Find your Symbol of Freemasonry
Les Plus Secrets Mystères des Hautes Grades de la Maçonnerie says:
Figure VI: The triple triangle symbolises the splendour of the Eternal and the three parts of the Trinity.
It is visible on the book that lays on the Ark of the Covenant on the top right part.
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Figure II. The captivity of the Scottish Master, means persecution, the tribulations of the Church under the Roman Emperors, and freedom under the great Constantine.
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Truth is a Divine attribute, and the foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry.On this theme we contemplate,and by its dictates endeavor to regulate our conduct. Hence, while influenced by this principle, hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among us, sincerity and plain dealing distinguish us,and the heart and tongue join in promoting each other’s welfare, and rejoicing in each other’s prosperity.
Webb’s Monitor, Morris’s Edition, 1872
To relieve the distressed, is a duty incumbent on all men; but particularly on Masons, who are linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affection. To soothe the unhappy, to sympathize with their misfortunes,to compassionate their miseries, and to restore peace to their troubled minds, is the grand aim we have in view. On this basis we form our friendships and establish our connections.
Webb’s Monitor, Morris’s Edition, 1872
By the exercise of brotherly love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family, the high and low, the rich and poor; who, as created by one Almighty Parent, and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support, and protect each other.On this principle, Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion, and conciliates true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.
Webb’s Monitor, Morris’s Edition, 1872
A crocodile on a tracing board for the degree: “Sublime Ecossais de Franville”. On the tracing boards there are four animals referring to “the four corners of the world”. The crocodile stands for America.
Also see “horse“.
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A bat on a tracing board for the degree “Sublime Ecossais de Franville” (more information under “horse“). Unfortunately the bat is not numbered and does not appear to be explained.
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A horse on a tracing board for the degree: “Sublime Ecossais de Franville”. I think this means ‘sublime Scot from Franville’. There is a town called Franville right in the middle of the Peche national Park (somewhat straight North there is a place called “l’Aigle” by the way (‘the eagle’)). Otherwise I wouldn’t know what the word means.
The tracing board actually shows two horses:
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Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet and a ‘legendary’ Freemason. He was initiated at the age of 23 in 1781. A story in itself.
Nowadays, when somebody in Scotland gets the Mark degree, he often gets a pin with the symbol above. It is said to be “Burn’s Mark”. The mark that Burns got when he supposedly got his Mark degree.
Our records tell us about the death’s head, the butterfly and the grasshopper: The death’s head, from whose nostrils and eye sockets three roses sprout, signifying that the decomposition of one body promotes the generation and growth of the other. The butterfly and the grasshopper each have their own special meaning, but both testify to the diversity, splendour and richness of the creatures in terms of form, movement and strength.
Translated quote from Die St. Andreas-Grade by F. Possart (1877/8).
Feddersen (Die Arbeitstafel in der Freimaurerei Band I (1982) SO/18) from around 1860
A complex image of triangles, squares and circles at the centre of a complex tracing board of the Sublime Philosophe degree (53rd).
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A snake within a triangle within a circle within a five pointed star within an ourobouros. The emblem of the lodge “Zur Gekrönten Schlange” (“The Crowned Serpent”) in Görlitz. Nowadays Görlitz lays on the Polish/German border.
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Aaron with Moses (left), but without his rod on a third degree tracing board.
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Baptism scene on a “Ecossais. Grand Architect” tracing board in a 1748 French collection of rituals.
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Did you notice that odd drawing above the grasshopper? What could this be?
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What a complex and weird drawing from Rite des Sophisiens. Below it says: “du Temple de la Sagesse”, ‘Temple of Wisdom’. The “Ordre sacré des Sophisiens” (‘sacred order of Sophisiens’) was a proto (some say: pseudo) organisation of Egyptian Freemasonry in the first half of the 18th century in France.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fonds Maçonnique, FM 4 (15): Rituels. Rite des Sophisiens. Livre d’or du rite
Image from the Rite des Sophisiens, a proto (according to some: “pseudo”) Egyptian French order from the first half of the 18th century. On the banner we see a cow’s head and on top, is that a cat’s head?
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fonds Maçonnique, FM 4 (15): Rituels. Rite des Sophisiens. Livre d’or du rite
This appears to be an old emblem of the Order of the Amaranth. It can be found in MacKenzie’s Royal Masonic Cyclopedia (1877) with as description:
AMARANTH, ORDER OF THE, OR IMMORTALS.-An Equestrian Order, instituted by Queen Christina of Sweden, in 1653. Badge, two AA interlaced – in a laurel crown, surrounded by a label bearing the motto, Dolce nella memoria. Ribbons, white and crimson, shot or shaded blue. Jewel set with gold and diamonds. Knights 15-in number; ladies 15 in number; grandmistress, the Queen-altogether 31. The Knights, if on investiture, still bachelors, could not marry, and married Knights took an oath not to marry a second time. Sir Bulstrode Whitelock, Cromwell’s ambassador, was one of the first of this Order. The annual festival was held at the Epiphany.
Royal Masonic Cyclopedia (1877) Kenneth MacKenzie
The equilateral triangle, sometimes named “delta” after the Greek capital D is a somewhat widely used symbol within Freemasonry. MacKenzie (Royal Masonic Cyclopedia, 1877) says of it:
The Delta is the Emblem of the Chapter in Royal Arch Masonry; Overseer’s mark of approval in Mark Master’s Degree; Emblem of the Trinity.
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