by/par T.V. Fr. Jacques Ruelland
I would like to speak today about the
Origin and Meaning of the Masonic Signs.
It is quite an open question whether the Sign or the Word
was first in evidence, although the probabilities are greatly
in favour of the former. The tongue cannot become really
intelligible without a grammar and organisation; the sign is a
complete paragraph in itself – a narrative, a warning, or a
sentiment. More than this, there are occasions when, as a
great statesman once said, the principal use of words is to
disguise thought. A sign must either expound thought or be a
lie – deliberate and brazen. READ
THE REST / LISEZ LE RESTANT
by/par V. W. Bro. A. H. Pullinge
A superficial answer to this question
would obviously be the description as given in the J.W.'s
lecture. "Pendant to the four corners of the Lodge are four
tassels which represent the four cardinal virtues"; but this
is only a statement of fact and does not explain anything. For
reasons "why" we must go outside our work.
READ
THE REST / LISEZ LE RESTANTThe information contained in this
educational paper was taken from the following book: "Beyond
the Pillars" issued by the Grand Lodge of Canada in the
Province of Ontario.
The Problem
The solemnity of the Masonic ceremonies, we are told,
requires a serious deportment, and evidently a Freemason is
expected to take his ritual seriously. If he does, he may get
the impression that his Grand Lodge descends in an unbroken
line from Biblical times, and that if he were really
interested he could find portraits of all the Grand Masters
from Solomon, King of Israel, down to the present day. This,
alas, is not true. Between then and now there is an unabridged
gap of over 2000 years. In the circumstances we may perhaps
feel that to call the Worshipful Master's situation by the
name of 'the chair of King Solomon' is at best misleading. But
this is by no means the only place in which the Masonic ritual
does not seem reliable by objective standards. We are told,
for example, of a Biblical episode in which the Ephraimites,
because of a phonetic peculiarity in their mode of speech,
could not pronounce a certain word correctly. The problem
allegedly was "a defect in aspiration peculiar to their
dialect". READ
THE REST / LISEZ LE RESTANT
by/par Bro. Manly Palmer Hall
The true Craftsman has dedicated his
life upon the altar of his God and is willing and glad to
serve the lesser through the powers he has gained from the
greater. With his greater insight, he realizes that all forms
and their position in material affairs are of no importance to
him compared to the life which is evolving within. Those who
allow appearances or worldly expressions to deter them from
their self-appointed tasks are failures in Masonry, for
Masonry is an abstract science of spiritual unfoldment.
READ
THE REST / LISEZ LE RESTANTby/par By C.W. Elliott
SOLOMON, was the son of David's old
age, the child of Bathsheba, to possess whom David committed a
cruel crime. The longings of the "man of war" who had shed so
much blood were now for peace, and in the name of his last
born this is expressed - Shelomoh -" the peaceful one."
READ
THE REST / LISEZ LE RESTANT
