THE BUILDER MARCH 1921

QUESTIONS ON "THE EMBLEMS"

THE ANCHOR AND ARK

Recite the monitorial lecture on "The Anchor and Ark."

Is the Anchor and Ark symbol a modern or an old one? What does the
Anchor typify? Of what was it a symbol among early Christians? How
was it displayed in those Early times? What does Lundy say of it?

Is the symbolism of the Ark as well known as that of the Anchor?
What symbolic significance did Lawrence Dermott attach to it? What
did it symbolize to the Hermeticists? Was the symbol used in the
Ancient Mysteries? In what manner?

Of what was the Ark a symbol to the early Christians? Why? What
does the Ark mean to us, as Masons?

THE FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM OF EUCLID

Recite the monitorial lecture on this emblem.

Why should this emblem be one of particular interest to Masons?
What prominence did Dr. Anderson attach to it?

Is our monitorial lecture on the emblem generally accepted as
accurate in all details? Why is its alleged discovery by Pythagoras
doubtful? What is the argument of those who defend the monitorial
interpretation? Which of the two views given in the study paper do
you believe the most convincing? What is a "hecatomb"?

What does Dionysius Lardner say on the subject? The Encyclopedia
Britannica? Brother J.F. Thompson? What might be added to Brother
Thompson's statement?

In what manner is the Proposition a symbol of Brotherhood?

How did the Egyptians use the Problem to portray the principle of
the "perfect man"? How is this symbolism displayed in "The Three
Lesser Lights"?

Was a knowledge of the principle of the Forty-Seventh Proposition
vital to the existence of early operative Masonry? Why? Why is the
triangle symbolism of importance to present-day Masonry?


SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES

THE BUILDER:

Vol. IV. - The Anchor and The Ark, p. 324; The Forty-Seventh
Problem of Euclid, p. 324; Geometrical Figures, p. 324.  "The
Lights," Sept. C.C.B. p. 3; "The Symbolic Lights," p. 269; "The
Three Lesser Lights," p. 274. 

Mackey's Encyclopedia:

Anchor and Ark, p. 55; Forty-Seventh Problem, p.271; Triangle, p.
800 

THIRD STEPS

BY BRO.  H. L. HAYWOOD, IOWA

PART IX - THE EMBLEMS - CONTINUED

THE ANCHOR AND ARK

SIMPLE as it is, the Ark and Anchor symbol is very, very old, and
around it clusters a cloud of associations drawn from many lands
and times.  An anchor's significance is self-revealing and needs no
interpreter; is a type of that security which holds a man fast and
prevents his drifting with the winds.  Nor is it difficult to learn
what is this security, for mankind, with an almost unanimous
consent, has found it in Deity who, while all else changes, changes
not, but overarches the drift of the years with His eternal
purpose, unyielding will and everlasting love.  Mrs. Jameson, in
her "Sacred Art and Legend" says of the Anchor that it was among
early Christians "the symbol of immovable firmness, hope and
patience" in which sense it is often displayed in the Catacombs and
on ancient Christian gems, and Lundy says that among the same
Christians it was also used as a symbol of Christ's divinity, for
in that, as the first believers held, was man's one stay against
sin and human overthrow.

Of the ark it is somewhat more difficult to speak.  Lawrence
Dermott, the erratic but brilliant Grand Secretary of the Ancients,
saw in it an allusion to the Ark of the Covenant, but this is most
certainly wrong.  In company with the Hermeticists with whom it was
a familiar emblem, our ritual sees in it a reminder of the Ark,
wherein, according to the old legend, Noah found refuge for himself
and family when all else was given over to the Deluge.  But the
story of Noah's Ark itself rests on more ancient traditions as any
reader of such a work as Dr. Ellwood Worcester's "Genesis in the
Light of Modern Knowledge" will remember.  Long before that story
was conceived the Ancient Mysteries were repeating the story of how
some hero god, such as Osiris, was slain, and how his mutilated
body was placed in a box, and set adrift upon the waters.  The
Greeks called such a chest an "ark," a word having the meaning of
"containing that which was sacred."

Among the first Christians the ark was used as a symbol of the
church, not only because it was a place of refuge for bruised and
hunted souls, but also because the church was then thought of as a
home for all the family of man.  In that great household of faith
the individual found security and fellowship, and protection from
enemies, spiritual or otherwise.This faith found expression in an
old, old hymn:

"Behold the Ark of God,
Behold the open door;
Hasten to gain that dear abode, 
And rove, my soul, no more."

Those Christians found their ark in their brotherhood of believers;
is it not the same with us? Is our Masonic ark the great
Brotherhood itself? In the world-embracing fellowship the
individual, often so harassed and lonely, finds help, inspiration,
and companionship, and many a man on whom disaster "followed fast
and followed faster," has found the Fraternity an ark of quiet and
protection.  Shall we not believe that even in the future life such
privileges will be granted? Eternity would grow a solitary place
without the "dear love of comrades" and the binding closer "of man
to mam"

THE FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM OF EUCLID

Here is a symbol the sovereign importance which has been recognized
by almost every student our mysteries.  Hoffman wrote a book about
it; Sydney Klein devoted a magnificent study to it which will be
found published in the Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati
under the title of "The Great Symbol;" Dr. Anderson used it on the
title page of his Constitution and therein described it "as the
foundation of all Masonry if duly observed"; scholars have vied
with each other in attempting to uncover all the riches stowed away
among its lines and angles.

Most of these interpreters, it must be said, have shown
considerable dissatisfaction with the account the Problem as given
in the lecture.  There it is said that it was discovered by
Pythagoras and that he was so overjoyed by it that he sacrificed a
hecatomb to celebrate his discovery.  This has behind it the
authority of Vitruvius but even so it is hardly credible and that
for the following reason: the Proposition was known to the
"Egyptians long before Pythagoras, and it is possible that
Pythagoras, who forbade the killing of animals, should have
sacrificed a herd of oxen so needlessly; also, the explanation that
this Proposition is to teach us to be lovers of the arts and
sciences, is not very convincing.  Those who would defend the
Monitor here urge that while the 3, 4, 5 triangle may have been
used before Pythagoras he may have been the first to understand the
Proposition as a whole; that his "hecatomb" may have been made of
wax figures of oxen, as was sometimes the practice; and that the
Proposition is so important to mathematics that it may well stand
as an emblem of all arts and sciences. Between these two views,
reader, you may take your choice.

Whatever may be the attitude of our authorities to the monitorial
interpretation they are all agreed that the symbol is of the
greatest importance.  Dionysius Lardner, in his edition of Euclid,
writes: "It is by the influence of this proposition and that which
establishes the similitude of equilateral triangles (in the sixth
book) that geometry has been brought under the dominion of algebra;
and it is upon the same principle that the whole science of
trigonometry is founded." The Encyclopedia Britannica calls it "One
of the most important in the whole of geometry, and one which has
been celebrated since the earliest times. . . . On this theorem
almost all geometrical measurement depends, which can not be
directly obtained." On its Masonic uses, our interpreters have
written with equal enthusiasm; this one, Brother J. F. Thompson,
says that "In it are concealed more ancient symbolism than all
other symbols used by, or incident to, our order. . . . In it we
find concealed the jewels of the Worshipful Master, the Senior and
Junior Wardens," and also, he might have added, the Apron, the
Square, the Tau square, cross, etc.

The brother who wishes to experiment for himself can easily do so
by drawing the triangle after the following fashion: lay out a base
line four inches in length; at one end erect a vertical three
inches high; connect the ends of these two lines and the figure is
drawn; this is not the strictly scientific way of going about it
but it will serve.  The point of this procedure is that whenever
the vertical is 3 and the base is 4, the hypotenuse, or long side,
will be 5; and the angle at the juncture of the base and the
vertical will always be a right angle.  After this manner a man can
always prove a right angle with no mathematical instruments
whatever; what this meant to the ancient builders, before such
instruments were devised, or had come into common use, is plain to
be seen.

But our concern here is not with the Proposition as a geometric
theorem but with it as a Masonic symbol.  What is its Masonic
meaning? Many answers can be given to this, none exhaustive, but
all valuable; of these I can suggest but two or three.

If we experiment with a group of numbers falling into the series
corresponding to 3, 4, 5 we will find that they will always bear
the same relationship to each other.  In other words, the
Proposition establishes a harmonious relationship among numbers
apparently unrelated.  Does not this suggest something of the
secret of Masonry? We select a large group of men; they seem to
have little in common; but through our teachings, and the
application of our principle of brotherhood, we are able to unite
them into a harmonious fraternity. The Proposition is then a symbol
of Brotherhood.

The Egyptians made the base line to represent Osiris, the male
principle; the vertical, Isis, or female principle; the hypotenuse
represented Horus, the product of the two. Suppose we follow such
a method and let the base represent our earthly nature; the
vertical our spiritual nature; by a harmonious adjustment of these
two a complete, or perfect man, will result - the same meaning
which we found in the Three Lesser Lights.

Along with these two readings of the symbol we might place an
historical interpretation.  The ancient builders, as has been
repeatedly said, did not have algebra and trigonometry, nor were
they in possession of architectural tables or instruments such as
we have; nevertheless they were obliged to fashion right angles in
the erection of their buildings; how could they have done this
without the Forty-Seventh Proposition, a method so simple that any
Apprentice could use it? It is not too much to say that there would
have been no ancient Masonry without the 3, 4, 5 triangle, or the
principle embodied in it; therefore it has for us a peculiar value
in that it represents the skill of our early brethren in
surmounting their obstacles.  And since this principle is so
essential to the exact sciences we may agree with our ritual in
seeing in it a symbol of all the arts and sciences. Just as a crown
may serve as an emblem of all government so may this triangle serve
as an emblem of all science.  And since Masonry undertakes to make
character building into an art or a science we may also find in the
triangle, as Dr. Anderson said, "the foundation of all Masonry if
duly observed."

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