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Document under Free Document Dissemination Licence. |
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Document under Free Document Dissemination Licence. |
For nearly three centuries, Freemasonry has permitted persons who without it, "eussent dû demeurer perpétuellement éloignées" (Anderson) to meet, fraternise, together work on themselves, and to prepare themselves to contribute, through their personal life, to build a more fraternal world.
How to take up such a challenge? How to get persons of such different cultural, religious or social origins to work together?
A common language must be found. It must be sufficiently flexible and universal so that each one can "attach" his own concepts to it and make them comprehensible to others. It must be "connotative" rather than "denotative" so as not to restrain the research of the group within its framework. Only a symbolic language is capable of doing all that.
Looking at Masonic engravings of the early 18th century, we can easily see that the rituals and symbolism of Freemasonry were severely limited compared to those of today. Over time, and especially during the first century of "speculative" Freemasonry, this symbolic language was progressively enriched and diversified. Still today it continues, though slowly, to evolve, to adapt.
But in reality, how does it all work?
Though all Masonic symbols were revealed in print from the beginning, I am one of those who consider that the Masonic Oath is not a vain one. I shall therefore refrain from using as examples any symbols which I have sworn to keep "'secret", even if in practice they haven't been for a long time. One could consider it absurd to keep such an "open secret". For me it simply is respect of the given word, an ethical question.
On the other hand, though a Mason swears not to divulge the traditional "secrets", nothing stops him (or her) from explaining them to those who want to understand how they work. Therefore I suggest that we invent a whole new symbolic system to use as an example.
Let's imagine that at the beginning of the 18th century, when Seafaring and Architecture (among others) shared the admiration of enlightened minds and particularly of travellers, it were Seafaring which carried the day. That would give us a little fable which I hope will amuse you (nobody says we should always take ourselves seriously) while at the same time giving you an idea of how it all works. (Any similarity with the Nautical Lodges, which I know only by name, are entirely unintentional).
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"And so we discover the existence of Free-Mariners. In the major ports they brought together men of quality, explorers or great travellers of all Nations. In the beginning their rituals were quite simple. They fraternised around two degrees inspired by "operative" Seafaring : Cabin-boy and Sailor. Rapidly these two traditional degrees no longer sufficed and they added the degree of "Captain", but that's another story. In their meetings, to exchange their points of view, to share their experiences, to overcome the barriers of language and culture, they started to use the tools of the sea, not as "operative" tools, but as symbols. And so it came about that the compass and the sextant became the two emblematic symbols of Free-Mariners. The compass indicated to each one that he must correctly take his bearings in life, the sextant reminded him that he didn't know where he was, and what point he "was at" in his life and travels, his compass bearings being of no help in this respect. Thus we have a binary system of two symbols, one being linked to the other, one responding to the other in a sort of dialogue. While carefully studying these rules of life, at first glance self-evident and elementary, some Free-Mariners observed that they supplied ever more profound fruit for thought, leading to the great philosophical questions of Antiquity. "Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?" Nothing symbolised the "Who are we?", aside from, of course, the Free-Mariner himself, but as it happens they found this to be very beautiful and poetic, and left it (temporarily) to be. On the other hand, to improve a little on their symbolism, they started to decorate the walls of their lodges with the Sun, the Moon and the Constellations, indispensable for the use of the sextant. A short time later, everyone agreed that they quite adequately symbolised the universality of Free-Marinery, and its values of tolerance and fraternity. They also added a helm to the compass and the sextant. Because what's the use of knowing your direction and position if you can't steer? Fundamental symbolism thus became ternary and everyone could freely use these symbols as a framework for his own philosophical meditation and for trading opinions with other Free-Mariners. There were among them some minds versed in esoteric philosophy who reached further. In particular the alchemists, who said for example that the compass-dial represented not only the four cardinal points but also the four elements of Alchemy, while the hand of the compass represented the Philosopher's Stone, and its axis Quintessence. And after all, why not? As long as they didn't try to impose their interpretation on others, and taking into account that this common symbolic framework helped others to underst and if not alchemy itself, at least the hopes and lives of their Brother alchemists. There were also those with hazier ideas, who appropriated what the alchemists had said about the compass and added more and more complications, until they arrived at such muddled interpretations that they themselves got lost, but it greatly impressed the young "Cabin-boy" Free-Mariners. No society, even initiatory, is perfect. At a time when everybody was trying to find the original language, the one supposedly spoken by primitive man, still others took it into their heads that the compass was invented by the Chinese and that therefore the original language must be Chinese. Since they knew Chinese hardly at all, they introduced into the tradition a great many "approximately Chinese" words, which greatly surprised real Chinese men some time later, when they became Free-Mariners in larger numbers. Within a very few years a complex symbolic system was created. It was so successful that it spread all over the world, for the greater good of navigators, explorers and all those who, in spite of their travels, had a place and a space to go wherever they went. There they would find persons quite different from themselves but with whom they shared a common language rich enough so that they could work together and debate on the great issues they all contemplated. Many years later, there were Free-Mariners who thought that things had gone too far in an interpretative drift, that it was time to discard all those dusty symbols inherited from the past, and to convert Free-Marinery into a modern and competitive travel agency. Their success did not last. They did turn their Lodges into travel agencies, but shorn of their symbols, they soon became perfectly ordinary and not in the least competitive travel agencies. The next generation reversed the process and restored the symbols. There were also those of modern mind who believed that the old symbols ought to be changed and modernised. They replaced the compass with a gyrocompass, the sextant with a radio-beacon and the helm with a joystick. That wasn't very successful either ! Yet others wanted to return to an imagined "pure" symbolism going back to the origins of Free-Marinery. But we have noted that it was too simple and that its current wealth is precisely due to "additions" from other traditions during the first century of Free-Marinery. This initiative was unsuccessful as well. Finally the symbolism of the Free-Mariners was kept as it had progressively been assembled. It has proven its effectiveness, and even if a little "old-fashioned", nothing better has been found to constitute this common language allowing all Free-Mariners to enrich each other mutually in their differences. |
ADDENDUM BY EVEThe 20th century did however witness a major event : the addition of "Cabin-girls", female "Sailors" and "Captains" to Free-Marinery, who contribute added wealth of spirit in building a more fraternal world.
And the rituals?
As for the rituals, they have nothing in common with liturgical rituals or magical ceremonials, at least as far as the vast majority of Masons is concerned. Masonic rituals are only symbolism in action.
But there are other, more practical reasons for using them.
- At the level of exchanging points of view:
In the Continental tradition, the "work", the "exchanges of opinion" take place during ceremonies (in the French Masonic tradition, this work is not without similarity with those that took place in the famous 18th-century "salons" ). Rituals play a role of moderation here, they determine the order of moving about and taking the floor, they preserve the calm, concentration and respect of all present.
Specifically, in a Masonic Lodge, the "glib speaker" or one who takes the floor at every turn, at the expense of others is quickly silenced : he cannot speak more often than any of the others, he cannot deviate the exchange from its course nor express himself several times on the same subject. He must on the contrary learn to synthesise his opinion and put it simply when he has been given the floor. If he does not express himself clearly or is misunderstood, too bad for everybody. Or rather, just as well, be cause at the next meeting he will speak in a more intelligible manner.
- On the level of protection from possible disturbance from outside:
It is extremely difficult to enter into a Masonic Lodge without having been initiated or having a working knowledge of the rituals. More than this or that "sign", abundantly divulged in literature over the centuries, it is the manner in which they behave in Lodge that Masons recognise each other.
One may well know all the signs and "passwords", but he who does not have long experience with work in a Lodge would commit a number of blunders during the ceremony which would make him stand out unmistakably in any Lodge respectful of its rituals. Over several years, an attentive Mason will even be able to identify a Mason who comes from another Rite than his own (even if he wears decorations identical to his) simply by observing his hesitation. Nothing mysterious about that. Just to take an example, anyone who regularly practices a martial art can identify students of one or the other master just in their manner of executing this or that technique.