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

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Metals
Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
Q: Why were you divested of all metals when made a Mason?
A: For the reason, first, that I should carry nothing offensive or
defensive into the Lodge; second, at the building of King
Solomon's Temple, there was not heard the sound of an axe,
hammer, or any tool of iron.
Q: How could a building of that stupendous magnitude be erected
without the aid of some iron tool?
A: Because the stones were hewed, squared, and numbered at the
quarries where they were raised; the trees felled and prepared
in the forests of Lebanon [...]. 461
The ritualistic dialogue quoted above shows the use of the term "metal" in the
First Degree of Masonry. As will be explained in Section 5.5 on technical
terminology, metals in Freemasonry denote something evil and unclean. Metals
in the shape of coins symbolize earthly wealth and have to be left behind when
one is initiated into speculative Masonry: "No man can devote himself to
anything with a just spirit, if he anticipates anything of a mercenary nature to
come of it. Hence candidates are divested of coins and valuables previous to their
introduction." 462 Furthermore, according to the Masonic legend the stones with
which King Solomon's temple was build were imported, and the trees used for
the construction were also felled elsewhere, so that there reigned absolute quiet
when the temple was erected. To this fact is attributed a symbolic meaning:
According to the Scriptures (1 Kings vi. 7), 'the house, when it was in
building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so
that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the
house, while it was in the building.' This has been symbolically adopted
in Masonry, to signify that peaceful quiet in which the soul should
prepare in this world to raise a fitting temple for the spirit of God to
visit occasionally in our trial state, and to inhabit in a future world. 463
4.3.3 Naked Knee & Breast, Slipshod
A general prejudice of the profanes is the assumption that in Freemasonry,
the candidates are partly undressed in order to prove that it is a man and not a
woman who is initiated. Of course, this might have been a convenient side effect.
However, the technical saying, "neither naked nor clothed," has a symbolic
meaning. In Duncan's ritual, the candidate of the First Degree is asked after the
461 Duncan, p. 48.
462 TRMC, p. 484.
463 TRMC, p. 484.