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

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Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
heavenly side of Masonry the Compasses are the symbol, and they are the most
spiritual of all its working tools - the law of Nature and the light of Revelation
being the two points of the Compasses within which our life is set under a
canopy of Sun and Stars." 394
The special way in which the square and the compass are placed one upon the
other in the different degrees symbolically shows the progressive states an
Entered Apprentice, a Fellow Craft, and a Master Mason go through: "When
beginning work as an Apprentice, the square is laid on top of the compasses to
show that the spirit is still dominated by matter. At the second degree, that of
Fellow, the square and compasses are interlaced. There is balance." 395 Let us
view how a candidate for the Fellow Craft Degree describes his situation: "one
point of the Compasses was above the square, which was to teach me that I had
received, and was entitled to receive, more light in Masonry; but as one point
was still hidden from my view, it was also to teach me that I was yet one
material point in the dark respecting Masonry." 396 At the degree of master, the
compasses are laid over the square. 397 This means that the Master Mason has
achieved the state of triumph of spirit over matter.
Entered Apprentice Degree Fellow Craft Degree Master Mason Degree
In reality, neither the square nor the compass is peculiar to Freemasonry. In
fact, these symbols are more appropriate to carpenters, machinists, and sheet
metal workers. Moreover, square work was not typical of medieval Freemasons,
who mostly formed curves that were not even circular enough so as to have been
drawn with a compass. 398 In spite of this, from the beginnings of Masonry up to
1730, the square and the compass have belonged to the furniture of the lodge,
and from then on, they, together with the Bible, have been elevated to form the
three "Great Lights" of Masonry. 399 The present form of the interlaced square
and compass is not very old, since the symbols have developed independently
from each other. It simply came about by use and custom, and was never
officially adopted by the Freemasons. Masonic charts of the early 18 th century
never depict the symbols joint or near each other, which only appears about
394
Bro. Joseph Fort Newton, in: "The Religion of Masonry," printed in The Master Mason, Sept.,
1925, p. 727.
395
Béresniak, p. 52.
396
Nizzardini, p. 130.
397
Béresniak, p. 52. The three illustrations are taken from Duncan, p. 7, 58, 87.
398 Cf. CME, p. 630.
399 Cf. CME, p. 631.