W on a 9th degree (“Enlightened Brother of St. John’s Cross”) Swedish Rite apron.
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Tag Archives: letter
I H S
You would think that these letters simply refer to ‘In Hoc Signo’ (‘in this sign’); ‘Iesus Hominum Salvator’ (‘Jesus savior or men’) or any of the other Christian abbreviations, but in the “Maitre Irlandais” (‘Irish Master’) degree the letters refer to the three masters who found the body of Hiram, in this variety Juda, Hiram and Stolkin.
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X C
In the degree “Maitre Irlandais” (‘Irish Master’), XC is an abbreviation for a word that means ‘peace of mind’. Interestingly, this word “Xainchen” appears to be a Chinese word, some of which use as prove for very early Chinese influences on the authors of degrees.
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A P P
These three letters can be found on “Anglais” (‘English’) degree tracing boards. Not always as nicely in a row like here though. The letters refer to three virtues Alliance, Promise and Perfection.
Fonds Maçonnique, Recueil complet de tous les grades de la maçonnerie. Tom II – FM4 (76)
Interlaced A’s
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
Delta
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.
general image
Lux ex Tenebris
Detail of a 28th degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite tracing board. The explanation goes:
Continue readingThe words lux ex tenebris show us that mankind, enlightened by the light of wisdom and faith, can penetrate easily the obscurity of ignorance and superstition.
Triple S
the three letters ‘S’ mean Science adorned with Sagacity makes the Saintly Man. (There are various variations of this interpretation in early rituals.
From a 28th degree Ancient Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite tracing board.
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Cross with letters C K A A S
A Cosmic Cross enclosing the letters C, K, A, A, and S.
That is all the description you get for this element on the tracing board below.
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Circle, Triangle, Square, Circle, Yod
The image above comes from the Fonds Gaborria, 53th degree “Chevalier. Sublime Philosophe”. Ravignat has the image with his translation of the 64th degree “Chevalier Sublime Philosophe”.
There is a text below the image which, in spite of fine handwriting, I can’t read. It is something about an instrument of instruments, God, astronomy and numbers. It reminds me of the famous image in Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, where Hermes is ‘squaring the circle’ according to some explanations.
Top and below left: Bibliothèque Numérique Patrimoniale, Fonds Gaborria Ms.-359
Below right: Wikimedia commons
Tetractys
The Tetractys of Pythagoras is not a usual, but also not an unknown element of Masonic symbolism. It is sometimes written with numbers (1 – 12 – 123 – 1234), sometimes with the Tetragrammaton, like here.
The image above comes from the Fonds Gaborria, 53th degree “Chevalier. Sublime Philosophe”. Ravignat has the image with his translation of the 64th degree “Chevalier Sublime Philosophe”.
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Phoenician letter A
This curly, inverted V is described as a “Phoenician letter A”. It is the emblem of the 24th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in some systems and also forms a part of the 12th degree emblem.
General Masonic symbol
J.J.J.
Even though they are somewhat hidden on this old, French tracing board, the triple J are mentioned in the name of the degree: “Ecossais Parisien où Ecossais Trinaire, dit les trois J.J.J. où Maitre Ecossais”, or ‘Parisian Scot or Scots Trinary, known as the three J.J.J. or Scots Master’.
According to Mackey the triple J. are not only mentioned in the 32rd degree of the French collection of 81 degrees that were compressed to the Rite Moderne, but also in the 19th degree of Memphis Misraim. The characters refer to “the mutials of Jourdain, Jaho, Jachin”. The Baylot collection has a degree “Elu de Cinq” (‘Elu of the Five’) / “Maitre en Israel” (‘Master of Israel’) / “Maitre Anglais” (‘English Master’) in which the three letters refer to Jakini (beauty), Jeheva (wisdom), Jehova (lord).
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Om
Aum or Om sign on a 58th degree (“Prince Brahmin”) Memphis Misraim tracing board.
Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim in Freemasonry Aprons and Tracing Boards – Murat Ozgen Ayfer (2019)
Square, Compasses, UC
Square, Compasses and the letters UC, which stand for Union Compagnonnique. An emblem of the Compagnonnage. This is a French (and German) ‘operative Masonry’ type organisation.
The Artisans and Guilds of France (2000) by François Icher (edited)
Compasses and Crown?
The letters C.M.D.D. stand for Compagnons Menuisiers du Devoir which means something like ‘members of the guild’. The Compagnonnage is a French (and German) ‘operative Masonic’ like organisation.
The Artisans and Guilds of France (2000) by François Icher (edited)
Bridge with Letters L.D.P.
The three letters, which are on the Bridge, signify that all obstacles are destroyed, & liberty of passage (“liberté de passer”)
This scene is described in the degree “Chevalier d’Orient” (‘Knight of the East’), the 13th degree in the system of Mirecourt.
Sometimes there are different letters on the bridge, such as “Y.H.” which would stand for Yaveron-Ha-mayim with the same meaning.
On the bridge are the twelve apostles. The bridge goes over the River of Sorrow (Starbuzanai).
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Trinity
Especially in early Freemasonry the Trinity was a common element. Seldom have I seen it displayed, but here we have an image from the French Mutus Liber Latomorum from 1765 (more here).
Mutus Liber Latomorum (1765)
G on many Triangles
In the fascinating, French publication, supposedly originally from 1765, called Mutus Liber Latomorum we find about 30 beautiful colour plates with often uncommon Masonic symbols. There is a suggestion that they refer to historical (proto Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite?) degrees. The image above comes from a page with what seem to be (officers) jewels, see below.
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A.I.I.
In the fascinating, French publication, supposedly originally from 1765, called Mutus Liber Latomorum we find about 30 beautiful colour plates with often uncommon Masonic symbols. There is a suggestion that they refer to historical (proto Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite?) degrees. The image above is early in the book, so it refers to a low/early degree?
More about the book here.
Mutus Liber Latomorum (1765)