Author Archives: Br:.

Earth, Cross, Adonai

Q. What is the meaning of the globe?
A. The world that we inhabit and of which Freemasons are the adornment.
Q. What is the meaning of Adonai?
A. It is the name God gave Adam to pronounce during his prayers and which our father pronounced in a trembling voice.
Q. What is the meaning of the words lux ex tenebris?
A. That the Freemason enlightened by reason easily penetrates the darkness of ignorance and superstition.
Q. What is the meaning of the river on the globe?
A. Which reflects the utility of the passions that man needs in the course of his life, just as water is of use to the earth to make it fertile.
Q. What is the meaning of the by two snakes encircled cross on the globe?
A. It shows that we should not always respect the flat prejudices and be careful not to let the bottom of our hearts know on the subject of religion and not always agree with the foolish and idiotic pundits of religious mysteries.

Baylot collection of degrees in the degree: “Knight of the Eagle and the Sun or the disentangled Chaos”.

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Man in Gate with Lamb

Q. What is the meaning of the man in the gate with a lamb on his shoulders?
A. It means that we must watch over our needs like a shepherd over his sheep.

Thus says the Baylot collection of degrees in the degree of “Knight of the Eagle and the Sun or the Disentangled Chaos”. Not the most notable element of the image and not equally clear in every variety of the tracing board for the degree of “Chevalier du Soleil” (‘Knight of the Sun’), but mentioned early in the catechism.

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Angel Names

The “Chevalier du Soleil” (‘Knight of the Sun’) tracing board fascinates me. It looks very Alchemical. I know several variations with a few common features, but also differences. So far, I have not found many texts finding texts explaining details of the image and I have several texts for a degree called “Chevalier du Soleil”. Then, finally, the Baylot collection of degrees, contains a degree called: “Knight of the Eagle and the Sun or the disentangled Chaos”. This very long degree appears to look back, summarize, (re)interpret symbols of earlier degrees and then in a catechism a few elements are described.

Q. What is the meaning of the knights whose names are written in the large circle which is called the first heaven?
A. They represent the bodily delights bestowed by God upon man at his creation: sight, hearing, smell, taste, sensation, tranquility, thinking capacity or health.

All “Chevalier du Soleil” tracing boards that I knew, don’t have knights’ names, but (Arch)angel names in that circle! Yet, the Dutch translators of the Baylot collection (Van Eijk, Van Seggelen, Sinnighe Damsté, 2019) found a tracing board that -indeed- does not appear to contain angel names. Since I have not yet found the source of their image and because the descriptions of the “bodily delights” might just as well be put on the angel names, I decided to only reproduce the tracing boards that I do currently know:

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Jojakim’s Grave

Not every grave is the grave of Hiram. On the Chevalier d’Orient (‘Knight of the Sun’) tracing board, there is a “little rectangle with a triangle where in is Jojakim’s grave”. The text comes from the Baylot manuscript, the image from the Kloss collection.

The L stands for Linanon, the mountain where the wood came from in this degree.

Kloss Collection de 84 tableaux (1784) Kl.MS:XXV.1

I H S

You would think that these letters simply refer to ‘In Hoc Signo’ (‘in this sign’); ‘Iesus Hominum Salvator’ (‘Jesus savior or men’) or any of the other Christian abbreviations, but in the “Maitre Irlandais” (‘Irish Master’) degree the letters refer to the three masters who found the body of Hiram, in this variety Juda, Hiram and Stolkin.

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A P P

These three letters can be found on “Anglais” (‘English’) degree tracing boards. Not always as nicely in a row like here though. The letters refer to three virtues Alliance, Promise and Perfection.

Fonds Maçonnique, Recueil complet de tous les grades de la maçonnerie. Tom II – FM4 (76)

Three Squares, Circles and Triangles

This arrangement of “three squares, on top of which are three circles, on top of which are three triangles” can be seen on the tracing boards for the degrees ‘Knight of the East or Sovereign Prince of the Rose Cross’ and ‘Knight of the Eagle or Sovereign Prince of the Rose Cross’, both displayed in volume III of Maçonnerie des Hommes.

In the Mirecourt collection of degrees, the arrangement is described in the 21th degree ‘Knight of the Rose Cross’ as representing calvary hill, Golgotha.

Maçonnerie des Hommes (1766) Kl.MS:XXXIV Vol. III

Eagle

Besides the famous double headed eagle and the eagle with a crown, Masonic symbolism also features an eagle proper.

The 21th degree (‘Knight of the Rose Cross’) of the Mirecourt collection, describes the eagle as “the symbol of the supreme being”.

Fairly frequent in old ritual texts is a black eagle. There are several rituals of degrees called “Chevalier de l’Aigle Noir” (‘Knight of the black Eagle’) with variations to the name (and degree).

Tracing Board of the Real Night of the Black Eagle or Unknown Master Philosopher Maçonnerie des Hommes (1766) Kl.MS:XXXIV Vol. VI

Cameleon

under the altar are beasts expressing the vices as peacock, cameleon and lion;

And later:

Q. What do the animals signify represented under it?
A. That shows us that before entering into such a beautiful quarry, one has to tred down all vices.

Thus says the Latomia document 175-t-e. This document is a translation of Cayers Maçonniques (National Library of Australia, MS 1097/44), which is the first volume of Maçonnerie des Hommes, the other five volumes are in the Kloss collection in Den Haag in the Netherlands.

The concerning degree is called “Apprentice Mason of Practice” and is the fourth degree presented in this volume (after Entered Apprentis, Fellowcraft and Master Mason).

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Peacock

under the altar are beasts expressing the vices as peacock, cameleon and lion;

And later:

Q. What do the animals signify represented under it?
A. That shows us that before entering into such a beautiful quarry, one has to tred down all vices.

Thus says the Latomia document 175-t-e. This document is a translation of Cayers Maçonniques (National Library of Australia, MS 1097/44), which is the first volume of Maçonnerie des Hommes, the other five volumes are in the Kloss collection in Den Haag in the Netherlands.

The concerning degree is called “Apprentice Mason of Practice” and is the fourth degree presented in this volume (after Entered Apprentis, Fellowcraft and Master Mason).

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Votive Altar

in the centre of the Tracing Board is a votive altar dedicated to friendship

And later:

Q. What does the altar signify, that is in the centre?
A. This altar signifies the sacred deposit of the virtues one obliges himself to follow when taking bis oath.

Thus says the Latomia document 175-t-e. This document is a translation of Cayers Maçonniques (National Library of Australia, MS 1097/44), which is the first volume of Maçonnerie des Hommes, the other five volumes are in the Kloss collection in Den Haag in the Netherlands.

The concerning degree is called “Apprentice Mason of Practice” and is the fourth degree presented in this volume (after Entered Apprentis, Fellowcraft and Master Mason).

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Divine Breath

in the East on the line from the East to the West is a radiating triangle, in the centre of which is the Holy Spirit. From its mouth cornes a kind of divine breath;

Thus says the Latomia document 175-t-e. This document is a translation of Cayers Maçonniques (National Library of Australia, MS 1097/44), which is the first volume of Maçonnerie des Hommes, the other five volumes are in the Kloss collection in Den Haag in the Netherlands.

The concerning degree is called “Apprentice Mason of Practice” and is the fourth degree presented in this volume (after Entered Apprentis, Fellowcraft and Master Mason).

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