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

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Chapter 2 – Historical Background
but attribute different names to him, like "Aynone." 74 It becomes apparent from
these early legends of the English stonemasons that the character of a Master
builder at the erection of the temple evolved. However, none of these legends
mentions that this Master was murdered.
Coil concludes in his encyclopedia that "since the Hiramic Legend conforms
to neither the old Masonic legends nor the Biblical account, it must have been
created from fragments of both in the early years of the Grand Lodge." 75 Other
Masonic researchers report even more influences. As Bankl puts it, the Hiramic
legend is an artificial legend created for a special audience, the Freemasons, and
contains Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian components, as
well as magical and mystic parts:
Wie wir gesehen haben, handelt es sich um eine manchmal etwas
unbeholfene Kompilation verschiedener Handlungsstränge und Motive,
ausgestaltet zu einer Kunstsage, welche an ein bestimmtes Zielpublikum
gerichtet ist. Dies wird deutlich erkennbar z.B. an der Ermordung
HIRAMs in drei Etappen, einer Eigenart, die nur auf die Freimaurerei
zugeschnitten ist.
Die gesamte Sage vom ermordeten Baumeister ist in keiner der
klassischen schriftlichen antiken Quellen bzw. Geschichtsbücher aus
dem Mittelalter zu finden. [...] Stellt man die verschiedenen Texte,
welche um das Thema [...] kreisen, systematisch zusammen, so erkennt
man deutlich, wie stark jüdische, islamische, christliche, griechischrömische,
ägyptische und magisch-mystische Komponenten miteinander
verwoben sind. 76
How did the Hiramic legend come into the Masonic ritual, and what is its
function there? In all Masonic Rites and in all countries, Hiram Abiff is the
principal character in the second section of the Master Mason's Degree, and as
thus is universal. The candidate for the Third Degree assumes the role of the
ancient Grand Master Hiram Abiff and is taught a lesson of "the unshaken
fidelity and noble death of our G.M.H.A., whom you have this evening
represented; and I trust it will be a striking lesson to us all, should we ever be
placed in a similar state of trial." 77 According to Bankl, Masonic historians
discuss two possible means through which the Hiramic legend might have
entered the Craft - either from the mystery plays of the Middle Ages, or from a
dramatizing of the Hiramic legend as a rite of initiation and reincarnation of
speculative Masons, combined with the creation of the Third Degree, that of
Master Mason. The first possibility is backed up by the fact that the medieval
guilds were accustomed to perform mystery, miracle, or morality plays. The
operative stonemasons and cathedral builders were more trained in religious
74 Ibid, p. 37.
75 CME, p. 313.
76 Bankl, p. 60.
77 Simons, p. 122.