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

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Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
the symbolism evolving around the rough ashlar, the working tools, the mortar,
and the building of the temple of humanity:
To talk of membership in the Order curing radical defects in a member
is simply ridiculous. Did you ever know contact with a sound stone to
cure a 'flaky' one? If the flaw is there, no skill of the Craftsman with
chisel and mallet can eradicate it. You may square the block, take off
its rough and angular points, and make its surface capable of standing
the most rigid test of the 'square, level and plumb;' but the flaw is
radical, it goes down into the heart of the stone, and you may even
cover it with mortar, yet it is latent [...]. It may be high up in the wall
- wealth or position may elevate it so that it can't be seen 'from the
ground,' and nobody will dare, or will take the trouble, 'to climb up
here to look at it.' Perhaps his seeming qualities, or his concealed
defects, have elevated him to an important position in the wall, - he has
the south, or west, or even the east, and 'the great beams of the roof'
rest just above him. [...] 'Every sunbeam,' every additional elevation, -
'loosens its texture a little, every storm helps to crumble off a minute
fragment, and little by little the stone crumbles away.' Then 'a crack is
opened in the ceiling, disfiguring the fresco painting, and then the
crack grows to a leak, letting in the rain.' This not only disfigures and
dishonors the building, but it expedites the disintegration of the block,
the 'beam drops down,' for want of solid support, 'the roof sinks in,'
and rapid dilapidation succeeds." 581
Here, many Masonic symbols and metaphors were employed, taken from the
operative trade, which have been discerned by bold print: 1. The "sound stone" is
the good and valuable Masonic member, conforming to the rules and regulation
of his lodge. 2. The "flaky stone" is the neophyte who has moral defects and is
about to be initiated into Freemasonry. 3. The "flaw" means his moral defects. 4.
The "skill of the Craftsman with chisel and mallet" denotes the help of a brother
Mason who tries to smoothen the rough character of the imperfect candidate with
his working tools. 5. To "square the block" belongs to the process of making a
perfect ashlar out of a rough ashlar, i.e. to improve the unfit character of the
candidate. 6. To take off the "rough and angular points" has the same meaning. 7.
The rigid "test of the square, level, and plumb" is the symbolic testing of the
candidate's character by the working tools of the Craft. We will see in the ritual
of Mark Masonry that a square is applied to the stones in order to prove them
correct. Thus, the candidate is tested whether he is righteous and square in his
acts. 8. The "heart of the stone" is the heart of the candidate, his deepest inner
thoughts that are hidden from his brethren. 9. The "covering with mortar" means
to overlook the candidate's defects with brotherly love. Mortar is synonymous
581
Quoted from a letter by a "Private Member" to the editor of The Masonic Review, vol. XXXV, p.
241. Bold print added.