Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

CARDINAL
CASTING 135
the cardinal points " ; and he attributes to this
cause the prevalence of the cross as a symbol
among the aborigines of America, the existence
of which so surprised the Catholic missionaries
that they "were in doubt whether to
ascribe the fact to the pious labors of St .
Thomas or the sacrilegious subtlety of Satan ."
The arms of the cross referred to the cardinal
points, and represented the four winds, the
ringers of rain . The theory is an interesting
one, and the author supports it with many ingenious
illustrations . In the symbolism of
Freemasonry each of the cardinal points has a
mystical meaning. The East represents Wisdom
; the West, Strength ; the South, Beauty ;
and the North, Darkness .
Cardinal Virtues . The preeminent or
principal virtues on which all the others hinge
or depend . They are temperance, fortitude,
prudence, and justice . They are referred to in
the ritual of the First Degree, and will be found
in this work under their respective heads .
Oliver says (Revelations of a Square, ch . i .)
that in the eighteenth century the Masons
delineated the symbols of the four cardinal
virtues by an acute angle variously disposed .
Thus, suppose you face the east, 'the angle
symbolizing temperance will point to the
south, > . It was called a Guttural. Fortitude
was denoted by a saltire, or St . Andrew's
Cross, X . This was the Pectoral . The symbol
of prudence was an acute angle pointing
toward the southeast, >, and was denominated
a Manual ; and justice had its angle toward
the north,