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

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Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
wurde in England angefragt, ob es notwendig wäre, die "Adspiranten"
mit verbundenen Augen einzuführen, da fast alle Logen in Deutschland
das Gegenteil übten. Erst 1763 wurden in Hamburg die Augen der
Suchenden verbunden. Goethe lehnte es ab, sich die Augen verbinden
zu lassen und versprach nur, sie während der Aufnahme nicht zu öffnen,
was ihm bewilligt wurde [...]. 545
The English technical term for "Lichterteilung" is "to bring to light," so
defined in the EOF: "A technical expression in Masonry meaning to initiate; as,
'He was brought to light in such a Lodge,' that is, he was initiated in it." 546 Not
only Masonic candidates can be brought to light, but also newly founded lodges,
that is, when for the first time the three Great Lights (Bible, square, and
compass) are put on the altar and revealed, and when the three Lesser Lights are
put on. Symbolically, the eternal light of Freemasonry is herewith given to a new
atelier or place of work, which is not yet lightened. The German technical term
for giving the light to a lodge is "Lichteinbringung":
Lichteinbringung einer Loge ist das feierliche Stiftungsfest, bei dem
zum ersten Male die drei Großen Lichter auf dem Altare niedergelegt
und enthüllt und die drei Kleinen Lichter entzündet werden. Die
symbolische Vorstellung der L. geht aus von dem Gedanken der
Übertragung des ewigen Lichtes der Freimaurerei an eine noch nicht
erleuchtete, neue Arbeitsstätte [...]. 547
4.5.1 Color Symbolism
'Color, which is outwardly seen on the habit of the body, is symbolically
used to denote the true state of the person or subject to which it is
applied, according to its nature.' This definition may appropriately be
[...] applied to the system of Masonic colors. The color of a vestment or
of a decoration is never arbitrarily adopted in Freemasonry. Every color
is selected with a view to its power in the symbolic alphabet, and it
teaches the initiate some instructive moral lesson, or refers to some
important historical fact in the system. 548
According to the EOF, there are eight Masonic colors, namely blue, purple,
red, white, black, green, yellow, and violet. 549 However, they have to be
interpreted in their very context, for they acquire a different meaning in the
545 IFL, p. 931/932.
546 EOF, p. 447.
547 IFL, p. 931/932.
548 EOF, p. 161.
549 Cf. EOF, p. 161.