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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Sept. 1, 1881
  • Page 37
  • MASONIC SYMBOLISM.
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The Masonic Magazine, Sept. 1, 1881: Page 37

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Page 37

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Symbolism.

Westwardly in the course of the sun . All discoveries have been in a Western course . The arts and sciences , ancl in a word every substantial benefit the world has enjoyed—eveiy improvement , every ray of advanced thought—all have come from the East . That they have grown to matured proportions in their Westward progress is most true ; that the West has always been , apparentla necessarycertainla prolific fieldfor their developmentcannot be

y , y , , denied ; but it is an undeniable fact that , without important exception , they have germinated Eastwardly and followed the course of the sun in their natural progress . How appropriate then that in all Masonic Lodges , Masonic instruction ancl enli g htenment , coming as they do from the presiding officer , should come from the East ! Thus it is , that from our first Grand Master clown , all Master ' s stations have been , theoretically and symbolically at least , in that

direction from which the sun ' s bright beams come to gladden and fructify the earth , ancl from which , in obedienne to nature ' s unchangeable laws , every material benefit to mankind has been derived . The Temple of Solomon , sometimes called the cradle of Freemasonry , has changed its potential existence to a symbolic one ; the armies of a mig hty empire were able to destroy itbut its grand symbolism they could not affect .

, The Monitor informs us that when it was built the earth was supposed to bo in the form of a parallelogram , or " oblong square , " ancl the Temple , to symbolically represent the earth , was built in that form . If Solomon were living now , aud should undertake a . similar enterprise , he would make his Temple round or nearly so . Concerning the circumstances which led King Solomon to erect the Temple upon the exact spot selected on Mount Moriah ,

the Arabs , as I have somewhere read , have a very beautiful legend . According to that it would seem that , the site oi the Temple was originally a cnltivated field , belonging- jointly to two brothers . One of them was married and the father of a numerous progeny . With many mouths asking for food , he had

but his own two hands to feed them . The other was a poor , forlorn old bachelor . One harvest time the brothers , who cultivated the field in common , bound up their sheaves and put them in two stacks of equal size . In the night it occurred to the bachelor brother that it would be a gracious and charitable thing- for him to do to take some of the sheaves h . 'om his stack and secretly add them to his married brother ' s , reflecting that the latter had a wife and children to maintain . He did so . Later in the niht the married brother

g said to his wife : " My brother lives alone , with no companion to console him , no children to warm his heart , and it will be just and right for me to add to his stack some of my sheaves . " He arose and did so . The next clay the brothers to the surprise of each , discovered the stacks to be of equal size ; neither could , account for it ; and neither spoke of the matter to the other . They pursued the same course for several nihtsonlto be secretlastonished tho

g , y y next day , the result being always the same . One night they met , each carrying sheaves to the other ' s stack , and the apparent mystery was solved . It is said Solomon heard of it and determined to erect the Temple on that very spot to commemorate this grand instance of fraternal charity . Whether the legend is true or not , it may serve to remind us that the Temp l e itself is a symbol of the greatest of Christian and Masonic virtues —¦ Charity ancl

Brotherl y Love , as well as of the terrestial world itself ; and tho ngh now Mount Moriah is crowned with the Turkish Mosque of St . Omar , the value of the Temple to the world in the fact that it once existed in all its marvellous pandeur of workmanship , that it was erected upon a spot made sacred by such legendary lore , and that it was the cradle of Fremasonry , and long used for the practice of Masonic virtuesis not lessened thereb

, y . The design of the Temple did not originate with Solomon , for the Bible tells us that David , his father , had long contemplated such a work during his lifetime , but was prevented from carrying his plans into execution in that direction by the " wars which were about him on every side . " When

“The Masonic Magazine: 1881-09-01, Page 37” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 29 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01091881/page/37/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
CHINESE FREEMASONRY. Article 1
Untitled Article 5
Untitled Article 6
Untitled Article 7
Untitled Article 8
MASON'S MARKS FROM CARLISLE ABBEY. Article 9
APPENDIX. Article 10
BASSENTHWAITE LAKE. Article 12
JUNIUS. Article 14
MANY YEARS AGO: THE ANCHORITE'S LAMENT. Article 16
AN OLD MASON'S TOMB. Article 17
THE HISTORY OF SELBY, ITS ABBEY, AND ITS MASONIC ASSOCIATIONS. Article 21
HISTORY OF THE AIREDALE LODGE, No. 387. Article 28
AMONG THE HILLS. Article 33
SEA-SIDE SIGHTS. Article 34
MASONIC SYMBOLISM. Article 35
ON THE RHINE. Article 39
FLOWERS. Article 40
AFTER ALL. Article 41
NATURE IN REPOSE. Article 45
LITERARY GOSSIP. Article 46
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Page 37

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Symbolism.

Westwardly in the course of the sun . All discoveries have been in a Western course . The arts and sciences , ancl in a word every substantial benefit the world has enjoyed—eveiy improvement , every ray of advanced thought—all have come from the East . That they have grown to matured proportions in their Westward progress is most true ; that the West has always been , apparentla necessarycertainla prolific fieldfor their developmentcannot be

y , y , , denied ; but it is an undeniable fact that , without important exception , they have germinated Eastwardly and followed the course of the sun in their natural progress . How appropriate then that in all Masonic Lodges , Masonic instruction ancl enli g htenment , coming as they do from the presiding officer , should come from the East ! Thus it is , that from our first Grand Master clown , all Master ' s stations have been , theoretically and symbolically at least , in that

direction from which the sun ' s bright beams come to gladden and fructify the earth , ancl from which , in obedienne to nature ' s unchangeable laws , every material benefit to mankind has been derived . The Temple of Solomon , sometimes called the cradle of Freemasonry , has changed its potential existence to a symbolic one ; the armies of a mig hty empire were able to destroy itbut its grand symbolism they could not affect .

, The Monitor informs us that when it was built the earth was supposed to bo in the form of a parallelogram , or " oblong square , " ancl the Temple , to symbolically represent the earth , was built in that form . If Solomon were living now , aud should undertake a . similar enterprise , he would make his Temple round or nearly so . Concerning the circumstances which led King Solomon to erect the Temple upon the exact spot selected on Mount Moriah ,

the Arabs , as I have somewhere read , have a very beautiful legend . According to that it would seem that , the site oi the Temple was originally a cnltivated field , belonging- jointly to two brothers . One of them was married and the father of a numerous progeny . With many mouths asking for food , he had

but his own two hands to feed them . The other was a poor , forlorn old bachelor . One harvest time the brothers , who cultivated the field in common , bound up their sheaves and put them in two stacks of equal size . In the night it occurred to the bachelor brother that it would be a gracious and charitable thing- for him to do to take some of the sheaves h . 'om his stack and secretly add them to his married brother ' s , reflecting that the latter had a wife and children to maintain . He did so . Later in the niht the married brother

g said to his wife : " My brother lives alone , with no companion to console him , no children to warm his heart , and it will be just and right for me to add to his stack some of my sheaves . " He arose and did so . The next clay the brothers to the surprise of each , discovered the stacks to be of equal size ; neither could , account for it ; and neither spoke of the matter to the other . They pursued the same course for several nihtsonlto be secretlastonished tho

g , y y next day , the result being always the same . One night they met , each carrying sheaves to the other ' s stack , and the apparent mystery was solved . It is said Solomon heard of it and determined to erect the Temple on that very spot to commemorate this grand instance of fraternal charity . Whether the legend is true or not , it may serve to remind us that the Temp l e itself is a symbol of the greatest of Christian and Masonic virtues —¦ Charity ancl

Brotherl y Love , as well as of the terrestial world itself ; and tho ngh now Mount Moriah is crowned with the Turkish Mosque of St . Omar , the value of the Temple to the world in the fact that it once existed in all its marvellous pandeur of workmanship , that it was erected upon a spot made sacred by such legendary lore , and that it was the cradle of Fremasonry , and long used for the practice of Masonic virtuesis not lessened thereb

, y . The design of the Temple did not originate with Solomon , for the Bible tells us that David , his father , had long contemplated such a work during his lifetime , but was prevented from carrying his plans into execution in that direction by the " wars which were about him on every side . " When

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