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

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Chapter 5 - Technical Terminology
In the quotation above, the metaphorical expression "till architecture shall be
dissolved" alludes to the "Last Judgement Day," the destruction of the world and
therewith the decay of the earthly lodge or temple built by the Freemasons. To a
great extent, Freemasonry draws its vocabulary from operative masonry.
Therefore, this section will analyze several technical terms stemming from the
field of construction that have acquired a different symbolic meaning. To give an
example, the simple word "stone" is attributed various metaphorical
interpretations, like the German word "Bausteine," denoting the work or labor of
Freemasons, such as orations:
In der Logensprache die von den Freimaurern geleisteten Arbeiten,
daher auch Logenvorträge belehrenden und zur Förderung des Baus
dienenden Inhalts, symonym: Baustück. Beliebt auch als Titel
freimaurerischer Zeitschriften, so: "Bausteine", Monatshefte der
Provinzial-Großloge von Hamburg in Berlin [...]. 738
There are many kinds of stones playing a role in speculative Masonry, like
the foundation stone, the cornerstone, the white stone, the Brute Stone, the
rejected stone, etc. The following table gives an overview of the vocabulary that
will be analyzed in detail:
N° Word Meaning
1 architect Supreme Being;
high officer of Grand Lodge
2 baluster official circular or document
3 Broached Thurnel
( cubical stone)
(French:) perfect character
4 broken column death of a leader
5 Brute Stone
imperfect character
738 Cf. IFL, p. 136.
( Rough Ashlar)
6 cement brotherly love
7 Perfect Ashlar perfect character
8 temple man's body for indwelling of God
temple of humanity / work of Freemasons
spiritual temple (improvement of character)
rubbish of temple worldly and material things which
must be removed
9 tiled / tyled guarded against eavesdroppers
10 untempered mortar unruly passions