The Secret Power of Masonic Symbols: The Influence of Ancient Symbols on the Pivotal Moments in History and an Encyclopedia of All the Key Masonic Terms
539
The Secret Power of Masonic Symbols: The Influence of Ancient Symbols on the Pivotal Moments in History and an Encyclopedia of All the Key Masonic Terms
539eBook
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Overview
For more than five hundred years, the symbology of Freemasonry has fostered a secret stream of radical ideas running just beneath the surface of popular culture today. These ideas, illuminated by public symbols hidden in full view, have influenced and shaped the society we have today. Despite this ongoing record of inspiration, no illustrated guidebook to the basic ideas of Masonic Symbology has even been published and the story remains mysterious—until now.
This authoritative guide reveals how this symbology has been the backdrop to key historical events in the history of humanity from ancient times and how, in more recent times, inspired leaders have harnessed the symbols’ power to bring about change in society. Renowned Freemasonry historian Dr. Robert Lomas takes you inside the Secret Order and shows you how Entered Apprentices first learn their craft, and how continual exposure to these mystical symbols can change the way you think. You’ll explore the six mysterious Tracing Boards that are at the heart of every Masonic Grand Lodge, ending with the final, most mystical symbol, known as “the Centre.” Let The Secret Power of Masonic Symbols be your personal guide and show you how these symbols have made their indelible mark on the past, and how they will continue to influence society in the future.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781610581301 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Quarto Publishing Group USA |
| Publication date: | 12/20/2022 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 539 |
| File size: | 52 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Dr. Robert Lomas is the author of Turning the Templar Key, Turning the Solomon Key, and several other titles. A Freemason, he lectures at Bradford University in England.
Dr. Robert Lomas is the author of Turning the Templar Key, Turning the Solomon Key, and several other titles. A Freemason, he lectures at Bradford University in England.
Read an Excerpt
Symbols Made Us Human
A symbol is a pictorial device that evokes a concept in its entirety. It bypasses the intellect and talks straight to the heart. Our intellect analyzes, but our heart synthesizes. So a symbol evokes understanding without needing to convey verbal information.
Around 120,000 years ago, a new species of primate appeared in Africa. Its scientific name is Homo sapiens, but we know this creature as the modern human. When this species appeared on the earth, there were already other similar but more widespread species of humanoid apes, such as the Neanderthals. Yet the Homo sapiens were different. They were different because they could tap into the mystic power of understanding that is inherent in symbols. Symbols have helped humans develop a unique form of consciousness that no other animal has.
All the races of humans are much more closely related than most of us realize. You might be even more surprised to know how closely we are related our primate cousins, the African apes. Our genes are about 98 percent identical to those of an ape, and we share large chunks of our DNA sequence with all other life forms on the earth, even bacteria.
All humans are descended from a single female that lived in Africa less than 200,000 years ago. She is popularly called “Mitochondrial Eve.”2 As geneticist Bryan Sykes puts it: “‘Mitochondrial Eve’ … lies at the root of all the maternal ancestries of every one of the six billion people in the world. We are all her direct maternal descendants.”3 Our common maternal ancestor lived only a few thousand generations ago. And her earliest descendants drew the first symbols and tapped into their power.
In the following chapters, you will learn about the power of these symbols, the history of their interaction with humans, and how humans’ differential advantage came about because they evolved a type of brain that benefits from a direct relationship with the symbols. This symbiotic relationship began during our early evolutionary history and continues to influence our development in ways most of us are often unaware of.
There is, however, a secret group of specialists who have spent the last 500 years working with these symbols. They learned how symbols can advance the human condition by enabling us to share understanding. This group is the Freemasons, and their declared purpose is to study and understand symbols.
Ask any Freemason the question What is Freemasonry? and you will get this answer: a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. For 500 years, Freemasons have used a system of allegorical ritual and exposure to the mystic power of symbols to sensitize their members to the life-changing power these symbols have. Freemasons continue to experience the deep understanding that symbols can inspire and their power to change the way humans develop.
When humans were first exposed to symbols’ mystic power, they changed from brute animals into human beings in a way we still struggle to understand. James Shreeve, a well-known anthropologist, sums up the puzzle presented by this abrupt change:
“Human beings—modern humans, Homo sapiens—are behaviorally far, far away from being “just another animal.” The mystery is where, how, and why this change took place. … An “all-important transition” did occur, but it happened so close to the present moment that we are still reeling from it. … Something happened that turned a passably precocious animal into a human being.”
Anthropology records how and when this change happened but offers no explanation. It is my contention that humanity came into contact with a powerful force outside itself that has interacted with our collective mind ever since. This force is carried and communicated by symbols. In later chapters, we will discover that symbols are part of a great cosmic language that transmits deep understanding about the secrets of the universe.
Table of Contents
preface The Hidden influence of Ancient symbols 9
Part 1 The Secret Influence of Symbols 14
chapter 1 why symbols are More powerful Than words 16
symbols Hade us Human 16
symbols Began in Dark caves 20
The Heaven of perfect symbols 23
How Humans Learned to Live with symbols 25
The Ancient symbols still work 26
pictures can Transfer Thoughts 29
symbols Taught us How to Think 31|2 chapter 2 How symbols Turned Hunters into farmers 33
symbols Let us communicate with the Dead 33
symbols Helped Hunters 35
symbols Taught farming 38
Ancient symbols found in a Birthing chamber 41
chapter 3 How symbols created Kingdoms 47
The importance of counting 47
The first symbols 50
The symbol of Newgrange 52
The importance of writing symbols 52
Fortune favors the symbol writer 57
A New Alphabet Appears 59
chapter 4 The power of symbols on the Human Brain 61
Humans Have Two Minds 61
symbols Have sex Appeal 63
The influence of stone symbols 65
stone symbols Have sacred power 66
chapter 5 How symbols created Freemasonry 68
symbols and Myths work Together 68
Buildings are symbols 68
How the True cross inspired the first freemasons 71
How symbols Taught the first freemasons 74
The Emotional power of symbols 75
How symbolic Teaching spread 78
chapter 6 symbols can penetrate the Mind of god 80
A symbol That Analyzes Equality 80
Masonic slide Rules and early Arithmetic 81
why Equations are a Mystery 84
The Great Architect 87
symbols are the Key to the Mind of god 88
The Heaven of pure symbols 91
chapter 7 The secret symbol of political stability 95
The pillars That inspired Republicanism 95
The pillars That formed freemasonry 98
The symbols That Taught George Washington 98
The Masonic Meanings of the Two pillars 99
The pillars That Established Ancient Egypt 101
The pillars and the concubines 104
The pillars That influenced the English civil war 105
The pillars That support the U.S. presidents 107
The pillars That Reconciled England and the united states 108
A present-Day symbol to strengthen the Euro 109
chapter 8 Masonic symbols that changed the U.S. constitution 111
The symbolic solution to the corruption of power 111
How symbols can separate powers 113
How Masonic symbolists influenced James Madison 116
why Three pillars of state underpin the U.S. constitution 118
chapter 9 How symbols and Mankind Took a Great Leap Together 122
Masons and the Apollo space progra 122
why the Moon is a powerful symbol 123
How symbols Assisted project Apollo 126
How symbols Helped put Man on the Moon 129
Part 2 A Practical Introduction to Masonic Symbology 132
chapter 10 symbols of the first Degree 134
The square
The Level
The plumb Rule
The Altar
The volume of the sacred Law
The compasses
The sun
The Moon and the stars
The Northeast corner
The glory at the center
The Left-Hand pillar
The Master of the Lodge
The 24-Inch gauge
The common gavel
The chisel
The form of the Lodge
The pillar of wisdom
The pillar of strength
The pillar of Beauty
The celestial canopy
Jacob's Ladder
faith
Hope
charity
The Mosaic pavement
The Blazing star
The Indented or Tessellated
Border
The Tracing Board
The Rough Ashlar
The perfect Ashlar
The point within a circle chalk, charcoal, and clay
The Lewis
The square and compasses with Both points covered
chapter 11 symbols of The second Degree 196
The square and compasses with one point covered
The Right-Hand pillar
The Two pillars at the Entrance to King solomon's Temple
The chapiters
The Net-work
The Lily-work
The pomegranates
The globes
The Middle chamber
The spiral staircase
The wages
An Ear of corn Near a pool of water
The five Noble orders of Architecture
chapter 12 symbols of the Third Degree 220
The square and compasses with Both points Revealed
The open grave
The perfect cube
The porch
The Dormer
The square pavement
The skirret
The pencil
The compasses
The sprig of Acacia
The Emblems of Mortality
The Bright Morning star
chapter 13 General symbols of the wider craft 240
The Equilateral Triangle
The Double Triangle (The seal of solomon)
The Triple Tau
The Triangle within a circle
The Keystone
The vault
The uncompleted Temple
The pillars, circle, and center
Part 3 A Practical Introduction to the Tracing Boards 254
chapter 14 The Tracing Boards 256
The first-Degree Tracing Board
The second-Degree Tracing Board
The Mark Tracing Board
The Third-Degree Tracing Board
The Royal Arch Tracing Board
The Tracing Board of the center
The center
Endnotes 262
Acknowledgments 266
About the Author 266
Index 267