As palavras de passe na Maçonaria (em Inglês)

THE LOST WORD

Masonic Service Association - Short Talk Bulletin - November 1955

Many Masons think of the Lost Word as unique: in the Craft the central thought of the Master's Degree is unique, but in the long history of religion, philosophy and ethics, which has been that of man's progress from savagery and superstition to enlightened thought, it is any thing but unique. In one form or another, it has played a part in the lives of most civilizations; it has influenced the thinking of uncounted thousands; it has been both the hope and the despair of more races than can be cataloged.

Apparently inherent in man, and coming into his thought from no one may say what starting point, is the consciousness of a Golden Age; an age when men were happy; when there was no war because there was no dispute; when there was no evil because all were virtuous; when there was no labor because food was to be had for the taking, fruit grew the year round, honey dripped from trees and flocks and herds needed no tending; a time when all the earth was contentment; an era which somehow disappeared, leaving to men a sad world of toil and trouble and war and struggle.

Many a poet has sung of this Golden Age; perhaps none more dearly than Macauley in his Lays of Ancient Rome, in which, in the tale of brave Horatious who with two others were the "dauntless three" who held the bridge against an army is to be found this stanza:

Then none was for the party, Then all were for the state; Then the great man helped the poor, And the poor man loved the great; Then lands were fairly portioned; Then spoils were fairly sold; The Roman's were like brothers In the brave days of old.

There was once a land called "Arcady" -at least according to the poets! In Arcady was only happiness; it was the land of sun and plenty; it was a land of beautiful women and brave men; beauty over which no men fought, and bravery which no man need show because there was no danger.

Utopia is another such dream of something lost; a place where everything and every one is perfect; where no man suffers, where joy and laughter compete never with tears and sobs; where happiness is from sun to sun and trouble has not been known.

And where are Arcady and Utopia Gone with the Golden Age.

There is a tale of a Lost Continent - Atlantis. It, too, was the home of happiness. According to the legend - it is only legend now - it is at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean; a convulsion of nature took it away from man and with it took his contentment.

As children we lived with the fairies in fairyland; a land where there was no age; in which the little people had all power both to please themselves and to work their happy will on human beings. Fairy dogs, fairy horses, fairy flowers and fairy bells were a part of fairyland, into which no trouble ever came, or, if it reared its ugly head, the wave of a fairy wand caused it to disappear!

Where now is fairy-land? It still exists, for children, but for their elders it is one with Arcady.

In the Great Light is the story of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden; a place all quiet joy and happiness. There was no sin, nor evil, nor hunger, nor thirst; the weather was always kind and warm (for the man and woman were naked and yet comfortable in body as well as in minds that knew no shame nor fear). It was a place and time of innocence.

Then the serpent and the temptation; the eating of the forbidden fruit; the sudden knowledge of good and evil and the terrible judgment of the Most High; to be cast forth from the delightful garden; to bear children in pain; to eat only after toil.

It is again, the story of a Golden Age; a place and time lost to men, a hope denied, a longing unsatisfied, a something lost which can only be hoped for and hunted for and - never found.

The Wandering Jew was bidden "tarry thou till I come." And ever since, so runs the legend, Ahaseurus has walked the earth. He has visited every country, learned all languages, experienced all evil, had all knowledge except that of how to die. With the pronouncing of his doom, according to the legend, he lost the power to leave this life for another and has suffered and wept over his private hell, the boon of rest denied him, ever since. Curiously enough, he has been reported actually seen and talked to many times in history, even as late as 1868 in this country, in Utah!

Lost words are those which were spoken in the Never-Never-Land of Heart's Desire; history is filled with the tales of the great secrets which were in these words. Usually they are lost because of some accident or happening which men could not control. How, for instance, was the pronunciation of the great Word of the Israelites lost? JHVH we have, but no vowels to show us if Jehova is correct or not. To be spoken but once a year and then only by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies, when there was no more a High Priest or a Holy of Holies, there was no more the mighty word of the Jews in which was all power and all ways of communication with the Lord God Almighty.

"Men, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," written by hand upon a wall seems less than terrible - the syllables are the names of small coins. But to those who saw the dread writing, the words had another meaning. We say they meant "thou hast been weighed in the balance and found wanting" but was that the real meaning to those who were terrified at the names given to money?

Belonging among the myths and legends which recount man's uneasy consciousness of a lost Golden Age, a something gone from life which was once comforting, a secret : o longer known are the tales told of the search for the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail was the cup Jesus drank at the Last Supper.

The two most famous and oft told stories of the search for it and its findings are those of Sir Galahad, knight of King Arthur's Round Table, and Parsival, hero of Wagner's tremendous opera of the same name. After many adventures the pure and blameless knight Sir Galahad came finally to Sarras, where he was shown the Holy Grail by Joseph of Arimathy (In the New Testament, Arimathaea ) but, on taking it into his hands, died and was borne to heaven by a "great multitude of angels."

Parsival, also a pure and blameless knight, grows up untainted and innocent in the depths of a forest, finally goes in quest of the sacred cup, and, at long last, finds it and becomes its guardian.

Both stories are allegories retelling man's ceaseless quest for something precious, something lost, something necessary to happiness, something close to if not a part of God.

Undoubtedly there are many Masons - perhaps even a majority - who believe that the Substitute Word is really a substitute, and that the real word is but a syllable, a pass word, perhaps like Shibboleth at the passages of the Jordan! But the serious student of Freemasonry thinks of the Lost Word as he does of the Garden of Eden, of Arcady, of Atlantis, of Utopia and fairyland-not a name but a place and time; not a syllable but a truth; not a magic talisman or a password but a symbol of something which man once had a right to know and which has now dropped from his consciousness.

Many and many a Mason has tried to phrase his thought, his belief, his hope of what Masonry's Lost Word might be. Those who have tried the hardest have been first to agree that man has not invented the words by which to describe a symphony so another can hear the sounds; to describe a rose so a blind man may see its color; to describe his love of wife or child so another may know his feeling.

And by the same token, these who have tried so hard have usually admittted that the Lost Word is unspeakable, even if found, that it represents a something -truth, belief, knowledge, power or glory - which could not be written because the characters to express it have not been invented.

Interpretations of the Lost Word have been as many and as various as the writers.

Oliver Day Street, Past Grand Master of Alabama, and the noted author of "Symbolism of the Three Degrees" believed that the simplest interpretation of the Lost Word was that it is Divine Truth. He quoted the familiar "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This, again, he interprets as meaning that "The Word" was an expression denoting omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience; that by it, the Logos, the Great Architect was able to accomplish all of creation. Street makes the point, however, that this conception denies the possibility of man ever finding the complete reality of The Lost Word; if to be found at all in this life, it is only partially.

A. S. MacBride, famous Scotland Freemason, in his "Speculative Masonry," considers the Lost Word as an ideal "symbolising the throbbing, yearning, seeking of the human heart for something better and happier than the actual world around us." In this he seems to have Arcady and the Golden Age in mind, although he does not mention them by name.

Few if any have ever brought a greater degree of spiritual insight and poetic feeling to bear upon Masonic matters than the late, great Dr. Joseph Fort Newton. In his most famous work "The Builders" he considers that the Lost Word is "the Secret Doctrine." He believes that this, which Waite wrote of so convincingly to many and so abtrusely as to be difficult for many more to understand, is the endless search for God which Newton conceives as the central motivation of all lives, although they may know it not. It was Newton who quoted and made deathless the curious double thought of the professing atheist, who was yet a good man; "He lives by the faith his lips deny; God knoweth why." But Newton makes it plain that no man knows the Secret Doctrine until it has become the reality of his thought, the inspiration of his acts "the form and color and glory of his life." And he ends his poetic paragraphs with the statement of the Lost Word: "Its glory lies in its openness, and its emphasis upon the realities which are to the human world what light and air are to nature. Its mystery is of so great a kind that it is easily overlooked; its secret almost too simple to be found out."

With twenty-five years between Haywood made two interpretations of the Lost Word: in 1923, that it was the Tetragrammaton - JHVH. In 1948 he developed the thought that the Lost Word is Mastership and in a theme as masterful as its substance discusses the false question, the fact that Masonry asks none, and so to the belief that the Craft does not send its initiates upon a useless quest but one which, at long last, can be successful. He ends this interesting and decidedly different thought with "What the candidate discovered is that he is in search of his own mastership. Once he becomes a Master of the art he is able to take any brother's place as Master of Masons, wherefore he is that which is found, he is the answer to his own question."

Claudy takes issue with the expression "divine truth" if it means anything but truth about divinity; that truth can be divine or not divine is to him as untrue as that "lump of iron, a river, a space of time" are either divine or not divine. He believes all truth divine as all truth comes from God. He believes also, as set forth in "Foreign Countries" that the Lost Word is "unutterable, unexplainable, nonunderstandable." But he sets forth his belief in the necessity of the quest and his belief that some have believed they have found the Lost Word, but "only when it is given to man to search intelligently within himself may he hope to discover the Lost Word." And of the search he says "The glory of The Word must be beyond mortal imagination, for the glory of the search after it is more than may be put into words. Surely, He, who knows our stumbling feet and groping hands, our eyes blinded with a world of sins and weariness beyond our strength to bear, will deny to none of us that great discovery, sometime, somewhere."

In one way or another, most if not all of those who have attempted the impossible believe that the Lost Word is the road to yesterday, the way back to the Golden Age; the path that leads to a Garden of Eden and a Tree of Knowledge, the fruit of which shall not be unlawful for man to eat. With the Lost Word a man might find the harbors on the continent of the Lost Atlantis, or with a magic airplane fly to Utopia, stopping at fairyland on the way!

It seems at least possible, that some Freemasons have discovered the Lost Word for themselves. If so, it has not been as a word in any language, but as a knowledge strictly private to the discovering heart.

Others think no man has ever learned it: in another phrase, the Lost Word can be heard only "in Arcady."

Of this thought it has been written (Introduction to Freemasonry).

Never may we find it here. You shall gaze through microscope and telescope and catch no sight of its shadow. You shall travel in many lands and far and see it not. You shall listen to all the words of all the tongues which all men have ever spoken and will speak - the Lost Word is not heard. Were it but a word, how easy to invent another! But it is not a word but The Word, the great secret, the unknowability which the Great Architect sets before his children, a will o' the wisp to follow, a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Never here is it to be found, but the search for it is the reason for life.

"The Sublime Degree teaches that in another life it may be found.

"That is why it is the Sublime Degree."

POTS

Everything which tends to combine men by stronger ties is useful to humanity; in this point of view Masonry is entitled to respect. LALANDE.

George Helmer FPS PM Norwood #90 GRA PZ Norwood #18 RAM MBBFMN #362


He now sits at the right hand of the GAOTU!

Master Mason "Mah-Ha-Bone" being what is called the substitute for the Master’s Word.

As the candidate is "raised", he and the Worshipful Master assume the position known as the five points of fellowship; and while in that position, which is foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back, and cheek to cheek, or mouth to ear, the Worshipful Master whispers the words, "Mah-Ha-Bone" into the ear of the candidate, "Mah-Ha-Bone" being what is called the substitute for the Master’s Word.

And it is at this point, know as "raising", that the candidate symbolically experiences the third and final stage of the symbolism of baptism - Resurrection.

With the exception of explaining to the candidate what the word, "Mah-Ha-Bone" means - "What, the Builder"; and instructing him in the proper use of the Grand Hailing Sign of Distress, this pretty much concludes the second section of the degree.

Boaz. First Degree word which relates to the pillar in Solomons Temple named such. The name is stated to denote ‘in strength’. The pillar was cast in brass and was not made of stone.

Boaz was also the name of King Davids Grandfather. The significance of the removal of the shoe during the initiations can be found associated with this character in Ruth 4.

Shibboleth. Password between first and second degrees. Described as being an ear of corn near a fall of water. Freemasonry attributes both symbols as denoting plenty. It is sourced from Judges 12 Verse 6 which gives it the meaning of an ear of corn.

The translation of Shibboleth, as an ear of corn, is found in the Douay version although both the King James and Douay provide the word.

The term ‘fall of water’ appears in only one location in biblical text. This is contained in the Book of Wisdom Ch 17 (Douay) and concerns the three days of Egyptian darkness in which the Egyptians were scared to death. An ear of corn in this sense could also relate to the ‘wicked’ who are plucked off like ears of corn.

Jachin. Second pillar in Solomons Temple. The name denotes establishment. The pillar was made of brass not stone. Freemasonry claims it was named after a priest, who officiated at its dedication. However, this is not substantiated by biblical text.

Tubal Cain. Password between Second and Third degrees. Source Genesis 4:22. He was the first metal worker.

Third Degree Word. Several variations include Machaben, Machbinna, Mahabone, Machbenach. Its meaning in early Freemasonry was ‘the flesh leaves the bone, the body is rotten’. Today it is generally given the meaning of ‘death of a builder’.

Its source is most likely the book of Machabees (Douay). The book derives its name from the letters M.C.B.E.I, which relate to Ex 15:11 ‘ Who is like to thee among the strong, O Lord’ in which the initial letters in hebrew are M C B E I.

Utilising these letters allows several different words of recognition to be created, which is precisely what has happened.

In addition, the use of initial letters in such a fashion is a common technique in Freemasonry, TGAOTU being a typical example, the grand architect of the universe.

Ammi Ruhamah. Password for the Royal Arch. King James version Hosea 2:1 provides the words, their meaning is given in the Douay Osee 2:1. It means my people have found mercy. It is sourced from a chapter which concerns the worship of Baal under many different names. Consequently the name of the Freemasonic deity of the Royal Arch is all the more suspect.

Jah-Bul-On. A name employed by Freemasonry which attempts to unite God, Baal and Osiris.

Jah refers to the name of God in the King James version Psalm 68:4. This is its only biblical usage.

Bul appears in both the King James and the Douay versions in association with the month in which Solomons temple was completed Kings 3:38 (1 Kings or 3 Kings depending on the biblical text). This is its only biblical usage. The Freemasonic lectures develop Bul to Bel Bal and Baal.

On. King James version describes a priest of On Genesis 41:45, 50 & 46:20. The Douay describes it a Heliopolis or the location for the worship of Ra and Osiris. The Freemasonic lectures develop the Egyptian connection further.


Passwords First & Second Degree

The passwords Boaz and Jachin refer to two pillars in Solomons Temple. These were made of brass not stone.

Regarding the password, Tubal Cain. This is taken from Genesis 4:22. He was a descendent of Cain and a worker in brass.

The Freemasonic association with stonework, is intended to be deceptive. It should immediately cause one to take pause and consider that the Masonic Initiation is not what it appears to be.

Although a Hiram is mentioned in association with these pillars he was not the architect of the Temple as Freemasonic initiation claims Hiram Abif to have been. 1 Chronicles 28 (1 Paralipomenon 28) clearly states that it was King David who designed the Temple for it to be built by his son Solomon.

Boaz is further explained in the previous section in relation to the removal of a shoe. A symbolic submission of a right of redemption or of purchase.

It is significant that the password Tubal Cain is sourced from the chapter which describes the murder of Able by Cain. It serves to draw attention to the story that Cain killed his own brother. In accordance with the Freemasonic Hiram legend, he too was killed by his own Masonic ‘brothers’. Again this should cause one to pause and consider the goings on of the initiation.

The Freemason will often describe how they are ‘walking to the east’ in search of the masonic light, Fellow Craft ritual. Churches are usually constructed with the altar towards the east, towards God.

However, a Masonic temple is not a church. The password Tubal Cain specifically draws attention to the chapter of Genesis 4. Cain was banished to the east side of Eden after killing his brother, and the Mason describes himself in the same manner. Jude: 11 emphasises this, using the analogy that those who follow Cain represent evil. In addition, the initiate is instructed how to approach the east in a ‘most ancient fashion’. He is instructed in specific steps of a special nature in order to do this. He enacts these steps in each degree. This is further described later in association with steps of the wicked.

The password Shibboleth is usually described as an ear of corn near a fall of water.

However, in some versions of the initiation it is described as a flow of water. This latter description is complimentary to chapter Isaiah 47 which describes the baring of the legs and the passing over the rivers by Babylon.

Third Degree Word

Third Degree word Machaben/ Machbinna there are numerous derivatives. Essentially it is a corruption of the name of the book Machabees (Douay) which is derived from the Hebrew and the letters M.C.B.E.I. Derivation of the Masonic word from these letters allows two or more to be invented which is precisely what has happened.

This is supported when it is considered that the bible does the same - Machabeus and Machabees are derived from these letters. It is also significant that the letters M.C.B.E.I. are themselves derived and refer to Exodus 15. 11

‘WHO IS LIKE TO THEE AMONG THE STRONG, O LORD’

Freemasonry frequently employs the reverse of such a principle. TGAOTU being a typical example, the grand architect of the universe.

Freemasonry utilizes the biblical derivation of the letters directly in the Scottish Rite, attributing the letters the following meaning ‘Mi Camocha Baalim Jehovah’ or ‘Who is like unto thee among the gods, O Jehovah.’

Read this in conjunction with the words of Lucifer taken from Isaiah verse 14. This chapter being the one which especially overlaps with the Third Degree Initiation and the use of a grave etc...

‘I will be like the most High’

Compare this also with the words of the worshippers of the biblical beast in Revelations;

‘Who is like to the beast? And who shall be able to fight with him?’

It should be appreciated and emphasized that the biblical mechanism for the creation of the words is not the paramount issue. It is the Masonic initiations and legends which give the words the sinister meanings described. It is through its own mouth that the nature of Freemasonry is known or in other words ‘an enemy is known by his lips, when in his heart he entertains deceit’ Proverbs 26:24 (Douay).

It is precisely for this reason that there are clues contained in the initiations which can lead a person to discover the truth about Freemasonry. In its own way this exploits the biblical ignorance of the candidate even further.

In early Freemasonry the Third Degree password related to rotten flesh. This has rather sinister implications when it is considered that this overlaps with the only biblical reference to Lucifer and a rotten carcass (Isaiah 14). In modern Freemasonry the word relates to the death of a builder.

The initiate is the builder. That is the fundamental purpose of the title Master Mason.

Royal Arch Word and Password.

The Royal Arch Degree revolves around finding the ‘secret name of God’.

This secret name is a construct; ‘Jah-bul-on’.

‘Jah’ is mentioned in the King James Version of the bible and represents Yahweh or Jehovah; Psalm 68:4. This represents its only usage in the bible.

‘On’ is mentioned in the King James version Genesis 41: 45 & 50. Each reference concerns the daughter of an Egyptian priest. The Douay version uses the city Heliopolis instead of the word ‘On’. The primary deities of Heliopolis were Ra and Osiris. It is the Freemasonic lecture itself which develops the Egyptian connection further. It draws similarities between the Christian God and the Egyptian gods. It ignores the fact that the Israelites and the Egyptians were enemies and the Egyptian deities are defined as biblical devils.

‘Bul’ is only mentioned in one location in biblical text and represents the month in which the first temple was completed; Kings 6:38. The identification of ‘Bul’ with Baal comes from the Freemasonic lectures themselves. The mystical lecture claims it to be a compound word from different sources meaning Lord. This is elaborated upon and similarities are drawn between Bul, Bal, Bel (devils name),Baal (devils name) and Lord.

The Chapter (Hosea 2:1) from which the password - ‘Ammi Ruhamah’ is taken concerns the punishment of Israel for worshipping the deity, Baal, whose name is implied in the ‘secret’ name of the Freemasonic god. The chapter also explains that Israel would refer to God as ‘my husband’ specifically to avoid any associations with the word Baal.

Consequently, the secret name would appear to intentionally make a mockery of this specific biblical chapter which sources the password.

ONE HUNDRED "LOST WORDS."

Masonic Service Association - Short Talk Bulletin - February
1947

Freemasonry uses many common English words in a sense other
than that of their usual definition -profane, heal, carpet,
accepted, landmark, etc.

For the benefit of the new Mason - and perhaps for some who
are older but less attentive to Masonic instruction than
they might be - herewith are one hundred words commonly used
in Freemasonry with a short definition of their Masonic
significance.

ACACIA. An Eastern plant, sometimes a tree. Several hundred
varieties are known. Masonically, an emblem of immortality.
ACCEPTED. Today, all Masons are "free and accepted." In
ancient times members other than working Masons were
"accepted."
AHIMAN REZON. Title given by Lawrence Dermott to the Book of
Constitutions. Used today by South Carolina and
Pennsylvania. Words have been variously translated but
"intimate brother Secretary" is most commonly agreed upon as
the meaning.
AMPLE FORM. Opening or closing of any Lodge or Grand Lodge
by the Grand Master; opposed to "due form" or "full form"
which is according to the prescribed ceremonies. Even when
the full form is used in opening or closing a Grand Master's
ceremonies are said to be conducted in "ample form." When
Grand Lodges and Lodges are opened or closed by qualified
officers other than Grand Masters or Masters, they are
sometimes said to be opened or closed "in form."
ANCIENT. The original Grand Lodge in England, formed in
1717, was followed by another, formed in 1751, which called
itself "ancient" and the older "modern." A union between the
two was effected In 1813.
BATTERY. Blows of the gavel, or of the hands, in Lodge in
various ceremonies.
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS. Volumes printed by Grand Lodges
containing the laws, by-laws, constitution, edicts,
decisions, ceremonies, etc., authorized by Grand Lodge.
CABLE TOW. Part of dress of candidate. Symbolically, a
distance variously estimated from three miles to "the scope
of a brother's ability."
CARDINAL. Principal, as cardinal virtues, cardinal points.
CARPET. (Sometimes Master's Carpet, sometimes Chart). Cloth
chart on which are illustrated the symbols of Masonry for
instruction of candidates.
CHAPITER. Top part of a column or pillar; the ornamental
head on a support. Noit to be confused with
CHAPTER, which designates a body of Royal Arch Masonry; a
body in the Scottish Rite, as Lodges designates bodies of
Symbolic or Ancient Craft Masonry.
CHARGE. Charges; A Charge summarizing his duties is given a
candidate following each degree. "Old Charges"; the ancient
manuscript constitutions of Freemasonry; the rules and
practices therein set forth.
CHARTER. (Sometimes Warrant of Constitution). The document
given by Grand Lodge under authority of which a Lodge works.
Lodge cannot be opened or do business without its physical
presence.
CIRCUMAMBULATION. A journey around; a part of the ceremonies
of initiation, passing, raising. Symbolically refers to
passage of sun through heavens, from east to west by way of
south. By walking in this direction around their altar,
early fire worshippers imitated the Sun, their god.
CLANDESTINE. Irregular, unauthorized; illegally made Mason
or Masonic body. CLOTHED. A Mason is "properly clothed" when
dressed in apron. gloves, emblem of his office, if any, and
other decorations authorized by Grand Lodge (in some cases,
cuffs, collars and hat).
COMMUNICATION. Masonic name for meeting; Communications are
regular, stated, called, special, emergent. Regular and
stated meetings are set forth in the by-laws. Called or
special meetings are at the pleasure of the Master. Emergent
meetings arc special meetings called by the Master or Grand
Master.
COMPASSES. One of the three Great Lights. In six Grand
Lodges the word compass is used. Usually associated with the
emblem of the Master; square and compasses.
CORNUCOPIA. An emblem of abundance. Hence generally the
jewel of the Stewards in a Lodge.
COWAN. An uninstructed Mason, a Mason of lesser degree than
that on which a Lodge is open who gains or tries to gain
admittance; an intruder; a suspended Mason who tries to
enter a Lodge; in general one who has no business in a
Lodge. All profanes who try to enter a Lodge are cowans, but
not all cowans are profanes. DALE. Masonic terra` for
valley, or depression between high points.
DECLARATION. The statement made by Masters and Grand Masters
during installation, giving assent to certain charges. Part
of ceremony at opening and closing of Lodge. In some states,
a part of Masonic petition.
DEDICATION. Setting aside for the use God, the Holy Saints
John, the purposes Masonry.
DEMIT, DIMIT. To withdraw from a Lodge by its permission;
the paper which attests the fact.
DIPLOMA. (Sometimes Master Mason's Certificate). Document
given by many Lodges to Masons when made, attesting the
fact. Not to be confused with receipt for dues or good
standing card which attest payment of yearly obligations to
Lodge.
DISCALCEATION. Removing of foot covering as sign of respect
or veneration for that which is holy. DISPENSATION. Grand
Master can dispense with certain Masonic requirements; the
dispensation is the paper carrying that permission. Also the
temporary document given a new Lodge by the Grand Master
prior to its receiving a charter or warrant from Grand
Lodge.
DOTAGE. No set number of years, but enough to have dulled
the senses and impaired the intelligence. Some men live to
an advanced old age without going into dotage; others become
senile early. Dotage is a bar to Masonic initiation.
DUE GUARD. Probably contraction of the French Dieu Garde-God
guard. A mode of recognition. Salute at Altar.
EAVESDROPPER. One who listens for that which is private.
Early operative lodge buildings had openings under the eaves
for ventilation. Those who tried to listen through these
openings received the droppings from the roofs; hence the
name.
EDICT. Decree of Grand Master or Grand-Lodge. Obedience is
obligatory on all Masons. Non compliance with a Masonic
edict is contumacious.
ESOTERIC. That which is secret, not for the uninitiated, not
printed. Compare with
EXOTERIC. That which is printed, known, nonsecret, available
to any one.
FLOOR-CLOTH. Same as Carpet. In ancient times emblems were
drawn upon the lodge floor in chalk and erased after a
meeting. To save trouble a cloth was later substituted for
the floor.
FREE-BORN. Necessary condition for a Masonic initiate.
Denotes one with no known slave ancestry. FREE WILL. (Free
will and accord) Voluntary. No man is solicited to be a
Mason. He must come of his own will and state that he has
done so, several times during initiation.
GOAT. Mythical animal supposed to be present in Lodges to
"butt" the candidate. Association of the goat with
Freemasonry came from its enemies in the eighteenth century,
who declared Masonry raised Satan in magical incantations in
Lodge ceremonies; as the goat was associated with the devil,
it became associated with Masonry through its traducers of
two hundred years ago.
GOLDEN FLEECE. Order of chivalry in Europe, established in
1429.
GORMOGONS. Anti-Masonic England, 1724.
GRAND HONORS. Two methods of salute known to Masons; Private
Grand Honors, given only behind tiled doors, and Public
Grand Honors, given at funerals and cornerstone layings.
Grand Honors differ in form in different Grand
Jurisdictions.
GRAND ORIENT. Governing body of the Scottish Rite in foreign
countries.
GREGORIANS. Another anti-Masonic body organized in the 18th
century to ridicule Freemasonry.
HAIL. To greet.
HALE. Perfect, healty.
HEAL. Properly to initiate one improperly or illegally made
a Mason.
HEEL. Part of the foot.
HELE. To cover or conceal.
HIGH TWELVE. Noon; twelve o'clock.
HIRAM. Name of a King; name of the Builder; sometimes the
name of the Master's gavel.
HIRAM ABIFF. Translated Hiram, my father, or Hiram, his
father; "father" used as a term of respect.
INDENTED TESSEL. Ornamental border rounding the mosaic
pavement of Solomon's Temple, or in a Lodge.
JEWELS. (Movable). In this country, the rought ashlar, the
perfect ashlar and the trestleboard. (Immovable). The
square, the level and the plumb, so termed because of the
immovable stations of the officers who wear them. Emblems
worn by Lodge officers.
JUST AND REGULARLY CONSTITUTED. Said of a Lodge with the
legal number of brethren to open and work, and brought into
existence properly and by lawful authority.
LANDMARKS. The ancient usages, customs, rules and laws which
cannot be changed without altering the character of
Freemasonry. No final determination, satisfactory to all
Masonic authorities, has ever been made as to an exclusive
list of Landmarks.
LEWIS. The son of a Mason. In former times a lewis might be
made a Mason before he was of age; North Dakota accepts the
petition of a lewis before he is twenty-one, but will not
initiate him until he is of age.
LIBERTINE. Today, a dissolute, son; formerly a dissenter, an
unbeliever in religion.
LION'S PAW. Name of a form of recognition among Masons; is
often associated with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (The
Messiah).
LOW TWELVE. Midnight.
MADE. A Fellowcraft is "made a Mason" in the third degree.
MAKE. "To make" is to confer the third degree.
MASON AT SIGHT. In most Grand Lodges the Grand Master may
convene as emergent Lodge under dispensation, and cause it
to confer the degrees on a candidate of his choice. One made
a Mason "at sight" is an unaffiliated Mason; no Grand Master
has the power of making such a Mason a member of a Lodge.
Only the Lodge can do that.
MAUL. (Usually setting maul). Often confused with gavel; the
setting maul is a heavy instrument used for tapping stones
down in place. Has prominent part in Master's degree.
MOCK MASONS. Apostate Masons in 1747 who paraded with
profanes to the Grand Feast.
MONITOR, MONITORIAL. The book containing the exoteric work
of the degrees; monitorial, instructions from the `book. In
many Grand Jurisdictions called manual.
MYSTIC TIE. Expression used by Robert Burns in poem saying
farewell to friends in a Scottish Lodge; now symbolically
the bond uniting all Masons.
NORTH. Masonically and symbolically a place of darkness.
NORTH EAST. Place in which cornerstones are laid; place of
first Masonic instruction. North East, half way between
North, a place of darkness, and East, source of light, has
always been a symbol of a commencement, a beginning; a new
construction, new endeavor.
OATH. Incorrectly used as synonymous with obligation. The
obligation is a promise; the oath is the calling upon God to
witness. In court one takes an obligation to tell the truth;
the oath is "So help me, God." Tiler's oath; taken by
committee and visitor prior to examination to determine if
visitor is a Mason.
OBLONG SQUARE. A rectangle; the shape of a Lodge.
OCCASIONAL LODGE. Same as Emergent Lodge.
OCCUPIED TERRITORY. State where a single Grand Lodge reigns
or two or more share by mutual agreement, and in which no
other Grand Lodge can come in without committing the Masonic
offense of "invasion of jurisdiction."
PASSED. Describes the advancement from Entered Apprentice to
Fellowcraft.
PASSWORD. Word by which one identifies himself to another;
mode of recognition.
PAST. Describes an officer not now in office, such as Past
Master, Past Grand Master.
PAST MASTER'S DEGREE. Second degree in Royal Arch Masonry;
also conferred on Masters in many jurisdictions before
installation.
PASSING THE CHAIR. The ceremony of making an elected Master
eligible to installation, in jurisdictions where this custom
prevails.
PENALTY. Masonic penalties are expulsion, indefinite
suspension, definite suspension and reprimand.
PLENTY. Symbolized by sheaf of wheat, or ear of
corn,suspended near a waterfall or waterford.
POMMEL. The globes topping the pillars in porch of King
Solomon's Temple.
PROFANE. A non-Mason. From meaning "without the Temple."
RAISED. Word signifying the completion of the ceremony of
the Master's Degree.
REFRESHMENT. Lodges are called "from labor to refreshment"
meaning to rest from work. Does not always mean something to
eat and drink.
REGULAR. According to duly constituted authority. An
"irregular" Lodge is one not properly and legally
constituted by a recognized Grand Lodge.
ROMAN EAGLE. Symbol of the imperial power of the Roman
empire.
STS. JOHN. St. John the Baptist, whose "day" is June 24, and
St. John the Evangelist, whose "day" is December 27; both
Masonic dates are usually observed.
SANCTUM SANCTORUM. The hidden. inner place, the holy of
holies, the secret room of the Temple of Solomon in which
rested the Ark of the Covenant, and where once each year,
alone, the High Priest pronounced the name of the Most High.
SCALD MISERABLES. Another society opposed to Masonry in the
eighteenth century.
SHIBBOLETH. Ear of corn; stream of water; password.
SPECULATIVE. Title formerly applied to a non-operative
member of the builder's craft; now applied to all
Freemasons.
STAR AND GARTER. A famous English order, A.D. 1349.
SUBLIME. Applied to the third degree of Masonry, because of
its lofty teachings.
SUMMONS. Order from Master or Grand Master to appear at a
meeting. Failure to answer is a Masonic offense.
TESSELLATED. Small mosaic work; a board design, usually of
squares.
TOKEN. Mode of recognition.
VALE. Same as dale; valley; a low depression between high
points from which approach of visitors may easily be seen.
VOUCHING. Statement by one brother another person is a
Mason.
WIDOW'S SON. Hiram Abiff, "a widow's son, of the tribe of
Naphtali."
WORK. Masonically, the conferring of degrees.
WORSHIPFUL. Applied to a Master, a Lodge; Most Worshipful to
a Grand Master or Grand Lodge. In Pennsylvania, the Grand
Master and the Grand Lodge are "Right Worshipful".