Section 12

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Covering op the Lodge

THE Covering of the Lodge is another symbol, and
our last reference to this symbolism of the world
or the universe. The mere mention of the fact
that this covering is figuratively supposed to be "a
clouded canopy/* or the firmament, on which the host
of stars is represented, will be enough to indicate the
continued allusion to the symbolism of the world.

The Lodge, as a representative of the world, is of
course supposed to have no other roof than the heavens.*
We would deem it scarcely necessary to enter into any
discussion on the subject, were it not that another
symbol — the theological ladder — is so intimately con-
nected with it, that the one naturally suggests the other.
This mystic ladder, which connects the ground floor of
ithe Lodge with its roof or covering, is another important
and interesting link which binds with one common
chain the symbolism and ceremonies of Freemasonry,
and the symbolism and rites of the ancient initiations.

* Such was the opinion of some of the ancient eun-worshippers,
whose adorations were always performed in the open air, because
they thought no temple was spacious enough to contain the sun.
Hence the saying, "Mundus universus est templum solis" — the
universe is the temple of the sun. Like our ancient brethren, they
worshipped only on the highest hills. Here is another important
analogy for the Freemason to note.

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118 Symbolism of Freemasonry

The mystical ladder, which in symbolic Freemasonry
is referred to ''the theological ladder, which Jacob in
his vision saw, reaching from earth to heaven," was
widely dispersed among the religions of antiquity where
it was always supposed to consist of seven rounds or
steps.

For instance, in the Mysteries of Mithras, in Persia,
where there were seven stages or degrees of initiation,
there was erected in the temples, or rather caves — for
it was in them that the initiation was conducted — a
high ladder, of seven steps or gates, each of which was
dedicated to one of the planets, which in turn was
typified by one of the metals, the topmost step repre-
senting the sun. Beginning at the bottom we have
Saturn represented by lead, Venus by tin, Jupiter by
brass. Mercury by iron. Mars by a mixed metal, the
Moon by silver, and the Sun by gold, the whole being a
symbol of the sidereal progress of the solar orb through
the universe.

In the Mysteries of Brahma we find the same refer-
ence to the ladder of seven steps; but here the names
were different, although there was the same allusion to
the symbol of the universe. The seven steps were
emblematical of the seven worlds which constituted the
Indian universe. The lowest was the Earth; the
second, the World of Reexistence; the third, Heaven;
the fourth, the Middle World, or intermediate region
between the lower and upper worlds; the fifth, the
World of Births, in which souls are again born; the
sixth, the Mansion of the Blessed; and the seventh, or
topmost round, the Sphere of Truth, the abode of
Brahma, he himself being but a symbol of the sun, and
hence we arrive once more at the Masonic symbolism
of the universe and the solar orb.

Covering of the Lodge 119

Dr. Oliver thinks that in the Scandinavian Mysteries
he has found the mystic ladder in the sacred tree
Ydrasil.^ Here the reference to the septenary division
is so imperfect, or at least abstruse, that we are un-
willing to press it into our catalogue of coincidences.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that we shall find in
this sacred tree the same allusion as in the ladder of
Jacob, to an ascent from earth, where its roots were
planted, to heaven, where its branches expanded, which
ascent being but a change from mortality to immor-
tality, from time to eternity, was the doctrine taught
in all the initiations. The ascent of the ladder or of
the tree was the ascent from life here to life hereafter —
from earth to heaven.

It is unnecessary to carry these parallelisms any
farther. Any one can, however, see in them an un-
doubted reference to that septenary division which so
universally prevailed throughout the ancient world, and
the influence of which is still felt even in the common
day life and observances of our time.

Seven was among the Hebrews their perfect number
and therefore we see it continually recurring in all their
sacred rites. The creation was perfected in seven days;
seven priests, with seven trumpets, encompassed the
walls of Jericho for seven days; Noah received seven
days' notice of the commencement of the deluge, and
seven persons accompanied him into the ark, which

1 Asgard, the abode of the gods, is shaded by the ash tree, Ydrasily
where the gods assemble every day to do justice. The branches
of this tree extend themselves over the whole world, and reach
above the heavens. It hath three roots, extremely distant from
each other: one of them is among the gods; the second is among the
giants, where the abyss formerly was; the third covers Nifiheim, or
hell, and under this root is the fountain Vergelmer, whence flow the
infernal rivers. — "Edda," Fab. 8.

120 Symbolism of Freemasonry

rested on Mount Ararat on the seventh month; Sol-
omon was seven years in building the temple : and there
are hundreds of other instances of the prominence of
this talismanic number, if there were either time or
necessity to cite them.

Among the Gentiles the same number was equally
sacred. Pythagoras called it a "venerable number.'*
The septenary division of time into weeks of seven days,
although not universal, as has been generally supposed,
was suflBlciently so to indicate the influence of the
number. And it is remarkable, as perhaps in some way
referring to the seven-stepped ladder which we have
been considering, that in the ancient Mysteries, as
Apuleius informs us, the candidate was seven times
washed in the consecrated waters of ablution.

There is, then, an anomaly in giving to the mystical
ladder of Freemasonry only three rounds. It is an
anomaly, however, with which Freemasonry has had
nothing to do. The error arose from the ignorance of
those inventors who first engraved the Masonic sym-
bols for our Monitors.

The ladder of Freemasonry, like the equipollent or
like ladders of its kindred institutions, always had seven
steps, although in modern times the three principal
or upper ones are alone alluded to. These rounds,
beginning at the lowest, are Temperance, Fortitude,
Prudence^ Justice, Faith, Hope, and Charity. Charity,
therefore, takes the same place in the ladder of Masonic
virtues as the sun does in the ladder of planets. In
the ladder of metals we find gold, and in that of colors
yellow, occupying the same elevated position.

St. Paul explains Charity as signifying not alms-
giving which is the modern popular meaning but love —
that love which **suffereth long and is kind." When in

Covering of the Lodge 121

our Masonic lectures on this subject we speak of it as
the greatest of virtues, because, when Faith is lost and
Hope has ceased, it extends *' beyond the grave to
realms of endless bliss," we there refer it to the Divine
Love of our Creator. But Portal, in his Essay on
Symbolic Colors, informs us that the sun represents Di-
vine Love, and gold indicates the goodness of God.

So that if Charity is equivalent to Divine Love,
and Divine Love is represented by the sun, and lastly,
if Charity be the topmost round of the Masonic Ladder,
then again we arrive, as the result of our researches,
at the symbol so often already repeated of the solar
orb. The natural sun or the spiritual sun — the sun,
either as the vivifying principle of animated nature,
and therefore the special object of adoration, or as
the most prominent instrument of the Creator^s be-
nevolence— was ever a leading idea in the symbolism
of antiquity.

Its prevalence, therefore, in the Masonic institution,
is a pregnant evidence of the close analogy existing
between it and all these systems. How that analogy
was first introduced, and how it is to be explained,
without detriment to the purity and truthfulness of
our own religious character, would involve a long
inquiry into the origin of Freemasonry, and the his-
tory of its connection with the ancient systems.

These researches might have been extended still far-
ther; enough, however, has been said to establish the
following leading principles:

1. That Freemasonry is strictly speaking a science
of symbolism.

2. That in this symbolism Freemasonry bears a
striking analogy to the same science, as seen in the
mystic rites of the ancient religions.

122 Symbolism of Freemasonry

3. That as in these ancient religions the universe
was symbolized to the candidate, and the sun, as its
vivifying principle, made the object of his adoration,
or at least of his veneration, so, in Freemasonry, the
Lodge is made the representative of the world or the
universe, and the sun is presented as its most prominent
symbol.

4. That this identity of symbolism proves an identity
of origin, which identity of origin can be shown to be
strictly compatible with the true religious sentiment of
Freemasonry.

5. Lastly, that the whole symbolism of Freemasonry
has an exclusive reference to what the Kabalists have
called the ALGABIL — the Master Builder — Him whom
Freemasons have designated as the Grand Architect
of the Universe.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ritualistic Symbolism

WE have hitherto been engaged in the considera-
tion of these simple symbols, which appear to
express one single and independent idea. They
have sometimes been called the ''alphabet of Free-^
masonry/' but improperly, in the opinion of Bro.
Mackey, since the letters of the alphabet have, in
themselves, unlike these Masonic symbols, no sig-
nificance, but are simply the component parts of words,
themselves the representatives of ideas.

These Masonic symbols rather may be compared
to the elementary characters of the Chinese language,
each of which denotes an idea; or, still better, to the
hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, in which one
object was represented in full by another which bore
some subjective relation to it, as the wind was repre-
sented by the wings of a bird, or courage by the head
and shoulders of a lion.

It is the same way that in Freemasonry the plumb
represents rectitude, the level, human equality, and the
trowel, concord or harmony. Each is in itself inde-
pendent, each expresses a single elementary idea.

But we now arrive at a higher division of Masonic
symbolism, which, passing beyond these tangible sym-
bols, brings us to those which are of a more abstruse

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124 Symbolism of Freemasonry

nature, and which, as being developed in a ceremonial
form, controlled and directed by the ritual of the Order,
may be designated as the ritualistic symbolism of
Freemasonry.

It is to this higher division that we now invite atten-
tion; and for the purpose of exemplifying the defini-
tion that we have given, we shall select a few of the
most prominent and interesting ceremonies of the
ritual.

Our first researches were into the symbolism of ob-
jects; our next will be into the symbolism of cere-
monies.

In the explanations which we shall venture to give
of this ritualistic symbolism, or the symbolism of cere-
monies, a reference will constantly be made to what
has so often already been mentioned, namely, to the
analogy existing between the system of Freemasonry
and the ancient rites and Mysteries, and hence we will
again develop the identity of their origin.

Each of the degrees of Ancient Craft Freemasonry
contains some of these ritualistic symbols. The lessons
of the whole Order are, indeed, veiled in their allegoric
clothing. But it is only to the most important that we
can find opportunity to refer. Such, among others,
are the rites of discalceation, of investiture, of circum-
ambulation, and of intrusting. Each of these will
furnish an appropriate subject for consideration.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rite of Discalceation

THE rite of discalceation ^ or uncovering the feet
on approaching holy ground, is derived from the
Latin word discalceare, to pluck off one^s shoes.
The usage has the prestige of antiquity and univer-
sality in its favor.

That it not only very generally prevailed, but that
its symbolic signification was well understood in the
days of Moses, we learn from that passage of Exodus
where the angel of the Lord, at the burning bush,
exclaims to the patriarch, "Draw not nigh hither;
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where-
on thou standest is holy ground.''^

Clarke, in his Commentaries j thinks it is from this
command that the Eastern nations have derived the
custom of performing all their acts of religious worship
with bare feet. But it is much more probable that the
ceremony was in use long anterior to the circum-
stance of the burning bush, and that the Jewish law-
giver at once recognized it as a wellrknown sign of
reverence.

Bishop Patrick^ entertains this opinion, and thinks
that the custom was derived from the ancient pat-

* Exodus iii. 5.

* "Commentary on Exodus," iii. 5.

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126 Symbolism of Freemasonry

riarchs, and was transmitted by a general tradition to
succeeding times.

Abundant evidence might be furnished from ancient
authors of the existence of the custom among all
nations, both Jewish and Gentile. A few of them,
principally collected by Dr. Mede, must be curious and
interesting.

The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples was in
these words: *'Apvir6dr]Tos6v6Kalirp6(TKvv€L'/' that is, Of-
fer sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off.^

Justin Martyr says that those who came to worship
in the sanctuaries and temples of the Gentiles were
commanded by their priests to put off their shoes.

Drusius, in his Notes on the Book of Joshua, says that
among most of the Eastern nations it was a pious duty
to tread the pavement of the temple with unshod
feet. 2

Maimonides, the great expounder of the Jewish
law, asserts that "it was not lawful for a man to come
into the mountain of God's house with his shoes on
his feet, or with his staff, or in his working garments,
or with dust on his feet.'^^

Rabbi Solomon, commenting on the command in
Leviticus xix. 30, "Ye shall reverence my sanctuary,"
makes the same remark in relation to this custom.

On this subject Dr. Oliver observes, "Now, the act
of going with naked feet was always considered a token
of humility and reverence; and the priests, in the

1 lamblichi, "Vita Pythag.," c. 105. In another place in the samo
work, C. 85, he says, "Ouetj* xP'h ^vvirbb^roVf koI rrpbs ra lepa irpocrTikvaC^
— We must sacrifice and enter temples with the shoes off.

*"Quod etiam nunc apud plerasque Orientis nationes piaculum
sit, calceato pede templorum pavimenta calcasse."

* "Beth Habbechirah," cap. vii.

Rite of Discalceation 127

temple worship, always officiated with feet uncovered;
although it was frequently injurious to their health."^

Mede quotes Zago Zaba, an Ethiopian bishop, who
was ambassador from David, King of Abyssinia, to
John III., of Portugal, as saying, "We are not per-
mitted to enter the church, except barefooted/'^

The Mohammedans, when about to perform their
devotions, always leave their slippers at the door of
the mosque. The Druids practised the same custom
whenever they celebrated their sacred rites; and the
ancient Peruvians are said always to have left their
shoes at the porch when they entered the magnificent
temple consecrated to the worship of the sun.

Adam Clarke thinks that the custom of worshipping
the Deity barefooted was so general among all nations
of antiquity, that he assigns it as one of his thirteen
proofs that the whole human race has been derived
from one family.^

A theory might be advanced as follows: The shoes,
or sandals, were worn on ordinary occasions as a pro-
tection from the defilement of the ground. To continue
to wear them, then, in a consecrated place, would be
a tacit insinuation that the ground there was equally
polluted and capable of producing defilement. But, as
the very character of a holy and consecrated spot pre-
cludes the idea of any sort of defilement or impurity,
the acknowledgment that such was the case was con-
veyed, symbolically by divesting the feet of all that
protection from pollution and uncleanness which would
be necessary in unconsecrated places.

* "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii. p. 481.

2 *'Non datur nobis potestas adeundi templum nisi nudibus
pedibus."

' "Commentaries."

128 Symbolism of Freemasonry

So, in modern times, we uncover the head to express
the sentiment of esteem and respect. Now, in former
days, when there was more violence to be apprehended
than now, the casque, or helmet, afforded an ample
protection from any sudden blow of an unexpected
adversary. But we can fear no violence from one whom
we esteem and respect; and, therefore, to deprive the
head of its accustomed protection, is to give an evidence
of our unlimited confidence in the person to whom the
gesture is made.

The rite of discalceation is, therefore, a symbol of
reverence. It signifies, in the language of symbolism,
that the spot which is about to be approached in this
humble and reverential manner is consecrated to some
holy purpose.

Now, as to all that has been said, the intelligent
Freemason will at once see its application to the third
degree. Of all the degrees of Freemasonry, this is by
far the most important and sublime. The solemn les-
sons which it teaches, the sacred scene which it repre-
sents, and the impressive ceremonies with which it is
conducted, are all calculated to inspire the mind with
feelings of awe and reverence.

Into the holy of holies of the temple, when the ark
of the covenant has been deposited in its appropriate
place, and the Shekinah was hovering over it, the high
priest alone, and on one day only in the whole year,
was permitted, after the most careful purification, to
enter with bare feet, and to pronounce, with fearful
veneration, the tetragrammaton or omnific word.