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

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Circumambulations
Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols
As Mackey puts it, Freemasonry is progressive. The candidate advances from
darkness to light from the ceremonies of the First Degree through the ones of the
Third Degree. He is never in a neutral position but each step forward furnishes
him with a new form of enlightenment. The material circumambulations are a
symbol for this spiritual advancement:
[T]here is in Speculative Masonry always a progress, symbolized by its
peculiar ceremonies of initiation. There is an advancement from a lower
to a higher state - from darkness to light - from death to life - from error
to truth. The candidate is always ascending; he is never stationary; never
goes back, but each step he takes brings him to some new mental
illumination - to the knowledge of some more elevated doctrine. [...]
Now, this principle of Masonic symbolism is apparent in many places in
each of the degrees. [...] In all the degrees we find it presented in the
ceremony of circumambulation, in which there is a gradual
examination by, and a passage from, an inferior to a superior officer. 719
According to the DFM, "circumambulations" belong to the vocabulary of the
Emulation working and have the function to present the candidate to the other
brethren: "Terme du Rite Emulation. Il désigne la manière dont le candidat est
promené lentement et solennellement autour de la loge [...], au début de la
cérémonie [...], pour le faire reconnaître par ses futurs Frères, puis, après
l'obligation et la communication des secrets, pour le faire reconnaître comme
initié par les deux Surveillants [...]." 720
Some Masonic writers have tried to draw parallels between ancient
coronation ceremonies and Masonic circumambulations. Thus, The Builder from
1926 prints an article by Bros. Kress and Meekren in which the authors compare
profane and royal coronation ceremonies to Masonic movements. The authors
maintain that, for example, English sovereigns are proclaimed four times
towards the four points of the compass. This is comparable to the Masonic
custom of leading a candidate through the lodge room from one officer to the
other, thus letting him advance from the South via the West to the East, each
time acquiring further instruction in Masonry. This article also mentions ancient
rites of Teutonic kings, who were seated on a shield and carried three times
around the assembly of the people. Further, Hungarian kings after being crowned
rode up to a mound, the people standing around, and at the top turned their
horses in succession to the four cardinal points, making three thrusts with the
sword into the air towards each point. The article further mentions similar rites in
Asia, where a newly-crowned monarch took three steps to each of the four points
of the compass, with the same idea as embodied in the myth of Vishnu, namely
719 Taken from the "Lecture on the Legend of the Winding Stairs" by Albert G. Mackey, quoted in
Sickels, p. 160/161. Bold print added.
720 DFM, p. 95.