River of Sorrow

On this tracing board for the degree of “Chevalier de l’Orient” from the Kloss/von Löwen collection you see a river filled with bones and skulls.

The Masonic museum of Riga (Latvia) holds a French symbol chart which has some similarities to the one above. Here the river of sorrow is at the bottom. The left part says “star”, and the right part “bvsanaï”. No idea yet what that refers to. Because the gate at the bottom says “Babilone” like the example above, the river of sorrow and the arms with swords, there is a suggestion that these two French charts refer to the same or at least similar degrees.

Nowadays in the 15th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (“Knight of the Orient and Sword”, the name varies), you see a river with a bridge. On a French tracing board, however, the river contains skulls and bones like in the old examples.


Also see Bridge with Letters.

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