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

Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language 373
6.16 Places, Directions, & Measurement
Freemasonry employs strange place names that acquire a figurative meaning.
As shown in Section 4.2 on the lodge room, the lodge obtains a different name
depending on the degree in which it is opened. Thus, in the First Degree, the
lodge is called "the Ground Floor of King Solomon's Temple," 1185 in the Second
Degree, "the Middle Chamber of King Solomon's Temple," 1186 and in the Third
Degree, "Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, of King Solomon's
Temple." 1187 The female and androgynous Masonic or quasi-Masonic orders also
have this custom. For example, the Heroines of Jericho, an order for black
women, call their meeting place "Court" instead of lodge, and it is styled by
Masons "the Ladies' Palace of King Solomon's Temple." 1188 In Albert Pike's
degrees of Masonry of Adoption, the female Masons divided their meeting room
into four quarters, which are called "Realms," the Masonic East being Asia, the
West, Europe, the North, America, and the South, Africa. 1189
There are several other places in Masonry, for example the "asylum," which
is "[t]he meeting place of a Commandery of Knights Templar [...], because, in its
original sense, that term means a retreat or place of safety." 1190 Another place
name is the French "atelier" which stands for "lodge": "A French term, literally
meaning workshop or studio, applied in France to a lodge room or place for
Masonic meetings in either the Craft or higher degrees. Some say it applies more
particularly to a table lodge." 1191 In the German language, "atelier" would be
"Werkstätte," another term for "Loge" or "Bauhütte." 1192 According to the French
Masonic dictionary, DFM, the term "atelier" means any group of Masons; lodges
as well as chapters, councils, etc., although in the current language, it is used to
mean simply "lodge": "Terme générique servant à désigner tout groupement
maçonnique: loge, chapitre, conseil philosophique, etc. Dans le langage courant,
toutefois, le mot est devenu plus ou moins synonyme du mot loge." 1193 A couple
of high degrees employs the place name "Areopagus." Historically, this was the
great tribunal of ancient Athens, well-known for its supreme judicial power and
the outstanding ability of its judges. The French ritual of the Kadosh degrees
used the term "Areopagus" as the "Third Apartment": "[...] it seems that the
name (in French Areopagite) was used also to indicate the administrative council
of that degree, which was one of the most honored of degrees in all rites of
1185
Duncan, p. 7.
1186
Ibid, p. 10.
1187
Ibid, p. 88.
1188
The Order of the Grand High Court (publ.), Ritual and Guide of the Grand Court of Heroines of
Jericho, p. 34.
1189
Cf. Pike, The Masonry of Adoption. Masonic Rituals for Women, Complete with the Verbatim
Degree Lectures and the "Secret Work", I, p. 7.
1190
Cf. CME, p. 80.
1191 Ibid, p. 80.
1192 Cf. IFL, p. 1697.
1193 DFM, p. 73.