Tag Archives: building element

Tracing board

Even though Freemasonry is not the only place where tracing boards are used, it is one of the best known elements of Freemasonry. The usage differs and that makes this a subject that is very large. When the first ‘modern’ lodges met in taverns, they drew “The Lodge” on the floor and wiped it out again when the work was done. Later these drawings were replaced by either carpets or boards. A “tableau” (‘board’) in many cases is actually a “tapis” (‘carpet’). Actual boards are used in England and English-type Freemasonry where the ‘tableau’ does not lay in the middle of the room, but stands against the pedestal of one of the officers.

The trestle boards contain the symbols of the degree that is worked in, so some lodges have a tracing board for every degree. Sometimes the first and second degrees are combined. Tracing boards form a part of many degree, “craft” or otherwise, so there is an enormous variety of them, both in size, but also in shape and of course, in the imaginary displayed.

Emulation tracing board designed by John Harris 1849.

Perfect Ashlar

The perfectly cubical stone is the symbol of the Fellow Craft in most “craft” degrees. It is the stone that has to fit into the wall (mankind). It can usually be found near the Senior or First Warden.

The “ashlar” need not be cubical in every system by the way.

Wikimedia Commons

Rough ashlar

A block of stone with a varying degree of ‘roughness’ in which you can see a cubic stone. It is the symbol of imperfectness, the Entered Apprentice and can usually be found near the Junior or Second Warden.

The “ashlar” need not to be cubical in every system. You also see oblong stones sometimes.

Wikipedia Commons

Broken Column

The image shows a broken column with the text “Adhuc Stat!” (“It stands still”) on a First Degree “Orient Board” of the French Rectified Scottish Rite. The same image was used in the Strict Observance.

In a 1764 Strikte Observanz catechism it says:

Q. What symbol do the apprentices have?
A. A pillar broken from above, but standing firm on its base, with the inscription: Adhuc stat.

Another text of the same year has a bit more information:

On this carpet we find the symbol of the apprentice: a pillar broken off from above with the inscription: Adhuc Stat, which is meant to indicate that even if the nobility and greatness of the order, just as the pillar, has been shattered and brought down by the destruction under Philippo Pulchro, the foundation has nevertheless remained, because it is still propagated in secret.

That exact text can still be found in the first degree of the French Rectified Scottish Rite.

The broken column/pillar sometimes refers to the destroyed Temple of King Solomon. In some lodges lectures are given from behind a broken column. The broken column has a general grave symbolism of an ended life. Sometimes a weeping lady (virgin) stands next to the pillar (often with a man behind her representing time). The latter image is sometimes a reference to the passing of Hiram.

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Cubic Stone

(Cubic) stones come in many shapes and forms within Freemasonry. This specific stone (an oblong stone with a square laying on it) can be seen on the Second Degree “Orient Board” of the French Rectified Scottish Rite. The text “dirigit obliqua” translates to: “directs obliquely”. The same image was used in the Strict Observance.

original design from the Strikte Observanz (1742-1782), nowadays a common design in the French Rectified Scottish Rite. I found this modern image on nos-colonnes.com

Checkered Floor

Checkered floor (often black and white), also known as “tesselated pavement”. The pattern can be either horizontal or diagonal, either or not reaching the edges of the room or only covering a small part in the middle. The floor appears in many degrees, “craft” or otherwise.

general image found online.