Find your Symbol of Freemasonry
The image above comes from the 1894 Vermont Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite book. It appears to be a fairly common image for the 19th degree of the AASR (“Grand Pontiff, Sublime Scot”).
Here we have the snake with more context and an explanation:
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Emblem of the 22nd degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the 1893 Vermont publication.
The degree of “Knights of the Royal Axe of the Grand Patriarchs, Princes of Libanon” in the Baylot collection of degrees, state that the L on the sword (above, the Hebrew “lamed”) stands for “Libanon”. The S (top right, “Shin”) for “Sidonian” and the N (“noun”) for “Noah”.
Also (some versions of) Memphis Misraim has a 22nd “Knight of the Royal Axe” degree with a plainer axe as emblem as the one above.
A symbol from the first degree of the International Order of Odd Fellows, not Freemasonry, but a similar organisation.
A bow and arrows can also be found on the Dutch emblem of the 17th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
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Cherubim with extended wings appeared first in the 1764 edition of Ahiman Rezon, the constitutions of the “Antients”. They returned in the seal of the “Antients” and later also in that of the Grand Lodge of Ireland (shown above).
Cherubim also appear in some ‘high degrees’ (Voss mentions the “degree of Royal Master”), where the meaning would be: “under the protection of Divine Power”.
On a 28th degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite tracing board (below) we can see seven Cherubim which: “represent the 7 delights of man – sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, rest and health.”
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A somewhat odd French 9th degree “tableau” for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It appears that we are looking at nine masters who are sent out to look for the body of Hiram. One of them rushes forward (and thus stands up straight) and the other eight remain behind (and are thus sitting). Therefor, this image belongs to an “Elu”/”Elect”/vengeance degree.
18th century painting from Mons, Belgium. They are reproduced online and in print on several places. Facsimiles of the entire collection appear in Dix-Sept Tableaux Symboliques du XVIIIe Siecle (1992) by Maurice-Aurélien Arnould (1914-2001)
A sinister image from a French “tableau”. The description refers to two degrees from the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
There is a similar image in Kloss “Second Grade Elû”. The old ‘elect’ degrees have become the degrees of the AASR that are known as ‘vengeance’ degrees. One skull on a spike is most likely the remains of the first murderer of Hiram.
Top: 18th century painting from Mons, Belgium. They are reprinted online and in print on several places. Facsimiles of the entire collection appear in Dix-Sept Tableaux Symboliques du XVIIIe Siecle (1992) by Maurice-Aurélien Arnould (1914-2001)
Bottom: image in the collection (1844) of Georg Kloss (1787-1854) (Collection de 84 tableaux, Kl.MS:XXV.1)
Similar to the hand with a dagger, you also frequently find a hand with a sword. This particular one is from the French book Mutus Liber Latomorum and has the peculiarity that it appears to be sticking the king’s head in the nose.
Mutus Liber Latomorum (1765)
In the Kloss / von Löwen collection there is a tracing board for the degree of “Philosophe Sublime, ou Cheval. de Occident”. You can see a Bible with seven seals. A Bible with seals of varying number appear in a number of degrees, “craft” or otherwise. The Bible with 7 seals appears to come from Revelation 5:1.
In Les Plus Secret Mysteres (1820) you can see a book with seven seals displayed on the Ark of the Covenant. It says:
The seven seals which belong to this book, signify the seven Degrees of Masonry; & the lamb laying down on it, which is the Shekhinah, shows us that, He alone is worthy to break the seals, it is only the true Rose Croix who enjoys the privilege of reading in the book that contains the complete doctrine of Masons, & of penetrating the most secret mysteries.
The 14th degree (‘Knight of the West’) of the Mirecourt collection explains every separate seal. Each has a symbol with a meaning.
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In the Kloss / von Löwen collection there is a tracing board for the degree of “Philosophe Sublime, ou Cheval. de Occident”. On it you can see a flaming or blazing sword. This is often a description for the sword of the Tyler, sometimes of the Worshipful Master, in both “craft” degrees and otherwise”.
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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”. More about that below. 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.
As you may have guessed, the story here is that of the flee after the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Apparently they were allowed to cross the bridge, because the letters L.D.P. that can sometimes be seen, mean “liberté de passage”, ‘freedom of passage’. Sometimes there are different letters on the bridge, such as “Y.H.” which would stand for Yaveron-Ha-mayim with the same meaning. Then they refer to the password of the degree, the word with which the Jews were allowed to cross the bridge and leave Babylon. The river is sometimes called “Euphrate”, sometimes “Starburzanai”, and there we have the explanation of a detail in the image below.
“Starbuzanai” according to the “Chevalier de l’Orient our l’Epée degree in the Baylot manuscript was the leader of the opponents who wanted to prevent the rebuilding of the Temple.
The story of the return from Babylon appears in some variations in other (historical) degrees as well.
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In the Kloss collection there is a set of rituals ascribed to Baron von Löwen. On the tracing board for the degree “Maitre Parfait” there is a rope connecting what appears to be both halves of the tracing board. It goes from the St. Andrew’s Cross (rather: crossed pillars) to the coffin.
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Below you see “First and second boards of the Elu of the Nine degree, featuring the dog. Boards from the collection of Baron von Löwen.” (1) (In the manuscript itself it says: “Elu de 9. Chevalier de C.”) This 9th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite appears to be a merge of the “Little Elu” (Petit Élu) and “Elu of Perignan” (Élu de Pérignan), also called “Elu of the Unknown” (Élu de l’Inconnu).” It is probably there where the dog came from.
The old ‘elect’ degrees have become the ‘vengeance’ degrees of the AASR. The dog alternally is the guard of the cave of the first found murderer of Hiram or the dog of the pilgrim (perignan) who led the masters to that very murderer. Sometimes the dog itself is referred to a Perignan (either or not with the letter “P”).
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Probably the oldest ‘high degree’ was that of “Scottish Master” (or “Scots Master”) which might have been worked in England as early as the 1730’ies. There is a text from Berlin, dated 1747, in the Kloss collection with the content of the degree. The story is that of master builders from Scotland who were not content with the replacement of the master’s word in the third degree. They went to the Holy Land to find clues to what the original master’s word might have been. They search the rubble of King Solomon’s Temple (hence the destroyed temple) and find “4 column-pieces lying on the ground in the shape of a saltire” (an X, see crossed pillars), which is convenient, because Scottish Master lodges are dedicated to Saint Andrew.
The image shows a “Scots Master” tracing board. It appears to be one of three drawings of the Swede Carl Friedrich Eckleff (1723-1786) Eckleff: “allegedly […] received [St Andrew’s or Ecossais degrees] from Strasbourg in 1756, and Chapter or Templar degrees […] from Geneva in 1759.” Out of which he created the nine-degree Swedish Rite. Similar images can be found in Germany in the same period.
Belton and Dachez make a point that in the very similar French “Maitre Parfait” degree, there are crossed pillars, but no clear references to a destroyed temple. This destroyed temple, therefor, appears to be a part of the London/Berlin (and later Scandinavian) “Scots Master” degree.
Broken columns still appear on some AASR tracing boards, such as on the 14th degree French boards.
I found one degree in which the temple is not actually found destroyed, but destroyed. In the Baylot collection of degrees there is a degree “Knight of the Eagle and the Sun”. The catechism has the answer: “Are you a Sublime Knight of the Sun?” The answer contains the phrase: “I have smashed the pillar of Beauty and overthrew the supporting pillars.”
The three drawings of Eckleff can be found on Freimaurer-wiki.de (accessed 26/7/2024). I can’t retrace where I found my image.
Probably the oldest ‘high degree’ was that of “Scottish Master” (or “Scots Master”) which might have been worked in England as early as the 1730’ies. There is a text from Berlin, dated 1747, in the Kloss collection with the content of the degree. The story is that of master builders from Scotland who were not content with the replacement of the master’s word in the third degree. They went to the Holy Land to find clues to what the original master’s word might have been. They search the rubble of King Solomon’s Temple (hence the destroyed temple) and find “4 column-pieces lying on the ground in the shape of a saltire” (an X), which is convenient, because Scottish Master lodges are dedicated to Saint Andrew. Crossed pillars mostly appear on old Scottish Master tracing boards, but are not always obviously pillars. The plaque in the middle (with the original word on it?) is a typical element.
The image above is from the 1747 Berlin text. It can also be found in Feddersen (SD/4), but he found it in a Danish archive.
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Not a common Masonic symbol, but here you see clover in the emblem of the 32nd degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Emblem of the 32 degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Similar crosses with different symbols in the middle can also be found.
People descending into a hole, element of the Royal Arch here displayed on a 13th degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite jewel.
general officer jewel
Emblem of the 20º degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
General AASR jewel. Original design probably 18th century.
At the bottom of this emblem of the 29th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, you see a Carduus. Perhaps because of the alleged Scottish connection?
general 29th degree AASR jewel. Original design probably 18th century
Emblem of the Preceptor of the Knight Templar degree and of the same office in the Rectified Scottish Rite.
This [Patriarchal] Cross when in purple enamel, and edged with gold, is the insignia of all officers of the Grand Encampment below the Grand Master.
Shibboleth Templar Monitor by George Cooper Connor (1894).
A similar two barred cross also appears in 27th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Outside Freemasonry there are several varieties to this cross with names such as the patriarchal cross, the Jagiellonian cross and the cross of Lorraine.
general officer jewel