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Written by Br. Brendan Murt
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Friday, 15 April 2011 06:56 |
In speculative masonry we are often beset with all the various symbols of the craft. We may often forget to take a closer look at the various symbolic meanings of our wonderful fraternity and the invaluable lessons that it teaches us. Some of these symbols, in comparison with others, are seemingly well explained in lodge and with the various work that we do with one another both personally and fraternally. Other symbols however are rather peculiar in our craft because they seem to be thrown into the mix of everything with relatively little explanation. One group of symbols, in particular, comes to mind. These are the four cardinal virtues given.
The four cardinal virtues are introduced to us in the first degree and several allusions are made as to their connection with the craft. There is mentioned “the perfect points of entrance” and the virtues are variously explained, but other than that we are left scratching our heads saying to ourselves, “What does it all mean?” In attempt to reveal some of the meaning of these virtues let us examine virtue in general, its meaning and how it pertains to us as masons and as men.
Throughout time, since the dawn of philosophy, man has been pitted in a war of duality with his higher nature and his lower animalistic instincts. Since the advent of civilization, man has striven to perfect himself and to become harmonious with the various environments he interacts with. Those qualities that enable man to perfect himself and promote the collective wellbeing of society are deemed good and considered a virtue. The qualities that destroy man and society are deemed bad and considered a vice. We as speculative masons strive for moral excellence and wellbeing in life. It is therefore important for us, as masons, to know the rule and guide of our conduct as laid down by the virtues presented to us in the craft.
The history of virtue spans all the long ages of civilization but we, as masons, are interested in the virtues that are pertinent to us in the craft. Depending on where you live and the contexts of the culture you live in virtue can differ, but the foundation of virtue (as it pertains to us) which is also the foundation of various ways we think as westerners started in ancient Greece.
It was Plato (and most likely his teacher Socrates) who first enumerated the four cardinal virtues and put them into writing. It was these virtues that he viewed would be the foundation of a perfected and ideal state. These cardinal virtues were temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. They would be expanded upon by in later years by the church in which the theological virtues would be added to make the seven virtues we know today. The three theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity (sound familiar?).
As masons we enjoy connecting the various dots in life by the use of allegory and symbolism. Let us take a look at these virtues in the spirit of speculative masonry and see how they connect to us practically and esoterically. Let us look at the virtues to see what they can teach us about life in the pursuit of perfection inwardly and outwardly.
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Last Updated on Monday, 16 May 2011 06:54 |
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Written by Bro. Brendan Murt
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Friday, 11 March 2011 08:38 |
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Learning Experiences
Many of us can attest to being hired for a job and feeling lost. We go through theinterview process and build ourselves up. We make our resumes' look fantastic, digging as deep as we can to find the greatest qualities we can offer our potential employer and then it happens. We get the job! Thank the Grand Architect of the Universe; we can now begin our job. Unfortunately, we didn't get to interview our boss. To our dismay we find out the hard way that the leadership outright stinks.
Our first day on the job we get all our tools to start working with (whatever they may be) and we are given the work. Our "boss" looks us square in the eyes and says the words "Get to work." If we are new to the experience, a chill goes up your spine as you realize that you have had very little on the job training. You're green; you're wet behind the ears. You have no clue what is going on! We have all felt this way at one point or another either personally or professionally. We get a job and to our dismay we receive either very little training or we are put straight to work to rely on whatever skills we have already to get the job done. Unfortunately this takes away from our ability to excel at what we love to do. We still have to learn all the ins and outs of a new place, a new business and the atmosphere that goes with it. This organization, come to find out, is not focused on building people up and creating leaders.
As Masons we are faced with the issue of leadership every time we step into lodge. If the brothers don't take an active role in the process of leadership, where does it leave the lodge? I will tell you: it sets the lodge up for failure. We need active members in lodge seeking to bring up their brothers and set them up for an active role in the lodge. Fortunately, our craft gives us all the necessary tools to get the job done, namely the way things are taught in lodge via the learning experience. Let us take a closer look at the experience in general to gain a perspective on the situation that usually is just taken for granted.
First, let us look at two different models for learning and then relate these models to the craft. The two models for learning that are important to lodge are: the classic lecture setting and mentoring. Both are used in lodge and both are important to the learning process in lodge.
The Classic Lecture Setting: This type of learning structure is easy to understand because we grew up with it. It is what is used in schools today. The instructor stands at the front of the classroom and disseminates information handed down to him through various (and hopefully reliable) information sources. The students, in turn, try to comprehend the instructor's teachings by listening and asking questions. For comprehension purposes an exam is given formally to make sure the student is "learning". This type of learning system was passed down to us by the ancient Greeks where great teachers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle learned and taught in this fashion1. This type of learning format is apparent in lodge when moving through the degrees where lectures and explanations are given for all parts of the degree. It is important to have this type of learning structure to be able to speak on a large topic and be able to convey an array of ideas in a short period of time to as few or as many people present. This type of learning experience, at its roots, is a wonderful tool for speculative masonry.
Mentoring: The second important model from which we learn is mentoring. Beyond the degree work that we do, this is the primary way we learn to do all others things in the lodge. This is also, perhaps, the more important way to develop leaders in the lodge. Learning by mentoring is important to the craft for so many reasons.
First, mentoring shows "younger" masons that you care about them and their development. Taking an active interest in your brothers is at that foundation of our craft. Second, it develops personal relationships with the members of your lodge. If you are amongst brothers that you know and love your lodge will never suffer from a lack of active brothers. Third, mentoring empowers the younger masons that may not yet be in the "line" by giving them the authority to do "operative" things in a "speculative" blue lodge. I have never felt more respect for a brother that takes the time to teach me how to do something in lodge and then trusts me to do it on my own. Fourth, it ensures that the baton of leadership will be passed on when your time is up. Past Masters of the lodge can really be measured as leaders by what type of lodge comes after their leadership when they are gone from the line.
It is also important to note that there are very important steps to mentoring. These steps are:
1) Know and master the work to be done
2) Have somebody watch you do the work
3) Have them do the work and you watch and encourage and correct
4) They do the work on their own.1
With this process brothers can ensure that their lodge will be set up for success. Where do the origins of this type of teaching come from? In masonry it is handed down to us by our ancient brethren that where operative in the craft and the Hebrews. You could not lecture someone on how to perform the duties of a mason and then expect them to perform. It was a time intensive, hands on process that took many years for someone to perfect the craft. Without the process of mentoring and without the foresight of our brethren, the craft would have been a dead art many years ago.
Both styles are essential to the learning and upbringing of the lodge and I find them doubly appropriate to masonry considering the craft's ancient origins in Greek culture, Hebrew tradition and operative masonry. Let us as brother masons reap the benefits of awe inspiring lectures within the lodge with our degree work and with the proper mentoring of the future masters of the lodge within the walls of our worshipful lodge and without.
Resources:
1. Maxwell, John C. "Mentoring 101" The Complete 101 Collection. Pgs313-314. Thomas Nelson, Nashville TN: 2009 |
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Last Updated on Friday, 11 March 2011 09:04 |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 10 March 2011 08:38 |
JACHIN AND BOAZ
"AND he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz." (II Chron. 17.)
Very likely some of us have wondered what was the meaning of these two mysterious pillars set up by Solomon in front of his temple, and why they were called by these strange names; and then we have dropped the subject as one of those inexplicable things handed down in the Bible from old time which, we suppose, can have no practical interest for us at the present day. Nevertheless, these strange names are not without a purpose. They contain the key to the entire Bible and to the whole order of Nature, and as emblems of the two great principles that are the pillars of the universe, they fitly stood at the threshold of that temple which was designed to symbolise all the mysteries of Being.
In all the languages of the Semitic stock the letters J and Y are interchangeable, as we see in the modern Arabic "Yakub" for "Jacob" and the old Hebrew "Yaveh" for "Jehovah." This gives us the form "Yachin," which at once reveals the enigma. The word Yak signifies "one"; and the termination "hi," or "hin," is an intensitive which may be rendered in English by "only." Thus the word "Jachin" resolves itself into the words "one only," the all-embracing Unity.
The meaning of Boaz is clearly seen in the book of Ruth. There Boaz appears as the kinsman exercising the right of pre-emption so familiar to those versed in Oriental law--a right which has for its purpose the maintenance of the Family as the social unit. According to this widely-spread custom, the purchaser, who is not a member of the family, buys the property subject to the right of kinsmen within certain degrees to purchase it back, and so bring it once more into the family to which it originally belonged. Whatever may be our personal opinions regarding the vexed questions of dogmatic theology, we can all agree as to the general principle indicated in the role acted by Boaz. He brings back the alienated estate into the family--that is to say, he "redeems" it in the legal sense of the word. As a matter of law his power to do this results from his membership in the family; but his motive for doing it is love, his affection for Ruth. Without pushing the analogy too far we may say, then, that Boaz represents the principle of redemption in the widest sense of reclaiming an estate by right of relationship, while the innermost moving power in its recovery is Love.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 09:57 |
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Written by Bro. B.C. Ward, Iowa
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Wednesday, 01 December 2010 13:59 |
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Symbolism of the Compass
By Bro. B. C. Ward, Iowa
Let us behold the glorious beauty that lies hidden beneath the symbolism of the Square and Compass; and first as to the Square. Geometry, the first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry has been erected. As you know, the word "Geometry" is derived from two Greek words which mean "to measure the earth," so that Geometry originated in measurement; and in those early days, when land first began to be measured, the Square, being a right angle, was the instrument used, so that in time the Square began to symbolize the Earth. And later it began to symbolize, masonically, the earthly-in man, that is man's lower nature, and still later it began to symbolize man's duty in his earthly relations, or his moral obligations to his Fellowmen. The symbolism of the Square is as ancient as the Pyramids. The Egyptians used it in building the Pyramids. The base of every pyramid is a perfect square, and to the Egyptians the Square was their highest and most sacred emblem. Even the Chinese many, many centuries ago used the Square to represent Good, and Confucius in his writings speaks of the Square to represent a Just man.
As Masons we have adopted the 47th Problem of Euclid as the rule by which to determine or prove a perfect Square. Many of us remember with what interest we solved that problem in our school days. The Square has become our most significant Emblem. It rests upon the open Bible on this altar; it is one of the three great Lights; and it is the chief ornament of the Worshipful Master. There is a good reason why this distinction has been conferred upon the Square. There can be nothing truer than a perfect Square--a right angle. Hence the Square has become an emblem of Perfection.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 10 March 2011 08:51 |
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