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

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Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language
Above all, in Masonic high degrees and in "Hermetical Masonry" (cf. chapter
5.8 on technical terms), the Masons played with numerology, and here especially
with numeration by letters. This is a Kabbalistic process used in the Hebrew
language, and sometimes also applied to the Greek. A mystical meaning of a
word is deduced from the numerical value of the letters of which it is composed,
each letter of the alphabet being equivalent to a certain number. For example, in
Hebrew, the name of God is equivalent to 15, since one of the letters has the
numerical value of 10, and the other of 5, and thus, 15 becomes a sacred
number. 1182
6.15 Phrases of admission
In many Masonic degrees, there exist different technical terms for the word
"initiated," for example, an Apprentice is "entered," and this is why he is called
an "Entered Apprentice."
When a candidate receives the first degree, he is said to be initiated, at
the second step he is passed, at the third raised; when he takes the mark
degree, he is congratulated; having passed the chair, he is said to have
presided; when he becomes a Most Excellent Master, he is
acknowledged and received; and when a Royal Arch Mason, he is
exalted. 1183
The expression "received and acknowledged" as a Most Excellent Master
(the degree prior to the Royal Arch) is explained by an American Masonic
encyclopedia as referring to the legend of the degree which has it that when the
Temple had been completed and dedicated, King Solomon received and
acknowledged the most expert of the craftsmen as Most Excellent Masters: "That
is, he received them into the exalted rank of perfect and acknowledged workmen,
and acknowledged their right to that title. The verb to acknowledge here means
to own or admit, to belong to, as, to acknowledge a son." 1184 We will see in our
chapter 8.1.3 on Royal Arch Masonry that "exalted" means "lifted up" and refers
to the ceremony of letting the candidate descend a secret vault and lifting him up
again when he has found the hidden secrets.
1182 For a further study of numerology, cf. EOF, pages 520/521, which also contain a table of the
Hebrew and Greek alphabets with their respective numerical values.
1183 MD, p. 407.
1184 EOF, p. 13.