More mangled Hebrew

I just found a perfect example of the type of Pseudo-Hebrew writing I wrote about a while ago. This was in the form of the Past High Priest's jewel (in York Rite).

First, here's how it's supposed to look:



And, here is the version that I found. Remember, all three words are supposed to say the same thing!

Seven years in only one day!

Back when lodges were operational, it may have taken a candidate seven years to move from an Entered Apprentice to Fellowcraft, and some never reached the status of Master or beyond.

Today, things (usually) move much quicker. For one, the candidate no longer needs to know how to actually build things out of stone. But, sometimes we might go a little too fast. How fast is too fast?

Below I have included some clips from Danny Kaye's 'The Court Jester' for your enjoyment.



What is the purpose of the 'tests' or other requirements that the candidate presented with? While we might not want to wait seven years before receiving our second degree, is a few minutes, or even an hour enough time to reflect on something that really only happens once?

2B1ASK1 taken to a different plane

What if the masonic practice of refusing to ask anyone to be a mason, whether friend, neighbor or passing stranger was applied to other areas of life?

On my other blog, I wrote a lengthy musing on the topic of the right of a child to be able to choose their path for life without pressure from parents to be just like they are.

What if as a parent, you could not even hint at requesting or expecting your child to belong to the same church or other organizations that you do? I wish I knew the answer to that. I personally think less of your children would do what you do, but they would be more dedicated to it. Perhaps about the same as the sons of masons who join the lodge.

What would happen if it were switched around, and your children were all 'forced' to join DeMolay and Job's Daughters? And then when they were older, they were mightily expected to join the Lodge / Eastern Star. What would that do to the Lodge? Is it similar to how your church is currently running?

These are all interesting questions.

oh ... just for the record, I think the 2B1ASK1 thing is dorky :-)

Pseudo Hebrew

I was looking at the coin of this year's Grand What-cha-ma-call-it of Royal Arch, and thought .. huh, this would make a great post.

Perhaps I'll get a photo of the coin up sometime, until then, you all can use your imagination. In the center of the coin, was an Ark of the Covenant, and inscribed on it were some squiggles. I think they were supposed to be the hebrew letters for the name of God, or YHVH. Well, even if you don't know how to read the hebrew alphabet, you would be able to tell that they were really just squiggles in the general shape of the letters.

This phenomenon is fairly widespread in Freemasonry, below is an example from a Knights Kadosh Hieroglyph and the emblem for the 25th degree.





Generally, the Scottish Rite regalia isn't as divergent as the K.K. hieroglyph. But unfortunately, the hieroglyphic example is a much better representation of what the hebrew letters turn into after a few renditions. Here's a comparison between a line in the hieroglyph and what they were copying:



To give you a better idea of what I am talking about, following example is of my name written in a style typical of hebrew (or other) characters written by someone who does not know and use the alphabet.



And, this is the equivalent of what was written on the Grand Archer's coin:



As you can see, if you really squint and strain your eyes, you can tell that the last example says Sophia, but probably not at first glance.

Now, before all you gentlemen are saddened or offended (I hope not!) that I am insulting those who founded modern masonry because they had little knowledge in the forming of hebrew characters: let me assure you, they were hardly alone! Judaism, along with the Greeks and other ancient civilizations have been quite the fad with the type of people who would form masonry off and on throughout the centuries.

The Alchemists, the whole of renaissance magic, Masonry, Mormonism, 19th century Protestants and so on. They all created artifacts with hebrew characters on them with more or less accuracy (usually less).

Discrepancies creep in when one person copies genuine characters, and another copies that and another copies that until the text is unreadable.

My point though is this, If the craft is to be preserved, fidelity to the meaning must be maintained. You are using words and symbols which were (hopefully) carefully chosen for their symbolic meaning. If, over the years you allow these words to become distorted, then what will there be for the younger generation to learn? The secrets of many ancient cultures were lost this way, through the slow corruption of well meaning adherents who did not understand what they had, or what they stood for.

The Ashlar's Wife

As a follow up to the Broken Ashlar post, what do you do if the wife of a mason, otherwise a great man happens to be ... less than desirable?

Perhaps you all know of a woman who came in and cheated, stole, lied and generally killed off all of the appendant bodies that she was allowed into? If you do not, let me inform you, they do exist!

I would like to exhort all of the existing members of appendant bodies to examine and inquire into the morality and character of the wives of masons (or children) before letting them join. I fear that these organizations are so starved for members that they are willing to lower their standards in order to fill the ranks.

Of course, I have my own opinion on that! I believe that these groups should be open to all woman, girls and boys of good moral standing, regardless of the random chance that they would be related to a mason. If the Lodge is suffering from a lack of new members, these other bodies are doubly so, as they have a much smaller pool to dip from. Many wonderful candidates are being left out in the cold only because of the chance of birth. This seems to be contrary to the stated ideals of universal brotherhood.

Psst .. So who are YOU going to vote for?

I was at a get-together tonight, and someone I didn't know started talking to me, and they asked me who I was going to vote for - when I told them I didn't like their favorite candidate, and that I would rather vote for _(insert candidate from opposite partisan group here)_, their friendly demeanor turned icy in a heart-beat, and they were off to talk to someone else in less than two seconds. Well! If that's the way they want to be! That got me thinking .. huh, I bet this is why there's that rule about not talking about politics in lodge.

I'm sure the person I was talking to (however briefly) and I would have gotten along quite well enough, but the wedge of politics was driven between us before we could start a decent conversation. Does it really matter who we are going to vote for? Very few people share all the views of any political candidate, and so who they choose to vote for is merely a matter of their impressions and what they have read and what party they belong to. But, even in the party *I* belong to, I totally disagree with some of the candidates (like the one this person was advocating), as well as agree with a few of the candidates in the other camps.

Instead of focusing on dividing ourselves into different groups and viewpoints, we should get together and talk about what should be done to fix our problems. We all agree that there ARE problems, we just disagree about how to fix them. Just remember, no matter what any of the candidates SAY, the only way to change things is through each community.

I always think, when looking through the news during a major election... "wow, I wonder what kind of amazing things could be done with x amount of million dollars that is just being wasted... parks, schools, jobs ..."

Masonry is one place where this community service can start. Of course, anything of that sort needs to involve the whole community before it can really make a difference. Keeping the instant divisions that politics tend to create out of the lodge allows its members to ACT! where none of the political parties will never succeed.

So, next time someone asks you - So who are you voting for? think twice before answering.

A Broken Ashlar

One of the symbols of freemasonry is that of the rough and perfect ashlar. These represent the unfinished state of both stone and man. After smoothing out rough edges, the stone becomes square and usable for building the temple..

When building the temple, what should be done with stones, whether rough or perfect that crack? They have been broken, they cannot be used for the temple. With operative masonry, that stone would either be thrown to the slag-pile (along with any funny-shaped stones they might find) or be cut into two separate stones, salvaging what may be salvaged.

In the lodge, there is no slag-heap for masons who were admitted, appearing to be suitable stones, and yet crack under pressure, or over time. Yet, what should be done with these men? How do you tell them that they cannot join the line-up because they are bordering on insane, and no one had noticed when they were brought into the fraternity (possibly because everyone had been so excited to finally get a candidate).

This is a very real question, and one that doesn't have a good answer. Of course, candidates should be checked thoroughly before being admitted! The investigative committee should do their job, and the other members should ALL try and meet the incoming member before they are initiated, otherwise, on what grounds are you voting?

But, once that mistake is made (and, it may be made even but the most scrutinizing of committees), what is the course to take? I have seen the problem ignored - the offending brother shuttled from one unimportant position to another to keep him from advancing to a point where he would have been voted on. This brother caused many of the new apprentices to think twice before returning, and drove others away with threats and gossip among other things. Something should have been done, and eventually was in a very messy manner which alienated many more members of this particular lodge.

Unfortunately, I am only pointing out a problem, rather than offering a solution to the problem. But, I feel that once it is recognized that a brother can break, it is possible to address the issue, rather than side-step it.

As I was looking for a good picture for this post, I found these photographs of the process of working with large stones, enjoy!

Acquiring and cutting of the stone
Rough Cutting of the Sculpture
Filling in the details

Capoeira (kA-pu-Ej-ra)

Originating in the 16-1700s, by the slaves of Brazil, Capoeira is a fight, a dance, a game, a ritual. It begins with a roda, or circle, african drums and the berimbaus begin to play. Someone begins to sing, and everyone listens:

Boy, who was your mestre?
My mestre was Solomon.
I owe him wealth, health and duty.
I am a disciple who learns
I am a mestre who teaches.
The secret of Sao Cosme,
is known only to Damon, camara.

Only those who have been initiated know the meaning behind these words, although they are spoken openly on the streets for anyone to hear. The true meaning is more than the words, but something you learn as you learn the art.

The leader calls out 'E arruande!' and a response is called out by those in the circle. 'Ye arruande, camara.'

Two of the men crouch in front of the berimbau and drummers. They bow their heads and seem to be lost in meditation. They raise their heads as the chanting continues...

E, long live my mestre;
-Ye, long live my mestre, camara...
E, who taught me;
-Ye, who taught me, camara...
Ai, the deceitfulness;
-Ye, the deceitfulness, camara...
E, of capoeira;
-Ye, of capoeira, camara...

The two men touch the ground, and trace signs into the dirt. These signs will strengthen their body and spirit. The lead singer begins a new song that signals the beginning of the game.

The two players continue the ritual with the proper movements, and then face each other. The game has begun.

"They realize that it is no longer their friend or training partner who is in front of them, but instead there stands before them a riddle that can present dangerous and unpredictable enigmas in the corporal dialogue that will follow. It is a dialogue that is made up not of words, but rather of movements--exploratory movements, attack movements, defense movements, deceitful movements--questions and answers in the mysterious language of capoeira."

Here is a movie showing a round between two mestres, or masters.



The game of capoeira has three levels, all of which, could be attained within a year of beginning to play capoeira.

The first level is that of the physical aspects. Kicking hard, learning new spins and flips, winning this fighter and that fighter. A player who stays at this level without expanding into the other two levels will only be a fighter, and will miss the depth he might otherwise gain.

The second level is gained gradually, as the philosophy of the game seeps into the consciousness of the initiate. He will begin to notice this deeper meaning, and realize that it was always there, but he did not recognize it.

This second level is founded on the principle of malicia, the knowledge of humanity, life, suffering, joy, the driving force behind our actions. When you can see the cockiness, or the doubt, or the anger in a player, and can foresee his next move, you will also see it in the people around you, at work, at home. Another aspect of this level is the participation in the music, an interest in the history. The player will perhaps write their own songs, and if he indeed understands capoeira, they will be adopted by his camaras (comrades, or brothers).

After decades of immersion in the art of capoeira, the player becomes a master. He can instantly discern what goes on between two players, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. He will no longer feel the need to show off, he will be content to teach, to play and to learn.

This final level of capoeira was encountered the first time the berimbau played, it was always there, waiting to be uncovered.

Are you truly a Master?

---

I am indebted to Nestor's 'Little Capoeira Book', for the descriptions and songs in the above post. I left out a lot, so you should check it out at your local library if you are interested.

Extra Information for the curious:

Wikipedia: Capoeira
YouTube: Well played!
YouTube: Slow - this is the dancing aspect
YouTube: A Mestre - very skillful
Amazon: Read any book by Nestor

The Problem of Euclid

What is it about about Euclid's 47th Problem that has made it such a venerated symbol in Freemasonry?

This is a question that many masons have asked over the years. There are many answers to this question, all of them with some sort of merit (even if it just shows us the folly of looking too closely in the wrong direction). Let's start with the enigmas.

Euclid's 47th problem (or more properly, proposition) is merely a proof for the theorem first put forth by Pythagoras. Most of us learned about it in school by the name of the Pythagorean Theorem. There are actually more proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem than any other geometrical problem! Euclid was not the first to discover a proof for the theory, and so has no special claim to the theorem than many other mathematicians (including President Garfield). Why this specific answer to the theorem was chosen, is perhaps a clue to its inclusion in the degree.

Pythagoras is reported (by masons) to have exclaimed 'Eureka!' when he discovered the answer to the problem, and then to have sacrificed a hecatomb (or a 100 oxen) in gratitude. This is certainly excessive! The phrase Eureka is most famously attributed to Archimedes, exclaimed when he was bathing and 'discovered' the correspondence between volume and weight, i.e. mass. But, as Pythagoras was also a Grecian, this is permissible, although slightly confusing.

The most simple and straightforward solution is that the 47th problem was widely used by masons to figure perfect squares. Without this utilitarian theorem, their buildings would have ended up in a more trapezoidal form rather than having squared corners. This is certainly a reasonable meaning: a way to test your Square (one of the prime symbols of masonry for other reasons) would be crucial to success as an operative mason.

Allegorically, the 47th problem could be compared to any number of different symbolic triads in and out of the lodge. I personally find it interesting to compare the problem to the three pillars, Wisdom, Strength and Beauty as represented in the Kabbalistic tree of life. I was going to draw you all a cool little picture showing how the typical triangle of 3x5x7 fits over the tree and shows it pointing to Hokhmah (wisdom), Gevurah (severity, judgment or strength) and Tiferet (beauty or harmony... but it looks out of proportion when actually held up the the square. This phenomena ends up being true of most of the allegories applied to the problem, they don't hold up under investigation. When looking for an allegorical solution to Euclid's Proposition, make sure there is something more to it than that they both happen to have three sides or attributes.

A very popular idea that has been running around for about 2000 years (since Plutarch wrote about it) is that, to the Egyptians, the sides of the right triangle represented the Gods Osiris, Horus and Isis. Albert Pike refuted it by scoffing, and we are left wondering about the likelihood of both of them.

Another fascinating explanation, is put forth in this blog post. It gives a whole new slant to the question.

If we are looking for a mystical meaning behind the 47th proposition of Euclid, there are many avenues that we can explore. Albert Pike will take you to visit the Hindus, and expound upon the numbers 3, 5 and 7. Others will tell you how they relate to the Hermetic traditions, or Alchemy or a hundred other traditions. But, behind each of these complexities lies a more simple style of truth, teaching us how to apply their teachings and ideas to the way we live our lives. The 47th problem of Euclid won't actually turn lead into gold, or give you the ability to fly, but it just might give you the secret to living a fuller life if you look at it just the right way. If you happen to find one of its secrets, make sure to yell Eureka! when you do.