The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols 121
support to the roof, mark the passage from one place to another one of a different
kind. They might have been derived from the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of
Fire mentioned in Exodus, chapter 13 and 14, where it is said that, when the
Hebrews were escaping from Egypt and wandering in the Wilderness, the Lord
went before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them, and in a pillar of fire
by night, to light them the way. When the Egyptians closed in on the fugitives,
the pillar of cloud moved between the two parties, so that the Hebrews could not
be reached. 329
The two porch pillars may as well have their origin in the pillars of the
Gothic Legends; thus, the Cooke Manuscript from the 15 th century traces them
back to the biblical account of Lamech, who lived before the flood and had three
sons, Jabal, having discovered geometry or Masonry, Jubal, having invented
music, and Tubal Cain, having founded the art of smithing. Since they knew God
would punish the people for their sins either by water or fire, they inscribed their
sciences on two pillars of stone made by Jabal, in order to preserve them. Legend
has it that one pillar was made of marble and could not burn, and the other of
Lacerus and could not sink. Long after the flood, the pillars were found, one by
Pythagoras and the other by Hermes, who are said to have taught the sciences
inscribed upon them. 330
These two pillars are mentioned in the Bible in 1 Kings 7, 15-21, in 2
Chronicles 3, 15-17, and 4, 11-13. The pillar on the left is called Boaz ("with
strength"), and the one on the right Jachin ("may it establish" or "may it affirm").
According to Béresniak 331 , it has not yet been determined whether right and left
should be taken from the outside or inside of the temple. Béresniak calls the two
pillars "signposts" for Freemasons, because the Entered Apprentices sit facing
the northern pillar, and the Fellows sit facing the southern one. There is a warden
for each pillar, the Junior Warden for the northern pillar, and the Senior Warden
for the southern one.
According to Oswald Wirth 332 , each of the two pillars ("l'une est rouge (J∴)
et l'autre blanche (B∴)) 333 has its symbolical sex. He explains the binary
function of the pillars thus:
329 Cf. CME, p. 476
330 Ibid.
331 Béresniak, p. 44.
332 Cited from Mellor, DFM, p. 96.
333 Cited from Mellor, DFM, p. 96.