The Lost Key: An Explanation of Masonic Symbols

Chapter II. 2980. How well this classification fits in with the phenomena of lifeas we observe them can be understood at a glance. A manprogresses in his business life, in his environment, by the use of hislower mental faculties. When one decides to go into business heuses his lower mental faculties to pick out a location, to decide asto whether this location will bring enough trade to his store orbusiness to his office. The mental powers which he uses for thispurpose are not the higher or abstract powers of the mind but thecommon, everyday “horse-sense.” So he progresses or advances inhis everyday life, his environment, by the use of his lower mentalactivities, just as the candidate progresses or advances over thefloor of the Lodge by the movement of his legs.81. He can make this advance in his environment because he hasa physical body. Had he no body he could not engage in businessfor no one could see him. He would be a disembodied ghost. Nowthe body is the shoe of the spirit or inner man and, in like manneras the physical body enables the inner man, the invisible man toadvance in his environment, so do the shoes on the feet (whichenable the physical body to advance) symbolize the power toadvance.82. These subdivisions of the body are very important so it wouldbe well to get them firmly fixed in the mind and the very best wayto understand them is to understand the reason why the variouslimbs are assigned these various meanings. The student will do wellto go over the following table and get it thoroughly impressed uponhis mind for it is the key to most of the meanings of the MasonicSymbolism.83. PHYSICAL BODY—Symbolizes the Mind.FEET—Symbolize positive and negative aspects of the Personality.LEGS—Symbolize Lower Mental Activities, positive and negative.ARMS—Symbolize Higher Mental Activities, positive and negative.