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

Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols 125
globe without its clouded canopy." Hence, then, the German
interpretation of the symbol is that it denotes the universality of
Freemasonry, an interpretation that does not precisely accord with the
English and American systems, in which the doctrine of universality is
symbolized by the form and extent of the Lodge. The clouded canopy as
the covering of the Lodge seems rather to teach the doctrine of
aspiration for a higher sphere [...]. 340
Metaphorically, terms like "the Grand Lodge above" or "the Celestial Lodge
above" 341 are used to describe the abode where the brethren are called to after
their death, i.e. heaven; this expression can often be found in dirges and poems
for deceased members. Quasi-Masonic institutions have taken over this metaphor
and changed it according to their needs. Thus, in the Order of the Rainbow for
Girls, the meeting room is called "Bethel," hence, the denomination for heaven
becomes the "Great Bethel on high." 342
Many religious groups associate Freemasonry with the devil or witchery.
Hence their pejorative terms for a Masonic temple or lodge. For example, the
Mohammedans in India call a Masonic temple "house of the devil," and the
Hindus name it "house of magicians": "Schaitan Bungalow, Teufelshaus,
nennen die Mohammedaner in Indien die Freimaurertempel. Die Hindus sagen
Jadu Ghav, das Haus der Zauberer. Der Aberglaube der Eingeborenen
behauptet, daß im Zauberhaus "der gehörnte Mann im rauchigen Haus"
beschworen werde [...]." 343
4.1.1.2 The Carpet, or Trestle-Board (Tracing
Board)
The Masonic carpet is more or less a synonym for trestle-board or tracing
board, used by the Master to draw designs upon. The earliest tracing boards of
speculative Masons consisted of emblems drawn with chalk upon the wooden
floor of the lodge's meeting place, usually a tavern. At the end of the meeting,
the youngest Entered Apprentice had to erase the drawings with mop and pail.
Tracing boards which could be rolled up and carried away after the ceremony,
i.e. floor cloths, carpets, and charts, were invented later, and were employed in
France (one set is estimated to stem from 1745) before they were used in
England. The first reference to Masons drawing signs appears in a ritual exposé
from 1727: "Q. How many jewels are there in your lodge? A. Three. Q. What are
these three? A. A square pavement, a dinted ashler, and a broached dornal. Q.
340 EOF, p. 132.
341 Simons, p. 29.
342 Supreme Assembly International Order of the Rainbow for Girls (ed.), p. 46.
343 IFL, p. 1386-1387.