Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor - Rose Croix

Q. Who cast them?
p. 84
A. Our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff.
Q. Where were they cast?
A. On the banks of the river Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zaredatha,
where King Solomon ordered these and all other holy vessels to be cast.
Q. Were they cast solid or hollow?
A. Hollow.
Q. What was their thickness?
A. Four inches, or a hand's breadth.
Q. Why were they cast hollow?
A. The better to withstand inundations or conflagrations; they were said to contain all the
archives of Masonry.
Q. What did you next come to?
A. A long, winding staircase, or flight of winding stairs, consisting of three, five, and
seven steps.
Q. To what do the three steps allude?
A. The three principal supports in Masonry, namely: wisdom, strength, and beauty; they
also allude to the three stages in human life: youth, manhood, and age; they further allude
to the three degrees in Masonry: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.
Q. What do the five steps allude to?
A. The five orders in architecture, and the five human sensed.
Q. What are the five orders in architecture?
A. The Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite.
Q. What are the five human senses?
A. Hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting; the first three of which have ever been
deemed highly essential among Masons: hearing, to hear the word; seeing, to see the