The Northeast Corner:
A Masonic Essay

By

W.Bro. S. Garth Cochran
Calgary Lodge No. 23


There is much symbolism embodied in this simple statement:

"You were placed in the northeast corner of the Lodge because the first
stone of a building is usually placed in the northeast corner.  You were
therefore placed there to receive your first instructions in Masonry, upon
which to build your future moral and Masonic edifice."

There we all stood - upright and proud, yet nervous; newly obligated
Masons, clothed for the first time in our white lambskin; our feet applied in
the form of a square to two sides of a rough stone which we would later
discover was the rough ashlar - to learn that at that moment we were laying
our very own spiritual cornerstone.

We all know what a cornerstone is.  Laying one is akin to the launching of
a ship.  It is the 'official beginning' from which the structure takes form and
gains presence.  Dignitaries gather to ceremoniously place the stone which,
by tradition, is hollow and into which is placed memorabilia of the occasion
and current of the times - books, newspapers, specie, photographs, etc. 
Only after the cornerstone is properly laid with such impressive ceremony
can the structure be truly 'completed.'

You might be interested- to know that at the laying of the cornerstone of the
Calgary Masonic Temple during the 23rd Annual Communication on June
14, 1928, the ceremonial scaffolding, upon which 70 members of the Grand
Lodge of Alberta had gathered, collapsed.  The crowd stood in shocked
silence.  The official party, which included the Grand Master, M.W.Bro.
George E. Cruikshank and Bro. F.E. Osborne, Mayor of Calgary, had fallen
16 feet to the basement. Bro. H.R. Chauncey broke his ankle and hurt his
back, but there were no other serious injuries.  After a slight delay the
important ceremony was completed.

There is more connection with ancient symbolism in this anecdote than is
at first apparent.  The ceremonial laying of the cornerstone and the sealing
of memorabilia in it are the remnants of some pretty grisly ceremonies.

The laying of the cornerstone has always been an important symbol of
'beginning.' But it was originally a ceremony of sacrifice.  The ancients, and
some not so ancients for that matter, believed the gods would destroy any
building erected by humans unless there was a spiritual defender to protect
it.  That necessary spirit was provided by sacrifice.

Such sacrifices included the placing a slave girl in the bottom of the hole
dug to receive the first upright post of a structure.  The heavy timber which
would start construction was suspended over her.  The ceremony reached
its climax when the ropes holding the timber were cut so that it would
plunge into the hole, crushing the woman and providing the spirit to protect
the structure.

Other societies put people under the foundation so that they would be
crushed as the stone foundation was laid upon them.  Still others encased
a living person inside a cornerstone or a sealed room.  Even the builders
of European castles and cathedrals were known to wall up living sacrifices
to protect the building.  If they were alive today, they would probably point
to their masterpiece and say, "See, it worked!"

Even as late as 1970, the sacrifice of three sheep was made to protect the
foundation of a bridge over the Bosphorus.  The sheep may not have been
human, but the concept is the same - a sacrifice was made.

The point is that humans were sacrificed so their spirits would haunt the
structure and protect it from the gods.  Today, as a remnant of that ancient
belief, we place ordinary objects representative of human life in our
cornerstones - our books, pictures, coins and newspapers.

As we stood as new Entered Apprentices over the rough ashlar, we were
also making a sacrifice for the building of our temple.  Our sacrifice was our
innocence.

We were warned we were about to take a step which would result in
something which could never be laid aside nor repudiated.  That something
was not only our first obligation as Masons.  It was also the fact that we
had caught a glimpse of Masonic light.  Having once seen that light, our
lives would be forever different.  There could be no return to a blissful
ignorance.

Further, though we stood over the rough ashlar, symbolic of the start of our
journey, we had before us a symbol of our journey's end - the example of
the perfect ashlar.  It could not escape our attention that the two ashlars
are related, and that somehow we were expected to fashion our symbolic
cornerstone to be as perfect.  Its form, we observed, was cubic or
rectangular, the latter sometimes referred to as a double cube.  Its sides
were polished and perfect, and its angles were all square.  We were told
this night that the square is the symbol of morality and that we were to
"square our actions." But what is the significance of the cube?

According to Mackey, the cube is a symbol of truth.  So once again, the
truth or light is symbolically brought to our attention.

So now we had the cornerstone of our moral and Masonic edifice,
represented by the rough ashlar over which we stood.  Upon it, we had
made the sacrifice of our blissful ignorance by exposing ourselves to the
light of Masonic truth.  That lesson is made once again in the positioning
of every new Entered Apprentice when receiving his first instructions.

We were conducted to the northeast corner.  Why there? Because the north
is the Masonic symbol of darkness.  He that is placed in the northeast is
therefore between the north, the place of darkness, and the east, the place
of light.  He stands at his Masonic dawn.

Once again, the two important symbols are strongly represented: the
beginning or the dawn of our Masonic life; and the nature of the dawn itself
- the light or our glimpse of Masonic truth.  We are like the new born babe,
brought to light, never again able to return to the darkness of the womb.

Thus we stood at the laying of our Masonic cornerstone, having already
sacrificed our blissful ignorance to create the spirit that will protect our
edifice, and ready to receive the first instructions of Masonry, the foundation
to our Masonic career.  That lesson boils down to this.

"You were asked to deposit something of a metallic kind, which was to
remind you of your extremely poor and penniless situation, and to teach
you, that should you ever meet a friend, more especially a Brother Mason,
in like destitute circumstances, you would remember the peculiar moment
you were received into Masonry, poor and penniless, neither naked nor
clothed, barefoot nor shod, and contribute to his relief as liberally as his
necessity might require and your ability permit."

During the Lecture at the Northeast Corner, we were told we appeared to
be just and upright men, but that we were to be put to a test by awakening
within us the virtue of charity and then calling upon us to exercise that
virtue.  Unfortunately, we found that we could not comply.  We had been
deprived of everything, including a complete set of clothes.

At that time, all of us professed a desire to contribute, and we were
congratulated for that desire.  It is then we were admonished to practice the
virtue of charity in the future.

But did we get it all? Probably not. Because even if we are destitute, there
is still something we can give - we can offer ourselves and our talents.  This
is a true measure of our charity, of our brotherly love and affection that
impels us to 'do' as much as to give.

There is yet another lesson here, one that is even more important - a
glimpse of a universal truth which can change our life forever.

That truth is - We must never presume that we, ourselves, will always be
without the need for charity, that we will only find ourselves in the position
to give it.

At one time, according to our older rituals, while we stood in the northeast
corner, our Brethren took up a collection to symbolically demonstrate their
commitment to charity and their support of us.  By this action, we were also
being told that even if we were in the most demeaning of situations, as we
were at that time, our Brethren would see the just and upright man and
would be active in our relief.  This they did for us - and that is most
important.  For it was to tell us that when we fall on hard times we may
come to our Brethren and they would exercise that virtue we all have
embraced.

What if it is me who is destitute, who has fallen among thieves, who has
been beaten and robbed on my road to Jericho? What if it is me who is in
need of my own Samaritan? Will all those around me be like the priest and
the Levite and pass me by? Will I be left in fear that there is no help? No
compassion?

No! On the contrary, I know aid is at hand.  And it is that very knowledge
which allows me to be truly charitable.  Without that knowledge, it would be
my duty to husband my resources to protect myself and my immediate
family from the wicked blows of fate.  With that knowledge, I am different.

The glimpse of that particular Masonic light, of the Brotherly Love and
Affection shown every Entered Apprentice while each of us received our
first lesson in the northeast corner, can truly change our lives and lead us
to the practice of that virtue we professed to admire - charity.

What a truth! What a beginning! What a perfect cornerstone upon which to
build!

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