THE early expositors of Freemasonry regarded the Latin word LVX, " Light," as synonymous with their science, and they dwelt on the fact that by dividing the Circle into four equal parts they produced a Cross from which they got the outline of the three Roman letters needed to spell this word - LVX.
The Circle thus divided contained four right angles, that is, angles of 90°, the angles which we call "squares," as corresponding to the tool by which the operative Mason tries and adjusts rectangular corners of buildings. The lines drawn to do this is a cross, indicating the four directions, the four quarters of the globe, N.E.S.W. And this figure was actually used as a cryptogram for the mystic light which was imparted to the Candidate in Masonic Lodges. Mosheim, writing some 200 years ago, [6] confirmed this fact by the most interesting statement that in the secret writing of the Alchemists and Rosicrucians the said sign stood for the word "Light." For we should bear in mind that the Rosicrucians had drunk deep in Masonic fountains, and they, like the Masons, understood by the term light, "the knowledge of their science."
As a matter of fact, underlying the Ceremonies
practiced by the Freemasons of the present day, there is a system
of philosophy which is based on the lofty conception of the Most
High God as a Being who indwells the Light (compare the classic
epithet of Jupiter
Inlustris), and is Himself " light," as is declared
in the V. of the S.L. Masons are taught to think of Him as not
only Omnipresent and Omnipotent but Omniscient, and because of
the last we speak of " His all-seeing Eye," an expression
that we shall see conveys a world of meaning. All things are open
to Him, nothing is dark, nothing is hid. And those who are in
fellowship with Him, enjoy His light, even in the dark.
If, therefore, we would grasp the meaning
and purpose of what is said and done in the Lodge, we must keep
this fundamental thought [7] uppermost in our mind. In His light
shall we see light, wherever and however we may be placed, while
by tracing back this thought historically, we shall see ourselves
brought into partnership with the seers and saints of every age,
and we shall find that Masonry does indeed elucidate and clear
up many of the problems that have agitated the minds of all great
thinkers in the Past.
Bck to The Apocalypse Of Freemasonry [ Next ]
