That Point within a Circle
Blue, A Masonic Colour
Often we speak of the “Blue Lodge” and of “Blue Lodge Masonry,” but do we really understand its meaning and its origin? I am referring to the use of the colour “Blue” as used in conjunction with lodge and masonry.
We are told that the Blue refers to the Canopy of Heaven and teaches the universality of Masonry. This is true and I would not take away a bit of this teaching, but would add to and enlarge on our thinking about the colour blue and its Masonic symbolism.
Appropriately it is the colour of the Ancient Craft degrees. It teaches and is the symbol for universal friendship and universal benevolence, as it is the colour of the vault of Heaven, which embraces all the world, so should each Brother Mason be equally extensive in his virtues of friendship and brotherly love.
Among the ancient Jews the robe of the High Priest’s ephod, the ribbon of his breastplate and the plate of the mitre were of Blue. The people of the Jewish nation were charged to wear a blue ribbon above the hem of their garments and it was the colour of one of the seven veils of the temple.
Josephus tells us that the Hebrew word for Blue was “tekelet” and that it symbolically meant perfection. Among the ancients, to be initiated into the Mysteries was to attain perfection and how better to speak of initiation into the greatest of fraternal institutions then to use a word that signifies perfection, BLUE, to designate our symbolic lodges.
Among the Druids it symbolized “truth.” The Egyptians esteemed blue as a sacred colour, signifying heavenly nature. Jeremiah tells us that the Babylonians clothed their idols in blue, and to the Chinese in their mystical philosophy “blue” was represented as the symbol of Deity. The Hindus assert that their god, Vishnu, was dressed in celestial blue, thus indicating that wisdom from God was symbolized by this colour.
Among the medieval Christians blue was considered the emblem of immortality, as red was of the Divine Love of God.
The colour Blue is used extensively in the Scottish Rite degrees, with various symbolic significations; all, however, more of less relating to its original character as representing universal friendship and benevolence.
In the degree of Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges it is used with yellow and refers to the appearance of Jehovah to Moses on Mount Sinai in the clouds of azure and gold. In the twenty-fourth degree it is the colour of the tunic and apron of a Prince of the Tabernacle, whose teachings refer to our removal from this house of clay to the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Here it is a symbol of heaven, as we were taught in the Symbolic Lodge.
We learn therefore that by custom and symbolism and not by any adopted law or by-law, we use Blue in referring to the Master Mason lodge as the “Blue Lodge”
by Foster H. Garrett, 33rd
Naming of Lodges
We have often thought about how some Lodges were named and with that question begs the question in what period of time did Lodges take on their own name?
To obtain some history on these points we consult the Eminent Masonic Historian Carr and we find that for several decades before the foundation of Grand Lodge (England) which was in 1717 – English Lodges were usually named after the Tavern or Coffee House where they met. At this period of time there was no law requiring Lodges to take names they were simply known by their meeting place.
The first Lodge in English records to take a distinctive title was University Lodge number 54, which took its name from its inception in 1730. This Lodge met in the Bear and Harrow, Temple Bar London. This Lodge met for only 6 years.
It is surprising to note that there was no official ruling on the naming of Lodges until 1815. This was when rule eleven in the Book of Constitutions for that year (in England) required
“…any lodge wanting to take a name must get the permission of the GM or Provincial GM, the name must be registered with the Grand Secretary…no Lodge can cancel its name without the permission from the same GL officials.”
In 1884 Rule 128 was invoked and this rule required that “…every lodge be distinguished by name and number, which can’t be changed without permission… “
Names for Lodges generally were categorised under the following headings:
- Commemorative – Saints, persons or events such as coronations
- Places – Cities, Towns, localities even buildings
- Association Lodges – Naval, Military, Schools, professions, trades
- Architectural – Doric, Pillar
- Virtues – Cardinal, Moral and Accepted, e.g., Lodge Charity or Lodge Integrity
- Masonic characteristics such as Lodge Harmony
The Priest who assisted at the Dedication of the Temple
A controversial piece designed for you to research the VSL
According to the Volume of the Sacred Law, neither the High Priest nor his Assistant (J—K–) played any part in the dedication of the Temple.
How come You ask?
Solomon presided alone, he spoke and he prayed – have a read of 1 Kings vii, 21 and 11 Chronicles, iii and 11 Chronicles vi and vii.
Yet we look at the SW examination of the candidate in the 2nd Degree we are told certain things in relation to J__K__. Carr the noted Masonic Historian is of the view that the two pillars were completed and named before the dedication of the Temple and each of the names was designed to symbolize Solomon’s gratitude to the Almighty – neither of them was named after a Priest.
J__K__ (according to Carr) did not officiate at the dedication. If he assisted according to Carr, he assisted only by his presence in the same was that guests are seen to assist – by their presence at, for example, a wedding.
The Masonic use of the Pillar name belongs strictly to the Pillar alone. Controversially Carr is firm in his view that the introduction of the ‘priest who officiated’ is in fact an error arising from the excessive zeal of the compilers of the ritual.
Carr at times can be quite critical of the compilers of the ritual and he sometimes explodes by saying :- “…they are were never content to leave well alone. Determined to dot the i’s and cross all the t’s whenever they came to a problem- what they could not solve they invented – Carr concludes – this can lead sometimes to disaster…”
The Globes upon the Pillars
A question was asked, “If King Solomon’s Temple was built in 967 B.C. and globes were placed on top of the pillars, how did they know the world was round?”
This question is quite pertinent because it was not until 1522 that Magellan proved the world was round. How could the men of King Solomon’s period know the world was round? The answer is they did not know.
The contemporaries of Solomon believed the earth stood still, and was inside a hollow sphere with its inner surface dotted with stars revolving about the earth. This slow turning “celestial sphere” is the oldest theory of mankind observations of the “starry-decked heavens”.
This could explain the globe on the pillar at the right, but what about the one on the left? Even if they knew the earth was round this globe could not be a good representation of it. They did not know about the Americas. They thought the earth was an oblong square or rectangle, so there should have been a rectangle on the top of the pillar.
What was there?
It is believed that the “globes upon the pillars” are a corruption of the lily-work of the old testament. The lily was apparently the Egyptian lotus which was in Egypt a symbol of the universe. Thus the symbol of the universe was placed atop the pillars and referred to, as centuries past, as globes because of there round hollow shape.
The Length of my Cabletow
Research of the ritual shows the word ‘cable’ appears several times and seems to have different meanings; to prevent any attempt to retreat – to answer summons if within the length of my cable tow and when something is buried at least a cable length from the shore etc, etc.
Confusing to say the least – and some of us are aware that ropes and cables appear in several degrees outside the Craft, however we are staying with the Craft.
The historian Carr in his research could not find any text to describe it length when we talk about its use in the 1st degree. He did find its symbolism, that being submission and the bondage of ignorance.
The reference to the rope seems to have first appeared in ritual in the 1760’s when it was first described as a cable-tow, which obliged the medieval masons to attend annual ‘Assemblies’ except in sickness or ‘in the peril of death’
The idea of burial ‘ a cable length from the shore…’ seems to have been first recorded in the late 1600’s when the candidate having taken his E.A obligation left the lodge room was entrusted with a sign and words for his re-entry then upon his return he introduced himself to the brethren in the following fashion
“Here come I the youngest and last entered apprentice. As I am sworn…..under no less a pain than having my tongue cut out under my chin and being buried within the flood mark where no man shall know…”
In 1727 the records revealed in the E.A. obligation had these words “…them to be buried in the Sands of the Sea the length of a Cable –rope from the shore where the tide ebbs and flows…..
