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

Chapter 10 - Conclusion 819
10. Conclusion: The Universality of the Masonic
"Language"
In the early exposé Three Distinct Knocks, written in 1760 by an anonymous
author, W-- O-- V--n, who claims to have been a member of several lodges,
although never having been initiated, we find the following dialogue between
Master and candidate in the question and answer section: "Why is your Lodge
said to be from the Surface to the Center of the Earth?" - "Because that Masonry
is Universal." 1984 According to Henry Carr in his comments on this work, "[t]his
is the earliest appearance of the term 'Masonry Universal' " 1985 . The same
reference is made more than one hundred years later in Macoy's General History,
Cyclopedia and Dictionary of Freemasonry, published in 1869: "A Mason's
Lodge is said to extend from East to West, in breadth between North and South,
in depth from the surface to the center of the earth, and even as high as the
heavens, to show the universality of the science, and that a Mason's charity
should know no bounds save those of prudence." 1986 Both quotations refer to the
lodge as a symbol of universality. As already mentioned in Section 4.1.1 in the
description of the lodge room, the "covering of the lodge," also called clouded or
celestial canopy, or starry-decked heaven is another allusion to the expansion of
the universal lodge which embraces the whole world and is only covered by the
sky.
In other Masonic symbols there are further allusions to the universality of the
institution, for example with regard to the two columns on the porch of the
temple, Jachin and Boaz. Thus says Duncan in his ritual: "Why are they said to
be so extensive?" - "To denote the universality of Masonry, and that a Mason's
charity ought to be equally extensive." 1987 Another reference to the Masonic
universality is made with a statement regarding the position of the sun Masonic
catechism of the First Degree:
Q.: When were you made a Mason?
A.: When the Sun was at its meridian.
Q.: Masons' Lodges being usually held in the evening, how do you
account for that which at the first view appears a paradox?
A.: The Earth constantly revolving on its axis round the Sun, and
Freemasonry being universally spread over its surface, it
necessarily follows that the Sun is always at its meridian with
respect to Freemasonry. 1988
1984
Cf. Three Distinct Knocks and Jachin and Boaz, p. 33.
1985
Ibid, p. 77.
1986
GHCD, p. 505.
1987
Duncan, p. 83.
1988
Anonymous ("Compiled by a member of the Craft"), The Text Book of Freemasonry, p. 50.