Master Mason1 - masoniceducationcommittee

1 1 Master Mason1 Introduction The Master Mason degree is the crowning moment of your Masonic Journey. It is the culmination of all that has been taught and revealed to the candidate in the two preceding degrees. Many Masonic scholars view Masonry as representing early progressive steps taken towards the perfection of human nature. Human nature can be viewed as divided into three parts: body, mind, and soul. Each degree addresses and instructs one part. The Entered Apprentice, addresses the body. The Fellowcraft, addresses the mind. The Master Mason, addresses the primary issue in masonry and that is how the soul may be brought to perfection. The whole idea of initiation in three degrees is to portray the process of the making of a man, his growth from infancy to maturity, his qualification and training for his work in the world and the faith and principles that will guide him. Once you have been raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason, theoretically, though there may be other degrees and other titles available to you, you have reached the pinnacle of Masonry.

2 At this point, you have at least symbolically, if not actually, balanced your inner self and have shaped it into the proper relationship with the higher and more spiritual part of yourself. Your physical nature has been purified and developed to a high degree. You have developed stability and sure footing. Your mental faculties have sharpened and your horizons have expanded. Many Masons do not truly understand what being raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason really means. The word Sublime is defined as being exalted or elevated so as to inspire awe and wonder. The true importance of this degree is the portrayal of the removal of everything that keeps us from rising to that state where the soul communes with the heavenly light. Symbolism of the Third Degree A candidate for the Third Degree (A Fellowcraft) enters the Lodge in darkness (hoodwinked) as he has not yet been exposed to the light of the Third Degree.

3 However, the difference this time is that he is now in a state of equilibrium and is prepared to walk on sacred ground. At this point he becomes fully committed to the fraternity and puts all of his faith in the Three Great Lights of Masonry. The candidate is allowed full use of all 1 This Study Guide is a compilation of materials from the Prince Hall Masonic Study Guide and the Master Mason Study Guide published on the California Grand Lodge s webpage. 2 of the Working Tools of Masonry. However, the one tool, exalted above all others from this point on is the one that symbolizes the spreading of Brotherly Love. This tool is the trowel. After the ceremonies in the first section, which seem quite familiar, the candidate now partakes of the central mystery of the Masonic Order. The Lodge represents the Sanctum Santorum or Holy of Holies of King Solomon s Temple. The candidate participating in this degree is assuming the role of Grand Master Hiram Abiff.

4 As previously stated, this degree is done to forge a link with the inner soul. The symbolism that exists in this degree can be traced back thousands of years and will in all likelihood exist through time immemorial. Let us look at the word symbol. This word comes from the Greek, meaning to compare. A symbol is an expression of an idea by comparison. Abstract ideas such as some of those in Masonry are often best expressed by comparison with solid objects. A symbol is also a sign and the words sign and symbol are basically the same. All of the symbols in Masonry are the signs that guide us along our journey in our search for Divine Truth. Emblems are signs and symbols visible to the eye, which stand for something in addition to themselves, and they create in the mind a specific flow of thought. The Square for instance, in all ages has been an emblem of Masonry, but its use has become so common that to be on the square has a meaning to people other than Masons.

5 Allegories are parables. In trying to understand why Masonry is taught in allegory instead of with logical statements of truth in direct form, we must understand that truth has been taught by allegories and parables so that the mind can connect great and fundamental truths by comparison with simple things. Masonry may also be called a philosophy, a science, an art, but it is certainly ancient. Masonry has four principle ideas. They are: Belief in God2 The Legend of Hiram Abiff , a teaching of immortality, a symbolic idea of building and a seeking after something which was lost. You must be impressed by the Third Degree, which is appropriately named the Sublime Third Degree of Masonry. The degree itself is the true climax of initiation and the tragedy is the climax of the degree. It is imperative that you know, understand, and 2 Referred to in our opening prayer as the Great Architect if the Universe , reflecting, that religion in which all men true friendship among persons that might have remained at a perpetual distance.

6 Charge I, Charges of A Freemason, page 610 , Masonic Constitution. 3 appreciate the profoundness of this degrees meaning. You must understand that the Third Degree Drama is a ritualistic drama. Since the Legend of Hiram Abiff is a ritualistic drama, some say it is a mistake to accept it as actual history. However, there was actually a Hiram Abiff. However, the degree is not historically based on him. The degree is interested primarily in Hiram Abiff that is a symbol of the human soul. Therefore, if you are someone who has been troubled with the thought that some of the events occurring in the Third Degree Drama could not have occurred, you can relax. The Third Degree Drama does not mean that everything actually happened in a true historical sense. It is actually a symbol of what is happening in the life of every man. But we must never treat the Third Degree Drama as a mock tragedy or a serio-comedy. The Exemplification of this drama is as sincere and solemn as a prayer before the Altar.

7 The Historical Hiram Abiff that is recorded in the Bible was a skilled artificer and the son of a widow of the Tribe of Naphtali. The earlier accounts of Hiram are recorded in I Kings 7:13-14. His coming to work on the temple at Jerusalem is mentioned in a letter written the King Solomon by Hiram, the King of Tyre, and recorded in II Chronicles 2:13-14. The word Abiff is variously translated, but can mean his father, and the name is often explained as Hiram, my father. In a certain sense, he was regarded as the father of the workmen on the temple. His role in the Hiramic legend of Masonic tradition, however, is far more than simply that of a skilled architect. According to many thinkers, the three strikes to our Grand Master s body symbolize the same vices that combined together to slay Christ. Namely, the corruption of the church, the oppression of the state, and the ignorance of the mob. Whether or not the blows are indeed symbolic of the same social vices that had combined to take the earthly life of Christ is a matter of opinion, but what is clear is that the ruffians had not been able to subdue their passions and were thus driven by them to commit the terrible act.

8 Because the Fellowcrafts allowed themselves to be governed by their passions, they murdered the qualities of a Master within themselves. It is for us, therefore, to learn to subdue out passions so that the Master within each of us may be raised. In this sense, one of the lessons of the legend of Hiram Abiff is that of undying fidelity to the highest ideals and the ultimately victorious mature of such convictions. Masonic tradition informs us that the Master s murder leads to the loss of the word, leaving it to be discovered in future ages. This may suggest that mankind is yet to receive its salvation as a whole, while at the same time revealing the path to individual enlightenment within the allegory of the legend. However one may wish to interpret the Hiramic legend, it is clear that the death 4 and raising of Hiram presents some kind of teaching on rebirth. It only follows then that the doctrine of rebirth is something every dedicated Mason should become familiar Before proceeding to rebirth, it may be necessary to understand what causes the death in the first place.

9 It appears that all the violent deaths Of Osiris, of Christ, of Hiram have something in common. They symbolize vice, ignorance and chaos, inevitably slaying the pure self and thereby making rebirth necessary for salvation. These legends reveal the nature of our circumstances and enlighten us to the trials that we must overcome. Only through the death of one s imperfect self, the leaving behind of the old, and acceptance of transcendent truth, can one truly be reborn into a new self, no longer tainted by the sins of one s past. In a certain sense, and depending on one s perspective or religious background, rebirth or regeneration is a process that is constantly occurring. With such understanding, it is up to the initiate to ensure that he is improving himself on a daily basis by carefully watching and analyzing his behavior and motives. Hiram Abiff is the symbol of the human soul, yours, and mine. The work that he was supposed to supervise is the symbol of the work that you and I have in the supervision, organization, and direction of our daily lives, from birth, until death.

10 The enemies or ruffians that he met are nothing more than the symbols of those lusts and passions within our own hearts and in the hearts of others. His death is the same death that happens to every man who becomes a victim f those same enemies. The Wages of a Master Mason In a book called The Master Masons it says, Our Operative Masonic brothers performed manual labor and received wages which contributed to their physical welfare. These wages as previously mentioned were corn, wine, and oil. The wages of a Speculative mason must come from within, as he is concerned with his moral rather than the physical labor. These are wages not expressed in dollars. The intangibles of love, friendship, respect, opportunity, happiness, and association or camaraderie are the wages of a Master Mason. These wages are earned. They are not given and not everyone earns them. That is why the Senior Warden, in the opening of the Lodge says, to pay the Craft their wages, if any be Traveling in Foreign Countries The goal of our ancient operative brothers was to become Master Masons, so that they might possess those secrets which would enable them to practice the art of the builder, no matter where they might travel, even in foreign countries.