Transcription
[Music] Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quaries, an archive of Masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law. "The Philosophy of Freemasonry," first presented by William R. Punt on the 8th of May 1997.
In preparing these brief comments on the philosophy of Freemasonry, I asked myself, just how does a person go about telling someone else what Masonry is and is not? I came to the conclusion that perhaps a starting point would be with a definition of Freemasonry. Actually, there were two that I ran across recently. The first said, "Masonry is more than a social good Fellowship, more than ritual, more than organized charity; it is a way of living, a philosophy of Life." Another definition said, "Freemasonry is a charitable, benevolent, educational, and religious Society." For the next few minutes, let's take these definitions apart and see what they really mean.
First of all, many will say that Freemasonry is a secret organization. Actually, its only secrets are in its methods of recognition and of symbolic instruction. We maintain secrecy, but purely as a means of mutual identification. We take an oath, but only after assurance that it will not improperly affect any duty we owe to God, our country, our neighbor, or ourselves. We have forms and ceremonies and symbols, but these are all external. Actually, the entire ritual is a symbolic representation of the course of a man through his life, leading him step by step from birth through manhood to old age, and leaving him with the hope of immortality.
The first degree, called The Entered Apprentice, represents man as he comes into life, helpless, ignorant, and dependent, and carries his education through the period of his youth. The second, or Fellowcraft degree, represents man in his middle age, and the third, or Master Mason degree, takes him through old age and ends with a beautiful lesson in the unconquerable hope of immortality. Through The Three Degrees, the candidate is taught increasing wisdom in the art of upright living.
Now, let's look at that part of our definition dealing with religion. Although in remote Antiquity Freemasonry was affiliated with various religions, it has long since ceased to be a religion. It is the friend of every religious Faith, but is not itself a religion. Essentially, it is the practical applications of a philosophy of life, or a way of living. Not being the product of any one race or system of government, or economics, or philosophy, or religion, Freemasonry welcomes men of every race and Creed if they have sufficient integrity of character to become good Masons and if they believe in deity.
Instead of trying to be a religion, Freemasonry deliberately seeks to provide a common meeting place where men of every religion can remain true to their own religions and yet, submerging their differences, can work together in harmony to manifest the finest fruits of all religions. While the emphasis of religion is often for intercession for forgiveness of shortcomings, the Masonic emphasis is essentially on the more positive side of seeking to measure up to one's obligations, rather than on any theological doctrines of forgiveness. Similarly, Masonry stresses one's duties rather than his rights. Just as Freemasonry exhorts its members to be true and loyal citizens of whatever country is entitled to their allegiance, so likewise Freemasonry expects each of its members to be a true and loyal supporter of his chosen religion and of the church, synagogue, or other unit of organizational worship.
Now, let's look at the other parts of our definition; first, that of being a social organization. Freemasonry is a social organization only so far as it furnishes additional inducement that men may forgather in numbers, thereby providing more material for its primary work of education, of worship, and of charity through the improvement and strengthening of the character of the individual man. Freemasonry seeks to improve the community. Thus, it impresses upon its members the principles of personal righteousness and personal responsibility, enlightens them as to those things which make for human welfare, and inspires them with that feeling of charity or good will toward all mankind which will move them to translate principle and conviction into action.
We believe that the Masonic life should be an orderly life and that it should be a public-spirited life. Furthermore, we believe it should be an industrious life in the pursuit of one's vocation, and a physically sane life with due regard to bodily health. A sound body, orderly industry, public spirit, but primarily the building of character. To us, these emerge as the major laws of successful living.
Just what then does Freemasonry say about man's relationship with God and with his fellow men?
One: In a world of greed and force, it teaches self-restraint and reason.
Two: In a world permeated with the spirit of selfish rivalry, it teaches Universal Brotherhood.
Three: In a world of intolerance and bigotry, it teaches tolerance and kindness.
Four: In a world of cynical disbelief, it teaches reverence for deity.
Five: In a world floundering in the depths of a great moral and spiritual depression, it teaches industry and self-reliance, and temperance and integrity.
Six: It aids and comforts, and reassures and inspires individuals.
Seven: It leaps the barriers of race and space to draw together the finest aspirations of all men and unite them in a universal Brotherhood.
And finally, we can say that purity of heart, sincerity, truthfulness, fidelity to duty, and similar qualities are emphasized over and over as necessary internal qualifications. The attainment of wisdom, prudence, temperance, justice, reason, self-reliance, strength, and beauty are practical objectives. Self-restraint, upright conduct, and morality are worthy means towards the accomplishment of these objectives. These are typical of the Masonic philosophy. Yes, Masonry is more than social good Fellowship, more than ritual, more than organized charity; it is a way of living, a philosophy of [Music] life.
Welcome to From The Quaries. Tonight's video, "The Arithmetic of Freemasonry," is another work by the estimable F.P. Castells and comes from a 1914 lecture. It's very long and very complex, so I've decided to split it into two videos. The first section will deal with the numbers three, five, and seven, and the second section, the number 15. It's quite a challenging journey, so I hope you enjoy it.
Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quaries, an archive of Masonic law. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
What we familiarly call arithmetic has been historically one of the most potent factors in the development of the human mind. And as it is one of the liberal arts and sciences on which Freemasonry has been founded, the study of it should help us to understand some of the ideas underlying the ritual of the Craft. The architect, the geometrician, and every Mason, whether operative or free and speculative, are absolutely dependent on the science of numbers. Long ago, Pythagoras made his whole system of philosophy rest on the conception of numbers as regulating the relations of all things, and on this account he may be regarded as the philosopher of numbers. Philolaus, the earliest exponent of his teaching, put it in a nutshell thus: "Number is the principal order, the principle on which the cosmos, or ordered World, exists."
When 500 years ago King Henry VI made inquiry concerning Freemasonry, he was told this: "It is the knowledge of Nature and the power of its various operations, particularly the skill of Reckoning of weights and measures, or constructing dwellings and buildings of all kinds, and the truer meaning of forming all things for the use of man." And when he asked, "What do Masons conceal and hide?" his informer mentioned, among other things, "the way of obtaining The Faculty of Ab A," which is, it seems, just the sort of arithmetic which I am to speak to you of in this lecture.
Having regard to these facts, we are justified, I think, in expecting that any numbers, quantities, and measurements mentioned in the ritual must have a hidden significance. And indeed, I am of the opinion that in the ritual there is nothing arbitrary, superfluous, or meaningless.
I am not aware that anyone has attempted to explain how the art of counting was evolved, but having traveled extensively and gained some knowledge of the ways of other races, I may venture to give you some of my own thoughts on the subject. At the dawn of civilization, there seem to have been tribes counting by threes and tribes counting by fives. The trinal system must have been based on the intuitional conception which men had by the nature of things and persons placed in three relative positions, thus: I, thou, he; this, that, the other; 1, 2, 3. But the quinary system was based on the five fingers of the hand, hence the name of digits still given to any integer under 10, a word which in Latin means "fingers."
It was through this method of counting among primitive men that when, in course of time, someone was able to devise a system of expressing numbers as figures, each of the nine digits came to be expressed by a separate character, as is the case in our arithmetic at the present day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The Greek imagination pictured nine goddesses, the Muses, who were said to be the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, that is, God and the memory, each of them presiding over one of their nine liberal arts. And in the ancient Scottish Rite, we find a ninth degree in which the Brethren are styled "Elected Knights of Nine."
Here incidentally, I may call your attention to a curious property of the mysterious nine, which is that whenever we add together the figures by which we express any of its multiples, we always get either another nine or some lesser products resolvable to the same number. For example: 2 * 9 = 18; add 1 and 8 and you get 9. 4 * 9 = 36; add 3 and 6 = 9. 11 * 9 = 99. 12 * 9 = 108, and so on.
The tribes that counted by threes and those that counted by fives developed their genius independently of each other, but we should not imagine that there ever was any race of men completely detached from the rest of the world, or that owed nothing to the other races. It must have been through the intercourse of tribe and tribe that the highly useful decimal marker came to be adopted, and then at length, somewhere, somehow, the use of this marker would suggest the cipher of our arithmetical notation, the invention of which was needed for a great achievement. For although the cipher, when it stands by itself, is but an empty symbol, when conjoined with any of the nine digits, it may mean 10, hundreds, thousands, or millions.
The wonderful Cipher, or zero, however it may have originated, has led men to a great advance in the art of calculation. We may still call it "nought," but it would be more appropriate to call it "all," seeing that it purports Infinity into our arithmetical operations. Our way of expressing the idea of 10 is 1, 0; that is, a unit plus the decimal marker. And this unit signifies that on reaching 10, we have begun a new series. To the decimal marker, we have given the form of a circle, and this is quite fitting too, for the circle is the emblem of Eternity and infinity.
What I have said thus far explains the rise of two of our symbolic numbers: three and five. But now, what about the number seven? This is a distinctly Masonic numeral, the Mystic significance of which goes far deeper than that of the other two. It is a combination of four and three, the square and the triangle, as we may see in the ceremony of raising by the steps which the candidate takes when advancing to the East. The first four describing a square in the center of the Lodge, and the next three bringing you up to the pedestal on which is the Volume of the Sacred Law.
Beneath the ground so squared, there is a yawning grave, but the candidate is a living being, and his steps are emblematic at once of human life and the four quarters of the globe. And as the last three steps indicate a triangle, which is symbolical of the Great Architect of the Universe, the two numbers, four and three, when conjoined or combined, suggest the thought of God brought into relations with his creatures and dominating human life. I might enlarge on this, but it would lead me beyond the limits of our subject.
Having explained the origin of the three symbolic numbers, 3, 5, and 7, we may now make a rapid review of the ritual and see the function which each of them is made to discharge. And in this, we ought to begin with the first, that is, number three, which is recurring constantly in connection with: one, our organization; two, the appointment of the Lodge; three, the traditional history; and four, the actual Mysteries or secret ritual acts.
In our organization, our order stands on three grand principles, which are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. There are three degrees, each degree with its respective signs, tokens, and word. There are three principal and three assistant officers, the three principal ones occupying three different quarters of the globe, each East, South, and West. The distinguishing characteristics of a good Freemason are three: virtue, honor, and mercy. There are three main lines of Duty: to God, to our neighbor, and to ourselves. Three sacred dictates: of Truth, honor, and of virtue. Three foremost excellences of character: secrecy, fidelity, and obedience. Three lowest staves in the Mystic ladder, which are said to be emblematic of the Three Graces: faith, hope, and charity. Also, there are the three most celebrated orders of architecture: the Ionic, the Doric, and the Corinthian.
In the appointment of the Lodge, there are three sets of tools for each degree; that is, a different set of three tools for each one of the three classes of workmen. There are three reasons why the Lodge should be situated East and West. The interior of a Freemason Lodge is composed of ornaments, furniture, and jewels. The ornaments are three in number: the Mosaic pavement, the Blazing star, and the indented or tesselated border. The furniture too comprises three articles, which are the Volume of the Sacred Law, the square, and the compasses, while the jewels are six: three movable and three immovable. Similarly, the Master Mason's Lodge is said to be distinguished by three ornaments: the porch, the dormer, and the square pavement. The emblems of mortality are three: the coffin, the skull, and the crossbones. There are, we are told, three pillars supporting the Lodge: wisdom, strength, and beauty. There are also three greater lights and three lesser ones.
In the traditional history, the first Lodge is said to have been consecrated with three grand offerings. The chapiters of the pillars are described as enriched with three varieties of ornamentation: network, lily work, and pomegranates, and these are said to symbolize Unity, Peace, and Plenty. The Entered Apprentices employed in King Solomon's Temple received a weekly allowance of corn, wine, and oil, which may be said to answer to what the present-day laborer still regards as the three necessities of life: bread, beer, and butter. At the time of the great conspiracy, there were but three men who possessed the secrets of a Master Mason. There were three Grand Masters who bore sway at the building of the first Temple of Jerusalem. The secrets of the Master could only be imparted with the consent and by the joint action of three. The trusty Fellowcrafts divided themselves into three companies or Lodges. Our Master was slain with three blows, struck by three different men, on three parts of the head, with three different tools, at three points of exit of King Solomon's Temple, situated on the South, North, and East sides.
In the Mysteries, the Lodge opens and closes with three knocks, and every candidate gains admission by three knocks given differently at each degree. In every degree, the candidate who seeks the privilege corresponding to it by a three-fold plea: "by the help of God, being free and of good report," or "by the help of God and with the assistance of the square and the benefit of the password," or "by the help of God, the united aid of the square and compasses, as well as the benefit of the password." On opening the Lodge, the Worshipful Master prays for three things: order, peace, and Harmony. Every initiate is made to strike the right of the Senior and Junior Wardens with three knocks. He is made to advance to the pedestal by three steps. He has to answer three searching questions told of the Worshipful Master. He is told of the three dangers, the three reasons for soliciting his charity, the three aspects of his character; also of the three-fold way of dividing the 24 hours of the day: some for prayer to Almighty God, some for labor and refreshment, and some for serving a friend or brother.
In the second degree, the sign is of a three-fold nature. In order to raise the candidate to the sublime degree of a Master Mason, three methods are tried; only the third can succeed. In closing the Fellowcraft Lodge, the dismissal formula recited by the Junior Warden alone is also of a three-fold nature. In the ordinary way of closing the Lodge, according to ancient custom, all the Brethren present unite in a three-fold sign of fidelity: "Fidelity, Fidelity, Fidelity." The Master Mason, when raised, is asked to make his solemn obligation binding for as long as he shall live by sealing it with his lips three times on the Volume of the Sacred Law. We also frequently have a three-fold perambulation of the Lodge.
This long list does not exhaust all the references to the symbolic three occurring in the ritual, but it should suffice to show the important part that number plays in it.
We may now pass on to consider the next number: five. Three rule a Lodge, but five hold it, which means that there cannot be a Lodge with less than five members. The Fellowcrafts of the traditional history form themselves into three companies, that is, three Lodges of five members. When the Entered Apprentice comes into the Fellowcraft Lodge in order to be passed, he's taught to advance to the East by five steps. We acknowledge the five orders of architecture. The Blazing Star is one of five points. There are five secret words. There are five points of Fellowship for us all, and these are said to correspond in number to the five signs of the third degree. The grave of our Master was five or more feet deep. The chapiters on the pillars at the porch or entrance of King Solomon's Temple were 5 cubits high.
And now as regards the number seven. Seven is the number by which the Lodge is made perfect. In every properly constituted Lodge, there are seven officers, that is, including the Tyler and the Outer Guard. The first tracing board exhibits Seven Stars, which have an allusion to as many regularly made Masons. In the ceremony of raising, the method of advancing is by seven steps. We are told that King Solomon's Temple was seven years and upwards in building. The height of the two pillars was 17 1/2 cubits, which equals 7 + 7 + 3 1/2, or the two pillars conjointly 35 cubits, which equals 5 * 7. The qualifications required from the would-be Master Mason are given thus: "just, upright, free men, of mature age, sound judgment, and strict morals." The qualification of mature age is explained as meaning the full age of 21 years, which equals 3 * 7. Finally, there are the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences on which Freemasonry has been founded: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
But now, after this rapid survey of the ritual, we shall find that these symbolic numbers, 3, 5, and 7, important as they appear, are but fractions of what may be called the *summum numerum*. Thus, 3 + 5 + 7 = 15. I shall throw some new light on the Mystic significance of this number in the second part of the lecture.
For more Masonic podcasts, videos, music, texts, and artwork, visit fromthequaries.com or subscribe to our YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook accounts by searching "From The [Music] Quaries."
Welcome to From The Quaries. Tonight's video is part two of "The Arithmetic of Freemasonry" by F.P. Castells from 1914. It turns out that there's so much in this lecture that I think it's going to be a three-parter now. So tonight's part refers specifically to the number 15. Part three will be a bit more wide-ranging and we'll refer to what Castells refers to as "the Metrology of The Craft."
Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quaries, an archive of Masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law.
After this rapid survey of the ritual, we shall now examine the *summum numerum*, the number 15. I hope to throw some new light on the Mystic significance of this number, but first of all, I beg leave to call your attention to its internal harmonies. It has been said that there is Divinity in odd numbers, and the number 15 is remarkable in many ways. It combines the first two of our symbolic numbers, for 3 * 5 = 15. And strangely enough, the two numbers 3 and 5 joined together represent 35, which equals 5 * 7, the other two symbolic numbers. Moreover, if we multiply the three numbers, 3 * 5 * 7, the result is 105, the lowest common multiple, which also equals 7 * 15, and is practically the same number, 15, with the nought inserted between the figures.
Chronologically, a period of 15 days is that which is enclosed within three Sabbaths. Many of the ancient Nations held their great festivals on the 15th day of a month, and they usually followed the lunar year; the moon must have been full at that time. In Greece, the ceremonies of initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries, both in the Autumn and in the Spring, began on the 15th day of the month and lasted 9 days. Note that these 9 days equal 3 * 3.
In music, the number 15 represents two complete scales, that is, the notes comprised between three C's. As five stands for one hand, 15 equals three hands. And there is somewhere a chapter which has for its distinctive badge a triangle within which we see two hands stretched out from the sides and grasping each other, while the third hand, descending from the Apex, holds up both of them. Although the interpretation of this symbol belongs to the Royal Arch, we may all read a beautiful thought into it: that of fraternal Union on Earth, maintained under the protection of the Most High.
In the trinal system of primitive man, the numbers are six and nine, which are the first triad doubled and trebled, were considered round numbers, and adding them together we get 6 + 9 = 15. Then too, the number 15 combines the two leading terms of the decimal system, 10 + 5, which reminds us of the fact: the decimal system, now acknowledged to be the most perfect system of arithmetic, is but the early method of counting by fives, that is to say, by the fingers of the hand. There really is nothing new under the sun.
But suppose we take the first five digits as representing a progressive arithmetical series and that we add them up: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5. Again, the total will be 15. And if we add up all the nine digits in the same way, then we bring the total to 45, which equals 3 * 15, and is half the number of the square: 45 + 45 = 90. This I've illustrated by a diagram thus, which has a pile of bricks arranged in that same progressive order.
Look for a moment at this magic square. In it, the nine digits are arranged in three rows, 3 * 3, and however the figures may be added up, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, the sum of every three is always the same: 15. The key to the various operations possible is to be found in the symbols from which we obtain the Masonic alphabet. No other arrangement of the numbers will ever yield such Harmony. Please observe that the central column consists of the symbolic 3, 5, 7; the first at the bottom, five in the center, seven above. Five stands between 1 and 9, the unit which is the root of all number, and nine, the highest digit. These two together complete the decade.
My object in calling your attention to these facts is to show that the use of the number 15 in our Masonic symbolism is not arbitrary. It is the best the Ancients could have chosen to convey the idea of fullness or completeness. Let us see therefore how it is that the number comes into the [Music] ritual.
I have said before that we open and close the Lodge with three knocks, but it would be equally correct to say that we open and close the Lodge with 15 knocks, because the knocks prescribed by the ritual are struck successively by the Worshipful Master, the Senior and Junior Wardens, and by both the Inner and Outer Guards, five officers in all, and 5 * 3 make 15. Then we know how the candidate advances to the place of Light by stages which are measured by a fixed number of steps. The Entered Apprentice takes three, the Fellowcraft five, the Master Mason seven. Add up all these and you have 15 as the total.
This advancing order in the steps of each degree is foreshadowed by the Entered Apprentice at his initiation, for in his case, the steps are of varying length: the second is a little longer than the first, and the third a little longer than the second, as expressed by the numerical proportion of [Music] 3, 5, 7.
In the explanation of the second tracing board, we read that our ancient Brethren passed up the winding staircase consisting of three, five, seven, or more steps, and these correspond with the steps taken by our candidates. And it should be observed that the phrase "or more steps" does not imply any uncertainty as to the height of the staircase; it is merely a necessary reservation, the margin for the requirements of the higher degrees.
In the traditional history of the third degree, we hear a conspiracy organized by 15 Fellowcrafts. They were of that superior class appointed to preside over the rest, which means the order now denominated Master Masons. Out of the 15, 12 recanted, but three proved to be of a determined and atrocious character and responsible for a great tragedy. As against these rebellious Fellowcrafts, there are mentioned another 15 who went to search for our Master, Hiram Abiff. And we read that when these 15 trusty Fellowcrafts were commissioned by King Solomon for their work, they divided themselves into three companies, which means, of course, three Fellowcraft Lodges of five members each. One company sought and found not; one company made the discovery; and the third company brought the evildoers to judgment.
What then are we to think of the 30 Fellowcrafts? In my opinion, they are emblematic of the struggle which is ever going on in the world between antagonistic forces with which every human being is more or less acquainted: the evil being ever envious of the good, the ambitious seeking to achieve success by deceit and rapacity, and in extreme cases, by the most heinous crimes, the selfish and greedy thwarting and defeating the very ideals they profess to admire, all this in the hope of obtaining wealth, position, or power. And Freemasonry steps in and counsels to substitute virtue, industry, and perseverance for dishonesty, covetousness, and violence, and to aim at the happiness of the fraternity.
We may see the counterpart of this in the two intersected triangles shown on the second degree tracing board. One of the triangles is black and the other white, and the two are united by the letter G inscribed in the common center. I believe that the tragedy in the forefront of the Volume of the Sacred Law, Cain slaying his brother Abel, was intended to illustrate the same conception of life which is inculcated by Freemasonry. And the Chinese have from time immemorial represented this struggle which is ever going on by the symbol they call Yin Yang.
In the tracing Board of the Master Mason, there is another memorial of the death of our Master. It takes the form of three fives arranged triangularly. Thus, they suggest an equilateral triangle, each five representing one side. But we know that historically they correspond to the three methods tried for the purpose of bringing back to life the ideal man. The three fives therefore are the three hands with 15 fingers in all.
There has been confusion over this, and some rituals have been put forth that give the Fellowcrafts of the traditional history as 12 in number instead of 15. It seems to have arisen from certain distinctions being overlooked or forgotten. Let us remember that while the tradition mentions two companies of 15 Fellowcrafts, in each case they divide into 12 + 3, because three of the rebellious Fellowcrafts are held responsible for the murder of our Master. Three hands struck the fatal blows, and three hands were exerted in raising the dead body. On this account, both death and life may be expressed by three fives or three hands.
In closing the Fellowcraft Lodge, the Wardens report the discovery of a sacred symbol said to be situated in the center of the building. And this may be explained by what we read elsewhere: when our ancient Brethren were in the Middle Chamber of the Temple, their attention was peculiarly drawn to certain Hebrew characters which are here depicted by a letter G, denoting God, the Grand Geometrician of the Universe, to whom we must all submit and whom we ought humbly to adore. According to this, the cryptic G is but our modern substitute for the Hebrew characters depicted in the same tracing board just over the door at the top of the staircase. These characters are now commonly read as Jehovah, but the name was always considered too sacred to be pronounced by human lips, and the Jews themselves, in order not to write it, have frequently expressed it only with the initial Yod.
In speaking of this, however, it is necessary to bear in mind that the characters of the Hebrew alphabet were numbers as well as letters; that is, they could be made to stand alternatively for a quantity or a sound. Here are the first 10 of them with the corresponding numerical value. We see then that the letter Yod, the initial of the name Jehovah, when used numerically, represented the number 10, a fact which has afforded ground for much speculation. As previously shown, the Yod standing for 10 may be regarded as emblematic of the perfect system of arithmetic.
Some Jewish rabbis, known as the Cabalists, pointed out that the Divine name in Hebrew consists of four letters, hence called the Tetragrammaton, or four-lettered name. And by taking 1, 2, 3, 4 as a series, they reached the total of 10, which agreed with the face value of the initial. In this, the Cabalists came in touch with Pythagoras and his holy Quaternian, or in Greek, Tetractys, for Pythagoras held that four, the first square number, was the potential decade, and it stood for the cosmic elements: fire, air, earth, and water.
Sometimes the four Hebrew letters were arranged thus. When combined, the numerical value of the 10 characters gave a total of 72, which the Jews regard as an important symbolic number. And sometimes, in seeking to abbreviate the incommunicable name of God, they doubled or trebled the initial Yod [Music] thus. In each of these cases, the result is a distinct triangle, but you may see that while the first is pointing down, the second is pointing up, and numerically, while the two Yods equal 20, the three equal 30.
There is one more way of abbreviating the ineffable name, one which did not originate with the Cabalists, but is found in actual use in the Psalms and may therefore be regarded as authorized by the Volume of the Sacred Law. I mean that which consists in writing the first two letters of the name. Read phonetically, they spell Yah or Jah, but arithmetically they should represent the number 15, that is, 10 + 5. The Jews used to express the numbers from 10 to 20 by writing 10 + 1, 10 + 2, 10 + 3, 10 + 4, etc. But when they came to 15, they found that the two characters required were associated with the ineffable name of God, and so they varied the order, writing instead of 10 + 5, 9 + 6.
We have seen that in Masonic symbolism, the number 15 has been made to embody the idea of fullness or totality. And now, if we look again into the ritual, we may find a further illustration of this idea, for in the explanation of the second tracing board, the Worshipful Master refers to the practical significance of the symbolic numbers 3, 5, 7, and reminds us that a Lodge is ruled by three, held or organized by five, and made perfect by seven. In this way, those symbolic numbers suggest three leading ideas: government, organization, and perfect development. And as the number 15 is reached by combining the three numbers, 3 + 5 + 7 = 15, we may regard this sum as comprehending all those ideas and as being a fitting emblem of the grand ideal of Freemasonry. In the ancient Scottish Rite, the members of the 10th degree are called "Illustrious Knights of 15" as having attained to the fullness of this ideal.
For more Masonic podcasts, videos, music, texts, and artwork, visit fromthequaries.com or subscribe to our YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook accounts by searching "From The Quaries." [Music]
Welcome to From The Quaries. Tonight is the third part of this reading of the wonderful 1914 lecture by F.P. Castells, "The Arithmetic of Freemasonry." Tonight's section refers specifically to the Metrology of The Craft.
Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quaries, an archive of Masonic law. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
I have undertaken to say something of the Metrology of The Craft, and I will proceed to do so because it is a subject that stands closely allied with our arithmetic, but time compels me to be brief. The length measures mentioned in the ritual are five: the two modern ones, the inch and the foot; the two ancient ones, the hand breadth and the Cubit; and one which is very ancient, although not a familiar one, the cable's length.
The word "inch" comes from the Latin *uncia*, meaning one-twelfth part of anything, and in this connection it indicates a twelfth part of a man's foot, which was early adopted as a length measure, being, of course, standardized everywhere. But in the ritual, the 24-inch gauge is used as emblematic of time. When the Worshipful Master gives the Apprentice his tools, he says that the 24-inch gauge represents the 24 hours of the day, and it may be used in two ways: to graduate his task and to divide each passing day so as to allow of his attending to everything: his devotions, his regular employment, and the discharge of his social obligations.
As the fingers of the hand have played an important part in the development of the art of counting, so too they supplied the basis for the art of mensuration all over the East, all the high metrical values consisting of so many palms or hand breadths, which, like the foot, had to be standardized. In the explanation of the second tracing board, we learn that the outer rim of the twin pillars of the porchway of King Solomon's Temple was a hand's breadth in thickness. This statement agrees with the First Book of Kings 6:1 [Music] 15.
Elsewhere, Jeremiah 52:21, we read that it was four fingers thick. And so I shall point out that in this there is no real contradiction, because the hand's breadth of the ritual is to be understood as being not the breadth of the open or extended hand, but that of the back of a clenched hand, in which only four fingers are seen.
Theoretically, the Cubit was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, but unfortunately, as each nation adopted a different standard, we find a great deal of variety in cubits. Indeed, some Nations had two or three sorts of cubits according to the objects that had to be measured. This may explain the confusion and the controversy that there has been as to the actual length of the Cubit employed in designing King Solomon's Temple.
In Egypt, there were two different cubits: the short, which was one of six, and the Royal, which was one of seven palms of hand breadths. In Babylonia, there were three measurements known by that name: one of Three Palms, used in measuring fine decorative work and gold ornaments; one of four Palms, which was used ordinarily for all masonry work; and one of Five Palms, which was used in measuring land spaces. By the recovery of two scales of linear measurements engraved on the statues of Gudea nearly 5,000 years old, we have found that these three cubits equal 10.8, 14.4, and 18 inches respectively. Some archaeologists argue that both King Solomon's Temple and in the Tabernacle, all three cubits of ancient Babylonia were used. On this calculation, the thickness of the pillars would be equivalent to 3.6 inches of our present-day measure, although even now we cannot be quite certain.
Finally, about the cable's length. When this expression is now used by Sailors, they mean to indicate a distance of about 100 fathoms, or the tenth part of a nautical mile. But as used in the ritual, "at least a Cable's length from the shore," it means a distance equal to the length of a coil of cable, which has always been understood to be 120 fathoms, that is to say, 720 feet. The idea is that being buried in the sands at the bottom of the sea at that distance from low water mark as a minimum, the remains of a traitor might be considered to be definitively consigned to Everlasting disgrace, and therefore as having absolutely perished, no trace or remembrance being any longer conceivable.
This Cable's length must not be confused with "the length of my cable-tow" mentioned in another part of the ritual. This latter being a figure of speech intended to convey the idea of one's ability to execute an acknowledged obligation, the power to fulfill one's own responsibilities in life. The introduction of the cable into the ceremonies may appear strange, but apart from other considerations, if we only bear in mind the way the cable has been manufactured from time immemorial, we shall recognize that it is a very suitable emblem for the three-fold chord which is not easily broken: of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.
In a book compiled nearly 100 years ago, there is a description of it: "Every cable, of whatsoever thickness it be, is composed of three strands; every strand of three ropes; and every rope of three twists. The twist is made of more or less threads according as the cable is to be thicker or thinner."
The ritual anticipates that after this life, every Master Mason shall be decently interred, but the penalty of Our obligation in the third degree involves the very opposite of that idea. I shall therefore close this lecture with a few words on the dimensions of the grave of the third degree and their significance.
I've spoken of fathoms, saying that a Cable's length equals 120 fathoms, but the fathom is not named in the ritual. It may be defined as the measure of a man's embrace, fixed for all practical purposes at 6 feet. And therefore, although not expressly named, it is the length of the Grave which the trusty Fellowcrafts of our traditional history are said to have prepared. It was from a center of 3 feet East and 3 feet West. This is an unusual form of expression, but we may account for it by observing that the navel is regarded as lying in the center. Remember where the Master Mason rests his squared hands when he stands to order. The navel is our link with the past, and inasmuch as being buried the body returns to the bosom of our common mother, the old link is very properly viewed as the central point in the grave.
The width of the Grave between North and South was 3 feet. These dimensions are still the ordinary minimum dimensions of an adult's grave at the present time, but in the ritual they are given for a practical purpose, being emblematic. [Music] As the area was one of 18 square feet (6x3 = 18), 9 to the East and 9 to the West, and as the depth was a minimum of 5 feet, the total capacity of the Grave was of 90 cubic feet, which is the number by which we define the square, an angle of 90 degrees. The cubic measurement of the Grave therefore is but another way of representing the square.
By being laid under the sod, back to the bosom of Mother Earth, we come into the closest possible fellowship with one another, and the depth of 5 feet harmonizes with our five points of Fellowship. In assigning such dimensions to the Grave, therefore, the ritual may be said to bring our symbolism into the reign of death. And we, by endorsing and adopting its provisions, are testifying to the fact that the bond which unites Master Masons in this life is not broken when we are let down into the tomb of transgression. Having ordered our life according to the square, we take that sign with us to the grave, and we may rest assured that when we finally rise from the last resting place, the same old sign will procure our admission into the Grand Lodge above, where the world's great Architect lives and reigns forever.
For more Masonic podcasts, videos, music, texts, and artwork, visit fromthequaries.com or subscribe to our YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook accounts by searching "From The Quaries." [Music]
Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quaries, an archive of Masonic law. [Music] [Applause] [Music] "The Ineffable Name." This lecture was delivered to Research Royal Arch Chapter Number 100 of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Queensland on Wednesday, the 5th of February 1947, by Right Excellent Companion the Reverend V.H. Whitehouse, Grand J.
In the first of the ancient charges concerning God and religion, it is stated: "A Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understand the art, he will never be a stupid atheist, nor an irreligious libertine. He of all men should best understand that God seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh to the heart. A Mason is therefore particularly bound never to act against the dictates of his conscience. Let a man's religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the order, provided he believe in the Glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth, and practice the sacred duties of morality, etc."
Belief in God then is essential before a candidate is admitted to Freemasonry, and throughout all our ceremonies this belief is taken for granted. The question naturally arises: Who or what is the God which Freemasonry proclaims? Several things are evident:
A. The God of Freemasonry is the God of the Old Testament, and he has greater affinity with the ideas of the ancient world than with ours.
B. Like the Old Testament and the ancient world in general, Freemasonry does not attempt to prove the existence of God, nor to speculate how the knowledge of how that God is arose.
C. Again, like the Old Testament, Freemasonry teaches that the knowledge of God is progressive; i.e., God is known so far as he gives himself to be known.
This part C is important and removes what is a difficulty to some. There are ideas of God in the Old Testament that are crude, anthropomorphic, vindictive, and far removed from the Christian conception of the deity. But if it be remembered that God's revelation of himself is a progressive one, God revealing himself as men proved themselves capable of receiving new truths, the difficulty disappears when reading the Old Testament, and I think also when studying the progressive steps in Freemasonry. It is important to note that the ideas of God therein proclaimed are relative to the state of civilization on the one hand, and the progress of the candidate on the other, at that particular time.
Nowhere is this more evident than the names by which God came to be known in the Old Testament. A name was never a sign distinguishing one person from another; it was always descriptive, expressing the meaning of the person to whom the name was given. Thus, when God is called by a name, it expresses that which God has made known of himself to man. It does not represent God himself as he is, but such a manifestation of him as human faculties were able to apprehend.
It will be found that these names show that the ancient Hebrew started from some indeterminate conception of God common to the whole Semitic race (i.e., the people closely interrelated in language, custom, and physical features who occupied the southwest of Asia) and were led on by degrees to a living apprehension of the being whom they worshiped. In this revelation of God, as expressed by the Divine names, there are three stages: one, names used before Abraham; two, names used in the patriarchal ages (i.e., from Abraham onwards); and three, names used in the Mosaic age and afterwards.
Names used before Abraham: These early names do not belong to Revelation, at least not to the family of Israel. They are prehistoric. They do not suggest the first stage of Semitic religion. They belong to the stage when the phenomena of the heavens were considered to be due to some power above them.
One: El, God. This title of the deity was widely used and belongs to the whole Semitic world. No satisfactory derivation of the word has yet been suggested. It appears to be part of the verb "to be strong," and it suggests the idea of Governor or leader with the sense of power or might.
Two: Elohim. An interesting title, and again common to most of the Semitic peoples. It is plural in form, and so has been thought by some to be a remnant of polytheism. But scholars are unanimous in saying that when used of God, Elohim is not plural in the sense of numbers; it is always used...
With a singular verb, and therefore is the plural of majesty or Eminence, the plural of fullness or greatness, the singular of Elohim probably meant strength. The plural intensifies the idea.
Three: El Elyon, meaning God Most High, a name which distinguishes the deity from other conceivable gods. Speaking generally, this group of terms may be described as universalistic in their meaning. They indicate the relation of God to all that He has made as its creator and sustainer.
Now, names used in the patriarchal age. So far these names express the general idea of God. He is the power to whom the world belongs. Now, a development takes place. God is coming into relationship with His people, and development towards a high morality and faith in a spiritual, omnipotent God takes place. This development we know as the call of Abraham and the foundation of the patriarchal religion.
And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him, "I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect." (Genesis 17:1). Separated from his kindred and father's house, Abraham goes alone into the unknown world with only the God of Heaven and Earth for his guide. And on the hilltop of Canaan, in the solitude of the desert, he meets God. "I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai): walk before me, be thou perfect." The idea of God was becoming clear to Abraham. His faith took hold of the idea that God, the omnipotent, was able to protect him as he ventured into the unknown. He who is called God (El) was El-Shaddai, the supreme power who had given him His fellowship and was condescending to guide his life. Thus, El-Shaddai marks an advance on Elohim. Its derivation and meaning is uncertain, but the idea conveyed is that of absolute control over the forces of nature and the course of history.
Names used in the Mosaic age. This revelation, El-Shaddai, was made to Abraham alone, not to his people, nor his family, nor his father's house. It was El coming into relationship with the individual soul.
Now, a further development takes place. God, El-Shaddai, comes into relationship not only with the individual but with His people, for families and tribes become a nation and state, a communion and fellowship, not merely by blood, but by a common government and common institutions, and lastly, a strict and definite law to mark this wider relationship.
Henceforth, God's peculiar name as God in Israel is Jehovah. In His revelation to Moses, God appropriated the name Yahweh to Himself and stamped it as the name expressive of His relationship to Israel, now about to be entered into and manifested in deeds of redemption, and in memory of these deeds, to be henceforth His peculiar name as God in Israel.
Although the name Jehovah thus received new currency and significance in the time of Moses, it is far older than the time of Moses. E.g., in Genesis 4:26 it is written that in the time of Enos, the grandson of Adam, "then began men to call upon the name of the Lord (Jehovah)." This may seem difficult to reconcile with a statement in Exodus 4: "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord (Jehovah): And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty (El-Shaddai), but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." The meaning, however, is probably this: although the name Yahweh was not unknown, its real significance had never yet been experienced by them. Now, God's character as expressed by this name would be fully manifested, and that henceforth it would become His name as God of Israel, and would be peculiar to the people of Israel.
Its pronunciation. The pronunciation Jehovah was not used in Holy Scripture until about 1520 A.D. and does not claim to be correct. It came about in the following way: when it became unlawful to pronounce this name, probably from motives of superstition, very various other words were substituted for it. Thus, the Septuagint translators (i.e., those who in 284-247 B.C. translated the Old Testament into Greek) substituted Kyrios (Lord), and the Masoretes, ancient Jewish translators, the word Adonai (Lord). The vowel signs now used in Hebrew were not invented and written in manuscripts until 600-900 A.D. When one word was substituted for another in reading, it became the practice to attach the vowels of the word to be substituted to the consonants of the original word. Thus, the vowels of Adonai (a-o-a) were attached to the consonants YHWH. This name of God in 1518 A.D. Petrus Ganus, confessor of Leo X, proposed to read the vowels and consonants as one word, and thus rose Yehovah, Jehovah, why requiring to be spelled with an E instead of an A. Modern scholarship gives Yahweh, variously spelled JAHVE, JAHV, YAWE, etc., as the correct pronunciation.
Its meaning. The true meaning and derivation of the name is wholly unknown. In the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five books of the Old Testament) the word is brought into connection with the verb "to be." This expresses not so much the idea of self-existence as what is or will be historically. I think this is suggested in the revelation of the name given in Exodus 3:2-4: "And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Moses asked for God's name, i.e., a description of His nature and character, and he was taught that it was impossible to learn this all at once. God would be what He would from time to time prove to be. Each age would discover fresh attributes of His being. "I will be what I will be." Yet these revelations of God were not considered to be in the minds of those who received them shadows of a reality to come. Therefore, to quote Dr. A. B. Davidson, "I will be what I will be" expresses the sameness of Jehovah, His constancy, He being ever like Himself. It does not express what other attributes He has had; these were largely suggested by the fact of His being God. It rather expresses what all His attributes make Him: the same yesterday and today and forever. The true in covenant relationship, the unchanging. Hence it is said, "I am Jehovah, I change not." (Malachi 3:6). To Moses, then, the name was a summing up of the Divine character and attributes. These could not fully be understood by any one generation of Israelites, so Jehovah would continually manifest Himself, all that He would be to His people. Thus it proved to be. Yahweh showed Himself a deliverer of Egypt, a protector in the desert, all the acts of mercy on their journey from Canaan and their living there, all His guidance of their national development, all His discipline and punishments were so many fresh revelations of the meaning of His name. It shows Him to be present, future, eternal, unchangeable, and an all-sufficient God who comes into close relationship with His people.
There, the revelation of God in the early books of the Old Testament and in the first four degrees of Freemasonry ends. It remains for the succeeding degrees in Freemasonry to complete the revelation.
Valuable lessons may be drawn from these revelations of God. First, reverence towards God, a duty thus expressed in the charge after initiation by never mentioning His name but with that awe and reverence which are due from a creature to his creator, by imploring His aid in all lawful undertakings, and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support. A duty further and most strikingly emphasized in the Royal Arch by the attitude of companions in their approach to the altar, enshrined with His name. Secondly, a second lesson, perhaps more striking, is God comes into personal relationship with individuals and with nations.
The Old Testament tells that the covenant name Jehovah was afterwards withdrawn, as if reluctance had gradually arisen to name the Living God, or perhaps a vague dread of dishonoring His awful majesty. The revival of the primitive titles Elohim and El Elyon (God Most High) may seem to be a retrogression, but God moves in a mysterious way. Jehovah was a name peculiar to the people of Israel. It was God in covenant relationship with them, and so suggested Him as belonging exclusively to Israel. Hence we find the cry, "There is no salvation but of the Jew." Therefore, in the removal of the use of this name through superstition or dread, we, I think, may see an act of Providence showing that the redemptive name of God was far beyond the pale of His covenant with Israel. God is not the exclusive deity of any one nation, a fact I think Freemasonry proclaims. Yet He is Yahweh, but not exclusive. He comes into relationship with individuals and with those nations and peoples who seek Him.
In conclusion, it is quite evident that the statement in the first ancient charge is very true, that if a Mason rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist, nor an irreligious libertine.
[Music]
I am puzzled over a matter on which I have vainly sought light among my brethren. None gives me a satisfactory answer. We are taught that Masonry teaches through symbols. I want to know why. Why do we not put our truths into plain words? Why do we employ one thing to stand for another thing? Wouldn't Masonry be stronger and better if it was plain instead of veiling allegory in its principles and ethics? Like so many questions which can be answered regarding Masonry, this one may have several answers, all correct. Well, what is your answer?
Good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from The Quarries, an archive of Masonic law.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
You will surely admit, without argument, that man is of triple nature: he is physical, mental, and spiritual. He has a body and senses which bring him into contact with and translate the meanings of the physical world of earth, air, fire, and water which is about him. He has a brain and a mind by which he reasons and understands about the matters physical with which he is surrounded. And he has a something beyond, which you may call soul or heart or spirit or imagination, as you will, but it is something which is allied to rather than a part of reason, and which is connected with the physical side of life only through its sensory contacts. Your soul or spirit, my brother, comprehends a language which the brain does not understand. The keenest of minds have striven to make this mystic language plain to reason without success. If you hear music which brings tears to your eyes and grief or joy to your heart, you are responding to a language your brain does not understand and cannot explain. It is not with your brain that you love your mother, your child, or your wife. It is something beyond, and the language with which that love is spoken and understood is not the language of the tongue.
A symbol is a word in that language. Translate that symbol into words which appeal only to the mind, and the spirit of the word is lost. Words appeal to the mind; meanings not expressed in words appeal to the spirit. All that there is in Freemasonry which can be set down in words on a page leaves out completely the spirit of the order. If we depended on words or ideas alone, the fraternity would not make a universal appeal to all men, since no man has it given to him to appeal to the minds of all other men. But Freemasonry expresses truths which are universal. It expresses them in a universal language, universally understood by all men without words. That language is the language of the symbol, and the symbol is universally understood because it is the means of communication between spirits, souls, and hearts. Indeed, when we say of Masonry that it is universal, we mean literally it. It is of the universe, not merely of the world.
If it were possible for an inhabitant of Mars to make and use a telescope which would enable him to see plainly a square mile of the surface of the Earth, and if we knew it and desired, by drawing upon that square mile a symbol to communicate with the inhabitants of Mars, we would choose undoubtedly one with as many meanings as possible, one which had a material, a mental, and a spiritual meaning. Such a symbol would be the triangle, the square, or the circle. Our supposed Martian might respond with a complimentary symbol. If we showed him a triangle, he might reply with the 47th Problem of Euclid. If we showed him a circle, he might set down 3.1659, the number by which her diameter multiplied becomes a circumference. We would find in a symbol a language with which to begin communication, even with all the universe. Naturally, then, we employ symbols here for heart to speak to heart. Call it soul, mind, spirit, what you will. Imagination is its collection of senses, so we must appeal to the imagination when speaking of a truth which is neither mental nor physical, and the symbol is the means by which one imagination speaks to another. Nothing else will do. No words can be as effective unless they are themselves symbols. No teachings expressed in language can be as easily taught or learned by the heart as those which come via the symbol through the imagination.
Take from Freemasonry its symbols, and you have but the husk; the kernel is gone. He who hears but the words of Freemasonry misses its meaning entirely. The symbol has many interpretations. These do not contradict each other; they amplify each other. Thus, the square is a symbol of perfection, of rectitude of conduct, of honor, of honesty and good work. These are all different, and yet allied. The square is not a symbol of wrong or evil, meanness or disease. Ten different men may read ten different meanings into a square, and yet each meaning fits with and belongs to the other meanings. Now, ten men have ten different kinds of hearts; not all have the same power of imagination; they do not all have the same ability to comprehend, so each gets from a symbol what he can. He uses his imagination; he translates to his soul as much of the truth as he is able to make part of him. This the ten cannot do with truths expressed in words. Twice two is equal to four is a truth which must be accepted all at once as a complete exposition, or not at all. He who can understand but the twice, or the equal, or the four, has no conception of what is being said. But ten men can read ten progressive, different, correct, and beautiful meanings into the triangle, and each be right as far as he goes. The man who sees it merely as an instrument with which to help to bind has part of the meaning. He who finds it a link with operative Masons has another part. The man who sees it as a symbol of man's relationship to deity because with it he spiritually does the Master's work has another meaning. All these meanings are right. When all men know all the meanings, the need of Masonry will have passed away.
To sum up, the reason we must use symbols is because only by them can we speak the language of the spirit, each to each, and because they form an elastic language which each man reads for himself according to his ability. Symbolism is the only language which is that elastic and the only one by which the spirit can be touched. To suggest that Masonry use any other would be as revolutionary as to remove her altars, meet in the public square, or elect by a majority vote. In other words, Masonry without symbols would not be Masonry. It would be but dogmatic and not very edifying philosophy, of which the world is full as it is, and none of which ever satisfies the heart.
For more Masonic podcasts, videos, music, texts, and artwork, visit fromthequarries.com or subscribe to our YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook accounts by searching "fromthequarries."
[Music]
For a deep dive into the history, philosophy, and traditions of Freemasonry, subscribe to From The Quarries. You will find hundreds of lectures, presentations, shorts, and other Masonic works written by Freemasons for Freemasons. Visit fromthequarries.com or YouTube at From The Quarries.