CHAPTER IX.

AN OUTLINE OF SYMBOLISM.
A man standing by a horizontally revolving wheel might be taken as a symbol of every vessel made of clay, whether for honor oir dishonor. Every detail of ornament or of shape might hold a legend, an allegory, or a parable; or indicate a use; but the Potter at his wheel would be a universal and all- including symbol; a pictorial expression of creative thought in man. The Chinese written-language is nothing more than symbolical writing, each of its several thousand letters being a symbol. This pic- torial expression of an idea or a thought, this Art- speech, is Symbolism. When the symbols are of familiar things, and as various as human experience, the knowledge conveyed is common. When the symbols are few and simple, whether commonplace or grotesque, like a point, a circle or a square, or a dragon, or a man with horns, the knowledge con- veyed is not for the masses, but for him alone who holds the key. Take the following simple series: a
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point • , a circle Q, a point within a circle O; the circle horizontally divided 0; the lower half again divided © ; the upper half divided ©; a cross within the circle ©; the cross alone -i — I — u; and we have the series emanating from the point and the circle. If, now, any process in Nature can be found to un- fold in the same orderly manner, then any one of the series of symbols would be found to symbol- ize a definite stage in the process of nature. Hence, the meaning of the symbol would expand, just in proportion as one's knowledge of the natural process increased. If nature's planes are seven, and each plane sevenfold, there would come to be groups of symbols pertaining to each plane, and a key to each group. Take, for example, the symbol ©. Aside from the philosophical meaning as the third in the series (OO©) of Mother-Nature within Infinitude, it represents a universal law of proportion, and the exact mathematical ratio of the circumference to its diameter throughout nature; applicable alike to the circle of a pinhead or a sun. Here then would be a symbol in Mathematics or Geometry, correlating Space and Time with Form and Proportion. Such a symbol would, however, have little meaning ex- cept to the philosopher or the Mathematician. To the latter the Greek »r, or the proportion 1:314159,
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or to the Kabalistic 113:355, would at once recall the original symbol and the whole series. If, in ad- dition, our Mathematician knew the different ratios of vibration incident to the three planes of evolu- tion represented by O 0 @, he would have the key to occult physics, and could forecast results, mea- sure effects, and induce changes beyond the ordi- nary plane of crude matter.
The simple series to which I have referred will illustrate the whole science of symbolism.
Added to this science of Symbolism there is an Archaic Art-Speech, by the use of which a double meaning is given to language, so that the most ordi- nary form of speech may be used to convey a deep scientific or philosophical meaning. This gives rise to the allegory and parable, the outer form of which may convey to the ignorant a lesson in ethics, and to the learned a principle in science. The most complicated form of this symbolism and Art-Speech known to modern times is, perhaps, the Jewish Kabalah, from which most of the glyphs of Free- masonry are derived. The object of the present work is not to explain all these symbols, for that would require a volume of symbolism, and have but little value when written except to the curious.
Perhaps the most familiar symbol of a Mason is
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the Square and Compass, found in every Lodge, and worn as a badge of fraternal recognition. We are told in the Lodge that the Square is an instrument with which the practical Mason measures and lays out his work, but we as free and accepted Masons are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of squaring our conduct with the golden rule, with principles of right and justice, etc. So also with the Compass ; the practical use is made symbolical of the higher moral obligation, to cir- cumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds. But Masonry is "a system of Morals illustrated by Symbols," and something more; and there is hence a science and a philosophy concealed in the symbolism of the square and compass. This may be outlined as follows: The Square with its one right angle and its scale of measurements ap- plies to surfaces and solids, and deals with the ap- parently fixed states of matter. It represents soli- darity, symmetry and proportion; and this involves the sciences of arithmetic and geometry. The Com- pass with movable angle set in the Lodge at an angle of 6o°, applies to the circle and the sphere; to movements and revolutions. In a general sense, the square is a symbol of matter, and the earth; the Compass, of Spirit and the heavens. In the Lodge
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the square and compass cross each other, and this fact is made a symbol of progression, from the de- gree of Entered Apprenticeship to that of Master. The compass is set at an angle of 6o°, and is repre- sentative of the movements of Spirit, and, if crossed at a certain distance from the angle, will produce an equilateral triangle; the three angles and the three sides equal, it now represents perfect equili- brium, or proportion.*
"For the Apprentice, the points of the compass are beneath the Square. For the Fellowcraft, one is above and one beneath. For the Master, both are dominant, and have rule, control and empire over the symbol of the earthly and material.t
If the reader now refers to what was said in a pre- vious chapter concerning the descent of Spirit into matter, and the First Trinity represented by a tri- angle; Matter, Force and Spirit (Law); and in Man — Manas, Buddhi and Atma ; he will readily see that the compass may fairly represent this primary trinity, concealed under the square of matter, till by progression it emerges, and finally, in the Master's hands, gains dominion over matter. In the man of
*Radius of circle and chord of arc equal. t Morals and Dogma, p. 854.
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ignorance (sin), the spirit is concealed, and the body and its passions hold dominion. This is the state of the Neophite, or Entered-Apprentice. In the Fellowcraft's degree, the symbols are interlaced; and in the Master's, Matter is subordinated to Spirit. The lectures on the several degrees explain the method by which the Compass (Spirit) may gain dominion over the Square (body and passion) through the greater activity of Spirit, "in circum- scribing our desires, and keeping our passions within due bounds." The perfect equilibrium of spirit and matter is symbolized by the six-pointed star,* which is again only another form of the Square and Compass, each now having a base-line from which to form a triangle. Inclose the star in a circle, which symbolizes Infinity, and you symbol- ize the harmony, or at-one-ment of the Spirit that descended, and the body, now purified, with Divin- ity, or the Over-Soul. Place within the Star thus inclosed the Egyptian emblem of Life, o , and we symbolize Immortality, as the result of regeneration. Transform the circle into a serpent and it now sym- bolizes Wisdom, as the crown or result of equilib- rium; and is also a double glyph of the return of
*See plate VII.
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matter to its source in spirit. Separate the tongue and tail of the serpent by a Thor's Hammer, or Svastica, inclosed within a circle, and it symbolizes regeneration through conquest of animal sense, pre- cisely as taught in the Lodge, under the spiritual meaning of the symbol of the Compass.
''Freemasonry is the subjugation of the Human that is in man, by the Divine; the conquest of the Appetites and Passions, by the Moral Sense and Reason; a continual effort, struggle, and warfare of the Spiritual against the Material and Sensual. That victory, when it has been achieved and se- cured, and the conqueror may rest upon his shield and wear the well-earned laurels, is the True Holy Empire."
The Masonic Apron made of lambskin symbol- izes innocence or purity, the condition required of candidates in all real initiation.* The shape of the apron is that of a perfect square surmounted by a triangle. We have here the three and the four, making seven; the triangle representing spirit, the square representing matter; the triangle represent- ing the threefold attributes of the One; the square representing the four elements. As spirit, the trian-
*See Plate XII.
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gle represents, or is symbolized by, heat, light and flame.
The Entered Apprentice starts on his career with the triangle surmounting the square (spirit has not yet descended into matter). As he progresses the descent takes place, and we have the triangle in the square, as heretofore illustrated; and finally as a Master the ascent of the square into the triangle begins, which every Master Mason will understand. Masonry being a "progressive science," the progress of the neophite is thus made to conform to the process of evolution and the descent of spirit into matter, and this is illustrated by the manner in which he is taught to wear his apron in each degree in the Blue Lodge. The Entered Apprentice is not only a "hewer of wood and a drawer of water/' but he is a novice, taking his first instruction, and this is symbolized by his apron.
The tradition of the Master's Word, of the power which its possession gives to the Master; the story of its loss and the search for its recovery; the tra- dition of the Ineffable Name in connection with the Lost Word, showing that it could not or should not be pronounced, except with bated breath ; or, as the Hindoo tradition declares, "with the hand covering the mouth." The symbolism of the three greater
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and three lesser lights, and the play made in many places on the word Light itself, in conjunction with the Lost Word, all these references and uses con- stitute a complicated Symbolism working in and toward a common center or glyph, which, taken iu conjunction with the building and restoration of the Temple, constitute the secret Symbolism of Ma- sonry, and illustrate the whole process of Initiation. What real initiation is has been outlined in a pre- vious chapter. These symbols, when correctly in- terpreted, serve two purposes. First: they reveal a complete philosophy of the Creation of the Uni- verse and of Man, unfolding all essences, powers, and potencies, and their mutual relations and cor- relations. Second: they unfold the process of Ini- tiation as synonymous with the uninterrupted evo- lution of man guided by knowledge and design along the lines of least resistance. In the third degree the candidate impersonates Hiram, who has been shown to be identical with the Christos of the Greeks, and with the Sun-Gods of all other nations. The supe- riority of Masonry at this point over all exoteric Religions consists in this: All these religions take the symbol for the thing symbolized. Christ was originally like the Father. Now He is made iden-
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tical with the Father.* In deifying Jesus the whole of humanity is bereft of Christos as an eternal potency within every human soul, a latent Christ in every man. In thus deifying one man, they have orphaned the whole of humanity ! On the other hand, Masonry, in making every candidate personify Hiram, has preserved the original teaching, which is a universal glyph. Few candidates may be aware that Hiram whom they have represented and per- sonified is ideally and precisely the same as Christ. Yet such is undoubtedly the case. This old philos- ophy shows what Christ as a glyph means, and how the Christ-state results from real Initiation, or from the evolution of the human into the Divine. Regeneration is thus given a meaning that is both apprehensible and attainable; both philosophical and scientific; and at once ideal and practical. In the Tetragrammaton, or four-lettered name of Deity, the Greek followers of Pythagoras found a glyph by which they both expressed and concealed their philosophy, and it is the Hebrew tetrad ihvh, or "Yod, he, vau, he," that is introduced into Masonry
*Here lies the true meaning of Abiff, "of, or from my Father." Hirani=C7ins£os, and ABiFF="at one with tlhe Father," i. e., "of," or "from."
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with the Pythagorean art speech. The devout Hebrew, in reading the sacred Text, when he came to the tetrad ihvh, substituted the word Adonai (Lord), and if the word was written with the points of Alhim, he called it Elohom. This custom is pre- served in Masonry by giving the candidate a substi- tute for the Master's Word. The Hebrew tetrad "Yod, he, vau, he," is produced by repeating the "he." The root word is a triad, and the quater- nary is undoubtedly a blind. The Sacred word is found in the mysteries as a binary, a trinary, and a quaternary; as with the Hindoos we have the om, and the aum, indicating different methods of pro- nouncing the Sacred name. The Pythagorean Tet- raktys is represented by numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4=10, and by points or "Yods" in the form of a trian- gle;* this is called the "lesser tetraktys," while a triangle composed of eight rows in the same form and containing thirty-six "Yods," or points, is called the "greater Tetraktys." This corresponds to the three lesser lights, and three greater lights of the. Blue Lodge, though the monitorial explanations in' the lodge are, to say the least, incomplete. In the Pythagorean philosophy both the lesser and greater
*See Plates V and VIII.
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tetraktys are represented by equilateral triangles, and the points, in either case, form the angles of a series of lesser triangles. In the lesser tetraktys these triangles are altogether nine, or three times three. In the greater they count forty-nine, or seven times seven; and in each case the series runs, from apex to base, 1, 3, 5, for the lesser, and 1, 3, 5> 7> 9> n> J3> f°r tne greater tetraktys, or by a series of odd numbers; while the points, before the triangles are formed, run consecutively, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. These symbols were thus used as "odd" and "even," to carry a philosophical meaning, and to illustrate the doctrine of Emanation.
In the Pythagorean system Spirit is everywhere represented as the Universal. "All multitude must necessarily issue from One," and that one is Spirit. All emanations and subdivisons must therefore be related to the One by absolute geometry (perfect forms) and absolute mathematics (perfect numbers and movements).
In the 47th Problem, so famous in ancient philos- ophy (see Plate XI), and far older than Pythagoras or Euclid, we have a symbol of the perfect propor- tions between number and forms; between spirit and matter; and between universals and particu-
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lars; and this is a constant symbol in Masonic Lodges.
In the Pythagorean Triangle, or tetrad (see Plate V), this same philosophy is symbolized.
PROPOSITION.
"Subdivide a regular figure in such a manner that the subdivisions shall be the same shape as the fig- ure, and 16 in number, and with 4 of the subdivi- sions bounding each side of the figure: 16 is the square of 4, or the Tetraktys. The triangle series is of odd numbers; the square even. The ten "Yods" occupy all the upright triangle divisions." (Quoted, with plate, from print by Fred. G. Plummer.)
This Pythagorean method of "philosophizing ac- cording to numbers" has not only fallen into disuse in modern times, but has often been deemed alto- gether fanciful and been subject to ridicule, simply because the philosophy upon which it is based is lost. It originally constituted the Art-Speech, or glyphs, in which that philosophy was expressed, and to understand the one is to recover the other. This philosophy bridged the gap between mind and matter through apprehension of the one underlying Law. It connected Physics with Metaphysics
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through the Science of Mathematics, or the rela- tions of Number to Form, or of Equilibrium to- mo- tion. The Adept knew the relations between the movements (vibrations) that produce thought, those that produce form, those that produce color, and those that produce light and sound, and the number of these in each case. The source of all these is a Trinity; the form of emanation a septenary. Hence the play upon the formula "three times three" and "seven times seven." The first postulate of this philosophy has been shown in a previous chapter to be Abstract Space, and Abstract, absolute Motion; and this absolute motion is that of the Primordial Atoms, thus constituting "the center which is every- where and the circumference which is nowhere;" t. e., fills all space. It is necessary, however, to re- mind the reader that these "Atoms" are not those of modern Science, or those that compose what we call Matter, for the reason that they are, one and all, endowed (potentially) with Consciousness, Life, and Intelligence, and are equally world- builders and man-builders. They are the vehicles and the basis of all Law in Nature. They form alike the moving panorama of thought and the tides of the restless sea: The beating of the human heart, and the revolutions of Suns and Solar Systems; the
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breath of an infant, and the "Breath of Brahm." There is universal and eternal Unity and Equilib- rium in the midst of universal diversity; Perpetual Involution of Spirit or essence, and endless evolu- tion of form and variety; and back of all, the One Eternal Principle, unknown and forever unknow- able, without beginning, without end, without change. Space is the mantle that forever conceals Him. Abstract, absolute Motion is his Fiat. Crea- tion is His Logos, Word, Speech, Expression, Will, Thought — call it what you will. Man is a "Spark" from this "Flame," and, in the last analysis, as in- comprehensible to himself as God. This Spark of Divinity in man is his consciousness, and this in a previous chapter we have postulated as a fact, nothing more.
This brings us to the origin of the Tetraktys, the origin of the Ineffable Name, the Lost Word. The Hebrews seem to have derived their Tetraktys from the Chaldo-Egyptian Mysteries, and these may be traced to the Zoroastrian Fire Philosophy, till finally the Word is A : . \ U . \ M -. \ In both Persian or Zend and in Sanscrit, the three letters are found in many names that designate fire, flame, Spirit, es- sence, etc. This again is a glyph or form of ex- pression. Every emanation is a trinity; and Fire,
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Flame, and Light are the most perfect synthesis of this tri-unity. Consider the expressions, "The Lord is a consuming fire;" "Since God is light, and never but in unapproached Light dwelt from eternity," etc.
The symbol is found in all Scriptures, but only in the Mysteries was the meaning thus symbolized made known. Here, then, is the origin of all the trinities found in Masonry, the plainest of which are the trinities of Light, and the most superficial ex- planations are found connected with the three lesser Lights of the Lodge.
"The Primitive Holy Symbol, composed of three letters, in which the Vedic Triad is comprehended, ought to be kept secret like another Triple Veda. He who knows the mystic value of this syllable, knows the Veda." — Laws of Mann, Book XI, No. 265.
"The mortal who iraws nigh unto fire will have a light from Divinity." — Chaldean Oracle.
"In every world shines forth a Triad, whereof the Principle is Unity." — Chaldean Oracle.
"It is necessary to know that the Divine Name of its indwelling Potency, and which is a symbol of the impression of the Demiourgos, according to which it does not go forth from its being, is in-
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effable and Secret, and known only to the Gods themselves." — Proclus.
The legend of the Lost Word and the Potency of the Ineffable Name are inseparable. They are the glyphs of Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained; or of the Fall and the Redemption of man. So also is the legend of re-building the temple, a glyph of Initiation, which is the same as Regeneration and Evolution.
This ancient Wisdom belongs in a special sense to Masonry, for it has done most of any organiza- tion of modern times to preserve the ancient land- marks, and has honored and protected the sacred symbols. If Masonry has made only a superficial use of these hoary secrets, and their deeper meaning is still unknown to the craft, it is equally unknown to all others, except as the result of genuine initia- tion. One may know that a thing exists, where it is to be found, and that it is above all price, without knowing, to the last analysis, what it is. Such is the secret to the Lost Word, or the Ineffable Name. Its secret lies in exact vibrations under mathemat- ical and synchronous relations; and its Law is Equilibrium, or Eternal Harmony.
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