Lodge Burroughs Strange No. 87
Vijayawada, India

Mission of Freemasonry
"It is absurd to think that a vast organization like Masonry was ordained merely to teach to grown-up men of the world the symbolical meaning of a few simple builders' tools, or to impress upon us such elementary virtues as temperance and justice; the children in every village school are taught such things; or to enforce such simple principles of morals as brotherly love, which every church and every religion teaches; or as relief, which is practised quite as much by non-Masons as by us; There is surely, too, no need for us to go through the great and elaborate ceremony of the third degree merely to learn that we have each to die. The Craft has surely some larger end in view than merely inculcating the practice of social virtues common to all the world and by no means the monopoly of Freemasons." - W.L. Wilmhurst

The Truth that Freemasonry teaches is 'that most interesting of human studies' - the knowledge of oneself. There is an inner light, a divinity, in each of us, which is the genuine secret of a Master Mason and which, in our present state of darkness or ignorance, is lost to us. Freemasonry teaches us that the sole purpose of our existence is 'to seek for that which was lost'. That we must persevere in our search for this light and labour incessantly to make ourselves perfect till time or circumstances restore it., even though that goal may remain incomplete, as was the temple in our legend. Our rituals and ceremonies are specifically designed to guide us in this spiritual journey- to dispel ignorance, to know God, and finally to experience God.

Square & Compasses
"The Compass, as the Symbol of the Heavens, represents the spiritual portion of this double nature of Humanity ... and the Square, as the Symbol of the Earth, its material, sensual, and baser portion." - Albert Pike

Pursuit of Truth
"In each human body the two principles of immortality and death are established. By the pursuit of delusion we reach death; by the pursuit of Truth we attain immortality" - The Mahabharata

Allegories & Symbols
An allegory is a representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. It has two or more meanings, a plain, or simple meaning and a figurative or hidden meaning . The real objective is to communicate the hidden meaning.

An allegory explains itself to a person who has the necessary perspective or penetrating sight, and it needs no previous explanation or agreement about its significance.

A symbol is something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. It has no secondary meaning of its own, but it acquires such meanings by association or convention.

A symbol can be interpreted in different ways, according to one’s perspective and experience.

Uplifting : Elevating
There is a consistent theme of uplifting or elevating in all three craft degrees.

• First Degree - Jacob's Ladder
• Second Degree - Winding Staircase
• Third Degree - Raising

1. Symbolism of the First Degree
   1. Darkness to Light, 2. Birth and Purification, 3. Hoodwink and Cable-Tow, 4. Allegory of Perambulation, 5. Three Pillars and 6. Rough and Perfect Ashlars

   1. Darkness to Light
      "From darkness lead me to light" - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)
      
      "And the light shineth in darkness; and darkness comprehended it not." - 1 John 1:5
      
      "To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light. - Acts 26:18

   2. Birth and Purification
      

   3. Hoodwink and Cable-Tow
      The hoodwink represents the mystical darkness, or ignorance, of the uninitiated. It is removed when the candidate is in the proper attitude to receive Light.
      
      The Cable-Tow is symbolic of the umbilical cord. It is removed when candidate is obligated and enters his new life.

   4. Allegory of Perambulation
      "Like unto that of a man blindfolded and carried away by robbers from his own country is a man's condition. The folds of cloth over his eyes being removed by a friend, he recovers the use of his eyes and slowly finds his way home, step by step, inquiring at each stage. So also, the good teacher instructs the seeker of Truth and helps him to unloose his bonds of desire." - Chandogya Upanishad (6:14:1/3)

   5. Three Pillars
      Lodge is supported by three pillars
      1. Ionic: Wisdom - Master - King Solomon
      2. Doric: Strength - Senior Warden - Hiram of Tyre
      3. Corinthian: Beauty - Junior Warden - Hiram Abiff

      Heart to conceive, Head to devise and Hand to execute. "It is necessary to have wisdom to contrive, strength to support and beauty to adorn all great and important undertakings."

   6. Rough and Perfect Ashlars
      Operative Freemasonry, rough ashlar is a rough, undressed stone. In speculative Freemasonry, it an allegory to the uninitiated Freemason prior to his discovering enlightenment.
      
      Operatively, the Perfect ashlar represents the dressed stone after it has been smoothed by the working tools. Speculatively, it is an allegory to a Freemason who, through Masonic education, works to achieve an upstanding life and diligently strives to obtain enlightenment.
      
      The perfection was latent. All it needed was for the superfluous knobs and excrescences to be knocked off.

      
      
      

2. Symbolism of Second Degree
   1. Knowledge, 2. Discernment, 3. Unreal to Real, 4. Allegory of King Solomon's Temple, 5. Winding Staircase, 6. Two Pillars and 7. The Sign of Fidelity

   1. Knowledge
      Grammar
      Rhetoric
      Logic
      Arithmetic
      Geometry
      Music
      Astronomy

   2. Discernment
      Working tools to measure and test
      - square, level, & plumb rule

   3. Unreal to Real
      "Darkness departs, and rapture springs to men who see,
      The mystic vision pure, from all delusion free." - Kural 352 of Tirukkural
      
      "From the Unreal Lead me to the real" - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)
      

   4. Allegory of Solomon's Temple
      "The purpose of Masonry is to train a human being so that he will reconstruct, through the body of change and death which he now has, a perfect physical body which shall not be subject to death. The plan is to build this deathless body, called by modern masons Solomon's Temple, out of material in the physical body." - Harold Waldwin Percival
      
      We, as speculative Masons, symbolize the temple at Jerusalem by engaging in the construction of a spiritual temple in our hearts, pure and spotless, fit for the dwelling-place of Him who dwelleth not in temples built by hands; where God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and whence every evil thought and unruly passion is to be banished.

   5. Winding Staircase & Middle Chamber
      "Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third." - 1 Kings 6
      
      "And therefore, at the very spot which separates the porch from the sanctuary, where childhood ends and manhood begins, he finds stretching out before him a winding stair which invites him, as it were, to ascend, and which, as the symbol of discipline and instruction, teaches him that here must commence Masonic labour - here be must enter upon those glorious though difficult researches, the end of which is to be the possession of divine truth." - Albert G. Mackey
      
      The winding staircase is symbolic of human progress from error to truth, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality.As many cannot see the goal, yet man has however learnt that, as he builds his character, he is given the strength to ascend. He never looks back. Each step he takes brings to him some new mental illumination and more elevated doctrines.

   6. Two Pillars
      Pairs of Oppoistes
      The true 'support' who knows- rejects 'supports' he sought before
      Sorrow that clings all destroys, shall cling to him no more. - Kural 359 of Tirukkural
      
      Be free from the pairs of opposites, ever balanced, free from desire and avarice, and established in the self. - Bhagavad Gita 2: 45
      
      Accept joy and sorrow, profit and loss equally. - Bhagavad Gita 2: 38

   7. The Sign of Fidelity
      Desire to be Free:
      The more you think of yourself as shining immortal spirit, the more eager you will be to be absolutely free of matter, body and senses. This is the intense desire to be free. - Swami Vivekanada
      
      Freedom:
      There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself.... Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth. - Swami Vivekanada

3. Symbolism of the Third Degree
   1. Immortality of the Soul, 2. Whence and Whither, 3. The Hiramic Legend, 4. Sublimation and 5. It proves a slip!

   1. Immortality of the Soul
      From death
      Lead me to immortality. - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)

   2. Whence and Whither
      

      Question	First Opening	Third Opening	Third Closing
      Whence come you?	The West	The East	The West
      Whither directing your course?	The East	The West	The East
      What inducement have you ...?	To seek a Master, and from him to gain instruction.	To seek for that which was lost, which, ... we hope to find.

      
      

   3. The Hiramic Legend
      The legend of the Master-Builder [Hiram Abiff] is the great allegory of Masonry. It happens that his figurative story is grounded on the fact of a personality mentioned in Holy Scripture, but this historical background is of the accidents and not the essence; the significance is in the allegory and not in any point of history which may lie behind it.“ - A.E. Waite, New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

      Meaning Level 1:
      "The obvious lessons are fidelity to trust, fortitude in face of danger, the fact that the good a man does lives after him, the inevitability of justice."

      Meaning Level 2:
      Our own spiritual progress is halted in confusion, just as the construction of the temple was disrupted in confusion. That the soul is destroyed by our own baser instincts, just as Hiram was killed by his own men. That there is hope of enshrining the soul in its proper place, just as Hiram was raised from a nondescript grave, to a sepulchre befitting his exalted talent.

      The Death of Hiram Abiff
      
      

   4. Sublimation
      Sublimation is the volatilisation of a solid into vapour, and re-solidification, without passing through the liquid state. In the process it sheds all contaminants, and becomes pure.
      
      The third degree is sublime because it depicts the sublimation of Hiram: he sheds all impurities, and after epiphany, returns to the former companions of his toils in pristine glory.
      
      The Master and the wardens strike down his ego, and then raise him up for communion with the divine.

   5. It Proves a Slip!
      Neither the purifications and study of the first degree, nor the meditation and knowledge of the second degree, help him now. That is why the wardens cannot raise the candidate with the grips of the first two degrees, and have to report that they proved a slip. Something is still lacking, and that something is Divine Grace.

      
      
      

Questions for Discussion

On Solomon’s Temple:

1. Work on the temple was being done in many locations. Therefore why did 6600 fellowcrafts have to go to the middle chamber to receive their wages?
2. Where did they receive their wages till the temple was built?
3. Why were the winding staircase and the middle chamber projected to such importance in our rituals?
4. Why were the pillars named after the assistant high priest; and a distant ancestor?

On the Hiramic Legend:

1. The temple had only one entrance not three. So Why does the Ritual say that there were three entrances?
2. There is no mention of the death of Hiram Abiff in the Bible. Why does the Ritual bring in his murder?
3. The secrets were known to all three grand masters. So how came thy to be lost when Hiram died?
4. Why was Hiram struck down by the Master and the wardens, if only to be raised by them?