Tag Archives: human

Fighting Sitting

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)

Man with Scythe?

Tracing board from Von Löwen in the Kloss collection (Collection de 84 tableaux, Kl.MS:XXV.1) for the degree of “Chevalier du Soleil” (‘knight of the sun’). Is this a man with a scythe?

Christina Voss in The ‘Universal Language’ of Freemasonry (2003) describes a man with a scythe as “time”, which is an interesting interpretation.

Also see Grim Reaper.

Continue reading →

Man with burning Stick

This man with a burning stick can be found on the tracing board of the degree of “Parfait” in the collection of Baron van Löwen, which can be found in the Kloss library. As this is probably a predecessor of the Perfect Master degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, I labeled the image AASR. I don’t know what the significance of this character is.

Continue reading →

Horned Man

This horned man (Moses?) can be found on the tracing board of the degree of “Parfait” in the collection of Baron van Löwen, which can be found in the Kloss library. As this is probably a predecessor of the Perfect Master degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, I labeled the image AASR. I don’t know what the significance of this character is.

Continue reading →

Hiram

On some tracing boards, you see Hiram laying in his grave. The above is a Strikte Observanz tracing board from around 1770. It seems that SO derived systems, such as the Rectified Scottish Rite also use this tracing board.

Hiram as a character plays a big role in “craft” degrees, the “Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite” and other Masonic systems.

Note the animals in the corners. A lion, a monkey, a fox and a dove.

Feddersen (Die Arbeitstafel in der Freimaurerei Band I (1982) D/10, P. 344) Strikte Observanz tracing board from 1770.

Pilgrim

Dąbrowski has an image that can supposedly be found in the National Museum of Scotland. On that chart you clearly see a pilgrim. It is a Knight Templar element, it also features in some Royal Arch systems where it is part of the emblem of the Sojourner, see below. As a concept it exists in some 2nd “craft” degrees, but I know no images with an actual pilgrim in that context.

Continue reading →

Man on Horse

This man on a horse remembers the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688 to 1690. Not really a Masonic symbol, but it does appear on American symbol charts. It may come from an English custom, as I know another chart with “William Prince of Orange”.


Dąbrowski P. 180. Year and designer unknown