-
Articles/Ads
Article THE DOOR OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 2 Article GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYBOLS. Page 1 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Door Of Freemasonry.
door is finally shut for that meeting , so should every brother shut the inmost door of his heart and preserre therein , secret and intact , all those lessons he has received as well as the faults and failings of all with whom he has come in contact . By considering the door of Ereemasonry in this
light , we shall be doing our duty as good men and brethren—securing the admission of the truly worthy —sheltering the shortcomings of the frail or unfortunate ; and by keeping a watch on the " door of our lips " so shall we be adding one more security to the door of Ereemasonry .
Geometrical And Other Sybols.
GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYBOLS .
( From the Builder . ) The geometrical symbols to which the attention of archaeologists and architects was for the first time called by Mr . Godwin , in the Arcliccoloyia of 1843 . are so numerous and diversified ; and they comprise so many of the strictly religious or magical and
mystical symbols among them ; including the hexalpha itself , the pentaele , the tau , the V or Y , and the cross and symbolical N in all their various modifications ; that we must look a little closely , if we can , into the true ori gin and nature of so rich a "find "; although the uses of these symbols as
masons' monographical marks , together AvitZi the rules of diversification which seem to have been practised hy the working guilds of Ereemasons in regard to these uses , have probably rendered such of the symbols as we cannot otherwise identify with those more strictly confined to mystical or magical ideas , of not A'ery definite or unquestionable religious signification . There are quite enough of identifiable
symbols and common princi ples of religious and magical symbolism in them , however , and more than enough , to justify a little close scrutiny as to the purposes and pretensions of that Ereemasonry with which they are so intimately connected , and by means of a little knowledge of which pretensions and purposes we maybe enabled to arrive , at some definite
idea ofthe original meaning of many of the symbols thus used as masons' marks . In the first of the two letters to Sir Henry Ellis in the ArcluBologia for 1843 ( vol . xxx . ) , to which I alluded at the close of my last communication , Mr . Godwin says : —
" About three years ago my attention , was first drawn to the fact , that the stones both inside and outside numerous ancient buildings in England , bore , in many cases , a peculiar mark or symbol , Avhich was evidently the work of the original builders . It immediately occurred to me that these marks , if extensively examined and compared , might serve to aid in connecting , and perhaps
discriminating , the various bands of operatives who , under the protection of the Church , mystically united , spread themselves over Europe during the Middle Ages , and are known as the Free-Masons . " It , therefore , gave me some pleasure , during a recent visit to the interior of France , to observe , in several instances , at Poitiers , in the department of Vienne , similar
marks , iu great profusion : the more so , too , as , amongst them , were many exactly resembling some which I had previously found in England , although ou buildings of a different date . "
Some of these marks , both from English and Erench buildings , are then given ; and from these , together with those afterwards contributed along with the second letter , I have made the following small selection , placed in a kind of affinitive , though necessarily not very consecutive , order of succession , ancl to which selection I shall have occasionhere after to refer .
" AVhether these marks , " continues Mr . Godwin , " were made for the simple purpose of identifying the Avork done by particular individuals or sub-divisions of the band , or that they had a deeper signification and motive , I will _ not nOAV inquire , nor even venture to remark on the origin of the signs themselves per se . My present purpose is simply to draw attention to these marks , in the that collections
hope may be made in England , France , and Germany , so that they may be properly investigated and compared . ISTo circumstance which promises to throw even the smallest light on the early history of those wonderful men to whom we are indebted for so many magnificent buildings can be deemed insignificant or unworthy of consideration . "
One chief object of the letters related to the more strictly professional question of periods of architecture , and the relationship of the mason-marks to these as well as to the orig inal builders of the edifices so marked , or the schools or lodges of masons who used them ; but into this more strictly professional
question I need not presume to enter . Although my present communications , however , may not " aid in elucidating the history ofthe Ereemasons , " as Mr . Godwin desired , they will , I hope , assist in giving us such a definite idea of their tenets and pretensions as shall contribute a little light of its own peculiar kind upon the original and general meaning of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Door Of Freemasonry.
door is finally shut for that meeting , so should every brother shut the inmost door of his heart and preserre therein , secret and intact , all those lessons he has received as well as the faults and failings of all with whom he has come in contact . By considering the door of Ereemasonry in this
light , we shall be doing our duty as good men and brethren—securing the admission of the truly worthy —sheltering the shortcomings of the frail or unfortunate ; and by keeping a watch on the " door of our lips " so shall we be adding one more security to the door of Ereemasonry .
Geometrical And Other Sybols.
GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYBOLS .
( From the Builder . ) The geometrical symbols to which the attention of archaeologists and architects was for the first time called by Mr . Godwin , in the Arcliccoloyia of 1843 . are so numerous and diversified ; and they comprise so many of the strictly religious or magical and
mystical symbols among them ; including the hexalpha itself , the pentaele , the tau , the V or Y , and the cross and symbolical N in all their various modifications ; that we must look a little closely , if we can , into the true ori gin and nature of so rich a "find "; although the uses of these symbols as
masons' monographical marks , together AvitZi the rules of diversification which seem to have been practised hy the working guilds of Ereemasons in regard to these uses , have probably rendered such of the symbols as we cannot otherwise identify with those more strictly confined to mystical or magical ideas , of not A'ery definite or unquestionable religious signification . There are quite enough of identifiable
symbols and common princi ples of religious and magical symbolism in them , however , and more than enough , to justify a little close scrutiny as to the purposes and pretensions of that Ereemasonry with which they are so intimately connected , and by means of a little knowledge of which pretensions and purposes we maybe enabled to arrive , at some definite
idea ofthe original meaning of many of the symbols thus used as masons' marks . In the first of the two letters to Sir Henry Ellis in the ArcluBologia for 1843 ( vol . xxx . ) , to which I alluded at the close of my last communication , Mr . Godwin says : —
" About three years ago my attention , was first drawn to the fact , that the stones both inside and outside numerous ancient buildings in England , bore , in many cases , a peculiar mark or symbol , Avhich was evidently the work of the original builders . It immediately occurred to me that these marks , if extensively examined and compared , might serve to aid in connecting , and perhaps
discriminating , the various bands of operatives who , under the protection of the Church , mystically united , spread themselves over Europe during the Middle Ages , and are known as the Free-Masons . " It , therefore , gave me some pleasure , during a recent visit to the interior of France , to observe , in several instances , at Poitiers , in the department of Vienne , similar
marks , iu great profusion : the more so , too , as , amongst them , were many exactly resembling some which I had previously found in England , although ou buildings of a different date . "
Some of these marks , both from English and Erench buildings , are then given ; and from these , together with those afterwards contributed along with the second letter , I have made the following small selection , placed in a kind of affinitive , though necessarily not very consecutive , order of succession , ancl to which selection I shall have occasionhere after to refer .
" AVhether these marks , " continues Mr . Godwin , " were made for the simple purpose of identifying the Avork done by particular individuals or sub-divisions of the band , or that they had a deeper signification and motive , I will _ not nOAV inquire , nor even venture to remark on the origin of the signs themselves per se . My present purpose is simply to draw attention to these marks , in the that collections
hope may be made in England , France , and Germany , so that they may be properly investigated and compared . ISTo circumstance which promises to throw even the smallest light on the early history of those wonderful men to whom we are indebted for so many magnificent buildings can be deemed insignificant or unworthy of consideration . "
One chief object of the letters related to the more strictly professional question of periods of architecture , and the relationship of the mason-marks to these as well as to the orig inal builders of the edifices so marked , or the schools or lodges of masons who used them ; but into this more strictly professional
question I need not presume to enter . Although my present communications , however , may not " aid in elucidating the history ofthe Ereemasons , " as Mr . Godwin desired , they will , I hope , assist in giving us such a definite idea of their tenets and pretensions as shall contribute a little light of its own peculiar kind upon the original and general meaning of the