Section 21

The only idea intended to be conveyed is this: that
the principles of Freemasonry, which, indeed, are en-
tirely independent of any special organization which it
may have as a society, are coeval with the existence of
the world; that when God said, "Let there be light,"
the material light thus produced was a type of that
spiritual light that must burst upon the mind of every
candidate when his intellectual world, theretofore
"without form and void," becomes adorned and peopled
with the living thoughts and divine principles which

214 Symbolism of Freemasonry

constitute the great system of Speculative Freemasonry,
and when the spirit of the institution, brooding over
the vast deep of his mental chaos, shall, from intel-
lectual darkness, bring forth intellectual light. ^

In the legends of the Master's degree and of the
Royal Arch there is a commingling of the historical
myth and the mythical history, so that profound judg-
ment is often required to discriminate these differing
elements. As, for example, the legend of the third
degree is, in some of its details, undoubtedly mythical — ■
in others, just as undoubtedly historical.

The difficulty however, of separating the one from
the other, and of distinguishing the fact from the
fiction, has necessarily produced a difference of opinion
on the subject among Masonic writers. Hutchinson,
and, after him, Oliver, think the whole legend an alle-
gory or philosophical myth. We are inclined, with
Anderson and the earlier writers, to suppose it a myth-
ical history.

In the Royal Arch degree, the legend of the rebuilding
of the temple is clearly historical; but there are so
many accompanying circumstances, which are uncer-
tified, except by oral tradition, as to give to the entire
narrative the appearance of a mythical history. The
particular legend of the three weary sojourners is un-
doubtedly a myth, and perhaps merely a philosophical
one, or the enunciation of an idea — namely, the reward
of successful perseverance, through all dangers, in the
search for divine truth.

''To form symbols and to interpret symbols,'' says
Creuzer, ''were the main occupation of the ancient

1 An allusion to this symbolism is retained in one of the well-
known mottoes of the Order — "Lwx e tenebris," light from the
darkness.

i

Legends of Freemasonry 215

priesthood." Upon the studious Freemason the same
task of interpretation devolves. He who desires prop-
erly to appreciate the profound wisdom of the insti-
tution of which he is the disciple, must not be content,
with uninquiring credulity, to accept all the traditions
that are imparted to him as veritable histories; nor
yet, with unphilosophic incredulity, to reject them in
a mass, as fabulous inventions. In these extremes there
is equal error.

''The myth," says Hermann, ''is the representation
of an idea." It is for that idea that the student must
search in the myths of Freemasonry. Beneath every
one of them there is something richer and more spiritual
than the mere narrative.^ This spiritual essence he
must learn to extract from the ore in which, like a
precious metal, it lies imbedded. It is this that con-
stitutes the true value of Freemasonry.

Without its symbols, and its myths or legends, and
the ideas and conceptions which lie at the bottom of
them, the time, the labor, and the expense incurred in
perpetuating the institution, would be thrown away.
Without them, it would be a "vain and empty show."
Its grips and signs are worth nothing, except for social
purposes, as mere means of recognition. So, too, would
be its words, were it not that they are, for the most
part, symbolic. Its social habits and its charities are
but incidental points in its constitution — of themselves

* "An allegory is that in which, under borrowed characters and
allusions, is shadowed some real action or moral instruction; or, to
keep more strictly to its derivation (aXXos, alius, and dyopevoo, dico),
it is that in which one thing is related and another thing is under-
stood. Hence it is apparent that an allegory must have two senses —
the literal and mystical; and for that reason it must convey its in-
struction under borrowed characters and allusions throughout." —
Bagley, 'The Antiquity, Evidence, and Certainty of Christianity."

216 Symbolism of Freemasonry

good, it is true, but capable of being attained in a
simpler way. Its true value, as a science, consists in
its symbolism — in the great lessons of divine truth
which it teaches, and in the admirable manner in which
it accomplishes that teaching.

Every one, therefore, who desires to be a skilful Free-
mason, must not suppose that the task is accomplished
by a perfect knowledge of the mere phraseology of the
ritual, by a readiness in opening and closing a Lodge,
nor by an off-hand capacity to confer degrees. All
these are good in their places, but without the internal
meaning they are but mere child's play. He must
study the myths, the traditions, and the symbols of
the Order, and learn their true interpretation; for this
alone constitutes the science and the philosophy — the
end, aim, and design of Speculative Freemasonry.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Legend of the Winding Stairs

BEFORE proceeding to the examination of those
more important mythical legends which appro-
priately belong to the Master's degree, it will
not, we think, be unpleasing or uninstructive to con-
sider the only one which is attached to the Fellow
Craft's degree — that, namely, which refers to the alle-
gorical ascent of the Winding Stairs to the Middle
Chamber, and the symbolic payment of the workmen's
wages.

Although the legend of the winding stairs forms an
important tradition of Ancient Craft Freemasonry, the
only allusion to it in Scripture is to be found in a single
verse in the sixth chapter of the First Book of Kings
and is in these words: ''The door for the middle cham-
ber was in the right side of the house; and they went
up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and
out of the middle into the third."

Out of this slender material has been constructed an
allegory, which, if properly considered in its symbolical
relations, will be found to be of surpassing beauty.
But it is only as a symbol that we can regard this whole
tradition; for the historical facts and the architectural
details alike forbid us for a moment to suppose that the
legend, as it is rehearsed in the second degree of Free-

217

218 Symbolism of Freemasonry

masonry, is anything more than a magnificent phil-
osophical myth.

Let us inquire into the true design of this legend, and
learn the lesson of symbolism which it is intended to
teach.

In the investigation of the true meaning of every
Masonic symbol and allegory, we must be governed by
the single principle that the whole design of Free-
masonry as a speculative science is the investigation of
divine truth. To this great object everything is sub-
sidiary. The Freemason is, from the moment of his
initiation as an Entered Apprentice, to the time at
which he receives the full fruition of Masonic light, an
investigator — a laborer in the quarry and the temple —
whose reward is to be Truth. All the ceremonies and
traditions of the Order tend to this ultimate design.

Is there light to be asked for? It is the intellectual
light of wisdom and truth. Is there a word to be
sought? That word is the symbol of truth. Is there
a loss of something that had been promised? That
loss is typical of the failure of man, in the infirmity of
his nature, to discover divine truth. Is there a sub-
stitute to be appointed for that loss? It is an allegory
which teaches us that in this world man can only
approximate to the full conception of truth.

Hence there is in Speculative Freemasonry always a
progress, symbolized by its peculiar ceremonies of
initiation. There is an advancement from a lower to
a higher state — ^from darkness to light — from death to
life — ^from error to truth. The candidate is always
ascending; he is never stationary; he never goes back,
but each step he takes brings him to some new mental
illumination — to the knowledge of some more elevated
doctrine.

Legend of the Winding Stairs 219

The teaching of the Divine Master is, in respect to
this continual progress, the teaching of Freemasonry —
''No man having put his hand to the plough, and look-
ing back, is fit for the kingdom, of heaven." And
similar to this is the precept of Pythagoras: *'When
traveling, turn not back, for if you do the Furies will
accompany you.''

Now, this principle of Masonic symbolism is apparent
in many places in each of the degrees. In that of the
Entered Apprentice we find it developed in the theo-
logical ladder, which, resting on earth, leans its top
upon heaven, thus inculcating the idea of an ascent
from a lower to a higher sphere, as the object of Masonic
labor.

In the Master's degree we find it exhibited in its
most religious form, in the restoration from death to
life — in the change from the obscurity of the grave to
the holy of holies of the Divine Presence.

In all the degrees we find it presented in the cere-
mony of circumambulation, in which there is a gradual
inquisition, and a passage from an inferior to a superior
officer. And lastly, the same symbolic idea is con-
veyed in the Fellow Craft's degree in the legend of the
Winding Stairs.

In an investigation of the symbolism of the Winding
Stairs we shall be directed to the true explanation by a
reference to their origin, their number, the objects
which they recall, and their termination, but above all
by a consideration of the great design which an ascent
upon them was intended to accomplish.

The steps of this Winding Staircase commenced, we
are informed, at the porch of the temple; that is to say,
at its very entrance. But nothing is more undoubted
in the science of Masonic symbolism than that the

220 Symbolism of Freemasonry

temple was the representative of the world purified by
the Shekinah, or the Divine Presence. The world of
the profane is without the temple; the world of the
initiated is within its sacred walls. Hence to enter the
temple, to pass within the porch, to be made a Free-
mason, and to be born into the world of Masonic light,
are all synonymous and convertible terms. Here, then,
the symbolism of the Winding Stairs begins.

The Apprentice, having entered within the porch of
the temple, has begun his Masonic life. But the first
degree in Freemasonry, like the lesser Mysteries of the
ancient systems of initiation, is only a preparation and
purification for something higher. The Entered Ap-
prentice is the child in Freemasonry. The lessons
which he receives are simply intended to cleanse the
heart and prepare the recipient for that mental illum-
ination which is to be given in the succeeding degrees.

As a Fellow Craft, he has advanced another step,
and as the degree is emblematic of youth, so it is here
that the intellectual education of the candidate begins.
Therefore, here, at the very spot which separates the
Porch from the Sanctuary, where childhood ends and
manhood begins, he finds stretching out before him a
winding stair which invites him, as it were, to ascend.
This stair as the symbol of discipline and instruction,
teaches him that here must commence his Masonic
labor — here he must enter upon those glorious though
difficult researches, the end of which is to be the pos-
session of divine truth. The Winding Stairs begin after
the candidate has passed within the Porch and between
the Pillars of Strength and Establishment, as a sig-
nificant symbol to teach him that as soon as he has
passed beyond the years of irrational childhood, and
commenced his entrance upon manly life, the laborious

Legend of the Winding Stairs 221

task of self-improvement is the first duty that is placed
before him. He cannot stand still, if he would be
worthy of his vocation; his destiny as an immortal
being requires him to ascend, step by step, until he
has reached the summit, where the treasures of knowl-
edge await him.

The number of these steps in all the systems has been
odd. Vitruvius remarks — and the coincidence is at
least curious — that the ancient temples were always
ascended by an odd number of steps; and he assigns
as the reason, that, commencing with the right foot at
the bottom, the worshipper would find the same foot
foremost when he entered the temple, which was con-
sidered as a fortunate omen.

But the fact is, that the symbolism of numbers was
borrowed by the Freemasons from Pythagoras, in whose
system of philosophy it plays an important part, and
in which odd numbers were considered as more perfect
than even ones. Hence, throughout the Masonic sys-
tem we find a predominance of odd numbers; and
while three, five, seven, nine, fifteen and twenty-seven,
are all-important symbols, we seldom find a reference
to two, four, six, eight, or ten. The odd number of
the stairs was therefore intended to symbolize the idea
of perfection, to which it was the object of the aspirant
to attain.

As to the particular number of the stairs, this has
varied at different periods. Tracing-boards, or Masonic
Carpets, of the last century have been found, in which
only five steps are delineated, and others in which they
amount to seven. The Prestonian lectures, used in
England in the beginning of the nineteenth century,
gave the whole number as thirty-eight, dividing them
into series of one, three, five, seven, nine, and eleven.

222 Symbolism of Feeemasonry

The error of making an even number, which was a
violation of the Pythagorean principle of odd numbers
as the symbol of perfection, was corrected in the Hem-
ming lectures, adopted at the union of the two Grand
Lodges of England, by striking out the eleven, which
was also objectionable as receiving a sectarian ex-
planation.

In this country the number was still further reduced
to Hfteen, divided into three series of threCy five, and
seven. We shall adopt this American division in ex-
plaining the symbolism, although, after all, the par-
ticular number of the steps, or the peculiar method of
their division into series, will not in any way affect the
general symbolism of the whole legend.
// The candidate, then, in the second degree of Free-
masonry, represents a man starting forth on the journey
of life, with the great task before him of self-improve-
ment. For the faithful performance of this task, a
reward is promised, which reward consists in the de-
velopment of all his intellectual faculties, the moral and
spiritual elevation of his character, and the acquisition
of truth and knowledge.

Now, the attainment of this moral and intellectual
condition supposes an elevation of character, an ascent
from a lower to a higher life, and a passage of toil and
difficulty, through rudimentary instruction, to the full
fruition of wisdom. This is therefore beautifully sym-
bolized by the Winding Stairs; at whose foot the aspir-
ant stands ready to climb the toilsome steep, while at
its top is placed ''that hieroglyphic bright which none
but Craftsmen ever saw,"^ as the emblem of divine truth.

Hence a distinguished writer has said that ''these
steps, like all the Masonic symbols, are illustrative of

* Robert Burns.

Legend of the Winding Stairs 223

discipline and doctrine, as well as of natural, mathe-
matical, and metaphysical science, and open to us an
extensive range of moral and speculative inquiry."

The candidate, incited by the love of virtue and the
desire of knowledge, and withal eager for the reward of
truth which is set before him, begins at once the toil-
some ascent. At each division he pauses to gather
instruction from the symbohsm which these divisions
present to his attention.

At the first pause which he makes he is instructed in
the peculiar organization of the Order of which he has
become a disciple. But the information here given, if
taken in its naked, literal sense, is barren, and un-
worthy of his labor. The rank of the officers who
govern, and the names of the degrees which constitute
the institution, can give him no knowledge which he
has not before possessed. We must look therefore to
the symbolic meaning of these allusions for any value
which may be attached to this part of the ceremony.

The reference to the organization of the Masonic
institution is intended to remind the aspirant of the
union of men in society, and the development of the
social state out of the state of nature. He is thus re-
minded, in the very outset of his journey, of the bless-
ings which arise from civilization, and of the fruits of
virtue and knowledge which are derived from that
condition. Freemasonry itself is the result of civiliza-
tion; while, in grateful return, it has been one of the
most important means of extending that condition of
mankind.

All the monuments of antiquity that the ravages of
time have left, combine to prove that man had no
sooner emerged from the savage into the social state,
than he commenced the organization of religious mys-

224 Symbolism of Freemasonry

teries, and the separation, by a sort of divine instinct,
of the sacred from the profane. Then came the in-
vention of architecture as a means of providing for
convenient dweUings and necessary shelter from the
inclemencies and vicissitudes of the seasons, with all the
mechanical arts connected with it; and lastly, geome-
try, as a necessary science to enable the cultivators of
land to measure and designate the limits of their pos-
sessions.

All these are claimed as peculiar characteristics of
Speculative Freemasonry, which may be considered as
the type of civilization, the former bearing the same
relation to the profane world as the latter does to the
savage state. Hence we at once see the fitness of the
symbolism which commences the aspirant's upward
progress in the cultivation of knowledge and the search
after truth, by recalling to his mind the condition of
civilization and the social union of mankind as necessary
preparations for the attainment of these objects. In
the allusions to the officers of a Lodge, and the degrees
of Freemasonry as explanatory of the organization of
our own society, we clothe in our symbolic language the
history of the organization of society.