Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated - The Masonic Trowel

56 GRAND MASTER OF ALL 5Y~AEOLIC J,0DOl~. INITIATION. 87
let the great light or Truth
5” shine in our lodge. (Senior
Warden causes him to light the ninth light.)
Venerable Master—The light shines, let us applaud
my brethren,
All—(Claptthree; 000.)
Venerable Master—Say after me my brother: So
may the Divine light of Truth shine in me.
Candidatc—( Repeats.)
Venerable Master—Seal now, and perfect your obligation
as Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges; repeat
after me: (Candidate repeats as follows:)
Venerable Master—And when these great lights
cease to illumine my soul, direct my conduct and guide
imy footsteps, may 1, false mason and faithless man,
cease to exist and be remembered only to be despised.
So help mc God.
Venerable Master—Brother Senior Grand Warden,
you will now give the candidate an explanation of the
tracing-board.”8
tracing-board.”’)
(Senior Warden conducts him to
Senior lVarden—-My brother, behold the five great
Iota 227,—To he good and true is the first lesson we are taught In
Masonr~ On this theme we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor
to regulute our conduct, Hence, while lofiticated by this princIple,
hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among tis sitteerity and plain dealing
distinguish us, and the heart and tongue jelt~ in promoting each other a
welfare and rejoicing In each other’s prosperity.’ ‘—Morris’s Masonlo
Dictionary, Article Truth.
Note 228,—”Trscing.Board, The same as a Floor-Cloth, which sea.”
—Mackey’s Encyolopasain of Freomasenry, Article Tracing -Board.
Iota 229.—”Flsor.Clsth. A frame.work of board oi canvas, on which
the emblems of any particular degree are inscribed, for the assIstance
of the Master in giving a lecture, It is so called because formerly it
was the custom to Inscribe these designs on the floor of the Lodge
room in chalk, which was wiped out when tti9 Lodge was closed. It is
the same as the ‘Carpet,’ or ‘Tracing.tiosrd.’ ‘~Mackcy’s ~ncyolodasdia
of Freemasenry, Artiole Flasr.Cloth.
squares, and three great triangles’5 of masonry composed
as follows:
The Square”’ at the bottom of the Octagon that surrounds
the Ineffable name, and the seven letters ~if the
words with which he created light; of Prudence, Temperance,”’
Chastity and Sobriety.
First Square on the right; of Heroism, Firmness,
Equanimity and Patience.
First Square on the left; of Probity, Honor, Fidelity”3
and Punctuality.
Net. 230.—”Tniangie, There Is no symbol more Important in its
signiflesoce. more vsrlous in its application, or more generally diffused
throughout the whom system of Freemasonry, than the triangle, Au
exsminatlon of It. therefore, cannot fsil to he interesting to the Masonic’
student.
The equilateral triangle appears to have been adopted by nearly all
tue nations of antiquity as a symbol of the Deity, in some of his iorms
or emanations, and hence, probably, the prevailing influence of this
symbol wsa carried into the Jewish system, where the yod within the
triangle was made to represent the ‘Jetragrammaton, or sacred nnme of
God, ‘The equilateral triangle,’ says Bro 0. W, Nash (Freem. Mag., iv,
294,) ‘viewed in the light of the doctrines of those who gave it currency
as a divine symbol, represents the Great First Cause, the creator and
container of all things, as one and indivisible manifesting himself in
an infinity of forms and attributes in this visible noiverse,’
Among the Egyptians, the darkness through which the csndidate for
initistion was made to pass was symbolized by the trowel, an important
Masonic implement, which in their system of hieroglyphics has the form
of a triangle, The equilateral trlsngie they considered as the most
perfect of figures, sod a representative of the great principle of aol.
mated exiatence, each of its sides referring to one of the three departments
of creation, the animal vegetable, and mineral. “—Mackey’s Ency.
olopasitia of Freemasonry, Article Tri*ngle.
lots 25L—”ln the very earliest catechism of the last century, of the
dste of i725, we find the answer to the question. How many make a
Lodge? is ~God and the 5quare, with five or seven right or perfect
Masons.’ God and the square, religion and morality, must he present
in every Lodge es governing principles ‘Signs at that early period were
to he made by squares, and the furniture of the Lodge was declared to
he the Bible, Compass and square.
In all rites and in sli languages where Mssonry has penetrated, ii.’.
nare has preserved its primitive significatIon as a symbol of morality.
— sq~ okay’s Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry. Article Square.
lots 222.—”The worshipful Master is required publicly to decisre, In
the ceremony of his installatIOn, that he will ‘guard against Intemperance
and excess,’ The Junior warden is charged to see that the brethren
‘do not convert the purposes of refreshment into intempersuce and
excess. Finally, this vice is made e prominent subject of masonic penalties.“—Morris’s
Masonic Dictionary, Article Tamperance.
lots 3S3.—”Noel (DIct. Feb.) says that there was an ancient marble
at Rome coiisecrated to the god Fidius, on which was depicted two
figures clasping each other’s hands as the representatives of Honor and
~uth. without which there can he no fidelity nor truth among men
Masonry borrowing its ideas from the sucient poets, also makes the
right hand the s~,mbol of fidelity. “—Mackeys Enoyo’opiiedi& of Freemasonry.
Article ides.