DORMER MASONIC STUDY CIRLCE #82

SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

by

Wor.Bro. Major A. Cathcart Bruce, P.G.Stwd.
P.M. Lodge of Living Stones, No. 4957

FOREWORD


Brethren of The Circle,

I see from the remarks made by our President at the beginning of
Transaction No. 77, that he welcomes further contributions from
Overseas Members.

On looking over my Masonic Papers I came across one, actually
written in 1943 when I was I.P.M. of the Lodge of Living Stones,
and never used.  Therefore I had the idea that the Brethren of this
Circle might be glad to have it, either in its entirety, which is
preferable, since there is a line of the same thought running
through the whole, or if desirable use can be made of any of its
three parts separately.

We, in the Lodge of Living Stones, realise that the I.P.M.'s office
is one largely of silence but that he should certainly give counsel
to Brethren on occasion.  This I now venture to do.

Nobody realises better than I do that symbols are symbols, and to
attempt to explain any of them immediately confines and constricts
their meaning, laying one under the disability of words, so easily
misunderstood.  This is, of course, always a great difficulty and
so I would point out, as I have done before, that the answers which
I have provided are naturally not the only possible ones; I am sure
you all realise that.  I am only anxious that what I have to say
may serve as a useful "runway" from which a trained pilot can make
a successful "take-off" for higher flights. That is all I expect or
hope.

There are, I think you will discover, connecting threads of thought
running through all, and thus providing some continuity of idea in
the whole Paper.  Yet I am presenting to you today certain matters
in outline only, and it is for you to consider and to elaborate
them for yourselves.

Finally, it is a great regret to me that I am unable to be with you
in person and to read to you my Paper myself.  As that cannot be,
I am delighted that the President should delegate some worthy
Brother to do so on my behalf.

I would ask you, however, to examine that which I am about to put
before you with an open, and as unbiased an outlook, as possible. 
Do not allow yourselves when dealing with philosophical and
spiritual matters to be unduly handicapped by the purely
intellectual mind.  I would have you exercise your intuition
rather, and the faith resulting from that voice within; as I
personally always try to do from the urge which rises up in my
heart.  Perhaps a verse from one of the " Songs by the Way," by the
late W. Bro.  W. L. Wilmshurst, may emphasise what I mean:

Go buy eyesalve friend I pray you,
Gratis and well advertised,
And apply it; - but don't say you
Mean to have it analysed."


QUESTION 1.

Why is the Pavement-Cloth on the floor of many Lodges composed of
alternate black and white squares? What is the meaning of the 
border round about it, and of the four tassels, one at each corner?

In the first of our traditional lectures we find these words with
reference to our pavement: "this points out the diversity of
objects which decorate and adorn the creation, the animate as well
as the inanimate parts thereof."

Let us see if we cannot usefully expand this statement.  Firstly,
the alternate black and white squares draw our attention to the
great duality in the manifested Cosmos, as also in Man: "gleams of
sunshine and clouded hours," with which we are familiar.  On the
one hand we have an active, positive, masculine centrifugal force:
on the other a passive, negative, feminine, centripetal one.  These
two great and opposing forces have to be stabilised and kept in
proper balance - the middle way.

The shape of any particular pavement-cloth naturally follows that
of the floor plan of the Lodge but it is interesting to note the
shape of a Lodge (as given in our masonic lectures) is that of a
geometrical figure known as a parallelepipedon: that is to say
rectangular like a brick, composed of two cubes placed end to end
so that the total length is twice that of the width.  If you put
our two visible Ashlars end to end in this way you will get the
shape I mean.  It is perhaps a thought, worthy of consideration.

Returning however to our pavement, we find pointed out there for us
the intermingling everywhere in the Cosmos, of Matter and Spirit,
or shall we say of Matter and Life?

Until recent times scientific thought considered that which we term
"life" as being only applicable to the human, animal and vegetable
kingdoms.  Nowadays it is becoming increasing apparent that we may
not draw the line anywhere if we interpret the expression "life" or
"life-forces," in their fullest and widest sense, as I think we ought.


Do not let us become hemmed in by any preconceived notions about
it.  So called Matter is not dead, it is vibrant with the divine
life-forces ever at work in it, in a greater or a lesser degree,
though I readily admit that in the mineral kingdom these
life-forces appear infinitesimal.  But where there is organised
form surely there must also be life, though in varying degrees of
manifestation? Yet even in the mineral kingdom these forces are in
a number of cases quite readily apparent.

Certain inorganic matter is known nowadays to be responsive to
external stimuli of various kinds.  Metallurgists and engineers for
example, will tell you that a metal can become "tired"; that is the
very expression they use, and as a result of such fatigue it can
alter in molecular structure.  Again it can be demonstrated that
such metals on being rested vary in the time which they take to
recover after being subjected experimentally to such stimuli, etc.

Further, if we study crystallography we discover that crystals can
grow; indeed in a sense they can be said to reproduce themselves. 
But when we come to the radio-active group of elements we are
carried a stage further still, the atoms comprising which can in no
sense be termed dead or inert, as indeed thermo-nuclear research
demonstrates forcibly today.

In the same way with the unfoldment of the life-forces in the
vegetable kingdom.  Certain plants are known to display a degree of
something akin even to intelligence as you can find out for
yourselves if you read about the amazing researches of that
distinguished Indian Scientist, Professor Sir J. C. Bose of
Calcutta.  It would seem, too, that the different kingdoms merge
almost imperceptibly the one into the other on the borderland
between them.

Shall we, therefore, sum it all up in the phraseology of a very old
definition, and say that life or consciousness is entranced in the
mineral; sleeps in the vegetable, dreams in the animal; and wakes
in Man? It seems to me that this is a very good way of expressing
the whole idea quite simply.  This most interesting theme could be
expanded almost indefinitely, but the point I am at pains to make
is that there is but one divine life-force in all created things (a
truth well known to, and often stated by, the Initiates of old)
though this divine life shows itself forth in an infinitude of
degree and complexity of expression as an image of His abiding
eternity.

So I repeat one most important lesson shown forth by our chequered
pavement is the Omnipresence of Life and Deity, and also the
interweaving of Life with Matter in all forms.

Our pavement you see has a Cosmic significance; this is the thread,
I would call it the golden thread, which irradiates the whole warp
and woof of the Universe: when we fully understand that - " we
cannot stir a flower without troubling a star"- we are at long last
well on the way to becoming Master Masons.

With regard to the indented or tesselated border which usually
follows a sort of dog-tooth pattern, our ritual remarks that this
- "refers us to the planets, which in their various revolutions
form a beautiful border or skirtwork round that grand luminary the
Sun, as the other does round the floor of a Freemason's Lodge."

What a most profound and exquisite thought!

Nothing need be added to it except this: - the border or skirtwork
should also remind us of that veritable guardian wall set round
about humanity itself by the members of The Grand Lodge Above in
the spiritual world, and of that wall, which on much lower levels
we ourselves attempt to build, strengthen, and magnetise, by our
ceremonial perambulations round the Temple.  There remains the rope
or cord enclosing all.  To me this suggests what is called in
occult phraseology, the " Ring-pass-not," by which is to be
understood the circumference of the manifested solar system, the
boundary line of the influence and energy of the Sun both
exoterically and esoterically understood, the limit of its field of
activity, leading us on to realise that God welds all dualities
into one perfect whole. We are left with the four tassels.  These
again according to our ritual are said: "to remind us of the four
cardinal virtues, namely, Temperance - Fortitude - Prudence - and
Justice." That is the normal and purely ethical interpretation but
there is hidden for us here something more.

The tassels can also be said to refer to the four cardinal points
of the compass connected (according to the teachings of the ageless
wisdom) with the four great Angelic Orders each with its Majestic
Archangel, who bear rule over what were known as the four hermetic
elements - Water, Fire, Air and Earth.

Attention is sometines drawn to these, both inside and outside
freemasonry, by the four initial letters, I.N.R.I. These in the
Tradition of the mysteries of Israel are the initial letters of the
Hebrew words of these four metaphysical elements, which are usually
given as Iammium, seas or water: Nour, fire: Rouach, air: and
Ieberchan, dry earth.  There are of course other interpretations
(as with all things) notably that ascribed to the great mystic
Christian Rosenkrantz, who gives to these letters the latin meaning
of "In Nobis Regnat Ille," (in us He reigns): which is only another
way of saying the Kingdom of God is within you, or if we like so to
put it - all of us are one in Him.

Once more you see, one life-force in all things.

There are of course other interpretations of these four great
symbolic letters amongst which is the well-known and generally
accepted one amongst Christians throughout the world - Iesus
Nazarenus, Rex Iudoeorum.

Yet, much older than the Christian meaning and at the back of all
the other many and varied explanations which can be given, is, I am
persuaded, the very very ancient initiatory interpretation
referring to the four great Archangelic Orders as with Ezekiel's
vision.

In the "Light of Asia" these great Brethren of the Light are most
beautifully described in true oriental imagery, viz: -

"The Angel of the East whose hosts are clad in silver robes and
bear targets of pearl." 
" The Angel of the South whose horseman ride blue steeds, with
sapphire shields."
"The Angel of the West" with his following "riding steeds bloods
red with coral shields," - and
"The Angel of the North" with his retinue "all in gold on yellow
horses bearing shields of gold."

You will recall the well-known words of our ritual - "Brethren in
the North, South, East and West, will take notice, etc., etc." May
I suggest to you the thought that these remarks apart from being
addressed directly to the brethren actually assembled at the time,
are also addressed if indirectly, and are intended to be so
addressed, to the "Angels and Archangels and all the Company of
Heaven," who too are our brethren:

exalted brethren no doubt, but none the less our brethren under
God, invisibly present and materially assisting at our labours.  To
use a modern phrase, our Masonic work is indeed a Combined
Operation!

Consider this entirely fanciful if you will, but for me it is a
great and wonderful truth. I would wish that we, as Masons, should
become increasingly conscious of these wonderful Beings of Light
and try to work in harmony with them: and I assure you it is quite
possible to do so

Having given you then some few observations on the Masonic
pavement, let us pass on to Question two.

QUESTION II.

What is the value of incense in Masonic or any other ceremonial?

"Behold I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to
dedicate it to Him and to burn before Him sweet incense."
(From the ceremony of Consecration.)

I do not propose to enter into the symbolic or mystical
interpretations of the use of incense at any length.  Incense, as
the late W. L. Wilmshurst has stated, is an emblem of prayer "which
rises heavenward when the heart offers in burnt sacrifice the
inmost essences of its aspiration."

It has been burnt from time immemorial during ceremonies of many
and varied kinds, though no doubt today it finds its chief function
in religious rites throughout the world.

It has been the custom in the Lodge of Living Stones for some time
past, for one of our number to cense the Temple prior to the
entrance of the Brethren.  W. Bro. Wilmshurst used to do this
himself, and since his passing I at one time gladly undertook the
duty. I do not think anyone has ever questioned this procedure.  We
used incense and we accepted the fact, without perhaps giving much
thought to it.

In so doing I would hasten to remind you that we are not in any way
creating a precedent or carrying out anything contrary to the
spirit of Freemasonry or its ancient landmarks.  We are surely well
aware that Masonically, incense is always used at the consecration
of any new Lodge or Chapter.  Further, may I add, it is also made
use of in at least one of the higher degrees of the Ancient and
Accepted Rite, by the candidate himself, during the actual
ceremony, of which I can vouch from personal knowledge and
experience.  But what I want to try to explain to you very briefly
today is, why do we (or for that matter any other body), make use
of it at all? We do so just because it is a perfectly sensible and
practical thing to do.

Humanity is evolving to a point where many are beginning to realise
more and more that there exists a great deal beyond those things
which can only be contacted through our five senses, which senses
are extremely limited and restricted: and further that there is
much which transcends our purely intellectual and mundane
experience.

As I have already pointed out, all things are permeated to a
greater or a less extent by the divine lifeforces; even so-called
inert matter.  Thus is it also with incense.  Certain aromatic gums
when suitably burnt, give off, let us say, an emanation or
vibration which proves to be intensely cleansing both psychically
and mentally.

In the physical world we can readily appreciate the value of
sprinkling a disinfectant: its infinitesimal particles cleanse the
whole atmosphere. The same is true at higher levels; and thus if
the vibrations given off from and by incense are pure and good,
they tend to help to drive out of our emotional and mental natures,
any impurities which may happen to be present there.

You will note I said if the vibrations are pure and good.  We must
be careful here since that almost entirely depends on the
composition of the incense itself. It is quite possible to compound
an incense (or any perfume for that matter), which will indeed
produce just the opposite effect. I am not concerned today however
with how to prepare a suitable blend of incense for Masonic
purposes; any reputable brand, such as is made use of in churches,
is quite satisfactory.  There is, is there not, all the difference
in the world however, between the uplifting and prayerful
atmosphere and attitude engendered by wreaths of incense emanating
from the vicinity of an altar, to that which is produced if we
catch a whiff of cheap perfume in the local cinema!

Certain aromatic gums or a blend of them undoubtedly exalt the
consciousness, affecting our emotions and our minds.  They produce
a restful and devotional state, thus making us more responsive at
higher levels to the work in hand, whether in a church, a lodge, or
anywhere else.

Holy Water is made use of in some Christian Churches for the same
purpose but generally speaking incense is much superior because its
particles go everywhere and fill the whole space, carrying with
them a subtle influence and message which is exercised all the time
it is present.

The power of such an incense to affect us is increased enormously
if it has been previously and carefully consecrated.  This, I know,
is a matter of opinion, a matter of faith even - yet any good
psychic can readily distinguish between an object which has been
effectively consecrated or blessed, and one which has not.  Are not
many vital things in religious services especially so consecrated
by the officiating priest?

All these matters and much more with regard to the use of incense
(and perfume), in ceremonial were well known to the Ancients we may
be sure. To use such things is not just a matter of superstition,
or mere custom, as some would have us believe: nor are they
something supernatural either, for we are dealing here with one of
the higher laws of Nature, that is all.  Albeit these are little
understood in this materialistic age, as yet.

Thus, if the proper and correct use of incense helps us to get into
the right frame of mind for any ceremonial work - and to many this
is so - surely then we should use it. Of course, its effect is not
great, let us understand that, it is only an additional help as it
were, so we must not stress its importance unduly.  Do let us
realise however that the burning of it is not just a means of
making a pleasant smell and leaving it vaguely at that. It has, if
properly used (and there are many ways of using it) a definite
power for good. But use the right type of incense in the first
place, that is very important.

I trust that these few observations will help us to think along the
lines I have indicated and especially in this worthy Study Circle
where we ever strive to create and maintain a real and true
spiritual atmosphere by all and every means in our power.

" . . . and another angel came and stood at the altar having a
golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he
should offer it . . . and the smoke of the incense which came with
the prayers of the Saints ascended before God out of the angels
hand ...."
(Revelation viii,  3.)


QUESTION III.

What is me Significance of The "All Seeing Eye"?

A short question but one which demands a long answer.

Are we not taught that every character, emblem or symbol in
Freemasonry has a peculiar meaning? There is need for a careful
explanation of them all.  Especially is this so, I think, in the
case of the " All Seeing Eye," since it is seldom referred to
directly but is often implied.

Nature seems to have built the physical eye as a light perceiver in
response to a demand.  Light rays impinging upon the animal kingdom
in its earliest stages of evolution, have produced an organ of
perception.

The late Professor Huxley has said somewhere that the perception or
recognition of light, in some manner apparently called forth the
eye, and light alone maintains it.  Where there is no light there
can be no eye: where animals have withdrawn and dwelt in the dark,
their eyes have become degenerate and atrophied.

Thus at the start of our enquiry let us realise the close
connection of an eye with light, in both the physical and (as I
hope to show) the metaphysical aspects.

The portrayal of what is known as the "All Seeing Eye" is one which
is familiar to all Freemasons, for it occurs frequently and in many
places. It often figures, for instance, on Lodge Summons Papers:
somefimes it is found depicted centrally on the ceilings of our
Temples: it is made use of in Masonic jewellery: and most notably
it appears as an irradiated eye within a triangle enclosed by
compasses on the jewel pendant from the collar-chain worn by the
Grand Master himself.  It figures too in the Royal Arch.  Obviously
therefore it is of no little importance in the Masonic scheme of
things, and it were well if we considered the matter together and
attempted to find out, whence it arose and also if possible,
something of its inner meaning.

An "Eye", or "Eyes", appear to have been made much of in the
Mystery Systems of antiquity and also in both classical and
non-classical mythologies, etc. Our ancient Egyptian brethren had
their "Eye of Horus" - there was the fearsome eye of Polyphemus,
one of the Cyclops - in India the Hindu reverences the eye of Shiva
- and in the Kabalistic mysteries of Israel, the eye was held in
great awe, where it was taught that were that divine eye (known
sometimes as Kether), to close but for an instant, all created
things would cease to be. This thought is implied in the V.S.L.,
where we read in Psalm 121 - "Behold He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep." Again in the legends of ancient
Scandinavia, the great god Odin, in the beginning of time, is said
to have pledged an eye for a draught from the well of wisdom,
wherein all the future was mirrored, and beside which grew the
sacred "Yggdrasil, or Tree of Life." * And lastly do not let us
forget the Eye Single" of the Christian gospels.

I have mentioned all these matters (and there are other instances
known) to show you how the eye has always been held in great
veneration from the very earliest of times, and under many races.

It is also known that the word "Eye", or "Eyes" was an ancient
expression used in the Mysteries, meaning mighty and divine
Intelligencies and as such these represented the manifold powers
and attributes of God.  Think in this connection for a moment of
the vision of St. John and the four Beasts - "and in the midst of
the throne and round about the throne were four Beasts full of eyes
before and behind . . . and they were full of eyes within: and they
rest not day and night saying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come." + Similar is Ezekiel's vision
of the Cherubim and the Wheels.

The four Beasts, perhaps you may have already perceived, have a
direct but veiled connection with the four hermetic elements and
the four hierarchies of Angels, of which I have already spoken:
whilst the

* c.f. :-The Acacia is our Masonic legend: the Bodhi tree under
which the Buddha sat: the Sycamore tree which grew round the tomb
of Osiris: and the Tree of Life of the V.S.L., etc.

+ Revelation iv., vv. 6-8.


wheels, ever moving onward, never turning back or going aside, can
be said to represent the power of progressive energy or life, an
unswerving course on a straight path.  There is a further mystical
meaning too in the vision of Ezekiel, for the prophet, I am led to
understand, uses the word "Gel", which in Hebrew means either
revolutions or revelations! To these mighty-eyed wheels or Divine
Beings, the hidden mysteries of God are made clear.

From all I have said so far you should not find it strange that
reference to an "Eye" is made in Freemasonry, which fraternity may
we not justly consider as a lesser mystery system of the present
epoch, containing all the essentials of the great teachings of its
forbears, though now but a pale shadow of the past grandeur of its
ancestry?

Later on I hope briefly to draw your attention to the philosophical
and Masonic connotations of our "All Seeing Eye", but what I want
to do now is to explore at some length one line at least of its
development and I am going back to ancient Egypt to do so.

In one of the past Transactions of the Masonic Study Society of
London, is recorded some remarks put forward in the course of a
discussion, by the late Wor. Bro.  Cleland, on what is known as the
"Eye of Horus" and I feel if we study the Egyptian cosmological
aspect of our problem we may learn much.  I am not trying to say in
any way that the "Eye of Horus" is the one and only origin of our
"All Seeing Eye": I do not think anyone could say that with
certainty, but the Egyptians had a civilisation amongst the oldest
and the most advanced known to history, and so what they may have
to teach us in the matter has a distinct bearing on our problem,
though by no means the only answer.  I am simply taking one line of
thought and exploring it. as could very well to be done with
others.

Let us therefore discover if we can, why the "Eye of Horus" or
"Utchat" as the Egyptians called it, was held so sacred and further
expand W. Bro.  Cleland's past remarks.

Before I do this I would ask you to bear with me whilst I say a
word or two about Horus himself.

Horus was one of the many forms of the Sun God Ra, and the word
"Horus" or "Heru" means "He who is above". The Egyptian symbolic
theology and theosophy was highly involved but Horus wherever he
appeared as a youth (the Greek Harpocrates), represented the
earliest rays of the rising sun - the dawn in the East in fact -
and was the chief form of Ra when embattled against the powers of
darkness and evil, represented by his brother Set.  In this great
conflict, the Egyptians tell us, that certain priests or followers
of Horus assisted him and that they were armed with weapons of
metal and had a collective name meaning "workers in metal".  At
Edfu, one of the principal centres of the Horus cult, the god was
worshipped as "Lord of the Forge City" and in the temple there was
a sanctuary called "The Foundry", where this blacksmith caste of
priests attended on the god, who was known as "Horus-Behutet". I
mention this since I think those of us who are Master Masons may
find this point productive of much thought, as here undoubtedly
Horus represented the first artificer in metals. The name
"Horus-Behutet " is probably the equivalent of that used by us,
which is its Hebrew alternative probably substituted later.

Other nations all had their blacksmith gods too, such as Hephaistos
of the Greeks - Vulcan of the Romans and Thor of the Scandinavians. 
Wieland Smith of Norse and German legend, known to us as Wayland
Smith, comes into the picture too.

Collectively this order of priests were known as "Companions of
Horus" and they were said to be born symbolically from out the womb
of Mother Isis, who, in the inner teachings of the Egyptians, seems
to have stood for the Mystery Schools themselves.  We too are just
as much the figurative sons of the widowed Isis and could be
correctly called "Sons of Horus."

Let us return to our main theme, however.

The "Utchat" or "Eye of Horus" was used by the Egyptians in many
ways. Most commonly it is found painted on shrines and coffins,
such as for instance on that of the famous Amenopliis II., the idea
being that on whatsoever it appeared was automatically placed under
the protection of the Sun God.  Quite often we find two eyes, a
right and a left: these are said by Egyptologists (amongst whom I
would specially mention the late Sir Ernest Wallis Budge, one time
keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British
Museum), to represent one of two things - either the Sun and the
Moon or alternatively, the Sun considered in the two main diurnal
phases of its journey across the sky; from dawn to noon, and from
noon to sunset.  There is an ancient Egyptian Text which itself
states that one of these two eyes was black and the other white. 
We shall return to this later for I think it is quite an important
and belpful pointer in our search.  I have discovered a further
instance from quite another source, that of the Aztecs of ancient
Mexico and indeed of the Toltecs before them, who apparently made
use of a ritual mask of Quetzacoatl, the Sun God, showing one eye
black and one white.

But the "Utchat" perhaps found its greatest use as an amulet, since
it was supposed to give not only protection to its wearer, be he
dead or alive, but was reputed to impart vigour and strength
similar to that which the earth receives from the sun.  The ancient
texts further tell us that to obtain full benefit from such an
amulet it should be consecrated at the time of the summer solstice.

I think I have said sufficient to show you that this sacred eye was
intimately connected with the sun, and in fact, a part of a solar
cult. In one of the many and very beautiful hymns to Ra which are
available to us, is to be found these words - "Thou that openest
the two eyes and the earth is full of light," which apart from its
more obvious meaning should be interpreted mystically, as no doubt
it was intended it should.

It is conceivably possible, even probable that the "Utchat" had
other important uses than those I have mentioned.  It may have been
used as an actual jewel of some Egyptian degree since there appears
an idea that it was worn ceremonially both by priests and
priestesses. Whether this was so or not we shall perhaps never know
for certain, and I am not prepared to argue about it.

Now let us look into another and deeper aspect of the "Utchat" as
it was probably understood by the Initiate-Priests in those far off
days. At one of the important periods in Egyptian history, the
great Trinity of the gods consisted of Osiris-Isis-Horus.

There are many ancient tales told about these three.  Horus was the
child of course arising from the mystical marriage of the former
two.  Now I have mentioned elsewhere that there existed (and
exists) an occult philosophy of numbers, a sort of divine geometry,
known as a sacred Gematria, a matter much too intricate to enter
into here for it would require a paper all to itself to do so. 
This philosophy of numbers has been attributed by some to
Pythagoras, but in point of fact it antedates that great Initiate
by a considerable period of time.  This hidden application of
numbers played a very conspicuous part in the mystery systems of
Israel, and also elsewhere in the ancient world and is capable of
giving us an interesting key or clue to many matters in a most
surprising way, not excluding our Freemasonry of today.

Suffice it to say that the number 3 was given to Osiris - the
number 4 to Isis - and the number 5 to Horus. Let us try and see
why 3, 4 and 5 were the numbers allotted to the Osiris, Isis and
Horus Trinity.

(i) One - unity, was always regarded as fundamentally unmanifest,
because when divided into any other number it left them entirely
unchanged.

(ii) Two - duality, is negative and static; it gets nowhere until
it produces a third, by interaction.

(iii) Three - is considered, therefore, the first effective number,
hence its being attributed to Osiris, or any other similar godhead.

(The Ancients usually considered all odd numbers as male, and all
even numbers as female, for reasons it is impossible to launch
forth into here)

(iv) Four - is the first so-called effective female number and so
was allotted to Isis, or her equivalent.

(v) Five - is the product of three and four when holding a right
angle between them, and was thus given to Horus, the offspring of
Osiris and Isis, in one aspect of Egyptian mythology.

As an example of the use made of such numbers we can take Osiris
and Isis by themselves, when their mystical marriage together gives
us 7, always regarded, you all know, as a most perfect and sacred
number.  It is the mathematical symbol if you like for "Father -
Mother God". But to return to our Trinity.  If to the 3 of Osiris
and the 4 of Isis, we join the 5 of Horus, we can produce from
these three diagrammatically, a triangle whose sides measure 3 - 4
and 5 units respectively.  This was of immense importance to the
great nation of pyramid builders, as it is to all of us who have
since followed after, for such a triangle is a perfect right-angled
triangle and contains that great operative secret of laying out
lines at ninety degrees to one another. This peculiar triangle came
in a later period to be known as the golden triangle of Pythagoras,
and remember Pythagoras was well versed in the Egyptian Mysteries. 
Today we make use of this ancient and valuable piece of knowledge
in architecture and so on; and even in such an ordinary matter as
that of laying out a tennis or badminton court correctly.  The use
of this particular triangle is the most ancient method known for
making a right angle at any given point, without the possibility of
error.

It seems almost quite certain that the builders of the great
Pyramid which the Egyptians themselves called "Khut" (Light), were
actually the first to discover this secret many thousands of years
ago. The whole matter has been dealt with most thoroughly, and
fully explained mathematically, by Wor.Bro. Major A. Gorham, in a
paper which he read in July, 1933, before the Masonic Study Society
of London in which he also demonstrated that the 3 - 4 - 5
operative secret was without doubt incorporated in the construction
of the King's Chamber in that Great Pyramid of Light: not directly,
it is true, but in such a way as to carefully conceal it in a most
ingenious and amazing manner.

It would appear that our ancient Egyptian brethren had no decimal
system and that they extracted square roots with great difficulty,
thus this secret of theirs had the advantage of forming a figure
compounded of sides consisting of quite simple whole numbers.

You may well by now be thinking, what has all this to do with the
Sacred Eye? I will now attempt to show you.  Suppose we take the 3
- 4 - 5 triangle, bearing in mind carefully both its operative and
speculative meanings: and suppose we dedicate it to Horus as the
Sun God, by placing within it the hieroglyph for the sun, which
incidentally is well known to Masons.  Now if we further elaborate
it by adding eyelashes on the hypotenuse to the number of 5 (the
number of Horus) and further add also the distinctive mark of the
scalplock of the youthful Horus we are beginning to build up
something very interesting.

Before proceeding may I just recall to your minds the inner
significance of this scalp-lock? It was a coil or lock of hair
hanging down one side of the face and was a method used by the
Egyptians to designate a child or youth.  Horus the younger is
generally so portrayed both in painting and sculpture.  We should
know from our former studies that a child or a youth, in what we
may term the language of the mysteries (which indeed is largely
used in the V.S.L. itself), always signified an initiated or
perfected, or god-like person.  You may perhaps remember the words
of the Christian Master bearing on this truth - "whosoever shall
not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not
enter therein." * Can we not already begin to see something of the
immensity of the symbolism we are building up?

* Mark x, v. 15.


Now let us place over our sketch the hieroglyph for the vault of
heaven as it were an eyebrow, implying that everything beneath it
is brought into manifestation.  Let us also join up the end points
of the various lines, and what do we get? We get a typical, though
diagrammatic representation, of the "Utchat" which you can compare
with a drawing made of a blue faience amulet of about 2500 B.C.

I venture to suggest that the 3 - 4 - 5 secrets are symbolised
therein.

I think it is extremely likely that where two eyes are depicted one
was regarded as masculine and one as feminine, especially if we
bear in mind that the ancient texts themselves tell us that they
refer to the Sun and Moon, which are always considered as such. 
Further sometimes one eye was black and one white. Remember
Quetzacoatl.  Is there not a tradition that the great twin pillars
before the porchway or entrance to King Solomon's Temple were also
one white and one black: and are they not often regarded as
representing masculine and feminine cosmic forces respectively?

I maintain, therefore, that as with the pillars so with the twin
eyes - both stand for the same thing - the eternal duality in the
Cosmos, as does our tessellated pavement which we have already
studied. I can't help feeling there is some connecting thought
between eyes and pillars if we call to mind that Horus is the Sun
God and that the mystical Solomon (Sol-Om-On) is also a Sun-man, as
his very name implies.

Thus our twin eyes (as with the pillars) stress for us the
perfection to be found in the blending of two opposite forces; the
perfection and the harmony of the spiritual androgyne.

The "Utchat" is surely a very wonderful, though involved, piece of
imagery, containing not only a hint of a great operative secret but
also matters of deep inner and spiritual significance.

Before I conclude I would like to add a few words concerning the
Master's Jewel, for again the lines of thought which we have just
been investigating, are linked with it.

This Jewel is termed a square, that is its two arms are at ninety
degrees one with the other.  We find this Jewel first mentioned as
such in the Minutes of Grand Lodge of 1724, though it is not
referred to in our actual Constitutions until about the year 1815. 
The Jewel as we find it today has both its Arms of equal length but
this was by no means the case originally.

The actual construction of the Jewel would appear to have been left
in the hands of Masonic Jewellers about the middle of the
nineteenth century, who were responsible for its present form.  If,
however, one studies ancient Tracing Boards, and floor-cloths, such
as are to be found illustrated in the Transactions of the Ars
Quattuor Coronati Lodge; and if one also examines actual examples
to be found in Masonic Museums and pictured elsewhere, we shall
discover that originally this square had two arms of unequal
length!

Why?

Well of course the simple, usual, and obvious answer is that if the
arms were not equal, the Jewel would not hang straight.  But why
should it? for it was never designed just to be symmetrical but in
order to veil secrets of vast antiquity.

What then should be the proper length in units of its two arms?
They should, and can be found to have been, of 3 and 4 units each. 
This being so then the distance between the two open points must be
5. We have, therefore, in fact a concealed reference to the 3 - 4
- 5 triangle, symbol of godhead.  With regard to the jewels of the
Worshipful Master and the Immediate Past Master - the 3 - 4 - 5
triangle is inherent in both.  The Master's square if accuratly and
correctly made (which nowadays it scarcely ever is), contains this
3 - 4 - 5 triangle in veiled form.  I am not at liberty to discuss
this further other than with Installed Masters, but I think,
however, I may add that the Master's Jewel was (and should be) what
is known as a "gallows square", and derives in the first place from
Operative Lodge symbolism.  Each of the three principal Masters
carried such a gallows square of 3 and 4 units; the fourth lay on
the V.S.L. When all four were brought together, many different and
highly significant figures could be formed, including the true
"Swastika", a very ancient symbol indeed.  Each of these three
principal Masters carried also a rod of three different lengths,
i.e., of 3 - 4 and 5 units respectively.  These when laid on the
ground gave the solution of that great and ancient operative
secret, that of laying out lines at right angles to one another.

It is true to say that the I.P.M.'s jewel contains this fundamental
3 - 4 - 5 triangle more openly than does the Master's jewel, as is
only natural. The I.P.M. represents the perfection of Mastership
for it is his duty to be the watchful and All Seeing Eye of his
Lodge.  He represents that spiritual vision within the Temple,
which vivifies and keeps within bounds, the faculty of intuition
represented by the Worshipful Master.

It is, therefore, both meet and right that his (the I.P.M.'s) jewel
should be the "All Seeing Eye" albeit represented and concealed
under the symbolism of the 3 - 4 - 5 triangle, except in the case
of the jewel worn by the Most Worshipful the Grand Master himself,
when the irradiated Eye appears, as I have already stated in my
text.

Summing up, we can say, therefore, that the 3 - 4 - 5 triangle is
triangle shown openly in the Master's jewel or square, it is only
implied there; but the symbolism becomes much clearer in the case
of the I.P.M.'s jewel for those qualified to comprehend something
of its immense meaning and profundity.

It is quite possible to quote various authorities in support of
what I have said in my Paper, but as the late Worshipful Brother
Cleland has pointed out, since the 3 - 4 - 5 triangle is so
fundamental in Freemasonry, occurring constantly as it does in many
veiled ways, I do not consider it requires any such "bolstering
up".

May I just point out (I have no time to do more) that the 3 - 4 -
5 proportion has applications of very wide significance for it is
to be found (so we are told by those entitled to say so) in the
common chord of music: and further it is probable, if not a fact,
that there is also an analogy with the number of vibrations per
second in the primary colours of the solar spectrum.  It has a
Cosmic meaning for us, you see.  All this could be elaborated much
further, showing, for instance, the connection of the Master's
Jewel with the unequal armed squares of our old Operative
Brethren's seventh degree and with the Egyptian square which was
regarded as an insturnent of immense power and used as the
hieroglyph for God. In our Freemasonry this teaching would seem to
be perpetuated.  What a vast amount is implied when we say we are
on, or we act on, the Square!

What, however, I should like you to think about is the connection
in symbolism of the Master's Jewel with the sacred "Eye", for both
are expressions of the same basic idea and both are connected with
Mastership.

Thus we have traced together in some detail many things which are
shown forth by a study of just one particular "Eye", that of Horus,
But, as with all those other Eyes which I mentioned at the
commencement of my answer to this question, there remains another
and even more profound mystery yet, which in a Paper such as this
I do not feel inclined to speak. I would say, however, that all
these sacred "Eyes" not excluding their purposely concealed
allusion to a certain atrophied organ, or should I say embryo
organ, in the human head said to be capable, in certain
circumstances, of acting as a link between the objectiveand
subjective states, between the visible and invisible worlds. If any
of you, in order to form your own opinions, should wish to enquire
further I cannot do better than refer you to a book in our Library,
"Man, the Grand Symbol of the Universe", by Manly Hall.

And now I come to the conclusion of the matter, and as foreshadowed
earlier I will close with some remarks regarding the mystical
meaning of the "Eye".  I am persuaded that, together with our
irradiated Masonic "Eye", both of the Craft and of the Royal Arch,
the Eye refers to the development within ourselves of that true
inner light and vision which is capable of irradiating and flooding
our whole being.  Truly is the eye the window of the soul. 
Especially with reference to the Royal Arch, is the "Eye" a symbol
of prophecy - a revealer of the Divine Mind.  It also stands, in
general terms, for the possibility of the extension of our normal
consciousness, a power surely befitting a Master, as an example of
a divinized man, and a fortiori belonging to the Grand Master
himself: a most proper and seemly symbol to be worn by him and
emblematic of his supreme office and powers.  Lastly, we should
regard the "Eye" masonically as a signature of God Himself, the
Light of the World.  It represents for us the Divine "Over-seer" of
all our work and labour, and above all points to the Omniscience of
T.G.A.O.T.U., in His supernal wisdom, concealed but present
everywhere in all things.

Whenever, therefore, we see a representation of the "Eye", we
should think of that Light which lighteth every man who cometh into
the world, and our very hearts echo the prayer of the Royal Solomon
himself - "that Thine Eyes be open upon this house day and night".
*

"The light of the body is the eye: therefore, when thine eye is
single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is
evil thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that
the light which is in thee be not darkness." +

S.M.I.B.

* II. Chronicles vi, v. 20.

+ Luke xi, vv. 34, 35.