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

Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols 211
to be tolerant above all, and not to cling to a special religion: "With each
reworking or revision, this symbol seems to have become more obscure as to its
meaning, but in the United States, it is an inappropriate Christian emblem in
Craft Masonry." 590
4.6.4 Personifications: Fortitude, Prudence,
Temperance, Justice; Faith, Hope,
and Charity
According to the Virginia Text Book, "[t]here are four Perfect Points and
essential Cardinal Virtues necessary to complete the lesson of instructions to
every Initiate into the Philosophy of Masonry [...]." 591 These cardinal virtues, as
the Entered Apprentice gets to know in a lecture, are fortitude, prudence,
temperance, and justice. In Masonic manuals, they are personified as shown on
the illustration below. They also form the four additional staves of Jacob's
Ladder in some Masonic textbooks (cf. Section 4.6.7.). The Virginia Text Book
shows these four cardinal virtues in connection with the secrets of Masonry and
their preservation.
590 CME, p. 480.
591 Dove, p. 100. Illustration reproduced from Sickels, p. 49.