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

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Chapter 5 - Technical Terminology
triangular apron of white lamb skin, which has a triangular flap and is edged with
a narrow blue ribbon and a cord of blue tessellated silk. There must be no
ornamentation on the apron except for a small gilded triangle in the center of the
apron, bearing a mystic inscription:
Invest these young children with the apron, emblem of that labor to
which humanity is destined by the Infinite Beneficence. Teach them, as
soon as they can understand you, that the necessity for labor is a
blessing, and that the true honor and glory of man and woman are found
in it. Tell them that the apron is the symbol of Masonry, which is Work
and Duty; and that idleness is not only shameful, but the parent of vice
and misfortune. 984
If a boy over twelve, a "lewis," is baptized, he is invested with a square and
not triangular apron of white lamb skin, "with a triangular flap permanently
turned up." 985 This is reminiscent of the special wearing of the apron in the First
Degree, where the turned up flap is protective of being soiled with "untempered
mortar," i.e. "unruly passions" (cf. Section 4.3.1). The boy's apron bears mystic
initials, denoting "Kater Zab, a young wolf or Louveteau." 986
The baptized children are also invested with a jewel, a delta of silver or gold.
One side bears a five-pointed star, in its center a tau cross, and the other side a
double triangle interlaced, in its center the letter Yod. These Masonic symbols
also figure in the degrees (e.g., the tau in the Royal Arch Degree; and the Yod is
said by some to have been replaced by the letter G in the center of the symbol of
the square and compass). The baptized girls receive a gold locket or bracelet, and
the boys a gold ring, inscribed with "Ward of God." If a "lewis" is baptized, his
jewel consists of two triangles, one of gold and one of silver, interlaced, which
form the Seal of Solomon, in the center of which hangs a little gold trowel. One
side of the triangle bears the inscription "Kater Zab." 987 The children receive
moral lessons, similar to those in the Masonic youth orders described in Section
7.2.6.1 - 7.2.6.3.
20. Operative masonry vs. speculative Masonry
These two technical terms constitute the fundamental differentiation that has
to be made with regard to the Craft. They explain the roots and history of the
form of Masonry as it exists now: the operative masons (written with a small
letter) and cathedral builders of Europe developed into the speculative Masons
(spelled with a capital letter) from the end of the 16 th century onward in England.
984
Pike, Masonic Baptism, p. 60.
985
Ibid, p. 61.
986
Ibid.
987
Ibid, p. 61/62.