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I passed my "test" for Fellowcraft last Tuesday, memorizing a small portion of the ritual.
I will get my lectures next Tuesday, unless I have to travel. I don't know what happens if I miss these lectures -- if I have to leave, I'll ask.
There are a lot of columns and pillars thrown at me so far.
Three columns of Masonry -- Beauty, Strength and Wisdom. Three orders of architecture (of the five normally presented, two are considered derivative by Masons) - Doric, Ionic, Corinthian. Doric corresponds to Strength, or so I surmise, because the columns are plain and thicker. Corinthian corresponds to Beauty because of its florid capital. Ionic, therefore must corresponds to Wisdom. And the three officers (are they jewels or lights?) correspond to Wisdom (Worshipful Master), Strength (Senior Warden) and Beauty (Junior Warden).
Then there are the Fellowcraft's tools, which are also the Officer's jewels: the Square (Worshipful Master), the level (Senior Warden) and the plumb (Junior Warden).
But there are two pillars of Strength (B) and Creation ("to establish") (J) between which a fellocraft enters the lodge. Where's the third pillar? Is it the Mason himself? Confused, I read as much about these pillars as I could find. The globes on top -- which were not there on the originals -- represent the heaven and the earth.
I think I read too far ahead: I read that despite their phallic shape, they represented the opening of a woman's birth canal, and that the person entering through these gates represented a seed. That part must come later in my Masonic career.
Heaven and Earth, as a pair, are repeated throughout the lodge; the shape of the lodge represents the earth and the ceiling the heavens.
Heaven and Earth, as a pair, are repeated throughout the lodge; the shape of the lodge represents the earth and the ceiling the heavens.
One writer attributed control -- or will --- to the meaning of the second pillar. He suggested that without Strength or Power, nothing could be accomplished; and without will, Strength was destructive, at best; that only by balancing Strength and control could anything important be done. I liked that interpretation, but it does require us to reinterpret the second pillar as "will" or "vision" or "intellect" rather than "He who establishes".
Another theory I have is that if Establishment corresponds to beauty, then the original contents of the pillars -- the wisdom of the ancients stored inside -- is the third pillar, hidden but known.
Do the two connect to the three? Or do they stand alone, distinct and separate, with their own lessons?
2 comments:
You've conflated Pillars with Columns. The two Pillars on the porch of the Temple in Jersalem were free-standing, not holding up or supporting and kind of beam, archway, or entablature.
Much later came the evolution of the Greek orders of architecture, which specified (originally) three styles of supporting columns.
Hello brothers, i bring warm fraternal greetings from fyvie lodge, st marys 1287, fyvie scotland. It is very nice to see brothers so interested in our craft, however i would warn about speaking in such an open forum. Our secrets must never be revealed!
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