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

452 LODGE
LONDON
the administration of our rites, require that
certain general rules should be followed in the
construction of a Lodge room . These rules,
as generally observed in America, are as follows
:
A Lodge room should always, if possible, be
situated due East and West . This position is
not absolutely necessary ; and yet it is so far
so as to demand that some sacrifices should be
H
0
EAST.
Platform - or Dais
for Past Masters .
-----------------------------------------
Senior Deacon .
Treasurer. Secretary .
Light . *
Altar.
b U
Cd
* Light.
Light. " Steward .
Junior Warden .
Steward. +
Preparation Door . Tiler's
,oom . ~ Room.
WEST.
Doorm.--~
H
0
J1
made, if possible, to obtain so desirable a position
. It should also be isolated, where it is
practicable, from all surrounding buildings,
and should always be placed in an upper story .
No Lodge should ever be held on the ground
floor .
The form of a Lodge room should be that of
a parallelogram or oblong square, at least onethird
larger from East to West than it is from
North to South . The ceiling should be lofty,
to give dignity to the appearance of the hall,
as well as for the purposes of health, by compensating,
in some degree, for the inconvenience
of closed windows, which necessarily
will deteriorate the quality of the air in a very
short time in a low room . The approaches to
the Lodge room from without should be angular,
for, as Oliver says, "A straight entrance is
unmasonic, and cannot be tolerated ." There
should be two entrances to the room, which
should be situated in the West, and on each
side of the Senior Warden's station . The one
on his right hand is for the introduction of visitors
and members, and leading from the
Tiler's room, is called the Tiler's, or the outer
door ; the other, on his left, leading from the
preparation room ; is known as the "inner
door," and sometimes called the "northwest
door." The situation of these two doors, as
well as the rooms with which they are connected,
and which are essentially necessary in
a well-constructed Lodge room, may be seen
from the diagram in opposite column, which
also exhibits the seats of the officers and
the arrangement of the altar and lights . For
further observations, see Hall, Masonic .
Lodge, Royal . See Royal Lodge .
Lodge, Sacred . See Sacred Lodge .
Lodge, Symbol of the . The modern
symbol or hieroglyphic of the word Lodge is
the figure=, which undoubtedly refers to the
form of the Lodge as an "oblong square ."
But in the old rituals of the early part of the
last century we find this symbol : The
cross here, as Krause (Kunsturk ., i ., 37)O
suggests, refers to the "four angles" of
the Lodge, as in the question : "How
many angles in St . John's Lodge?
A . Four, bordering on squares" ; and
the delta is the Pythagorean symbol of
Divine Providence watching over the Lodge .
This symbol has long since become obsolete .
Loge . The French word for Lodge .
Logic . The art of reasoning, and one of
the seven liberal arts and sciences, whose uses
are inculcated in the Second Degree . The
power of right reasoning, which distinguishes
the man of sane mind from the madman and
the idiot, is deemed essential to the Mason,
that he may comprehend both his rights and
his duties . And hence the unfortunate beings
just named, who are without this necessary
mental quality, are denied admission into the
Order . The Old Charges define logic to be the
art "that teacheth to discern truth from falsehood
."
Loki . See Balder .
Lombardy. At the close of the dark ages,
Lombardy and the adjacent Italian States
were the first which awakened to industry .
New cities arose, and the kings, lords, and
municipalities began to encourage the artificers
of different professions . Among the arts
exercised and improved in Lombardy, the art
of building held a preeminent rank, and from
that kingdom, as from a center, the Comacine
Masters were dispersed over all Europe .
(See Traveling Freemasons : Comacine .)
London . With the city of London, the
modern history of Freemasonry is intimately
connected . A congress of Masons, as it may
properly be called, was convened there by the
four old Lodges, at the Apple-Tree Tavern,
in 1717 . Its results were the formation of