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

Chapter 7 - Rituals 613
or any other religious book may be placed on the altar, whereas the Odd Fellows
underline that they rely on the Bible alone - although they claim to be tolerant.
The Hour-Glass, just as in Masonry, is an emblem of death and indicates the
march of time, bringing before the brethren the great contrast between time and
eternity and the vanity of human life.
The Coffin is the "Emblem of Certain Truth" (p. 136) and points to the last
resting-place of man, where all have to meet on a common level. It also
anticipates the immortality of life and mainly figures in the Initiatory Degree of
Odd Fellowship and in the Third Degree of Craft Masonry. While it is merely a
symbol of death in the former, there is a legend woven around it in the latter, that
of the murder of Hiram Abiff. In Odd Fellowship, the candidate is placed before
a coffin that contains a skeleton for instruction, whereas in Masonry, the
candidate assumes the role of the murdered and experiences death and
resurrection himself.