The Lost Key: An Explanation of Masonic Symbols

54The Lost Keyone which falls the most quickly and completely when tempted.But purity has the added meaning of a knowledge of and resistanceto evil.162. White is not a primary color. It is a synthesis of all colors. Ittherefore symbolizes the purity which has experienced all temptationsand adverse conditions and consciously prefers righteousnessto unrighteousness. The lambskin symbolizes innocence becausethe lamb bas always been considered as the most innocent ofanimals, so much so that it has become symbolic of innocence andalso of another quality which is of great Masonic significance—harmlessness.163. The white color contains all the symbolism of purity andinnocence and the lambskin material symbolizes innocence andharmlessness, the refusal to give offense or to hurt another. Thecandidate ha~ been taught to be as square as he can be in hisrelations with others, to lay aside prejudice and to listen withunbiased mind to that truth which has been handed down from theages past. These things have been impressed upon his mind alongwith the various lessons of thought control and of right thought.All these lessons have been repeated again and again in differentways and now he is taught that his whole attitude towards othersmust be one of harmlessness as well as of justice.164. The Apron may be divided, roughly, into two parts, the squareand the triangle. The square symbolizes the lower part of humannature and the triangle symbolizes the spirit. When the triangle isfolded up it signifies the fact that the spirit has not yet descendedinto the material there to begin the task of the redemption of thelower self and the purification of the lower natures. The foldingdown of the triangle over the square is to symbolize this descent ofthe spirit into the material and carnal. In other words, it symbolizesthe fact that the young Entered Apprentice does not yet showthe results of a scientific work of the spirit in the lower phases of