the form has become like Fig. 05, while in the Papyrus of Ani it appears as in Fig .06.

Dr. Mackey has made a special study of these two pillars in their later Jewish form. He speaks of them as memorials of God's repeated promises of support to His people of Israel, since Jachin is derived from Jah, which means "Jehovah", and achin, "to establish", and signifies "God will establish His house in Israel," while Boaz is compounded of b, which means "in" and oaz, "strength", the whole signifying "in strength shall it be established". Mackey thinks that the pillars should be within the porch (which in reality they were not), at its very entrance; and on each side of the gate. It will be seen how exactly the meanings given here correspond with those of the Egyptian names of the same pillars.

We find various descriptions of these columns given in the Christian Scriptures. The references are 1 Kings, vii, 15; 2 Kings, xxv, 17; 2 Chron. iii, 15 and iv, 12; Jer. lii, 21 and Ezek. xl, 49. A description is also given by the Jewish historian Josephus, and another may be found in Mackey's Lexicon of Freemasonry. These accounts differ in various respects, and the details given are so confused that Masonic writers are by no means in agreement as to any but the chief features. I therefore thought it best to take the trouble to make a clairvoyant investigation, the result of which is given in Plates VI and VII. The first of these is what is called a scale-drawing, showing the proportions of the pillar exactly as it was, but as it never could have been seen by any human being, because of its size. The second is an enlarged drawing, of the same character, of the capital (or, as it is called in the Bible, the chapiter) to show the detail of its somewhat complicated workmanship. There is also a small ground-plan (Fig. 07) of the temple, to show the position of the pillars in relation to the porch. It will be seen that they were not within the porch, but just outside it. This ground-plan has been drawn to scale according to the biblical measurements, but it should be noted that in it no account is taken of any other doors than that of the porchway, or of the curious little side-chapels which King Solomon added; nor is any attempt made to indicate the courts which surrounded the temple.

Figure 07

These pillars are described in the Bible as of brass, but their appearance is much more that of what we today call bronze. The height of the pillar itself is given in all the accounts but one as eighteen cubits, and the chapiter which swells out above it is said to have been five cubits in height, but as it overlapped the top to the extent of half a cubit the total height was 22 1/2 cubits. As the cubit is usually calculated to have been eighteen inches, this gives us the total height of the pillar and its capital as 33 feet 9 inches. Its circumference is given as twelve cubits or eighteen feet, which would make its diameter just under six feet. The pillars were hollow, and the thickness of the metal of which they were composed is usually supposed to have been three inches, though it has sometimes been given as four. At the back of each pillar, so that they were not seen at all from the front, were three small doors, one above the other, so that part of the pillar may be thought of as divided into safes, in which archives, books of the Law and other documents were kept.

Plate VI

The chapiters which fit on to the top of the pillars like caps are the most interesting part of these remarkable castings. The ornamentation of these capitals will best be understood from the illustration. The whole chapiter swells upwards in a somewhat urn-like form, with a flat circular disc resting upon it. The upward curve of the urn is continued through the disc, and makes a projection above the disc which is a segment of a sphere, though this was of course not visible to anyone looking up from the foot of the pillar. It would be more correct to say that the form suggested is not actually a sphere but rather an oblate spheroid, and in the original stone pillar which occupied a similar place in the Egyptian temple, the symbology of which was copied by the Tyrian artificer, this somewhat unusual form was undoubtedly intentional, and was adopted in order to give an idea of the true shape of the earth, which was perfectly well known in ancient Egypt. As will be seen in a later chapter, the Egyptians were quite familiar with the exact measurements of the earth, but in the indication of it in the spheroid of the pillar the polar depression is naturally greatly exaggerated, as otherwise the difference could hardly have been visible. It is known that these pillars were intended to represent the terrestrial and celestial spheres respectively; and in some modern attempts to reproduce them they are crowned with these two globes. In the originals, however, there were no such globes, as the rounded chapiters sufficiently represented them.

It will be seen from the illustration that the surface of the chapiter below the disc is covered with a network, and that the lower ends of the network coalesce into a kind of fringe, from which depend a number of little balls. The Bible account tells us quite accurately that these balls were intended to represent pomegranates, and that there were two hundred of these pomegranates upon each pillar. Superimposed upon the network is a rather curious decoration of chains, hanging in festoons, and there are seven rows of these festoons one below the other. Each loop of chain consists of seven links, and in each case the central link of the chain is much the largest and heaviest, and the links diminish in size and weight as they rise towards the ends of the loop. Along the edge of the disc runs a line of lilies, and from this four chains of the same flowers are represented as hanging straight down the chapiter on the north, east, south and west respectively. These flower-chains, however, do not hang loose in the air, but cling closely to the outline of the chapiter. Between them two palm-leaves are crossed through the middle link of the central chain in each space.

Entirely apart from this scheme of decoration a very beautifully executed band of flowers is introduced to hide the junction of the chapiter with the pillar. This consists of a triple row of lilies; the central row, which exactly covers the edge of the chapiter, is composed of fully opened flowers facing outwards from the pillar, with leaves between them, while there is an upper row of tightly-closed buds standing up between the flowers of the middle row and giving an effect not unlike that of the points of a crown. The lilies of the third row hang gracefully downwards from the middle row upon curved stems, and face in various directions.

Plate VII

All this, we are told, was the work of H. A., a widow's son of Naphtali - a man described in the biblical account as a cunning worker in brass, who was sent down to Jerusalem by H., K. of T., especially in order to do this and other metal work for King Solomon. Undoubtedly this man was a true artist, for he took an almost inconceivable amount of trouble to carry out his design exactly as he wanted it. So far as the investigators were able to see, his work was based entirely upon a traditional account of the stone Egyptian pillars, which had been handed down from the time of Moses. It did not appear that he had any clear idea of the meaning of all these strange decorations, though Moses knew perfectly well the whole system of symbology which lay behind it.

It is to be understood that all this varied ornamentation was not arranged in basso-relievo, as would be expected in a casting; on the contrary it stood out boldly from the face of the pillar, many of the flowers being connected with it only by a comparatively thin stalk of considerable length. Some indication of the patience and care which the artist exhibited may be gathered from the fact that he carved in wood and in full size the entire triple band of lilies to go round the eighteen-foot circumference of the base of the chapiter, and then made his moulds round that wooden carving. Though the general idea of the threefold band of flowers was preserved, the whole thing was arranged in a very natural manner, no flower being an exact reproduction of its neighbor; it was not a mere repetition of a pattern, such as we might have in a modern wallpaper, but the whole conception was carried out as one great unit with the most loving and painstaking care.

Many experiments were tried before this ancient artificer was satisfied, and he adopted various ingenious methods to attain his object. He was anxious to make the whole chapiter and all its decorations as nearly as possible in one casting, and with the primitive appliances at his command this gave him an immensity of trouble. His lilies may perhaps be considered as somewhat conventional; at least they do not exactly correspond to any varieties with which I happen to be acquainted. They were on the whole more like the lotus than like an ordinary lily; but on the other hand the leaves were by no means lotus leaves.

To the ordinary worshipper in the temple all this rather complicated ornamentation was merely decorative, but to the initiate it was full of esoteric significance. First, these two pillars were an exemplification of the occult axiom, "As above, so below", for though they were absolutely alike in every particular it was always understood that they represented respectively the terrestrial and celestial worlds. On Tat, the left-hand pillar, each link of each chain symbolized what in our Oriental studies we call a branch-race, and the links as they descended became larger and thicker to indicate a deeper descent into matter, until the fourth was reached, when the life-force begins to draw inward and upward, and so its embodiment becomes less material.

Each loop of seven links therefore typified a sub-race, and the seven loops which extended round the pillar, making one festoon, correspond to one of the great root-races, such as the Lemurian, the Atlantean or the Aryan. The whole set of seven festoons hanging one below the other denoted one world-period, one occupation of this planet of ours.

Underneath the chain-work a beautifully executed system of fine network will be seen, and this was employed by the priests of old to elucidate yet another side of the marvelous mystery of evolution. When the Holy Spirit has brooded over the face of the waters of space, and has impregnated and vivified primordial matter, the activity of the Second Aspect of the Logos begins, and innumerable streams of His divine life pour down into the field prepared for them. In a thousand ways they interlace and combine, and so produce the bewildering multiplicity of the life which we see around us. From their interaction result the manifold fruits of evolution which we see exemplified in our pillars by the rows of pomegranates which depend from the fringe of the network, the pomegranates being chosen for this symbolism because each fruit contains a prodigious number of separate seeds, thus illustrating the amazing fecundity of nature and the vast variety of her types.

In That the lilies represented always the flower of humanity. Arranged in line round the edge of the disc they indicated the Great White Brotherhood the jewels in the crown of mankind, hovering above the human race and directing its evolution. The four pendant flower-chains symbolized the Holy Four who reside at Shamballa - the Spiritual King and His three pupil-assistants, the sole representatives on earth of the Lords of the Flame who came down long ago from Venus to hasten the evolution of mankind. The crossed palm-leaves between them typified the four Devarajas, the principal agents through whom the decrees of the Sons of the Fire-Mist are carried out.

The three bands of lilies which are arranged to hide the junction of the chapiter with the pillar were taken to represent the initiates of the three stages of the Egyptian Mysteries. The buds of the upper row, pointing upwards, typified the initiates of the Mysteries of Isis, who were full of aspiration, reaching upwards and in that way raising the general average of human thought. The flowers of the middle row, opened and facing outwards, were the initiates of Serapis, showing forth by their lives the glory, dignity and power of humanity as it should be. The third row of drooping lilies represented the initiates of the Mysteries of Osiris, reaching down into the world in order to devote themselves to the helping and enlightenment of humanity.

These three grads of initiates seem to correspond in a general way to three other divisions or grades of the occult life which I have described at length in The Masters and the Path. There are first those on the probationary path, who are aspiring to enter the Path proper, and are doing everything in their power to purify themselves, to develop their character, and to serve humanity with unselfish love under the guidance of the Masters. Then come those who have been initiated into the Great White Brotherhood, and have thus entered on the Path proper; their lives are dedicated entirely to the service of humanity; in them the bud of human life has opened into flower, and their consciousness has risen into the buddhic principle, which has been described as the truly human expression of man. Thirdly come the Arhats, those who have taken the fourth great Initiation; they are not compelled to reincarnate; if they do so it is quite voluntary; they dip down into human life on this plane simply in order to help.

On Tattu, the right-hand pillar, we take up the tale of evolution where we left it on the other. A single link here betokens one world-period, and therefore includes the whole set of seven festoons on Tat. To use once more the technical terms of Theosophical teaching, the loop of seven links on Tattu stands for what we call a Round, the completed festoon of seven loops is meant to suggest one Chain-period, and the full group of seven festoons equals one Planetary Scheme. The two pillars taken together correspond exactly to the table of evolution and the diagram which I give in the sixth section of The Inner Life, and almost the whole of the information contained in that section was taught by the Egyptian priests to their neophytes, and illustrated by means of this elaborate system of chapiter decoration. It would be out of place to repeat here the whole of the explanation included in that book, but I would refer to it those students who wish to pursue further this most interesting subject. As there are several editions of the book I am unfortunately unable to give an exact page reference, but the diagram will easily be found.

In Tattu the crown of flowers round the edge of the disc seems to have been taken to symbolize the hosts of the Dhyan Chohans, including perhaps the Planetary Logoi. The four chains of lilies flowing down from that crown bore to the Egyptians a signification connected with the Tetraktys, or perhaps with a reflection or expression of that Mystery, while the triple band of lilies round the lower edge of the chapiter was taken as signifying the action in matter of the three Aspects of the Logos - the buds denoting the action of the Holy Spirit, the Arm of the Lord outstretched in activity, and always pushing upward and onward within the spirit of man, while the middle row was taken as showing the strength of the Father ever shining forth as the sun in his glory far beyond the clouds and mists of earth, and the lowest row betokened the action of the Second Aspect, God the Son, bending down into incarnation and raising humanity from within.

The crossed palm-leaves here indicate the Lipika, the Lords of Karma, who work through the four Kings of the elements symbolized by similar leaves on Tat. They are unconnected with the rest of the design because they represent forces not confined to our planetary scheme, or even to our solar system; they administer a Law which rules the whole universe, which Angels and men alike obey.

The upper segment of the spheroid, beyond the disc, was left entirely bare of ornament, in order to indicate that beyond all that could be symbolized there was yet something more, out of manifestation, and therefore entirely inexpressible.

Another reason for the placing of these two pillars at the entrance of the temple was that the man who would enter the higher world of the Lodge from the common world of every-day life must pass between them; and from this point of view they typified the overcoming in his own lower nature of the turbulence of the personal emotions and the Waywardness of the personal mind. First, his strength for fighting the battle of life came from the emotions, the astral nature; then that pillar of our personal nature, the pillar of Set, had to be conquered by the power of the mind, the pillar of Horus, end conjoined with it in order to add to the strength the stability necessary for going forward to higher things. Only then is the man established in strength, having the power to execute and the wisdom to direct.

The pillars also represent once more the two great laws of progress, karma and dharma, the former providing the environment or material world, and the latter the direction of the self within; by the union or harmonious working of these two laws a man may attain the stability and strength required for the occult path, and map thus reach the circle within which a M.M. cannot err.

Also the pillars were used in the teaching of the priests to illustrate the great doctrine of the pairs of opposites - spirit and matter, good and evil, light and darkness, pleasure and pain, etc.

It is interesting to note that Kabbalistic writers understood these pillars somehow to have represented involution, the descent of the divine Life into lower worlds, though they may not have been familiar with all the details. A treatise named The Gates of Light is quoted by Bro. A. E. Waite in this connection as follows:

He who knows the mysteries of the two Pillars, which are Jachin and Boaz, shall understand after what manner the Neshamoth, or Minds, descend with the Ruachoth, or Spirits, and the Nephasoth, or Souls, through El-chai and Adonai by the influx of the said two Pillars.

And again:

By these two Pillars and by El-chai (the living God) the Minds and Spirits and Souls descend, as by their passages or channels.* (*New Encyclopedia, II, 280.)

They form also the portal of the Mysteries by which the souls ascend to their divine Source; and it is only by passing through them that the sanctuary of man's true Godhead may be reached, that divine splendor which when aroused in the depths of the heart indeed establishes its dwelling-place in strength and stability.

In the French working two large pillars are placed inside the Lodge on either side of the door, in the West, and the W.S.W. and W.J.P. sit at triangular tables beside these. This arrangement is derived from the Chaldaean system.

Several writers have made persistent attempts to attach a phallic signification to these two pillars; I can only say that in the course of a prolonged investigation by means of the inner sight we found no trace of the attribution of any such meaning.

Back to The Hidden Life in Freemasonry [ Next ] [ Previous ]