Category Archives: German

Uneven legged Square

Most of the times the square has legs of the same length (‘isosceles’), while the tool itself usually has one leg that is longer than the other. Every so often you see this more ‘common’ square on charts and here even in the emblem of the German provincial Grand Lodge Zur Sonne (‘to the sun’).

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Y

An emblem of the German Grand Lodge Zur Sonne (‘to the sun’) from 1829. Possart (Die St. Andreasgrade 1877/7) explains the Y as the lewis. Elsewhere in the same book, he uses the Y as a symbol of a threefold union.

The reference to Possart makes another possible connection. His book is about the Große Landesloge degrees and it is within that ‘Grand National Lodge’ that the interesting tracing boards with strange symbols and grasshoppers appear in their Andreas degrees. On these tracing boards you also see the image below.

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Entangled S’s

Jewels of the Eklektischen Bund (a German Grand Lodge). On top in the middle, two entangled letters S.

frequently reproduced image (can even be sold as poster). I have not been able from what book this is a page.

Honey Bear

Jewel Große Mutterloge des Eklektischen Freimaurerbundes (‘Grand Motherlodge of the Eclectic Union of Freemasonry’). The Eklektischen Bund is a German Grand Lodge which came from a lodge chartered from England.

“Bijou Große Mutterloge des Eklektischen Freimaurerbundes”, image can (among other places) be found on www.freimaurer-wiki.de

Butterfly

Butterfly from a tracing board of what Feddersen calls the order of the Trusted Brethern of Andreas. He has examples from Denmark (SD/18) and Germany (SO/14). They are from around 1860.

German “Andreaslogen” are Swedish-type “Scottish” (high degree) lodges.

Freimaurer Wiki says of the butterfly: “Symbol of resurrection (the caterpillar transforms into a colourful, almost weightless butterfly), symbol of the soul.” The butterfly is not as rare as initially seems. It even appears in some 24th degree Scottish Rite rituals. It is also: “a symbol of the success of the endeavour to free oneself from sensual fetters, under God’s power and assistance, as well as by way of transformation”. (1901 instructions regarding the “Andreas Logen” of the Großen Landesloge der Freimaurer von Deutschland.)

Also interesting (Die St. Andreasgrade F. Possart 1877/8):

The grasshopper here represents the place of the rough stone, after working it into a cube we, like the butterfly, strip off our shell and turn towards the light in the east.

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Grasshopper

Feddersen calls this (below) a tracing board of the order of the Trusted Brethren of Andreas. It was supposedly in use around 1860, but no longer nowadays.

I have been going through my German rituals, but grasshopper (“Heuschrecke” or “Heupferd”) appears in several rituals, not just ‘high degrees’. One ritual says (translated from German):

the symbols of God-likeness, still need clarification and still require the exercise of the doctrinal concepts contained in them. The locust, however, shows in connection with this that we cannot come to God by our own strength and reason.

Also:

The butterfly and the grasshopper each have their own special meaning, but both testify to the diversity, splendour and richness of the creatures, both in terms of form, movement and strength.

And interestingly (Die St. Andreasgrade F. Possart 1877/8):

The grasshopper here represents the place of the rough stone, after working it into a cube we, like the butterfly, strip off our shell and turn towards the light in the east.

German “Andreaslogen” are Swedish-type “Scottish” (high degree) lodges.

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Cloud

Apparently the German Masonic reformer Schröder designed this minimalist tracing board around 1815. I don’t know the significance of the cloud. The image can be found in Feddersen (D/71).

Obviously it became part of the Schroeder ‘type of Freemasonry’, as clouds are still part of the Brazilian “Rito Schröder” emblem below left.

Interestingly, clouds can also be seen on this tracing board of the Gold- und Rosenkreuzer (one of three tracing boards used in the 1st degree).

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Coiled Rope

A coiled rope from a German “craft” tracing board (Eklekitischen Bund 1811). I don’t know the significance. Perhaps the rope around the candidate’s neck? Is is similar to the coiled snake? Here we have a suggestion that the snake and the rope are interchangeable.

Detail from Feddersen D/67, p. 401. Tracing board of the Eklektischen Bund 1811.

Cathedral / dom

Even though it is a persistent myth that Freemasonry stems from the cathedral buildings, an actual cathedral is seldom part of Masonic symbolism. Here we have a tracing board that (according to Feddersen was used by the Grand Lodge of York in Germany between 1947 and 1973. (Feddersen D/62.)

Feddersen (Die Arbeitstafel in der Freimaurerei Band I (1982) D/62, P. 396) Grossloge Royal York, so it is from between 1947 and 1973. Designer unknown.

Beehive

Appears in the third degree of the American York Rite (but not in most others). It also appears in some additional degrees. Also outside Freemasonry, this symbol usually refers to industriousness.

THE BEE-HIVE
Is an emblem of industry, and recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven to the lowest reptile of the dust. It teaches us that, as we came into the world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones; never sitting down contented while our fellow-creatures around us are in want, especially when it is in our power to relieve them without inconvenience to ourselves.

Ahiman Rezon. Rituals of Freemasonry by Daniel Sickels (1870)

The German Grand Lodge called “Drie Weltkugeln” (‘three globes’) has it as an emblem of the “Schaffner” (‘conductor’).

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