The Darkness in the North
by Sean O'Neill, MPS

Although a Masonic Lodge is surely a
house of the unusual, as we look about
the inside we may be struck by a
peculiar fact; there are lights every-
where except somewhere in particular:
the North.

Why is this so? The famed Masonic
writer Albert Mackey notes that in har-
mony with a Scandinavian superstition
no Lodge of Masons lights the North, as
"no light could relieve the gloom of that
cardinal point". Albert Pike, prolific
Masonic authority, wrote that "the
northern realm of gloom was called
"the place of the death and revival of
Adonis... because to Greek imagina-
tions (it was) the final bourne of all
things, the abode of winter." It is of
interest that Pike cites a mythical re-
birth, which he parallels to the seasonal
shift from winter to spring. Could it be
the darkness before dawn, the death
that presages birth? We observe in the
Master Mason's degree that the unfor-
tunate Grand Master, portrayed by a
soon to be enlightened individual, is
disposed of in the Northeast corner, and
then conveyed West for the ensuing
drama, which takes place in the vicinity
of the North.

The Northeast, the birthplace of all
Masons, is in the creative area between
the North and East; thence to the East
for the full birth of Light and to the
mid-day sun in the South at meridian,
or middle-age. In the West is the grow-
ing dimness of old age. The North, a
place of darkness, may be the death
before the rebirth of the sun and the
resurrection of man in the Northeast
corner. But what in the North could
bring about this miracle? Cold anc
darkness do not create life.

Perhaps the North is dark because, as
Virginia's Mentor's Manual says "...it
symbolizes ignorance of things Ma-
sonic," but since our rituals and sym-
bols portray our understanding of life
and immortality, perhaps the darkness
in the North symbolizes the presence of
a Force beyond our comprehension; the
Force of creation and destruction. In
the Hindu religion, this cycle of death
and rebirth is explained by way of three
distinct aspects of God, somewhat akin
to the Christian concept of the Trinity.
For Hindus the birth of the universe is
the work of Brahma, the creator; all
things are maintained by Vishnu, the
sustainer, and the end of time occurs by
the fiery dance of Siva, the destroyer.
At that point everything is recreated by
Brahma and the repeating pattern con-
tinues. It is a lovely and elegant belief
that explains the mystery to millions of
people. But where is our Masonic sym-
bol for the Creator/Destroyer? The
Masonic "G", wherever displayed?
But if He ends the weary life of day and
man in the West and ignites new life in
the Northeast corner, then the trans-
forming power of the Architect must
reside in the North. But truly, there is
no symbol in the North; or is there?

During the Jewish Passover Seder, or
dinner, a cup of wine is filled expressly
for the prophet Elijah, who is believed
to visit every Jewish home on that occa-
sion; the Jewish writer Trachtenburg
notes that in most households "the
front door is even left ajar for him to
enter. " The idea of an unseen presence
among us, and some physical repre-
sentation of it to excite our reverence is
thus not a new one. Instead of a tan-
gible cup of wine, a pillar of fire, or a
statue of a Hindu god made manifest,
perhaps our Great Architect is con-
ceived in more subtle and abstract for-
mat: darkness, mystery and the admis-
sion that our deepest reflections on His
nature fall far short in understanding.

We learn from our ritual that "the sun
in his progress through the ecliptic
never reaches farther than 23 degrees at
that point, the sun at meridian would
only illuminate the south wall of the
Temple of Solomon. Curiously, though,
this cannot be construed as proving that
the Temple had no light or ventilation
which illuminated the north. Both the
Hebrew Talmud and the ancient Jewish
historian Josephus speak of the "Golden
Window", an opening "framed with
costly magnificence" and facing the
north wall.

Masonic scholar William Adrian
Brown has pointed out that the all-
seeing eye "at one time hung inlthe
North of Masonic Lodges", and further
observes that every religion and sect of
ancient times believed that God resided
in the North, and, by light of the sun
rising on His left and setting on His
right, observed beginnings and endings
on the earth. He concludes that "from
the earliest known structures built by
man, we find cornerstones in the North-
east corner, this was done as an ac-
knowledgment that the building might
be used by men, but belonged to God".

Thus it may be that the North, far
from being an unimportant place,
might, by its emptiness, portray the
deepest mystery of all: the nature of the
Great Architect. If so, it provides the
fourth side of the physical square of the
Lodge and by its abstract nature excites
our most serious consideration of the
spiritual dimension of our lives.
References

Brown, William Adrian, Rt. Ex.,
Facts, Fables and Fantasies of Freemasonry,
Missouri, Missouri Lodge of Research,
1993, pp. 105-106.

Mackey, Albert G. , 33 -, An Ency-
clopedia of Freemasonry, Chicago, The
Masonic History Company, 1927, p.
518.

New American Standard Bible, Cal-
ifornia, The Lockman Foundation,
1977.

Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma, Wash-
ington, D.C., House of the Temple,
1969, p. 592.

Presentation Volume of the Grand Lodge of
Virginia (Mentor's Manual), Virginia,
Grand Lodge of Virginia, AF&AM, p.
282.

Trachtenburg, Joshua, Jewish Magic
and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion,
NewYork, Athenium, 1987, p. 67.


The Philalthes, October l996
