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

Chapter 5 - Technical Terminology 271
the supreme end of Freemasonry. These are to be removed with
diligence and faithfulness. 770
In French Masonry, there exists an expression connected with the covering of
the temple which has an interesting meaning - the EOF defines the expression
"couvrir le temple" thus: "A French expression for the English one to close the
Lodge. But it has also another signification. 'To cover the Temple to a brother,'
means, in French Masonic language, to exclude him from the Lodge." 771
9. Tiled
In operative masonry, the workman who placed a roof of tiles over the
finished edifice to protect it was called the Tiler. Accordingly, in Speculative
Masonry, the Tiler or Tyler protects the lodge by guarding it against the intrusion
of profanes: "To tile a lodge is to post the Tiler, who must be a Master Mason,
outside the outer door with instructions to keep off cowans and eavesdroppers
and other unauthorized persons. In full regalia, the Tiler is armed with a Flaming
Sword [...]." 772 We see that tyling the lodge has a positive meaning and denotes
to protect the secret procedure from intruders. However, the word can also be
used in a negative sense. Thus, in the French Masonic language, to tile the lodge
is translated with "couvrir le temple," however, this expression has a double
meaning: " 'To cover the Temple to a brother,' means, in French Masonic
language, to exclude him from the Lodge." 773 Also in the German Masonic
language, there is a different significance with regard to the expression "eine
Loge wird gedeckt": this means that the lodge is being closed down forever. 774
10. Untempered Mortar
The term "untempered mortar" is found in some of the American lectures of
the Entered Apprentice Degree in the early 19 th century, and is still being
employed in some places, for example in New York. 775 The Masonic Bible
explains it thus in its index to Freemasonry:
770
Ibid," p. 35.
771
EOF, p. 182.
772
Cf. CME, p. 653.
773
EOF, p. 182.
774
This expression is so used in Wilson, p. 15: "[...] wurde die Weimarer Loge jedoch schon im Juni
1782 'gedeckt', also aufgehoben."
775
Cf. CME, p. 662.