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

Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language 365
Entered Apprentice." The expression "he was received on the mallet and the
chisel" would mean that he was initiated into Mark Masonry (cf. Section 8.1.2).
This is just an example to show how easy it is to lean on the rich symbolism of
the Craft to adorn texts with self-constructed metaphors.
Then, there are metaphors using secret passwords that are unknown to non-
Masons, for example the word "shibboleth" which we encounter in the Second
Degree of Freemasonry as being a bundle of ears of corn and a symbol of plenty.
It is taken from a Biblical legend, being the password the Gileadites taking the
passages of the River Jordan before the Ephraimites were required to pronounce
correctly, which they could not. In the following quotation, the Masonic
metaphor "shibboleths of words" denotes superfluity, corresponding to the image
of a bundle. It is taken from advice to a Mason who has scruples about admitting
a candidate into Masonry because he is not sure whether this person really
believes in God, especially since he considers him a freethinker: "Set up no
shibboleths of words, my brother. It is sufficiently easy to decide if a man
believes enough to have his petition to be made a Mason taken into lodge." 1151
The advisor herewith wants to tell the other Mason that he should not make too
many words about it and should not find too many reasons against admitting the
candidate, because this question can be answered quite easily.
Then, there are metaphors taken from the ritual which are not secret,
"Hebraic," or strange words, but technical terms with a special meaning. One of
these is the word "wages." In the description of the Mark Ritual (Section 8.1.2),
after the work, the craftsmen receive the "wages" they are entitled to. Impostors
who try to obtain more than they deserve are found out and punished. A Masonic
monitor states, for example, that a Fellow Craft's wages are "corn, wine, and
oil." 1152 Of course, this is merely symbolic. In reality, the "wages" of the
workmen are the moral values they draw out of the Craft for themselves.
Linguistically, all derivations that have to do with "wages," i.e. "interest,"
"investment," etc. thus can be used to form a Masonic metaphor, and every
Mason knows what is meant. Like the following:
You will be well paid. A Master's wages await you when you shall
have done your work. Paid not in any metal coin, or any thing of value,
but in that finer coin of consciousness of honorable and responsible duty
well done, that inner happiness which comes when you may truly say to
yourself "Masonry has been helped forward by my work," the
knowledge that your lodge is a better lodge because you have paid back
in small measure at least, the interest and the labor your brethren
invested in you. 1153
The next category are the metaphors that contain mock expressions or satire,
such as the "Parrot Masons" or the "Knife & Fork Degree." An example for these
1151 Claudy, A Master's Wages, p. 39/40.
1152 Cf. Simons, p. 96.
1153 Ibid, p. 45/46.