THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1915

SYMBOLISM, THE HIRAMIC LEGEND, AND THE MASTER'S WORD

BY BRO. J. OTIS BALL, ILLINOIS

It sometimes seems that the foundation of all that has been written
on any subject may be found in Plato. The careful Emerson says,
"Plato only, is entitled to Omar's fanatical remark, 'Burn the
libraries; for their value is in this book.'" In Plato's Phaedrus,
we find the fundamental principles of public address, and one of
the first principles given, is for the speaker to clearly define
his terms in order that there be no misunderstanding or
disagreement at the start.

I was very much impressed with Brother Gage's definition of
Symbolism at the beginning of his talk on Symbolism of the First
Degree, and it will probably be well for us to briefly review his
definition. We may be able to make it clearer in our minds, or
perhaps add some thought of value. Brother Gage dwelt upon the
derivation and meaning of the word symbol. He found that the word
came from the Greek, meaning to compare. A symbol is an expression
of an idea by comparison. Abstract ideas are often best conveyed by
comparison with concrete objects.

A symbol is also a sign, and the words sign and symbol are
especially synonymous in their Masonic connection. The symbols of
Masonry are the signs which guide the traveler along his journey
through life and point to his destination. In olden times, when the
weary pilgrims journeyed to the city of their desire--whether it
was Mecca where the Mohammedans went to greet the rising sun, or
Jerusalem where the Christians journeyed that they might walk upon
the ground made holy by the foot-falls of the man of Nazareth--the
signs along the way meant much to them. It is the same in Masonry.
It is with a certain satisfaction and joy that we find these signs
or symbols which point out the right road to travel and mark our
moral and spiritual progress--much the-same as the signs along the
way, marked the pilgrim's progress in former times.

The study of these signs or symbols is called Symbolism, and the
man who endeavors to find these signs in Masonry and to read them
aright, is called a Symbolist. A Symbolist, in trying to understand
the symbols of Masonry, not only benefits himself but he may also
aid some other tired and weary pilgrim in his journey through life.
Let us therefore, approach this subject of Symbolism in a
thoughtful way; for if the symbols of Masonry are guide posts that
will assist us in our earthly pilgrimage, then indeed, the effort
is worth while.

In addition to defining Symbolism as the study of these signs in
Masonry, let us also attempt to define Masonry. If each of us were
handed a piece of paper and wrote a definition of Masonry, we would
probably be surprised at the various ideas. Let us then, as Plato
suggests, agree upon a definition. It has been said that one of the
best ways to clearly fix in the mind what anything is, is to find
out some of the things which it is not. We should have no
difficulty in agreeing that Masonry is not politics, although some
of the recent activities in our fraternity make us feel that there
are those among our number who are attempting to make a political
organization of the fraternity. While might makes right, we will
hear brethren boast of the political achievements of the Masonic
Fraternity and encourage hatred and prejudice, but politics is not
Masonry.

There is a very great difference between Masonry and the Masonic
Fraternity. The Masonic Fraternity is made up of men who follow, or
who are supposed to follow, the teachings of Masonry; but men are
prone to err. The fraternity is apt to wander from the fundamental
principles of Masonry, and the mistakes are due to the frailty of
man and the errors of his judgment, rather than to the principles
of Masonry. In speaking of Masonry therefore, both of its history
and characteristics, I do not refer to the Masonic fraternity.

If Masonry then, is not the fraternity, what is it? In referring to
our Illinois monitor, we find the following sentence in the
Secretary's lecture, given in the ante-room before the candidate is
admitted to the lodge: "Masonry consists of a course of ancient,
hieroglyphic, moral instruction, taught agreeably to ancient
customs by types, emblems, and allegorical figures." This is
beautiful English, but is its full import immediately clear ?

The peculiar characters cut upon the rocks in the tombs of the
ancient Egyptians are hieroglyphics. For many centuries they stood
as the mute unknown secrets of ages past and gone. Modern
researchers, however, successfully patched together and deciphered
them, and the hieroglyphics and signs were finally read and
understood. They were found to be clear pictorial representations
of events and ideas, full of meaning-- but only to those who
understood them. Masonry, being hieroglyphic, is taught by a system
of signs or symbols which mean something to those who have studied
them, but to others they mean nothing.

Why is Masonry hieroglyphic? Perhaps it is because of that old
principle that something which we get for very little effort, is
usually very little valued; but something for which we are required
to expend more effort, we believe to be of more value. Just as the
etymologist discovers the meaning of an old Egyptian hieroglyphic,
after months of careful study and search; so do we find truth after
careful thought. As our Ancient brother Pythagoras is said to have
discovered the forty-seventh problem of Euclid, only after weary
and tedious toil; so will we discover the secrets of Masonry only
after we seek for them. Masonry, therefore, is hieroglyphic for the
good reason founded upon a fundamental truth, that something which
we get for nothing is worth nothing.

Masonry is moral, because it is in perfect accord with the
established principles of truth--and that is real morality. We
learn that this hieroglyphic, moral system is taught by types,
emblems and allegorical figures. We speak of a man of a certain
type, meaning that he has certain characteristics in common with
men of the same class or type. Types are expressions of
classification, by which we are able to fix general truths or
characteristics in our minds and draw conclusions from them.
Emblems are signs or symbols visible to the eye, which stand for
something in addition to themselves, and they create in the mind a
flow of thought. The square, for instance, in all ages has been an
emblem of Masonry, but its use has become so common that "to be on
the square" has a meaning to others than Masons.

Allegories are parables. In seeking why Masonry is taught in
allegories instead of by logical statements of truth in direct
form, we may answer that in many ages truth has been taught by
allegories and parables, in order that the mind may conceive great
and fundamental truths by comparison with simple things. Some think
that Masonry is taught by types, emblems, and allegorical figures
in order to conceal the thought, but it seems to me that they
reveal the truth and make it clear and understandable. In the
wonderful parable of the Sower, we learn of the seed that fell on
fertile ground, the seed that fell among thistles, and the seed
that fell on the rocks and stony places. Does the parable conceal
the thought ? On the contrary, the parable or allegory makes the
thought clear to the thinking mind, but only after a certain effort
in thinking the thing through.

Call Masonry, then, a philosophy, a science, an art, or even a
religion if you please, but retain the idea of a system of
hieroglyphic moral instruction taught by types, emblems, and
allegorical figures. In this sense Masonry is indeed ancient, and
we may trace four ideas in this peculiar system through many ages.
These four principle ideas might even be called Land-marks. They
are: a belief in one God, a teaching of Immortality, a symbolic
idea of building, and a seeking after something which was lost.

We find these characteristics in Masonry from the time of the
Ancient Egyptians in the mysteries of Osiris, where it is said
Moses was initiated into the solemn rites which antedated the
return of the chosen people of God; in the old Persian Mysteries of
Mithras, where we find traces of an unusually clear conception of
a life after death; and in Syria where we find the Dionysian
Mysteries which came from Greece and were probably carried by the
workmen of Tyre into Jerusalem when Solomon's temple was built on
Mount Moriah. We also find these four characteristics in the
mysteries of Bacchus in early Rome; later in the Roman Collegia of
Builders; and in the teachings of the peaceful Essenes along the
Jordan, where some authorities conjecture that Jesus was initiated
before the beginning of his ministry. In the middle ages we find
this hieroglyphic moral system taught by types, emblems and
allegories, among the Cathedral Builders; in the dark ages, we find
it among the Comacine Masters on the little island in Lake Como;
and we may trace it through the guilds of travelling Masons, to the
Speculative Masonry of 1717, which we substantially teach today.

Our Iconoclastic friends, who are interested in the history of the
fraternity, may smile at the dream of a symbolist, but bear in mind
that we are not speaking of the fraternity when we use the word
Masonry; we are speaking of that hieroglyphic, moral system taught
agreeably to ancient customs by types, emblems and allegorical
figures; and having four principal ideas: a belief in one God, a
life after death, a symbolical idea of building, and the seeking
after something which was lost. It is true that the careful student
finds clouds of darkness occasionally hiding these real intents and
purposes. At times we read of the ceremonies degenerating into the
common and vulgar, as in the case of the mysteries of Bacchus at
Rome. But like the hidden river which disappears under ground, only
to flow out fresh and pure farther on; so we find these fundamental
characteristics of Masonry occasionally hidden, but later coming to
light.

Considerable has been written on all of these four characteristics,
especially on the belief in one God and on the idea of building.
Let us also look into the subjects of immortality and the seeking
after something which was lost. These two subjects are so closely
akin to the legends of Hiram and of the Master's Word in our
Masonry of today, that it may be well for us to see what meaning
these two symbols had in the Masonry of Antiquity.

In the ancient Egyptian Mysteries, Osiris represented the spirit of
the Sun, the principle of light and life. He was assailed by the
powers of evil and was killed, and apparently the forces of
darkness ruled. Isis went out to seek for him, and Osiris was later
resurrected and brought to life. This story was portrayed in
dramatic form in the Egyptian mysteries. The facts are verified by
Plutarch, Plato, Epictetus, and others. Substantially the same
story was told by Mithras in the old Persian Mysteries, of Dionysus
in the Grecian and Syrian Mysteries, and of Bacchus in the early
Roman rites. All were slain and then sought for, and finally raised
or brought to life. A death and a life after death has been one of
the fundamental teachings of Masonry in all ages. These old
mysterious ceremonies have been an expression of that idea of
immortality which seems to be ever present in the heart of man from
remotest antiquity.

The ancient sun-worshipers saw the sun retire in the Fall and reach
the Winter solstice. If, as some antiquarians think, the sun
worship had its beginning in the far north, the old Norseman on the
shores of the Arctic seas experienced a long period of night during
the Winter. In the Spring, they saw the sun's resplendant rays
again light and warm the earth. The old legend was that the sun was
slain and that during the period of darkness, the sun was dead; and
that later the sun, as in the case of Osiris, Mithras, and
Dionysus, was brought to life again and there was light and life.
Ceremonies were instituted and the lesson of a life after death,
was taught by a dramatic portrayal very similar in character to
that of the legend of Hiram today.

In the legend of Hiram we may find the lesson of immortality, and
we may also find one of the greatest tragedies ever conceived by
man. Edwin Booth, the famous Shakespearian actor, referred to the
legend of Hiram as the most sublime tragedy; and said that in its
portrayal in a Masonic lodge, he would rather play that part
without applause, than to play the greatest tragedy Shakespeare
ever wrote. We may find in the journey of Hiram the symbol of Man's
journey through life. In this journey, man encounters many
obstacles which may be symbolically referred to as enemies. They
may be considered as accosting him from the three aspects of his
being--the mental, spiritual and physical. Three of these enemies
are Ignorance, Doubt, and Prejudice.

The encounter with ignorance may be considered as symbolical of the
first effort made by man in his progress. Perhaps the twenty-four
inch gauge, as the weapon used by ignorance, is symbolical of the
mental and the idea that the knowledge which man already has, is
sufficient. As he presses on in his journey for further light,
Doubt is encountered. The little knowledge which man has, may be
confined to material things, and there is doubt about those things
which are not material. Perhaps the square, symbolical of the
earth, may be used by Doubt and a correct understanding of great,
eternal and spiritual truths prevented by confusion with earthly
things. If man still presses onward, he may encounter a third and
more deadly enemy--Prejudice--which often slays him and stops his
progress. The word prejudice comes from the Latin, Prae meaning
before, and Judicium meaning judgment. Prejudice is a previous
judgment, clung to even after contrary facts are disclosed. Our
prejudices, or previous judgments, often come from the passions.
Fear, hatred, jealousy, and love of the passionate sort, all
engender prejudice. These passions have their abiding place in the
physical.

In addition to the universally taught lesson of immortality, we
find in the lodge a continued admonition to seek for the Master's
Word. But even after we have completed the several degrees, we do
not find the Master's Word. In the last degree of the Blue Lodge,
we find that as Master Masons, we will have to be content with a
substitute. All through the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite, we find further indications of this continued
seeking. At last, when a brother is made Sublime Prince of The
Royal Secret, he still receives an admonition to advance, to
progress, and to seek. "He is to advance and conquer in his heart
those old enemies, Ignorance, Doubt, and Prejudice, and to seek the
Master's Word." That is the Royal Secret. In the degree of the
Royal Arch, we are told that in a book there is a key to the
Master's Word. The Master's Word is not a few meaningless syllables
whispered in the ear, neither is it a few arbitrary characters.
Neither is it the name of the Great Jehovah, unless it is
considered in a symbolical sense, as representing Truth and
Perfection. The key to the Master's Word is in the book, which to
us is the Holy Bible, the Great Light in Masonry. There, we will
find the key to the Master's Word, but not the Master's Word
itself.

What is this Master's Word, and why this continual search? We find
in the Masonic funeral service an allusion to a certain "pass"
whereby we may obtain entrance into the Grand Lodge above. What
higher conception could we have of the Master's Word, than the pass
whereby we can find immortality and entrance into the Grand Lodge
on High? We are told that this pass is, "the pass of a pure and
blameless life." The symbolism is perfect. Now we know why we will
have to be content with a substitute, because on earth we will not
attain the Master's Word, "the pure and blameless life." We learn
that Moses had this Master's Word; his inspiration came direct from
God himself. Solomon had the Master's Word, until he did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord, then he lost the Master's Word.
It was buried amid the rubbish of his physical temple.

But since we cannot attain this Master's Word, "the pure and
blameless life," why are we so continually admonished to seek for
it ? Why seek for that which we cannot find ? Why this ceaseless,
endless search for perfection and truth, only to receive a
substitute ? Because in the very seeking for the Master's Word, "a
pure and blameless life," we come nearer to it. Like the Cathedral
Spires of Gothic Architecture, which point upward, although they
never reach heaven; we find that in our seeking after perfection,
we come nearer and nearer to it.

The seeking for the Master's Word, therefore, is the real purpose
of Masonry--that hieroglyphic moral system of types, emblems and
allegories. It should be the purpose and the object of every true
and worthy brother to find this Master's Word. With the thought of
the unity of God, the hope of immortality, and the seeking after
the perfect life, we will build a temple that will be eternal. We
will also exercise that charity toward the weaknesses and failings
of others, which is incumbent on all Masons; and as taught in the
Council Degrees of Royal and Select Masters, we will deposit in the
secret vault true copies or counterparts of those sacred treasures
of Mercy, Justice, and Love, which are in the Sanctum Sanctorum
above. Then, after the destruction of this temple, the treasures or
their counterparts will be found at the building of a second temple
not made with hands but eternal in the heavens, and there we will
find the true Master's Word, "the pure and blameless life"--not
here, but hereafter.

