First published 1927 e.v.

by Harry M. Welliver,
Seattle, WA., U.S.A.
THE LOST KEY
AN EXPLANATION AND APPLICATION
of the
MASONIC SYMBOLS
by

PRENTISS TUCKER, B.A.

Unſpeakable Preſs
333 Via Nefanda, Lelag, Leng
2005
 CONTENTS
SECTIONS PAGE
Questions on the Symbolism . . . . . . 1
I. The Hidden Meaning of the Masonic Symbolism . 1- 44 5
II. The Symbolism of the Lodge Room . . . . . 45- 84 19
III. The Lodges of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalem . 85-123 31
IV. The Great Lights. . . . . . . . . . 124-158 43
V. The Apron . . . . . . . . . . . 159-198 53
VI. The Working Tools . . . . . . . . . 199-218 66
VII. The Metals . . . . . . . . . . . 219-254 73
VIII. The Third Degree . . . . . . . . . 255-269 85
IX. The Method of Teaching—the Subjective Mind . 270-279 92
X. The Drama of the Third Degree . . . . . 280-297 97
XI. The Three Parts of Masonry . . . . . . 298-324 105
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

[As is obvious, this is an American work; and whilst many aspects of

Masonic ritual discussed are landmarks common to all “regular”
workings of the Craft degrees in English-speaking countries, a few are
peculiar to U.S. workings. The American “York Rite” rituals in
Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor appear in most (not quite all)
respects sufficiently close to those with which Tucker was familiar for
purposes of study.
It should not be assumed that the editor of this electronic edition
agrees with everything, or indeed anything, the author says. However
commenting on every doubtful or manifestly false assertion or lapse of
logic would make an unreadable mess of the whole thing as footnotes
and scholia eclipsed the text; the author’s text is thus presented as I
found it, with only manifest typographical errrors corrected and
without further annotation. Caveat lector.]
 QUESTIONS ON THE SYMBOLISM
Things Which Every Mason Ought to Know
1. What is an Emblem? (32)
2. What is a Symbol? (24)
3. What is the difference between an Emblem and a Symbol? (32)
4. What is an Allegory? (32)
5. What is the use of a Symbol in teaching? (18,24)
6. What is “Morality?” (30,31, 33)
7. What is the Official Definition of Masonry? (27)
8. What is the symbolic meaning of the Temple? (35)
9. What is the symbolic meaning of the “Oblong Square?” (93-95)
10. What is the symbolic meaning of the Lodge? (37, 45)
11. What does the Lodge Room symbolize? (45)
12. What is the symbolic meaning of the floor? (45)
13. What is the symbolic meaning of the half-step platform on each
side of the Lodge Room? (37, 45)
14. What is the symbolic meaning of the Junior Warden’s platform?
(47)
15. What is the symbolic meaning of the Senior Warden's
platform? (48)
16. What is the symbolic meaning of the Master’s platform? (49)
17. What Masons are going through the chairs? (51)
18. What is the principal symbol of all the Degrees? (57)
19. What is the symbolic meaning of the candidate? (56)
20. What does the physical body of the candidate symbolize? (60)
21. What is the symbolic meaning of the feet? (73)
22. What is the symbolic meaning of the legs? (78, 83)
23. What is the symbolic meaning of the arms? (78)
24. What is the symbolic meaning of the hands? (79)

1
2 The Lost Key
25. What is the symbolic meaning of the statement that the
candidate has come “from a Lodge of the Holy Sts. John at
Jerusalem?” (55)
26. What is the symbolic meaning of Jerusalem? (52)
27. What is the symbolic meaning of St. John the Baptist? (53)
28. What is the symbolic meaning of St. John .the Evangelist? (54)
29. What is the symbolic meaning of the Clothing? (62, 63)
30. What is meant by the phrase “neither naked nor clad?” (64-65)
31. What is the symbolic meaning of the Rite of Discalceation?
(100-102)
32. What is the double symbolic meaning of the Ashlar? (35)
33. Why is Masonry correcdy called a “Progressive Science?” (34)
34. What is the symbolic meaning of the Three Raps? (90-92)
35. What is the symbolic meaning of the Altar? (110-116)
36. Why must the candidate form the Oblong Square on the floor
before he can approach the Altar? (117)
37. Why are the Great Lights “seen” by aid of the Lesser Lights?
(149-157)
38. Is the Apron designed to represent a Square and a Triangle?
(160, 165)
39. What does the “Square” of the Apron symbolize? (160)
40. What does the Triangle symbolize? (160)
41. What is the symbolic meaning of the lambskin? (162)
42. What is the meaning when the Triangle is folded up? (164)
43. What is the meaning when the Triangle is folded down? (164)
44. What is denoted by the bottom line of the Triangle? (171)
45. What is the scientinc definition of Love? (187)
46. Why are linen Aprons used? (195)
47. What is the symbolic meaning of linen? (195)
48. What is meant by turning up the corner? (196)
49. Why has this custom become obsolete? (196)
50. Where does Masonry teach the necasity for thougbt control?
(49-51)
 Questions on the Symbolism 3
51. What is the Personality? (71-72)
52. What is the Individuality? (67)
53. What do the three Ruffians symbolize? (288)
54. What is the symbolic meaning of the Shoe? (74, 75)
55. What is the symbolic meaning of the Acacia? (290)
56. What is the meaning of the Winding Stairs? (242-252)
57. To what do the three, five and seven steps allude? (251)
58. What is the meaning of the Silver Cord? (314-315)
59. What is the meaning of the Cable-Tow? (314-315)
60. What is the symbolic meaning of the Grave? (292)
61. What is the Lion’s Paw? (291-297)
62. What is the symbolic meaning of the Pillars? (309-311)
63. What is the meaning of the Mosaic Pavement? (312)
64. What is the meaning of the “Lost Word?” (316-320)
65. What is the symbolic meaning of the Square as a Great Light?
(127-128)
66. What is the symbolic meaning of the Compasses as a Great
Light? (129)
67. What is the symbolic meaning of the Bible as a Great Light?
(125)
68. What is the symbolic meaning of the Square as a Working
Tool? (208-210)
69. What is the symbolic meaning of the Gavel? (204)
70. What is the symbolic meaning of the Gauge? (203)
71. What is the symbolic meaning of the Chisel? (207)
72. What is the symbolic teaching of the Level? (211-212)
73. What is the symbolic meaning of the Plumb? (213-218)
74. What is the symbolic meaning of metals? (222)
75. Why is the candidate devoid of metals? (225-226)
76. Why are the Wages paid only at the top of the Stairs? (254)
77. What is the most wonderful Working Tool of Masonry? (258)
78. What is the symbolic meaning of the Cement? (258)
79. What is the symbolic meaning of the Trowel? (259)
4 The Lost Key
80. What are the Working Tools of the Third Degree and why?
(267)
81. What are the two great agents in building up the Subjective
Mind? (274)
82. What is “Masonic Work?” (275)
83. What is “Masonic Light?” (276)
84. Who and what is Hiram Abif? (286, 289)
85. What are the “designs on the trestleboard?” (286-287)
86. How was Hiram Abif killed? (286)
87. What is the symbolic meaning of the Fellow Crafts? (296)
88. Into what three great divisions can Masonic Symbolism be
divided? (298-302)
89. How does the Educational Division differ from the Explanatory
Division? (298-299)
90. What is the symbolic meaning of the Blazing Star? (312)
91. What is the symbolic meaning of the “Ship?” (296)
92. What is the symbolic meaning of the Senior Grand Warden?
(297)
93. What is the symbolic meaning of Ethiopia? (296)
94. What is the symbolism of the two side lines of the Apron? (168)
95. What is, the meaning of the bottom line of the Apron?
(166-167)
96. What is symbolized by bending the knee? (120-121)
97. What is meant by putting the knee in the form of a square?
(237)
98. What is the object of the honest Masonic student? (248)
99. What is meant by the condition of the feet in the Third
Degree? (255)
100. When and why is the “oblong square” no longer tolerated?
(257)
 THE HIDDEN MEANING
OF
THE MASONIC SYMBOLISM
BY
PRENTISS TUCKER
—————————

CHAPTER I
1. Every Mason wants to know the meaning of the rites and
rituals, the symbols and ceremonies of Masonry. Although it may
have been years since he himself took that mystic journey towards
the East and though repeated fruitless searchings may have led him
to believe that the rumors of a wonderful philosophy which
Masonry contains are pure imagination, yet there still lingers, like
the sweet, faint fragrance which clings to old and faded garlands,
the thought that, after all, there may possibly be some meaning
under it.
2. And, in this intuitional thought or rather hope, he is right.
Although he never knew the reason why certain symbolic actions
were performed nor could his inquiries, addressed to others, elicit
any such information, he feIt that there must have been, at some
time; a definite idea upon which the symbolism was based. The
various books on Masonic Symbolism confine their attention
strictly. to a few of the more prominent symbols and do not take up
the ritual itself nor explain why certain things are done and certain
actions performed.
3. And so there is not a Mason, probably, who has not wondered,
perhaps dimly, perhaps hopelessly, whether there ever was a real
reason for the symbolic clothing and the shoes and for the various
5
6 The Lost Key
other details with which he is familiar. The rituals have seemed to
him at times to present the faint outlines of some systematic
arrangement, vague, elusive, impossible to define or trace, yet now
and then showing a wraith-like, ghostly presence, baffling but
curiously attractive. If there was no meaning in the various perfor-
mances of the rituals then why was so much trouble taken to
devise them and whence came that unwritten and yet most power-
ful impression that they must not be changed? Whence came that
vague feeling of reverence, almost of awe, with which Masons look
upon their Ritual? He found, after becoming accustomed to his
membership in the Fraternity, after “getting his bearings” as it
were, an organization of men bound together closely, and he began
to wonder of what the bonds consisted. Some of the members
themselves seemed to think that the bonds were mainly the social
features, yet these social features were insignificant when com-
pared with the social features of certain other fraternal organ-
izations. Others said that it was the beauty of the rituals but, when
they were asked to point out just what these beauties were and
what made them beautiful, they could not answer. Some said that
the tie was in the wonderful lessons, but there again, when these
very brothers were asked to indicate those wonderful lessons, the
answers were invariably vague, uncertain, undefined. There was
the feeling that the Rituals contained great lessons in morality but
as to what those lessons were there seemed to be no real infor-
mation. True, there were books on the Symbolism of Masonry, but
those books threw no real light upon the subject. They left the
great question as to the teachings of Masonry and the meanings of
the details of the symbolism as much in the dark, if not more in the
dark, than ever.
4. It is in the hope of partially clearing up this great conundrum
that the present volume is written. For the first time in the history
of the Craft, so far as the writer knows, there is an attempt to
 Chapter I. 7
explain the meaning of the symbolic actions of the Rituals in a
plain, straight-forward, common sense way. You have probably
often heard it remarked by some brother that he could not
understand why Masonry has had to veil its lessons, if indeed it had
any, under the cloak of allegory and symbolism and you have
heard, without a doubt, answers given to this most natural and
pertinent question. But the answers were so vague and dealt so
largely with matters not pertinent to the question that they failed
to convince or even to throw the faintest ray of light upon the
darkness. The great fact that symbols repeat upon the subjective
mind lessons which have already been learned, never seemed to
occur to the brothers who undertook the explanation. Nor did
they ever seem to grasu the fact that Masonry was originally a
School in which lessons were taught verbally and then repeated by
means of the Symbolism. These things and many others which are
at present “mysteries” to the rank and file and even to the leaders
of the great Order, will be developed in the course of this present
volume. As a first step in this explanation we will take up and
consider briefly the nature and function of a symbol.

T HE S YMBOLISM OF THE A MERICAN F LAG

5. You are, of course, familiar with the American Flag, the “Stars
and Stripes.” The Flag is a Symbol. It symbolizes, or represents,
the country and the power of the country. In a foreign land, raised
over a Consulate, it represents the United States of America and
those in that Consulate are under the “protection of the Flag.” Yet
the Flag, considered merely as a collection of vari-colored pieces of
cloth, could not protect anything. Should a mob, in some foreign
country, attack the Flag and tear it down and insult it, they would
not be offering their insults to the few pieces of cloth which
compose it. The insults are offered to the symbol of the country
and, through it, to the country itself.
8 The Lost Key
6. So the Flag is an ACTUAL SYMBOL in that it represents the
country. It did not need to be composed of Stars and Stripes.
When Congress was considering the adoption of a Flag it could
have chosen a piece of bunting with a picture of Washington in the
center, or it could have chosen a sort of checkerboard pattern or
any other pattern which it might have fancied. So, whatever other
symbolism the Flag may have, the ACTUAL SYMBOLISM does not
depend upon color or design. It depends upon the Act of Congress
which chose some sort of banner to represent or symbolize the
country.
7. The 48 Stars in the blue field symbolize or stand for the 48
States which compose the Union. There were not always 48 of
them and the time will probably come when there will be more
than 48, so that number is a chan going symbolism. It represents
the present condition or make-up of the country and hence the
Stars make the Flag a REPRESENTATIVE SYMBOL.
8. The 13 alternate red and white Stripes symbolize or represent
the 13 Original Colonies, hence the Flag is an HISTORICAL SYMBOL.
9. The red color symbolizes the blood shed by the patriots who
died to free and to preserve the country. Hence the Flag is a COM-
MEMORATIVE SYMBOL.

10. The white may be taken as symbolizing that national purity of

intention in our relations with other countries which has always
characterized the United States and the blue, the color of
devotion, symbolizes the conscientiousness of the nation and its
devotion to high ideals. Hence the white may be said to give the
Flag a MORAL SYMBOLISM while the blue makes it a DEVOTIONAL
SYMBOL.

11. From the above we can see that the symbolism of the Flag is
rather complex. It is: Actual, Effectual, Representative, Historical,
Moral and Devotional.
 Chapter I. 9
12. The Effectual symbolism comes from the fact that, when used
in the proper manner and by proper authority, it actually
represents the power of this country and when it is mistreated in
some foreign country the affront, directed really at the country,
may easily involve the two nations in war in which many lives may
be lost and countless millions in property destroyed.
13. The first two symbolisms of the Flag are the only really
necessary ones. The others are beautiful and instructive but are
not absolutely essential for few national flags have any such
symbolisms.
14. Before you can understand the Historical and the Represen-
tative symbolisms of the Flag you must study American History.
You must know about the Thirteen Original Colonies, their origin,
the causes which led up to the Revolution, the formation of the
country, etc. This takes time to learn, but the lessons are reveated
in a flash every time that you see a Flag. To understand the
Representative Symbolism you must know something of the com-
position of the country. This, also, takes time to learn, but this
lesson as well is repeated every time you see a Flag.
15. After you have studied these things and have been told what
the other symbolic meanings of the Flag are, then, whenever you
see the Flag, all these meanings are repeated on your mind in the
twinkling of an eye. Hence one of the greatest uses of a symbol is
to repeat some lesson which has been previously learned and to
impress it again upon the mind and to do this instantaneously and
dramatically.
16. Suppose that, instead of the Flag in a procession, we hired a
man with a loud voice whose duty would be to ride in advance and
shout out the lessons in history and other things which the Flag
teaches silently. What a farce that would be!
10 The Lost Key
17. Suppose that a man from Mars stood on the street and
watched the Flag go by. Would he uriderstand the lessons in
history and other things which are taught by the Flag? He would
not. They must be taught verbally, first. After that, the lessons are
repeated instantaneously every time one sees a Flag. But if the one
who sees the Flag has never been taught the lessons in the history
and composition of the country he cannot understand the symbolic
meanings of the Flag nor would he know that the Stars and Stripes
are placed there to teach something and are not merely ornaments
of some chance design.
18. The value of a Symbol is that it repeats instantly some
PREVIOUSLY LEARNED LESSON. But the lesson must have been
learned beforehand for few symbols are so very simple that they can
be understood without some previous knowledge or instruction.
19. The Mason who does not understand the symbolism of the
Three Degrees is in the same position as the man from Mars would
be with regard to the lessons of the Flag. The Mason sees the
rituals gone through and the symbols shown, but they mean
nothing to him and so he misses the lessons which they teach. The
Mason misses these lessons because the original VERBAL EXPLANA-
TIONS which accompanied the symbo1s have been lost to Masonry.

20. The restoration of this teaching is the purpose of this present

volume. Owing to the fact that Masonry is a Progressive Science
the teaching of the Three Degrees forms one continuous and inter-
locking whole. One symbol follows and depends upon another and
symbolism melts into symbolism in such a way that they constitute
one homogeneous and self-proving entity. Therefore, although the
reader may not feel entirely confident at the outset that the
present explanation can possibly be the true one which has been so
long sought, he will find, when he has reached the end of the
volume and quietly thinks the matter over, that the explanation is
 Chapter I. 11
SELF-PROVING. Any wrong explanation would infallibly act much
as the proverbial monkey wrench thrown into the well known cog
wheels.
21. At the present time these explanations are lost to Masonry.
But, as Masonry is a System of Morality or a system of ethical in-
struction, and as the lessons involved are wrapped up in allegories
and symbols which are, at present, not understood, the restoring of
these explanations to Masonry constitutes the greatest service
which can be rendered to the great Fraternity. It will change the
dry husks of the Rituals which are, at present, only suspected of
harboring a concealed teaching, into living, breathing, vital and
dramatic lessons in right living and right thinking which will make
the Masonic Fraternity the greatest moral force in the world. It
will restore the soul of Masonry to the body of the Rituals and so
will be an actual resurrection, like the Drama of the Third Degree.
22. If this be true, and the present writer firmly believes that it is,
then this volume, should it accomplish the task set for it, will be of
inestimable value not only to Masonry but also to humanity at
large. The study of the real meaning of the Masonic Symbolism
will not be merely the gratifying of curiosity on your part but it will
mark a new era in your life and will give you a new viewpoint from
which to regard the Craft and those great souls who, in the dim
ages of the past, devised this wonderful system of instruction.
23. In this present volume the writer hopes to show that the
prevailing subconscious impression which so many Masons have is
not mistaken. There IS a Philosophy of Masonry. There IS a
Hidden Teaching. There IS a Golden Thread. There is a depth of
wonderful wisdom hidden within these various ritualistic husks
and, when you realize the beauty and the vital life within them,
your love for Masonry will be increased ten-fold, no, I should say a
thousand-fold.
12 The Lost Key
24. Now that we have seen that a symbol is like a shorthand
repetition of some previously learned lesson and that the value of
the symbol, as a lesson repeater, depends upon our having already
learned the verbal explanation of the meaning of the symbol, we
should go on and get a clear definition of Masonry itself. Defini-
tions are very important, so important that their value cannot be
over-estimated for, when we have no exact definitions we are
talking more. or less in the dark. For instance, a man may pe
speaking of a road ap.d have in his mind the picture of a modern,
concrete highway. A countryman, hearing him, one who had
never seen a smooth, modern road, would have in his mind the
picture of an old time country road, rutty and full of “chuck-holes.”
The first man, telling of driving an automobile at a speed of sixty or
seventy miles an hour over this “road” could be set down by the
countryman as an accomplished liar and all because they had
different definitions of the same word.
25. Or the first man may be speaking of a bridge and have in mind
a modern suspension bridge and speak of its cost running into mil-
lions. The listener, never having seen or heard of a bridge of that
kind and being used only to small and inexpensive structures, sets
the speaker down as a second Baron Munchausen.
26. So, before we can even begin our study into the meaning of
the symbolism, we must have certain definitions clearly fixed in our
minds. We must know exactly what is meant by the word
“Masonry” or by the word “Morality” or by the word “Symbol.”
We must know what is meant by the term “Natural Law” or by the
term “Allegory.” The ideas which are brought up in the minds of
many by these words are often confused and contradictory hence
definitions are of the utmost importance in this study. It does not
matter whether the definition given is one which you are used to or
not so long as you understand clearly what is meant by the word
whenever it is used in the course of this treatise for then you will
 Chapter I. 13
know what the author means and can adapt his meaning or
definitions in your own mind.
27. We have gained a good idea of the meaning of a symbol. Now
what, exactly, is Masonry? The English Lectures and our own
Monitors, define Masory as A SYSTEM OF MORALITY, VEILED IN
ALLEGORY AND ILLUSTRATED BY SYMBOLS. Mackey agrees with this
definition in his Masonic Encyclopedia as do other authorities, and
we will take it as correct. But it gives us several other words which
must be defined in clear-cut terms. Let us take the word “System”
first.
28. According to the dictionary, “system” means “An orderly
combination or arrangement as of particulars, parts or elements,
into a whole, especially such combination according to some
rational principle or organic idea giving it unity and completeness.”
29. A “system,” then, is a combination of parts into one whole.
This involves a sort of unity among the parts for our definition says
that the combination is in accordance with some rational principle.
Each part must depend upon the other parts or there is no
“rational principle or organic idea” in the matter at all. Here is a
point which all investigators of Masonic Symbolism seem to have
overlooked. The invariable custom, in writing about Masonic
Symbolism, has been to take isolated and particular symbols and
attempt to give some sort of meaning to each without the slightest
reference to its position in the ritual or to any other symbol
whatever. As this treatise develops the reader will see the vital
necessity of understanding what a “system” really is.
30. No what is “Morality?” This is one of the most misunderstood
words in the whole dictionary since the modern and careless use of
it has restricted it, largely, in its everyday use, to some sort of
reference with regard to the relations of the sexes. But, in the
Masonic sense, the word is used in its broader and more correct
14 The Lost Key
meaning. Let us quote again from the dictionary. Morality—The
doctrine or system of man’s moral duties, including all that is due
to God and man. Moral conduct. Virtue as distinguished from
religious duty.
31. In other words, Morality is the living of a life in conformity
with the laws of God. It is living as nearly right as one knows how
in one’s relations with one’s environment. The “environment”
includes all those with whom we come into any sort of relation in
the world. The man who steals is immoral. The man who gives
short weight is immoral. The man who grafts in any position
whether public or private, is immoral. Anyone who violates the
rules of right conduct in any department of life is, to that extent,
immoral. The moral man tries to live up to his highest conception
of truth and right and justice.
32. The word “Symbol” we have already defined. An allegory is
much the same thing as a symbol extended. It is a sort of story
which sets forth some truth. It is the illustrating of some subject
under the guise of some other subject. An Emblem is an object
used to symbolize something. Thus an emblem is always a symbol
but a symbol is not always an emblem, because words are symbols,
whereas an emblem is some sort of object, such as a pin worn to
symbolize something.
33. Morality is the living of a life in conformity with our highest
ideals, of obedience to the Divine Law. Masonry starts off by
asking you whether you believe in God. If you do not believe in
God you cannot become a Mason. Yet it goes no further. It does
not ask you to define God. It does not ask you what church you
belong to or whether you belong to any. It recommends prayer,
but does not demand thut you pray.
34. Masonry is a consecutive whole. It is a Progressive science
because it actually does progress in regular order in the lessons
 Chapter I. 15
which it teaches. The symbols interlock. No real explanation of
Masonry takes one symbol and tries to explain it without showing
what are the relations between that symbol and other symbols.
Masonry is not a religion nor does it take the place of a religion.
Masonry is a system of ethics or moral conduct. Genuine religion
must include morality but the science of morality does not include
religion.
35. The allegory of the building of the Temple is the framework
upon which the Symbolism is hung. It is a very appropriate choice
and it fits the needs of the teaching exactly. Each one of us is
building the Temple of his own character and also we are all
building the greater Temple of Humanity. In the one, each of our
characteristics and qualities is a stone or “ashlar.” In the other,
each one of us is an “ashlar,” rough at first but gradually smoothed
and polished and perfected until we are fit to be built into the great
temple of the Human Race.
36. Now as to the symbolic meaning of the Lodge. In common
with most symbols, the Lodge has more than one meaning but, in
order to avoid confusion we shall take up but one meaning at
present, remembering, however that this explanation does not
contradict the fact that the Lodge has also other meanings.
37. The Masonic Lodge, when properly constructed, is an “oblong
square,” with a low platform along the two sides which is raised a
half step or slightly less than a full step, above the level of the floor.
The floor of the Lodge symbolizes or stands for or represents the
ordinary level of humanity, the mental and moral level of the “man
in the street.” The platform which lines the sides and which is
raised a half-step above the floor is where the Master Masons sit
during the proceedings and it symbolizes the fact that those who sit
there are supposed to have, to a certain extent at least, gained
control of their lower natures or risen slightly above the level of the
16 The Lost Key
ordinary, uninstructed man. They are supposed to have received
lessons in ethics or moral conduct by means of which they have
risen above the level of the materialistic and the sensual. Hence it
symbolizes a partial conquest of the lower nature.
38. The instructions given in Masonry are instructions in obed-
ience to the Laws of the Grand Architect of the Universe. All
such “Laws” are merely our observations of the way in which the
Deity works. Laws of Nature are as much Laws of God as are the
Laws of Morality. We live in a universe which is governed by Law
and in proportion to the degree with which we conform to these
Laws will we be happy and comfortable.
39. The Laws of Nature such as the Laws of Gravity, Physics,
Chemistry, etc., shade imperceptibly into those other Laws, also
Laws of Nature, which govern in the realms of Morals, of Mind and
of Spirit. The study of any good text book on Psychology will
teach us that there are immutable Laws which govern the mind
and its development and we know that these are interwoven with
the Laws of Morality.
40. It may help us in our study if we will separate these Laws into
two classes and, although this classification is entirely arbitrary, it
will materially assist us in getting a clearer idea of the Purpose of
Masonry. These two classes of Natural Law are the “Quick Acting”
and the “Slow Acting.” There are some Laws of Nature in which
the result follows so close upon the heels of the cause that
humanity is able to learn these Laws without assistance. There is
no savage so primitive or so stupid that he does not know be will
fall if he steps off a cliff or that he will be hurt if a rock falls upon
him. This is an example of “quick acting” Law.
41. But the Laws which govern in the higher realms, the mind for
instance, are different in this, that the result of any particular cause
is not observable for some time. Other causes intervene until it is
 Chapter I. 17
almost impossible to trace back from any particular effect arid
discover the real cause which generated it. Yet these Laws, though
slow of action, are none the less immutable and their effect upon
man is just as great as is the effect of any other Law. One of the
objects of any religious system is to teach humanity what these
“slow action” Laws are, their importance, and the way to obey
them or to live in conformity with them.
42. In the early days of humanity there were various forms of
religiori which were originally iritended to teach such things but
these religions became corrupted until their teachings were often
in the very opposite direction. There were also great “Schools” of
what were then called the “Mysteries” but which were nothing
more than schools which taught the nature and effect of these
“slow acting” Laws of Nature. Masonry is the remnant of one of
these Schools and that its teaching was just what has been outlined
above will be shown in the following pages. But Masonry has lost
the explanation of the symbols which contain its teaching and the
restoration of this explanation will make Masonry once more a
great School of the Mysteries of Nature or rather of what were
once “Mysteries” but which are mysteries no longer. The infor-
mation that the earth revolves around the sun was once one of the
most arcane of the mysteries. Now every school boy knows it to be
a fact.
43. We need no elaborate system of allegory and symbol to teach
us not to step off a cliff or not to submerge our heads under water,
or not to step on a sharp stone. But we do need teaaching in the
nature and effect of the “slow acting” Laws of Nature almost as
much now as in the early days of the race. The moral teachings of
Masonry are in perfect conformity with the teachings of Christ
and, as they put the same things in a different and dramatic
manner, are of extraordinary value. They are not, however,
religious teachings. They are moral teachings. Morality is the basis
18 The Lost Key
of religion and is the foundation upon which any religious super-
structure must be built. That religion which ignores morality as its
basis and foundation was most scorchingly condemned by Christ
Himself in his denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees of His day
and we must always keep this fact in mind, that Masonry teaches
us the great “slow acting” Laws of Nature but does not teach
religion. Hence Masonry is a Philosophy, not a religion. But it is a
School in the very things which must be used in building the foun-
dation for religion.
44. Masonry, then, is a School in which is taught the nature and
effect of those “slow acting” Laws which are just as disastrous in
their effect when disobeyed as are the Laws of Gravity or Physics.
It is a School in the Laws which govern character-building and the
development of the spiritual in man for man cannot develop
morally or spiritually unless such development is based upon the
knowledge of and obedience to the great Moral Laws.
 CHAPTER TWO
The Symbolism of the Lodge Room
45. The Masonic Lodge symbolizes or represents the individual
man. The floor of the Lodge typifies the level of ordinary humanity
and stands for the environment of the individual, the people with
whom he is thrown into contact, his friends and associates,
business and social. The low platform on the side of the Lodge
symbolizes the fact that the Master Mason who sits there is
supposed to have put into practice the lessons taught him by the
Lodge until he has risen, in character, somewhat above the level of
the “man on the street.” He is supposed to have gained some
control over his lower nature. What that lower nature is we shall
presently see.
46. We must always bear it in mind that, symbolically speaking,
every Mason is “going through the chairs.” Every Mason has that
within his being which corresponds, not only with the candidate
but also to the various Officers of the Lodge and the platforms and
their meanings should impress upon his mind the fact that, sooner
or later, the great Law will demand that he meet the requirements
of which these platforms are symbolic.
47. The one-step platform of the Junior Warden symbolizes the
fact that this Officer is supposed to have gained complete control
of his physical, carnal nature and hence is elevated one fun step
above the level of the ordinary humanity.
48. The two-step platform of the Senior Warden symbolizes the
fact that the Officer who sits there, theoretically at least, is
19
20 The Lost Key
supposed to have gained complete control of his physical and also
of his emotional natures.
49. The three-step platform in the East symbolizes the fact that
the Worshipful Master is supposed to have gained control or to
have conquered his three lower natures, PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL
and MENTAL.
50. Did you eyer try to control your thoughts? If so, you know
what a hard task it is. The physical body is comparatively easy to
control. The emotions and desires are much more difficult, but the
mind is like a wild and unruly horse, full of tricks and hard to curb.
Nevertheless, Masonry teaches, in these platforms as well as in
many other places which we shall point out later on, the necessity
for control of the thought.
51. Remember that EVERY Mason is going through the chairs in
the great Lodge of his own inner nature. He may never do this in
the physical Lodge for there the number which can occupy the
chairs is limited. But that makes no difference in the symbology for
the demands of the platforms as to self control are demands which
the Great Law makes upon every man and when a Mason enters a
Lodge Room the silent lesson of the platforms should come home
to him as a wonderful, dramatic teaching of that which the Grand
Architect expects of him and so he should enter the Lodge Room
as a place which is holy.

T HE L ODGE OF THE H OLY S AINTS J OHN

AT J ERUSALEM

52. The candidate is supposed to have come from “A Lodge of the

Holy Saints John at Jerusalem.” Let us examine this symbolic
statement and see what it really means. Jerusalem has the
symbolic meaning of peace for that is the meaning of the name.
You will remember that the toilsome journey of the Israelites over
 Chapter II. 21
the desert ended symbolically, if not exactly, at Jerusalem. So
Jerusalem rneans, symbolically, a place of peace, of rest, of
contentment.
53. St. John the Baptist was the rough and somewhat uncouth
individual, dressed in skins, who came into Jerusalem preaching
repentance from sins. He symbolizes the awakening MORAL
NATURE. He stirs up the individual who had heretofore been
satisfied with himself and his condition and impels him to seek for
something higher just as John the Baptist stirred up the people of
Jerusalem and awakened them out of their lethargy. So does the
awakening of the moral nature stir up the individual.
54. St. John the Evangelist, the “Beloved Disciple” symbolizes the
awakened Spiritual Nature which leads the soul onwards and
upwards in its search for TRUTH.
55. The statement that the candidate has “come from a Lodge of
the Holy Sts. John at Jerusalem” may be put thus:—“All my life, up
to very recently, I have been living at peace, contented with that
spiritual and moral teaching which was given me. But then there
came a change and somehow I felt that there was a higher teaching
which I might have could I only find it. This feeling of dissatis-
faction disturbed me and I began to look for this wonderful
instruction which I felt would do me so much good. Finally my
intuition led me to the door of the Masonic Lodge and I felt, some-
how, that within that Lodge I would receive the wisdom-teaching
which I craved. My course thus far is symbolic of that well known
passage of Scripture, ‘Seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall
receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.’ ”

T HE P RINCIPAL S YMBOL
56. The lessons of Masonry are given to the candidate. But what
is that in us which receives and learns a lesson? Is it not the mind,
22 The Lost Key
the intelligence? The physical body does not learn a lesson, it is
the mind within which learns. So the real candidate is the mind or
intelligence of the one who is going through the initiation.
57. But we are usually prone to forget very easily and so, to make
the lessons more emphatic, Masonry requires the candidate to help
in acting out the initiations. He is required to take certain
positions, to go through certain acts. The physical body is placed
in certain positions in order to impress upon the real candidate, the
mind within, the particular lessons which are intended to be
taught. The candidate goes through all the initiations and in them
all his physical body is used to impress certain truths upon his
mind. Hence the candidate (his physical body) is the Principal
Symbol of all the Degrees because he is used in all the symbology.
58. But the candidate is a composite thing, when we consider him
as being a symbol. The symbology does not take him as just one
single entity except in the instance in which it regards him as
symbolizing the mind. It looks on him from various angles and in
various lights so it is necessary that we get the various meanings of
the candidate firmly fixed in our minds as otherwise we cannot
understand the meaning of much of the symbolism.
59. In the first place we must realize that every human being has
two great subdivisions, the VISIBLE and the INVISIBLE. So the
candidate has a visible body and he also has an invisible division of
his nature which you may call as you will, spirit, soul, mind or by
whatever other name you prefer to designate it. But the invisible
part of him is the part that learns the lessons and the visible part of
him is that part which is used to symbolize the lessons to be
learned. So the two great subdivisions of the candidate are the
physical body and the great invisible part of his being.
60. You have a friend whom you love and respect. But you know
perfectly well that, although the physical body is all that you can
 Chapter II. 23
see, it is not the physical body which you particularly. admire. It is
the character, the various traits and qualities of that invisible nart
of him which you admire. It is his intelligence, his kindness, his
compassion for others, his helpfulness, all these things are the
things which you love in him and they are not the physical body,
they are traits of mind and character, not of physique.
61. But the physical body is all that you can see. These other
traits which we lump under the term “character,” although they
are the most important part of our friend, are not visible to mortal
eyes. We cannot see the character. We may see some of its effects
in certain actions and in certain lines on the face, but the
character itself we cannot see. So the Masonic Symbolism, wishing
to portray in a symbolic or pictorial or dramatic manner certain
actions of, or lessons given to, that great inner and invisible man,
accomplishes this end by placing the visible part of the candidate,
the physical body, in certain positions. From this it follows that we
must know the basis of that symbolism in order to understand what
those positions and conditions mean. Let us take up one of the
most important symbolisms which is yet but very slightly under-
stood, that of the Clothing.

T HE C LOTHING
62. If the physical body of the candidate symbolizes his invisible
self, the self which learns the lessons, that is, the mind, then we
can easily see how fitly the clothing is used to symbolize anything
which surrounds that mind and prevents it from coming into
contact with exterior objects. But what is that which surrounds a
mind and prevents it from coming into contact with exterior
objects and, also, what exterior objects can a mind contact? A
mind must contact (or touch) something of its own nature, must it
not? Hence the mind contacts thought. What surrounds a mind
and prevents that mind from coming into contact with a thought
24 The Lost Key
except PREJUDICE? The prejudiced mind is shut in from all
thought. Prejudice, or prejudging, shuts in a mind as clothing
shuts in a body. As the clothing prevents the body from touching
physical objects so does prejudice prevent a mind from touching
truth or a new thought.
63. Hence the primary meaning of the Clothing is Prejudice. But
there are two kinds of prejudice, a lower and a higher. The lower
grade of prejudice prevents a mind from contacting any new
thought merely because it is new. It is a prejudice against anything
new or unaccustomed. There is a higher kind of prejudice, that
which prevents a mind from contacting anything which is evil and
base and vile. Both are prejudice but the one is harmful and
limiting and is the same sort of prejudice which condemned Galileo
because his judges were too stupid to consider a new thought or to
use their faculty of reason. The higher sort of prejudice is that
prejudice which the mind has in favor of that which is pure and
good and true. It is the innate love of righteousness.

N EITHER N AKED NOR C LAD

64. So when the candidate is said to be “neither naked nor clad”
it means that he has laid aside his outer clothing of every day wear
and has put on certain symbolic garments furnished to him by the
Lodge and that he is thereby symbolizing the fact that he has laid
aside his prejudice and preconceived opinions and is coming, open
minded, to this great School of Truth where he will not reject any
teaching merely because it is new and unaccustomed but will
carefully consider that which is to be taught to him.
65. Such is the lower meaning of the clothing. But the candidate
is not unclothed. This is to symbolize the fact that, while he is
openminded and ready to be taught new truths, these must be
along the lines of the moral, the true and the good. He is still
protected by that clothing which symbolizes a love for the pure and
 Chapter II. 25
the clean and the righteous. This lesson of the Clothing is one of
the most important and most beautiful in the entire symbolic
system and we will do well to take it to heart and ask ourselves
continually whether we are approaching some study such as this
study into the meanings of the Symbolism, in a truly Masonic
manner, that is, “neither naked nor clad.”

T HE N ATURE OF M AN
66. There is a still further subdivision of the nature of man which
must be understood by the student for, as there is the physical body
which is visible and as that visible body is divided into parts and
limbs, so there are various subdivisions of the inner man which are
symbolized by the various parts of the physical body. In order that
we may have a clear idea of this subdivision we should carefully
study the accompanying diagram which will be frequently referred

}
to in the pages which are to follow.
67. 1. SPIRIT
2. HIGHER OR ABSTRACT
} Individuality or Ego
or
The Man

}
MIND HIGHER SELF
in His
3. LOWER OR CONCRETE
Personality or Lower Waking
MIND
Nature from which is Conscious-
4. EMOTIONAL NATURE
developed the ness
5. PSYCHIC NATURE
LOWER SELF
6. PHYSICAL NATURE

68. The physical body we are all familiar with. The Psychic
Nature is very closely allied to what we call the “Subjective Mind.”
The Emotional Nature is the nature of emotions and wishes and
longings. These are very frequently not mental in their nature but
arise from certain desires of the lower natures. If the student
desires to get a more detailed idea of these matters he would do
well to study some good text book on Psychology from which he
will soon learn that the invisible part of man is a very complex
thing and, if he has been wise enough to select a really scientific
26 The Lost Key
treatise, he will be surprised at the degree of ignorance concerning
such matters which characterizes the average member of the Craft.
69. The Higher Mind or “Abstract Mind” as it is frequently called
because it designates those mental powers which we use when we
consider some “abstracf” matter such as higher mathematics, Philo-
sophy, etc., is closely allied to the spirit while the Lower Mind or
“Concrete Mind” is so called because it is the mental power which
deals with “concrete” or definite matters, such as affairs of busi-
ness, such things which have shape and form and it is more closely
allied to the physical. When we say that two and two make four
we are not specifying any particular things. The numbers are
abstract. But when we say that two apples added to two apples
make four apples then we are dealing with concrete and definite
objects and so we divide the mind or mental powers into two great
divisions, “Concrete” and “Abstract.”
70. Referring to this diagram you will see at once the sharp
distinction which is made between “Personality” and “Individ-
uality.” The word “Personality” comes from the Latin “Persona,”
which meant the mask that the ancient actors used when portray-
ing a part upon the stage. They wore a mask which was painted
and shaped to correspond to the character which they were sup-
posed to represent. “Per” means through and “sona” means sound,
so it was the thing through which the voice of the actor sounded.

P ERSONALITY
71. Hence the Personality is the mask through which the Spirit,
that great immortal and eternal part of us, speaks out its little part
upon the stage of human life.
72. If you will refer again to the diagram you will see that the
Personality includes the lower mind, the emotional nature, the
psychic nature and the physical body or physical nature. These
 Chapter II. 27
four natures correspond to the square of the Apron and are
sometimes called the “Lower Quartemary.” It is by the Personality
that you know your friend. You recognize him by his physical
body, perhaps, but it is through his various qualities and attributes,
through what you know of his emotional nature and his habits and
characteristics of thought that you know and like him as well as
through your knowledge of his physical characteristics.
73. So it is through the Personality that your friend or any human
being really touches or “contacts” the world. Most reasonably,
then, we would expect to find the Personality symbolized by that
part of the body which touches or “contacts” the symbolic repre-
sentation of the environment, the floor of the Lodge. This part of
the physical body, obviously, is the feet. Hence the feet symbolize
the Personality.
74. But the actual, physical contact of the spirit with the world is
through the physical body although the body is but the machine, so
to speak. You know and like your friend by knowing his person-
ality but you recognize that personality, when you meet it on the
street, by recognizing the psyical body. So we may say that the
physical body comes between the personality and the environment.
Now what comes between the feet and the floor? Is it not the
shoes? Now let us see what we have:
75. PHYSICAL BODY symbolizes the mind.
FEET. symoblizes the personality.
SHOES symbolizes the physical body, also the power to
advance.
FLOOR OF THE LODGE symbolizes the environment.

S YMBOLISM OF THE B ODY

76. The body or, we might say, the trunk of the body, symbolizes
the mind. But the body has four limbs, two upper limbs which are
the arms and two lower limbs, the legs. The limbs, representing
28 The Lost Key
the activities or the active powers of the body (trunk) symbolize
the mental powers or activities. They are right and left, right arm
and left arm and right and left legs.
77. Practically everybody uses the right arm or hand with more
facility than he does the left. This is so universal that the
exception is quite remarkable, but from this general rule has come
the practice, in symbolic usage, of designating the right side as the
active and positive side and the left side as the negative, receptive
side. In ancient times this distinction might have required consid-
erable explanation but in modern times there should be no one
who is not familiar to some extent with the fact that every magnet
or dynamo has its positive and negative poles, the positive pole
being that which is active, outgoing, and the negative pole being
the exact opposite, passive and incoming. So the two sides repre-
sent the polarity of the body or, when used symbolically, the
polarity of the mind or spirit.
78. The arms, being the higher limbs, would naturally symbolize or
represent the higher powers of the mind while the legs, the lower
limbs, would represent the lower powers of the mind or the powers
of the lower rnind. When the candidate walks from place to place
on the floor of the Lodge it is by moving his legs. Hence the legs
symbolize the lower mental activities, those which are used by the
personality in its progress in the world, in its environment. They
are both positive and negative, right and left.
79. The arms are also classified as positive (right) and negative
(left) and at the extremity of each arm is the corresponding hand
which directs the activities of the arm. The hands, then, are the
directive faculties of the higher mental powers or activities. Simi-
larly the feet would be the directive faculties of the lower mental
activities (legs). Like the arms and legs the hands and feet are also
classified as both positive (right) and negative (left).
 Chapter II. 29
80. How well this classification fits in with the phenomena of life
as we observe them can be understood at a glance. A man
progresses in his business life, in his environment, by the use of his
lower mental faculties. When one decides to go into business he
uses his lower mental faculties to pick out a location, to decide as
to whether this location will bring enough trade to his store or
business to his office. The mental powers which he uses for this
purpose are not the higher or abstract powers of the mind but the
common, everyday “horse-sense.” So he progresses or advances in
his everyday life, his environment, by the use of his lower mental
activities, just as the candidate progresses or advances over the
floor of the Lodge by the movement of his legs.
81. He can make this advance in his environment because he has
a physical body. Had he no body he could not engage in business
for no one could see him. He would be a disembodied ghost. Now
the body is the shoe of the spirit or inner man and, in like manner
as the physical body enables the inner man, the invisible man to
advance in his environment, so do the shoes on the feet (which
enable the physical body to advance) symbolize the power to
advance.
82. These subdivisions of the body are very important so it would
be well to get them firmly fixed in the mind and the very best way
to understand them is to understand the reason why the various
limbs are assigned these various meanings. The student will do well
to go over the following table and get it thoroughly impressed upon
his mind for it is the key to most of the meanings of the Masonic
Symbolism.
83. PHYSICAL BODY—Symbolizes the Mind.
FEET—Symbolize positive and negative aspects of the Personality.
LEGS—Symbolize Lower Mental Activities, positive and negative.
ARMS—Symbolize Higher Mental Activities, positive and negative.
30 The Lost Key
HANDS—Symbolize directive principle of the Higher Mental
Activities, positive and negative.
FEET—Symbolize directive principle of the Lower Mental Activities,
positive and negative.
SHOES—Symbolize Physical Body, positive and negative aspects.

84. You will see from the above that the feet have a double
symbolic meaning but these meanings do not conflict. The feet are
the personality in its positive and negative aspects and they also
symbolize the directive principle ol the lower mental activities.
The shoes symbolize the physical body, positive and negative
aspects and, when they are on the feet, they symbolize the POWER
TO ADVANCE for the reasons stated in Section (81).
 CHAPTER THREE
The Lodge of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalcm
85. The candidate is supposed to have come from a Lodge of the
Holy Saints John at Jerusalem, and this phrase has long puzzled
Masons who have been at great pains to discover some historical
mention of a Lodge at Jerusalem but have been unable to do so.
When taken literally the phrase is meaningless, the labored
attempts to hang some sort of historical instruction on it being
hardly worth notice. But when this phrase is taken symbolically it
is full of meaning and instruction though it may well make most of
us feel a sense of shame at the other motives which actually
prompted us to join the Order.
86. Jerusalem has, when taken symbolically, the meaning of peace,
rest, contentment. The name means “City of Peace.” We
considered this statement in its symbolic aspect in Section 52-55
but it is so prominent an item in the Masonic Symbolism and has
caused so much speculation and wonder as to why it should be
mentioned at all that it is well to make the matter as clear as
possible.
87. At about the age of fourteen the human animal experiences
an entire alteration in its outlook upon life. Then starts that
period which is referred to by Shakespeare as “Flaming Youth” in
which the natural exhuberance and enthusiasm of youth is
enhanced by these newly awakened natural forces. During this
period the young person of either sex is very difficult to manage,
they usually considering it to be an obvious fact that their wisdom

31
32 The Lost Key
and knowledge is of a very much superior grade to that of the older
persons about them whose continued admonitions and advice have
grown so monotonous. This is a very dangerous period in human
life both morally and physically. since the individual is liable to fly
off on a moral tangent from which recovery may be difficult. This
condition of mental and sometimes moral blindness which is quite
characteristic of the years immediately following puberty and
which is also distinguished by that usual feeling of self-satisfaction
and self-sufficiency, is very aptly symbolized by the condition of the
people of Jerusalem at the time when John the Baptist came in
from the desert, clothed in skins and rebuking the people for their
sins.
88. Then comes the time when, the first flaming of youth having
passed, the man is brought into contact with the world where he
has got to make a living for himself. He is brought into contact
with hard and cold facts and soon finds out that his supposed great
wisdom was nothing but the customary foolishness of youth and
inexperience. After he becomes accustomed to this great shock,
usually after the lapse of several years when he begins to notice
that the birthdays are clicking off with remarkable rapidity, he
begins to wonder whether there is any deeper knowledge available
of life and its purposes. This feeling is symbolized by the coming of
John the Baptist and his stirring up of the people of Jerusalem.
Our feeling of satisfaction and contentment is disturbed by the
AWAKENING MORAL NATURE.

89. This feeling of dissatisfaction tends to break up the condition

symbolized by “Jerusalem” and the subsequent search for some
form of instruction is symbolically represented by St. John the
Evangelist who represents the intuitional urge of the Higher Self or
the AWAKENING OF THE SPIRITUAL NATURE which finally directs us
to the door of the Masonic Lodge. The candidate is already a
Mason in the sense that he is a “Builder” who desires more
 Chapter III. 33
technical instruction in the art of building and so it is perfectly
natural that he come to a School of Instruction for teachung.

T HE T HREE R APS
90. A rap upon a door is, symbolically, equivalent to a request for
the knowledge which is held by those behind the door. A knock
on the door of a school is a symbolic request for the instruction of
that school. We are accustomed to this use of the term. It is quite
understandable to say of such and such a man that he “knocked
upon the doors of Plato’s School and was taught in the wisdom of
that sage philosopher.” Or, we might say, “He left the forests of
the North and journeyed south to knock upon the gates of
Harvard University in search of knowledge.” In either case we
would be using the very same symbology nor would even the most
unenlightened reader need to ask for an explanation.
91. But why the THREE raps? Why not one or two or four? Simply
because he is asking, symbolically, for instruction in the three great
departments of his lower nature, the physical, emotional and
mental. Hence the three raps which correspond to the three steps
of the Master’s platform.
92. We must never lose sight of the fact that a symbol may have
many meanings. Almost always it has more than one meaning and
we must also realize that the use of any person or thing as a symbol
does not in the slightest degree imply any denial whatever of the
historicity or actuality of that person or thing. The use of the
Saints John as symbols does not imply a denial of their actual
existence. The candidate himself is the principal symbol of each
Degree and surely no one could possibly think that the existence of
the candidate is denied.
34 The Lost Key

T HE O BLONG S QUARE
93. In ancient times it was customary to refer to any four-sided
figure with square corners as a “square.” When the figure hap-
pened to be equilateral it was then spoken of as a “perfect square.”
If it were what we now call an “oblong” it was called an “oblong
square.” So the phrase is a relic of the past and not the statement
of an impossibility in mathematics as it is when we use our present
day definitions. The symbolic meaning, however, of the oblong
square is—“imperfect square.”
94. The candidate is required at one point to form his feet into
the shape of an oblong square. This has a wonderful meaning
hidden within it so let us examine it carefully. The floor is the
environment. The feet are the personality, the entire man as his
friends know him. The placing of the feet in this position is a
symbolic and dramatic statement by the candidate that he has
tried to live in his own little world, among the people with whom
his lot is cast, as nearly on the square or in as nearly an honest,
moral and upright manner as it was possible for him to live.
95. This is the statement of the candidate. The square is “oblong”
that is, imperfect, and this is so because, without the benefit of the
great moral teachings of Masonry which he did not have and
which he has come here to learn, he was not able to live in
scientific accord with the great Laws of Morality, hence his square
is imperfect. However, he did the best he could and was as honest
and upright as his imperfect knowledge would permit.
96. But he states that he has kept his lower nature, his
personality, his lower mind and his emotional and physical natures,
as nearly in accord with the moral laws or with what he knew of
these laws, as he could, and so, feeling that he has demonstrated
his desire to obey the Law, he asks for admission and for light and
instruction.
 Chapter III. 35
97. In this position we must note that it is not alone the feet
which are in the form of the oblong square but also the shoes and,
remembering the meaning of the shoes, we can understand what a
comprehensive statement this is on the part of the candidate. It is
evidently the last vestige of some sort of examination which
apparently took place at this point in ancient times.

T HE R ITE O F D ISCALCEATION
98. If the shoes are the physical body and the feet are the person-
ality what is meant by leaving off a shoe or both shoes? In the
Eastern countries it is customary for a worshipper or a stranger,
before entering a temple, to remove the shoes and substitute a pair
of slippers furnished by the temple or to enter barefooted. The
common explanation of this is that it is a mark of respect for the
place and this is also given as the reason why Moses was
commanded to remove his shoes at the burning bush.
99. But when we come to examine this custom in the light of our
knowledge of the symbolism of the body, and we must remember
that this same symbolic meaning of the body is carried out in the
old Myths and in the ancient Scriptures, we can readily understand
that, although the removal of the shoes might be taken as a sign of
respect, that meaning is really only a secondary meaning, a
derivitive of the prime meaning.
100. The feet are the personality and the shoes are the physical
body. Now when the feet, either or both of them, are withdrawn
from the shoes it represents a withdrawal of the personality from
the physical body, does it not? Apparently it would represent or
symbolize the withdrawal of the invisible man from the visible
body. Yet we know that it does not mean quite this for it is not
symbolic of death. But, if it means a withdrawal from the body and
yet does not mean death, then what could it mean?
36 The Lost Key
101. There are other withdrawals from the body than death. For
instance, when one enters a place for which he has a high respect
or reverence he would feel a sort of exaltation of spirit, a certain
“lifting up” above the sordid and material things of the carnal
world and what is this but a forgetfulness of the body? We speak of
some one who has become so enraged that he is forgetful of all the
rules of ordinary life, as being “beside himself.” This condition may
come about through rage or extreme terror and what is it but the
very same thing as that of which we are speaking except that,
instead of being a “lifting up” of the spirit from the body it is merely
a sort of moving to one side.
102. The lifting up expresses a withdrawal from the body in which
the spirit rises to higher planes of thought and feeling in its
forgetfulness of the flesh. This result may easily be understood in
the case of a person entering a place or into the presence of one for
whom he has great respect. When the forgetfulness of the physical
world and the conventions of society is caused by intense anger or
extreme terror, as in the case of being “beside one’s self,” there is
no such rising to higher planes of thought even though the forget-
fulness of the physical may be just as intense.
103. Now the Masonic Ritual expresses exactly the same thing in
its Rite of Discalceation, the complete or partial lifting up of the
spirit above the things of the material world (symbolically a with-
drawal from the body). This effect is brought about in the case of
the candidate by the fact that he comes to the door of this great
School of Wisdom, fully convinced that this School has the most
inestimable teaching concerning the mysteries of life and he is in
an exalted frame of mind, “lifted up” as it were out of reach of the
thoughts of the material and the physical.
104. We must not overlook the fact that, although the entire
action is now symbolic only, there was a time when the Rite of
Discalceation was a true symbol of the actual feeling of the
 Chapter III. 37
candidate and it ought to be so even now were the teachings and
truths of Masonry known to the Craft.
105. Here, for the first time, we come into contact with the
symbolism of the positive and negative sides of the body. The
candidate for the First Degree is a learner only. He knows nothing
of the teachings of Masonry as yet and has it all to learn. Hence
the discalceation of the left foot for, as you will remember, the left
foot symbolizes the receptive side of the personality. A lesson is,
naturally, learned by the receptive side and is put into practice, or
exemplified by the active or outgoing side. In learning a lesson we
receive a certain amount of knowledge or information into our-
selves. This is receptive. In putting this knowledge into practice
we do so by means of our actions, words, etc. These are outgoing.
They go out from us and affect others. Hence they are symbolized
by the positive side.
106. It is the left or receptive side of the personality which is
exalted and from which all the hindering and hampering prejudice
has been removed. That is why the left foot and leg are in the
condition with which every Mason is familiar.
107. After this consideration of the meaning of discalceation (or
removing of the shoes) we are in a position to understand a little
more concerning the oblong square. The position of the oblong
square is a statement on the part of the candidate that he has been
living a life as nearly upright, honest and true as he could live. It is
also a statement as to his mental condition (the lower mental
activities being denuded of the covering of prejudice), and we will
notice, as we progress through the Degrees, that the positions of
the candidate refer to his own mental status while the positions of
the Great Lights indicate the demands of the Degree.
108. The candidate has come to the Masonic Lodge, and has asked
to be taught concerning those “slow-acting” Laws of Nature which
govern in the unseen realms, the Laws which govern the emotional
38 The Lost Key
nature, the mind, etc. In order to show his fitness for this teaching
he has made, symbolically, the statement that he has been trying to
live an upright life in so far as he knew how, but that he is
convinced of the possession by the great Mystery School of Mas-
onry, of a deeper wisdom than he is able to attain in the outer
world, and this conviction has led him to seek instruction in the
Mysteries of Masonry.
109. He greatly desires to participate in this knowledge which the
Institution holds since he believes that this physical lif is not all
there is to existence and he wants to know how to conduct himself
in conformity with the Laws or Deity because in the line of confor-
mity to such Laws lies the duty of man as well as the only possibil-
ity for ultimate happiness.

T HE A LTAR
110. Before we go any further in the experiences of our friend the
candidate, it would be weIl to get a clear and thorough idea of the
meaning of the Altar. Every Mason knows that the Altar is a
structure which occupies a place in approximately the center of the
Masonic Lodge but the average Mason has not the slightest idea as
to the real meaning of the Altar nor of the lessons which the Altar
teaches.
111. An altar has, from time immemorial, carried with it the correl-
ative ideas of a priest and a sacrifice. In the Jewish Dispensation
the great brazen altar was the one on which the animals were sacri-
ficed and their flesh burned by the sacred fire. The Jewish Dispensa-
tion was admittedly a pattern and we will remember that the
animals which were sacrificed there at the brazen altar were the
“clean” or domestic animals. Wild animals or “unclean” animals
were not permissible as sacrifices. Only those animals could be
offered which were tame, domesticated, controllable, such as
sheep, lambs, oxen, etc.
 Chapter III. 39
112. Since everything in the Masonic Rituals is symbolic we may
reasonably and logically look for the Altar to have some symbolic
meaning. And since the Lodge itself symbolizes the inner man, the
unseen part of each individual, it is not unreasonable to look for
that symbolic meaning in the great within. What is there within
each of us which could possibly correspond to the Altar on the
floor of the Masonic Lodge Room?
113. We gave the key to this in Section 109. There comes a time in
the life of every man when he reaches the decision that this
physical life is not all there is and he greatly desires to prepare for
something higher. He realizes that he is full of faults and
imperfections and he wants help in overcoming and eradicating
them. In other words he has set up a sort of ideal, a desire for
something better and higher. It is on this ideal, if the man be
honest and, of course, we are supposing that he is, it is on this ideal
that he is willing to sacrifice the passions and faults and weaknesses
of his being for we all recognize that, when we striye to attain to
something; higher, it must be along the path of labor and sacrifice.
114. Suppose that a young man wishes to become a doctor. Will
that wish make him a doctor? Assuredly not. He knows perfectly
well that there must be hours and days and weeks and months and
years of hard study, of toil and self-denial before he can attain that
coveted diploma. That means sacrifice. No one can study hard
and yet spend all his time in amusement and dissipation. If a man
wishes to study he must give up something, he must sacrifice
something. We use the expression all the time in our common,
everyday speech. If you pick up a book and in it read the following,
“John sacrificed his love for tennis and other sports upon the altar
of his great desire to become a doctor,” you would know exactly
what it means for there is nothing mysterious about it. The great
desire to become a doctor was the “Altar” on which John sacrificed
certain pleasures which his lower or carnal nature craved—namely
40 The Lost Key
his love for sports. He could not spend his time boating and
playing tennis and billiards and still do the required amount of
study necessary to become a doctor. So, upon that idealistic struc-
ture in his mind formed by his intense desire to become a doctor,
he sacrificed the animals of his lower nature, his love for boating,
his love for tennis and his love for other sports.
115. Similarly our candidate has erected in his mind an idealistic
structure which represents his intense desire to attain spiritual
growth and development and upon that idealistic structure he is
taught that he must sacrifice the “animals” of his lower nature.
The Altar, then, symbolizes that imaginary structure of idealism in
the lower mind (remember the Altar IS between the material and
the spiritual ends of the Lodge, or in the middle of the floor) on
which the lower propensities, passions and desires are offered up in
sacrifice to the Higher Self to be transmuted into spiritual qualities.
When these lower qualities are placed upon the Altar the Divine
Fire descends and consumes them but they are not really destroyed,
they are transmuted into something higher. In the Jewish sacrifices
the flesh of the sacrifice was rubbed with salt to typify the pain
which the sacrifice of the animal was supposed to save the Jew who
had brought the sacrifice to be offered.
116. The Altar is the structure of idealism on which the sacrifice is
offered. The sacrifice is a quality of the lower nature which has
been tamed and worked upon and domesticated until it is sym-
bolized by one of the “clean” or domestic animals. It is then
offered on this idealistic structure and changed into a spiritual
quality. The salt typifies the suffering which this work and sacrifice
has cost the individual. The priest symbolizes the Lower Self and
all, priest, altar, sacrifice, salt, fire and everything is contained in
the great within.
 Chapter III. 41
117. Now we are in a position to understand the phIlosophical
reason why the candidate must form the oblong square BEFORE he
can be permitted to approach the Altar. In forming the square he
states that he has been living the best life he could with his limited
and unscientific knowledge. But he had the desire for higher
things and that is WHY he lived straight. Had he not had such a
desire he would not have taken the pains to be on the square in his
environment. Had his life been a life of vice and dissipation this
idealistic desire would, naturally, have been absent. Hence, if he
cannot form the square it is because THERE IS NO ALTAR FOR HIM
TO APPROACH.

118. ManifestIy, if there is no Altar for him to approach, then he

cannot approach a thing which does not exist. Now you can begin
to see why I made the statement, some time ago, that the forming
of the oblong square is the last vestige left in our ritual of some sort
of examination which either took place then or had taken place
before and was symbolized then. Get this thought fixed firmly in
your mind that if the candidate does not (cannot truthfully) form
the angle of the oblong square then there is no Altar on the floor
of the Lodge for him to approach.
119. But he does form the oblong square and this is now accepted
at its face value and he is conducted to the Altar where, at this
symbol of the idealistic desire in his mind, he kneels and takes his
obligation.

B ENDING THE K NEE

120. The LEGS are symbolic of the LOWER MENTAL ACTIVITIES. The
left leg is symbolic of the receptive lower mental activities or
powers and the covering of prejudice has been removed. The
receptive lower mentality of the candidate is bent to the will of the
Master of the Lodge (his own Higher Self).
42 The Lost Key
121. Bending the knee has always been held as symbolic of submis-
sion to the will or authority of the one to whom or before whom the
knee is bent. The Master of the Lodge symbolizes the Higher Self
of the candidate, that Higher Self which has impelled him to seek
for this wisdom and instruction and so, to the will of this Higher
Self, he bends the receptive aspect of his lower mind, at the struc-
ture of idealism, imaginary if you will but none the less real, and
this receptive aspect of his lower mind he has stripped of its covering
of prejudice. His mind is open, ready to receive instruction, ready
to be taught the great truths which he has come here to learn.
122. His body is erect. The body symbolizes the mind and the mind
is erect, alert, attentive. There is no slavish submission of the mind
to some one else. The Altar is his own desire for better things and
he approached it of his own free will and accord. The Master is his
own Higher Self and at this Altar which he himself has erected in
his own inner nature he is ready to submit the desires of his Lower
Self to the Will and Wisdom of his Higher Self. But he is only a
candidate, only a learner. Hence it is the receptive side of his
Lower Self which he bends in token of submission. He is here to
learn. He has not yet had any time to put his lessons into practice,
hence his right foot and his right leg are in the conditions which
are familiar to every Mason.
123. Yet, the right leg is in a certain position. This is to symbolize
his promise to himself, to his own Higher Self, a promise made at
the Altar of his own desire for a higher and a purer 1ife, a promise
that when the teachings which he is about to receive shall flow
into action they shall do so “on the square.” He is promising that
his future actions shall be square and right and true for the mind
governs the actions and if the outgoing or active powers of his
lower mind be on the square it must follow, as a matter of course,
that his actions must also be on the square.
 CHAPTER FOUR
The Great Lights
124. The three Great Lights of Masonry constitute one of the few
symbolisms which have been explained with a considerable degree
of accuracy in the existing volumes on “Masonic Symbolism” and
so it will not be necessary to devote so much space to them as
would otherwise have been the case. But, for the benefit of those
readers who have not already made a study of the Symbolism, the
meaning of these Symbols will be considered briefly.

T HE H OLY B IBLE
125. This Great Light, as we might have expected, is used on the
Altars of Masonry as a symbol. Everything in Masonry is symbolic
and the Holy Bible symbolizes the Divine Law. If any should here
object and say that it IS the Divine Law that point may well be
conceded. But the use of anything as a symbol does not in the
least imply a denial of the thing. It so happens that the Bible is of
such shape and size that it can easily be used on the Altar “as is.”
Hence it is used to symbolize the Divine Law or, if you prefer to
put it that way, to symbolize itself. Nevertheless, its presence on
the Altar is symbolic.
126. In a Mohammedan Lodge the Koran would be used and the
symbology would be just as correct. In Lodges consisting of adher-
ents to other faiths the particular volume of the Law which they
reverence would be the appropriate symbol to use. The writings of
Confucius for the Chinese or the Zend-Avesta or whatever book

43
44 The Lost Key
the members of the particular Lodge consider as sacred. That
book, to them, is the Volume of the Sacred Law and so is to be
used as symbolic of the great Law of God.

T HE S QUARE
127. The square has always symbolized right action. But a symbol
may have more than one meaning as we have seen already and so
the Square, as it is an instrument used to measure and layout plane
surfaces has another symbolic meaning, for the plane surface has
always been taken to represent the physical world as the circle
symbolizes the spiritual world.
128. So the Square, as a Great Light, symbolizes right action in the
physical world or, more correctly, the world of the personality, the
realms of the physical, emotional and lower mental.

T HE C OMPASSES
129. The Compasses are the instrument used to measure and layout
a circle. The Circle symbolizes infinity and Spirit and the Com-
passes, when used in this connection, have the same meaning as
the Square, that is, right action or right conduct in the spiritual
realms, those ranges of our being which are above the personality.
130. Both the Square and the Compasses are placed upon the Bible
which is to symbolize the fact that the information as to just what
is right action in the lower and the higher worlds must be obtained
from the Divine Law. The Square and Compasses, in their capacity
as Great Lights, are based upon or founded upon the supreme
Great Light, the Law or Will of God.
131. The candidate, kneeling at this symbol of his own idealism
(the Altar) places his hands in a certain position and thereby states
that his higher mental powers or activities on the receptive side
shall always hold the Divine Law as its source of guidance and
 Chapter IV. 45
inspiration while his higher mental powers or activities, on the
active or outgoing side, shall be based upon or shall flow into
action through, the Great Lights of square conduct in both the
material and the spiritual phases.
132. In order that you may get a very clear idea of this, stop and
consider the candidate as a dynamo generating a current of elec-
tricity. This dynamo is actuated by some force just as a real
dynamo is driven by water power or by a steam engine. The dynamo
has two poles, negatiye or receptive and positive or outgoing. So
the candidate has two polarities to his being, negative and positive.
He promises that the negative or receptive aspect of his being shall
be guided by the Divine Law, shall, in a way, receive nothing
except through (that is, what is not contrary to) the Divine Law.
133. Similarly he promises that his outgoing mental current, his
thoughts and ideas and intentions, all shall flow into action
through the Square and the Compasses and the Divine Law.
Picture the candidate, as he kneels at the Altar, as a sort of electric
machine with positive and negative poles, incoming and outgoing.
Those poles are his higher mental powers, but we must remember
that the thought always precedes the action and that the thoughts
of the higher mind should rule the thoughts of the worldly or
practical mind.
134. Now imagine a current, a thought current, flowing into the
candidate through his left hand and out from him through his right
hand. Do you see what those thought currents would have to pass
through? This ought to give you a slight idea of the meaning of the
position of the candidate at the Altar and also it shows you how
the meanings already given for the various parts of the body all
work out here in perfect harmony with the lessons in morality
given by the great Masonic School.
46 The Lost Key
135. All outgoing current from the candidate has to pass through
the symbol of right action in the material world and the symbol of
right action in the spiritual world and these symbols are based
upon the Divine Law. In other words, he is promising that all his
mental activities in the future shall pass the test of the Square and
the Compasses and that his knowledge of the meanings of these
Great Lights shall be drawn from the Law of God. As to his lower
mental activities both active and receptive, they are symbolically
represented by the legs.
136. Now, having sworn fealty to his own Higher Self at the Altar
of his own idealistic longing for abetter life, he begins to see the
Light, that wonderful Light by which Masons work and the
meaning of the three Great Lights is explained to him but he is
given the curious bit of information that he can see the Great
Lights only by aid of the three Lesser Lights which he is told are
the Sun, Moon and Master of the Lodge. He is further told that
“as the Sun rules the Day and the Moon governs the Night so
should the Worshipful Master endeavor to rule and govern his
Lodge with equal regularity.”
137. To the candidate this means little or nothing and, unfortu-
nately, the average member of the Craft has as little comprehension
of the subject as has the candidate. Yet there is a most wonderful
illumination and instruction in this symbolism so we shall examine
it more closely.
138. Before we begin a critical examination of this most wonderful
and dramatic lesson, however, it might be well to clarify our minds
on one point. We are studying this Symbolism of Masonry for one
purpose and for one purpose only, and that purpose is to find out
exactly what it means. We are not attempting to change its
meaning. We are not trying to read into it anything which was not
originally intended to be placed there. We want to know just
 Chapter IV. 47
exactly what the originators of these lessons intended to teach, just
that and nothing more.
139. That the Masonic Symbolism, in practically the same form in
which we have it today originated many centuries before the time
of Christ is certain. Albert Pike, one of the greatest Masonic
students who ever lived, says in Morals and Dogma, page 207, “It
would be folly to pretend that the forms of Masonry were the same
in those ages as they are now. The present name of the Order and
its titles and the names of the Degrees now in use, were not then
known. Even Blue Masonry cannot trace back its authentic
history, with its present Degrees, further than the year 1700, if so
far. But, by whatever name it was known in this or the other
country, Masonry existed as it now exists, the same in spirit and at
heart, not only when Solomon builded the Temple, but centuries
before—before even the first colonies emigrated into southern
India, Persia and Egypt from the cradle of the human race.”
140. Robert Freke Gould, the great Masonic Historian, says in his
Concise History, page 92, “If we assume the symbolism (or cere-
monial) of Masonry to be older than the year 1717, there is
practically no limit whatever of age that can be assigned to it.”
Hence, when we speak of the great antiquity of Masonry, we are
not indulging in flights of the imagination. We may not be able to
trace the organization back to prehistoric times—remember that it
was always a secret Order and that its teachings were handed down
from mouth to ear on account of the great hostility of the
priesthoods to any teaching which they could not control.
141. Persecution and death by torture were frequently the lot of
Masons when they were discovered to be such, not only in the
times before Christ but for many centuries thereafter. Even today
the antagonism of certain religious bodies is so great that only their
lack of power prevents a repetition of the death penalty for
48 The Lost Key
Masonic membership. Under the circumstances it is not so much
of a wonder that the explanation of the Masonic Symbolism has
been lost as that anything at all has survived. But, thank Heaven,
it has survived to some extent, and the present volume is a humble
attempt to revive some of the forgotten glory of the lost Wisdom
Teaching and to infuse it into the shell of the rituals so that
Masonry may once again become instinct with life, a great Power
for Good in the prevailing misery of the masses of mankind.
142. But our aim is to restore—not to invent. to replace, not to
substitute. So little have many brethren learned of the wonderful
lessons of the Clothing that any new activity, no matter what it
may be, arouses opposition and especially is this the case when they
think, mistakenly of course, that the new activity involves some
aspersion on their theological beliefs.
143. So let us remember that our aim is to find out what the lessons
of Masonry are and were intended to be. Let us attempt to find
out what were the “mysteries” hidden behind these forms of words
even if, in that attempt, we are forced to admit that the ancients
knew more of practical psychology than most of our advanced
thinkers do at the present day.
144. In other words, Brethren, let us approach this great question
in true Masonic fashion, “neither naked nor clad,” freed from the
encumbering folds of hampering prejudice and dogmatic prejud-
ging but protected by the love for truth and right and justice and
purity which should ever distinguish the Masonic scholar.
145. In order to explain the exact meaning of the various items of
this most peculiar statement that the Great Lights can be seen only
by aid of the Lesser Lights, the following diagram is introduced.
We can understand the lesson of the particular symbolism only
after we have defined the terms in which it is given and, in order to
understand these terms, we must understand their meaning when
 Chapter IV. 49
employed in the ancient symbolical writings for this particular
symbolic lesson in common with most of our symbolism, has come
down to us, in changed language perhaps, but the same in teaching
and in meaning as in ancient times.
146. DIAGRAM OF THE LESSER LIGHTS.

{ }
Higher Consciousness
SPIRIT (Sun) Individuality
HIGHER MIND Higher Self (Worship- Day
ful Master)

{ }
LOWER MIND Lower Consciousness
EMOTIONAL NATURE (Moon) Personality
PSYCHIC NATURE Lower Self (Candi- Night
PHYSICAL NATURE date)

147. The Sun has ahvays symbolized the Spirit or the spiritual
nature in man. The Moon, probably from its association with tides
and crops, has ahvays been used to symbolize the lower or material
nature or the physical world. Similarly “Day” has been used to
symbolize the spiritual phases of existence and “Night” to symbol-
ize the lower phases of existence as opposed to the spiritual. This
is so obvious in its application that it is deemed unnecessary to
burden this treatise with reference to authorities. The ancients, as
we have already remarked, in the language of symbolism which
they had developed to a considerable degree, were much more
precise and exact in their symbolic reference than we are today.
But, in the present treatise, it is not necessary to go into the subject
of exact symbolic meanings. Should any reader be inclined to
question the meanings we have assigned to “Day” and “Night” in
the above it will be a good exercise for him to undertake a course
of reading in symbolism, the inevitable result of which will be to
convince him that the symbolic meanings we have assigned the
terms in the above diagram, while not going at all deeply into the
matter, are yet good, practical, working meanings which are
50 The Lost Key
definite enough to serve our purpose at present and yet not so
technical as to confuse the general reader.
148. Now let us revert to our cryptic phrase, “As the Sun rules the
Day and the Moon governs the Night, so should the Worshipful
Master endeavor to rule and govern his Lodge with equal
regularity.” We will substitute our definitions and see what we
have. “As the Spirit governs the spiritual realms or natures in man
and as the Lower Consciousness, the reflected light of the Spirit as
the light of the Moon is the reflected light of the Sun, governs the
personality, so should the Higher Self endeavor to rule and govern
the entire being of the man with equal regularity.”
149. We can understand how the Lower Consciousness rules the
personality but as to the rule of the Spirit in the higher realms we
will understand that only when we meditate on it. Take those
words of St. Paul’s when he is bewailing the fact “the things that he
would, he does not and the things that he would not, those he
does.” This is not a literal quotation but the passage will be found
in Romans 7:15. This shows that while the Spirit rules the spiritual
nature and desires certain things, the reflected light of the Spirit,
the Lower Consciousness, ruling in the lower nature, does not
always desire the same things. St. Paul is really lamenting the fact
that his Higher Self is not able to impose its will on the personality.
150. The lesson of the Greater and Lesser Lights is to the end that
the Higher Self should be able to rule and govern the entire Lodge
(entire being of the man) and that the Greater Lights are “seen” by
the Lower Self, the waking consciousness of the man, by the aid of
the Lesser Lights.
151. To “see” in this connection means to recognize and obey. If
the symbolic Sun and Moon are opposed to the Great Lights or are
not developed sufficiently to “see” them, then it will be impossible
for the Lower Self to obey them for, to him, they will not exist.
 Chapter IV. 51
152. If you are sitting in your room reading the Bible and your
favorite dog enters, he sees the book which you are reading. He
does not, however, recognize what it is except that it is something
which belongs to you. He does not comprehend its nature or what
it contains. The lessons in it are beyond his understanding because
he cannot “see” it in the symbolic sense. Exactly similar is the case
of the man whose spiritual sense is not yet awakened and whose
lower consciousness is engrossed in the pleasures of the carnal and
the sensual so that he does not care for the teachings contained in
the Great Light. The dog might be said to have no symbolic
sunlight at all and the light of his Moon is very dim. In the case of
the sensualist the sunlight is dim and both it and the light of his
Moon are directed away from the Great Lights, which therefore
cannot be “seen” by him. It is possible, however, that the light of
the Sun and the Moon of the man may, in time, be directed
towards the Great Lights and they will then be “seen” by him. This
is impossible, of course, with the animal.
153. So, unless we have the aid of our Lesser Lights, we cannot
“see” the Great Lights of Masonry. This condition is a familiar
one. The great mass of humanity at the present day is unable to
“see” the Great Lights except in a very dim and partial fashion and
this condition obtains because the Lesser Lights within the indi-
vidual are either asleep or hostile and their light is turned away
from the Great Lights which are, therefore, not recognized.
154. So the candidate is told that he “sees” the Great Lights upon
the Altar of his own idealism but it is because his own Lesser Lights
are awakened and are favorable or sympathetic. Let us hope for
the day to come soon when all Masons will be able to “see the
Great Lights” by aid of the awakened and developed Lesser Lights
of their own natures.
155. We cannot be moral in any other way than that of the Divine
Law for morality means obedience to the Divine Law or Law of the
52 The Lost Key
Cosmos. It is very important, therefore, that our Lesser Lights be
brightly burning so that we may not only “see” the Divine Law but
get a correct impression from it.
156. If the. Lesser Lights are hampered by prejudice it is quite
possible that they may get a mistaken notion of the nature of the
Great Lights and this very thing has caused untold misery to the
human race in the past. Hence the Masonic Lessons of divesting
one’s self of prejudice are extremely important.
157. This symbolism of the Greater and Lesser Lights is another
variant of the teaching of thought control and self control which
have been so prominent in the symbolism thus far. It goes into
these matters a little more deeply and here, again, the Lessons
show systematic progress.
158. Truly Masonry is a “System” and “Scientific” and “Progressive.”
Every step which we take in these teachings only serves to bring
these facts out more and more, clearly.
 CHAPTER FIVE
The Apron
159. Now the Apron is given to the candidate and again there is a
world of most profound teaching conveyed in the symbol. To him
who understands the meaning of the Apron it is one of the most
beautiful things which can be imagined and, when once learned,
the lessons which it teaches flash before the mind in silent,
symbolic, dramatic fashion, renewing upon the subconscious mind
the beautiful teachings, those teachings which never grow old with
repetition but are ever fresh and glorious and inspiring.
160. The Apron is composed of a square and a triangle. Yet the
square is not quite a square, it is an “oblong square,” and the
meaning of the oblong square we have already considered. The
square symbolizes the physical, material nature of man, the
“personality,” and it is four-sided to represent the “lower
quarternary” or the fourfold lower nature (see Sections 67 and 72).
This fourfold lower nature is composed of the physical, psychic,
emotional and lower mental natures. The triangle, as would be
guessed, symbolizes the threefold spirit.
161. The Apron is white to symbolize purity. Purity is different
from innocence in that it includes the meaning of knowledge. The
child is innocent and may be said to be pure also, but its purity is
the purity of ignorance and inexperience, not the purity of know-
ledge and conscious choice. The child, though innocent and clean,
has not yet been tried by temptation and its strength has not yet
been developed thereby. Sometimes the most innocent child is the

53
54 The Lost Key
one which falls the most quickly and completely when tempted.
But purity has the added meaning of a knowledge of and resistance
to evil.
162. White is not a primary color. It is a synthesis of all colors. It
therefore symbolizes the purity which has experienced all tempta-
tions and adverse conditions and consciously prefers righteousness
to unrighteousness. The lambskin symbolizes innocence because
the lamb bas always been considered as the most innocent of
animals, so much so that it has become symbolic of innocence and
also of another quality which is of great Masonic significance—
harmlessness.
163. The white color contains all the symbolism of purity and
innocence and the lambskin material symbolizes innocence and
harmlessness, the refusal to give offense or to hurt another. The
candidate ha~ been taught to be as square as he can be in his
relations with others, to lay aside prejudice and to listen with
unbiased mind to that truth which has been handed down from the
ages past. These things have been impressed upon his mind along
with the various lessons of thought control and of right thought.
All these lessons have been repeated again and again in different
ways and now he is taught that his whole attitude towards others
must be one of harmlessness as well as of justice.
164. The Apron may be divided, roughly, into two parts, the square
and the triangle. The square symbolizes the lower part of human
nature and the triangle symbolizes the spirit. When the triangle is
folded up it signifies the fact that the spirit has not yet descended
into the material there to begin the task of the redemption of the
lower self and the purification of the lower natures. The folding
down of the triangle over the square is to symbolize this descent of
the spirit into the material and carnal. In other words, it symbol-
izes the fact that the young Entered Apprentice does not yet show
the results of a scientific work of the spirit in the lower phases of
 Chapter V. 55
his being. Or it may be taken as showing that the spirit has not yet
taken up its work in the redemption of the personal. The idea
involved is the descent of the spirit into the “lower quarternary” to
carry on there its purifying and redemptive work.
165. The square of the Apron is, as we bave pointed out, not quite
square and thus it symbolizes the imperfection of our lower nature,
but the square also. carries another symbolic instruction with it. It
symbolizes or represents the proper development of human nature,
and shows in dramatic form not only the attainment which we, as
members of the human race must show, but the means by which
we shall reach that development.
166. Herewith is a diagram of the Apron to show exactly what is
meant by its various lines and proportions:

Spirit

Higher-Self

Love

Unselfishness

Heart Lower-Self Head

Sympathy Personality Intellectual

Service Matter Development

Selfishness
56 The Lost Key
167. Beginning at the bottom line of the square we find that this
symbolizes the lowest and basest of human qualities, Selfishness.
Rising from this bottom line are the two side lines which symbolize
the progress of development of the lower natures away from the
primitive and altogether hideous passion of unadulterated selfish-
ness. The bottom line, of course, represents “pure” selfishness, the
stark, unmitigated passion. The two side lines represent the two
methods of growth away from this wholly repulsive thing, but we
must remember that selfishness is not conquered all at once and so
the tinge and taint of it continues, growing less and less, until we
finally reach the top line, the line of Unselfishness.
168. Now what do the side lines mean? Simply this, that in our
development towards the great goal of spiritual enlightenment we
must progress by means of two different “lines” both of which are
constructive and which supplement each other. Both of these lines
must be followed, not one only, if we would have our characters
evenly developed. One is the line of the heart, of service to
humanity through love and sympathy, and the other is the line of
intellectual development. To follow one of these lines to the
exclusion of the other would make the character one-sided and im-
perfect. The man who is intellectually developed but in whom the
great throb of human suffering arouses no feeling of sympathy is
very apt to develop the quality of cruelty. Even if he does not do
this he leaves undeveloped and atrophied the great heart side of
his being.
169. The man who progresses by means of the heart and of
sympathy alone is also becoming one-sided, his heart being unbal-
anced by his intellect, is apt to lead him into emotional excesses
and he may become a bigot in religion, one of the greatest enemies
to real human progress. Both of these lines must be followed and
the development must be equalized in order to have the square of
our Apron properly formed. But when both lines are followed
 Chapter V. 57
intelligently and carefully then, in time, the top line is reached and
the Mason develops the wonderful quality of unselfishness, the top
line of the Apron, the line which lies next to the triangle of the
Spirit.
170. The top line of the square expresses the very opposite and
antithesis, as might be expected, of the bottom line. The Mason
who progresses by means of service to humanity prompted by the
great feeling of sympathy and balanced and kept from emotional
excesses and fanatically religious cul-de-sacs or what might be
called “blind alleys” up which bigotry and credulity will attempt to
lead him by the accompanying development of his intellect and
reason, that man is progressing in true Masonic manner, building
up the square of his Apron in a scientific way, the only way which
is in accord with the great Laws of the Universe.

T HE T RIANGLE OF THE A PRON

171. This brings us to the triangle of the Apron, the spiritual
nature, the lower line of which we take as symbolic of the great
quality, the spiritual quality, of LOVE. For the love which is
symbolized by the bottom line of the triangle is not the carnal,
passion-filled love of which we have so many evidences around us.
It is the pure, spiritual love, the love of spirit for spirit which Christ
emphasized in His answer to the lawyer related in Matthew 22:37
to the end of the chapter. Get out your New Testament and read
this passage carefully and you will find that Christ has told us that
Love is the fulfilling of the Law, that upon the Law of Love hang
all the other Laws and the Prophets.
172. In other words, he who understands the Law of Love and
obeys it need not bother about the rest of the commandments for
he will automatically obey them all, rising above them, since all
desire to break them will have left him. If this is so, and it is stated
not only in the above passage but in so many other places, not only
58 The Lost Key
by Christ Himself but by all the sacred writings that we may take jt
as true, if this is so, then it seems that a real definition of Love
would be a valuable thing to have.
173. Love is the fulfilling of the Law-but what, exactly, is Love?
Let us see if we cannot answer this question so as to get a real and
definite idea of this most important thing.
174. The Standard Dictionary says that Love is: “A strong complex
emotion or feeling causing one to appreciate, delight in and crave
the presence of or possession of the object and to promote the
welfare of the object; devoted affection or attachment.” Affection
is defined as a “strong, tender attachment—love.” In other words,
according to this definition, love is affection and affection is love.
175. Webster defines Love as: “A feeling of strong personal attach-
ment induced by that which delights or commands admiration—by
ties of kinship—ardent affection—strong liking—fondness.”
176. Both these definitions are inadequate. We are told to love
humanity—but how are we going to develop a strong personal
attachment induced by delight or admiration for the human race?
We are told to love our neighbor—but our neighbor is, too often,
unlovable. The trouble with both of the above definitions is that
they are defining the word “Love” as used in its lowest and basest
sense. The carnal and animalistic connotations of the word can
easily be understood, but this is not what Christ meant. If He
taught anything at all He taught the complete subju~ation of the
baser passions. He taught purity and cleanliness.
177. All the definitions of love given by the dictionaries are inade-
quate and unscientific. They amount to saying, “Well, you know
what love is anyhow so we will just give a few partial synonyms
because we have no real and exact definition. They say that love is
affection and, when you turn to the word “affection” you are given
the information that it is love.
 Chapter V. 59
178. But—if Love is as important as the Christ said that it is, then a
scientific and correct definition of it will be so valuable to us that
its worth in dollars and cents cannot be computed. Therefore I am
going to take up some time and space to get this thing clear for if
this book does nothing else than give a clear and rational and
philosophic conception of the meaning of the word “Love” it would
be well worth its weight in gold. This is because when we once
have an exact idea of what Love is we have taken the first and
greatest step towards cultivating it. The ordinary conceptions of
Love make it an impossibility for us to love our neighbors (except
where they are lovable and for this we get no reward in the shape
of spiritual advancement for, as Christ said, “What do ye more
than others?”). The definition of Love which I propose to give will
not only show us exactly what it is but wiII also show us how to
cultivate it—it will be doubly valuable. Let us approach this study
in the Masonic manner, unprejudiced and open minded.

W HAT IS THE B ASIS OF L OVE ?

179. There are three adjectives generally used as descriptive of the
Deity, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT and OMNIPRESENT. Also the
term INFINITE is applied to Him. When we consider that the
universe consists of molecules, atoms, ions, electrons, etc., all kept
in their own proper rates of vibration, thereby differentiating the
various substances of the cosmos, by some power, then we can
realize that this power must be that great Power which we call
God, or the Absolute, or the Grand Architect of the Universe, or
The Law. It matters not by what name we call It or Him. Some
great Power, Infinite, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent
keeps the universe in motion and the word “universe” includes not
only the physical universe but also the finer worlds such as the
mind and its great realm and the emotions and their realm. If the
molecules of matter be composed of atoms and these in turn of
ions which science thinks to be centers of force, then we can
60 The Lost Key
realize that the various component parts of this material state of
existence are made up of something belong.ing to a higher or finer
or different world, a world which is distinctly NOT material. If this
conclusion be true, then we begin to catch a glimpse of a vista of
tremendous possibilities which may include the ultimate compo-
sition of matter and the resolution of the difficulty raised by the
proposition of an Infinite Deity and the obvious existence of a
world of matter.
180. If this statement that matter is an emanation from and is
informed by the Deity and controlled by Him because actually a
part of Him, is not true, then we will be forced to admit, if we are
logical and reasonable, that God is not infinite nor omnipotent for
there can be nothing outside of an Infinite, there cannot be an
Infinite and a lot of finites, nor can there be an Omnipotent Power
and any other powers, however small, which do not belong to that
Omnipotence. This view of the Universe as an emanation of and
as contained within the Being of the Absolute is strictly Scriptural
whereas the idea of the material world as a thing apart from the
Deity is distinctly unscriptural although it is the usual conception
of ignorance and fanaticism.
181. To carry this discussion out logically would be very interesting
but would require too much space and a volume on Masonic
Symbolism is hardly the place for it. But we have mentioned it to
show that when we speak of God or the Deity or the Absolute or
whatever name you choose to apply to the Power behind all exist-
ence, as Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent and Infinite,
we mean just that and nothing less. He is present throughout all
His Universe and it is His Power which holds that Universe
together for there is no other power of any kind whatsoever except
His Power. There is no force, visible or invisible, which is not His
force. He is present in the convolutions of the brain as well as in
the great Fixed Stars and the huge nebulae of space. He knows
 Chapter V. 61
each thought long before it is thought in the brain and it is His
Power which must carry that thought into action for all that we
have of our own is our free will. He is the Doer of everything that
is done. “Except the Lord build the house their labor is but vain
that build it.” (Ps. 127. )
182. We, as spirits, are sparks of this great Divine Flame. We are
parts of Him. This is told us in many places in the Scriptures but
the idea has become glossed over to a great extent and we do not
realize it. Nevertheless it is true. Being parts of Him we are also
parts of each other. Hence the idea of the Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man is not a figment of the imagination nor
something which is true only with regard to those who meet the
requirements of some particular school of theology. It is true of all,
good, bad and indifferent. If we will lay aside our prejudice and
preconceived ideas we will see at once that this MUST be so. We
are all parts of God and children of the Heavenly Father in Whom
we literally live and move and have our being and this applies to
the criminal and the savage as well as to the highest type of
Christian. Remember that God is INFINITE and there cannot be an
INFINITE and also something else outside of that INFINITE. There
cannot be an INFINITE God and even one finite man outside of and
apart from Him for then there would be something else beside the
INFINITE and that would be unthinkable.

183. We can see from this that we are all parts of God and hence
parts of each other. When we injure another we injure ourselves.
The Bible tells us this but, because we usually do not think very
clearly, we have allowed the truth to become obscured. We should
remember the Masonic Symbolism and approach such a subject as
this “neither naked nor clad.” Do you see the point? Are you able
to free your mind from prejudice, superstition and false ideas and
consider this matter logically, reasonably and clearly?
62 The Lost Key
184. Now, since we are all parts of God in some way which we
cannot now clearly comprehend and so call it “spiritual,” and since
we are, from that very fact, parts of each other and hence brothers
and sisters, we can begin to see the necessity for that HARMLESS-
NESS we spoke of a moment ago. Also we can see this further
thing, that, since the Power of God is all the power there is and
since the power which we have and which we fondly and mistaken-
ly think is our own is really God’s power which we are enabled to
use or allowed to use in order that we may learn and develop and
grow, it follows from this that every act of ours is a use or a misuse
of the power of God.
185. Recall in this connection the peculiar words of Christ “Inas-
much as ye did it unto one of the least of these ye did it unto Me.”
Was He speaking the truth or just moralizing? Suppose that a man
takes a pistol and shoots another man. If there were no trigger to
the pistol it could not be shot. But, some power holds the molecules
and atoms and ions of that trigger in their certain and particular
rates of vibration. What is that power? The man who pulls the
trigger is guilty of murder. But he has forced this great Power to
work back in torsion upon Itself and to do that which is against Its
nature and to harm a child of Its own. In this we can see the
terrible nature of that which we usually call “sin” for it is a forcing
the power of God to do that which is abhorrent to itself and yet it
must submit in order that we may learn our lessons in the School
of Life which are our only means of progressing in the great work of
the development of character and spirit.
186. All this may seem to be a digression but it is not for, unless we
have some sort of comprehension of these great facts we can have
no better or more logical comprehension of the meaning of Love
than the dictionary definition. It is only when we realize the spiri-
tual unity of all mankind with God and the proper relation be-
tween that spiritual phase and the personality that we can begin to
 Chapter V. 63
understand the real meaning of the scientific and logical definition
of the word “Love.”
187. LOVE IS THE CONSCIOUS REALIZATION OF IDENTITY WITH THE
OBJECT LOVED.

188. Even in the lower phases of what is commonly termed “love”

we find this sense of or desire for unity, identity. The mother loves
her child—because she feels that the child is a part of herself—the
feeling of identity. She may adopt and grow to love a child not her
own but the feeling then is like that electric current which is
“induced” in a wire by the close proximity of a charged wire. It is a
feeling growing out of the subconscious mind. The lover desires to
possess the object of his affections again that feeling of or desire for
identity. Members of a family love each other BECAUSE they are of
the same family and again the feeling is based upon the idea of
IDENTITY or UNITY. Notice that this family love usually weakens as
the identity grows fainter. Second cousins usually do not have so
strong a feeling of identity as do brothers.
189. The test of this definition win show its truth. Christ comman-
ded that we love one another—all humanity. Now suppose that
you are walking down the street and you see a cripple selling
pencils out of a hat. He is dirty and ragged and his face is seamed
with lines which show, not age alone but also things more pitiful,
the footsteps of passions and vices. His eyes are bleared and
leering. His whole personality is repulsive and disgusting.
190. Ah—there is the key! His personality. Look back at the past
chapters and refresh your memory as to just exactly what the per-
sonality is and what it means. How can you love this pitiful wreck
of humanity? Yet—Christ said, “LOVE.” He did not tell us to love
those who are beautiful and altogether pleasing to the eye. He did
not tell us to love those who love us. We knew enough for that
already. He did not tell us to serve and help others where that
64 The Lost Key
service and help would be their own reward. No, He said
something to the effect that He was sick and in prison and a
stranger and poor and that in helping those who were in this
condition we would be helping Him. So we come back to our
pencil-seller. How are we going to cultivate a love for him?
191. By realizing that, however repellant the personality may be,
there is the immortal spirit within, that spark of the Divine Flame
which may, indeed, be blinded by this hideous mask of its person-
ality but yet is, in its essence, kin to God Himself and brother to
you and me. It is this spirit that we are commanded to love—not
the personality. We are to help the personality and to try to relieve
its suffering and its pain because of our kinship to the spirit within,
but sympathy and help is all that we need show to the personality
for, if we think of the spirit and its relationship to us, there will
grow up for that spirit a love, a love of spirit for spirit, of spirit
calling to spirit across the wilds of the material, and this love is
based upon the feeling of IDENTITY. In other words, since love is
based upon a realization of identity or un on a desire for identity, if
we can establish the feeling of identity we have established the ne-
cessary. basis and preliminary which will, of itself, bring the feeling
of love. Do you see now the foundation for this wonderful love
which would change and revolutionize the world if only we could
come to understand that it is really the LAW OF THE UNIVERSE?
192. So, building our Aprons upward along both the lines of the
intellect and of the heart, we reach the line of unselfishness and, in
time, by service to our brother man and by the strong desire to be
of help, we shall build that bottom line of the triangle, the Line of
Love upon which all spiritual growth is based and without which
there can be no such thing as real advancement.
193. When the triangle is folded up it is to signify that the spirit has
not yet descended into the material to wage there its battle with
the lower natures and those qualities of the lower natures which
 Chapter V. 65
are the Egyptians and the Babylonians in the allegorical interpreta-
tion of the Bible.
194. When the triangle is folded down it is to signify that the spirit
has descended into the square of the materiality to work with the
lower natures and to redeem them or rather the Lower Self from its
imprisonment in matter.
195. The exigencies of necessity compel us to use linen Aprons, for
the most part because they can be washed. But this does not really
interfere with the symbolism. After all, linen itself is a symbol of
righteousness as we see in the Book of Revelation where it is said,
“Fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” So the linen is really the
symbol of a symbol.
196. The turning up of the right hand corner of the square of the
Apron is symbolic of the work of the triangle in raising the Lower
Self. It is now obsolete because Masonry is a School in which the
lessons are no longer learned and the work is not done. When the
time shall come that the lessons of Masonry are again studied for
the beauty and the wisdom that is in them then the work of the
triangle will once more be real and the corner of the square will
again be lifted.
197. The great reason for our religious and philosophical differ-
ences is the fact that we do not think correctly or logically. Ask
yourself the question: Is God Infinite? If you answer in the affir-
mative then ask yourself how there can be an Infinite and a
number of finites? Remember that the word “INFINITE” means
everything there is. The Infinite must include everything. How,
then, can there be anything outside?
198. This teaching about the Omnipotence, Omniscience and
Omnipresence of God should not be passed over lightly. Try to
grasp the meaning of these words for a great deal of the Masonic
Philosophy depends upon them.
 CHAPTER SIX
The Working Tools
199. In considering the Working Tools of Masonry I shall take all
of the tools of the first two Degrees as this wiII simplify the matter
considerably. The Working Tools of the First Degree are the
Twenty Four Inch Gauge and the Common Gavel. The Working
Tools of the Second Degree are given in the Monitor as the Plumb,
Square and Level. This order is incorrect and, in fact, is not the
order in which they are given in all Monitors. Also one of the
principal Tools of the First Degree has been arbitrarily removed,
the Chisel, to the great detriment of the symbolism of the Degree
and I shall consider it as one of the original Working Tools since it
is still retained in the First Degree in the English Rite. In the
French system the Chisel is placed upon the Trestle Board of the
Second Degree as one of the Working Tools.
200. The Working Tools should be given in the order in which they
would be used and to give the Chisel as a Working Tool after the
presentation of the Trowel is a violation of this principle. We shall
consider it in its proper order.
201. The Working Tools are given to the candidate in order that
he may use them in his work upon the ashlar. The ashlar is his
character or one of the qualities of his character. We must
remember that the Masonic symbolism is a SYSTEM and that a
system is an orderly arrangement of parts into a whole. Also we
must remember that we have been told that Masonry is a Progres-
sive Science. If these words mean anything, if they are not used

66
 Chapter VI. 67
merely to fog the mind, they must mean that the teachings of
Masonry are Progressive, that is, they grow continually more and
more advanced. They are also systematic, that is, they depend
upon one another and the various lessons are arranged into one
homogeneous whole.
202. Let us now apply this knowledge. The candidate is being
taught how to work upon his ashlar and the ashlar is his character.
The first thing which he must do is to find out how large a block,
fit for building, he can make out of his ashlar. A building block
must be square cornered. The sides must be at right angles to each
other, hence the various projecting corners must be knocked off or
an excessive amount of cement would be required to hold the
block in place in the wall. As the Cement symbolizes that love and
affection which binds the brethren together it is manifest that the
projecting knobs on the ashlar which symbolize the disagreeable
traits of character make an undue and unnecessary demand upon
the store of Cement. It requires much more effort to like the man
who is essentialIy disagreeable than it does the man who tries to be
pleasant. Therefore the man with the unpleasant traits should try
to recognize them and remove them even though the removal
requires some heavy blows of the Gavel.
203. So the Entered Apprentice takes his twenty four inch Gauge
and measures his rough block to determine just how large a perfect
block can be cut from it. The Gauge, then, symbolizes that first,
rough estimate of our possibilities by means of which we direct the
general trend of our activities. The Entered Apprentice measures
his rough ashlar and determines what size of finished ashlar it will
make—that is, he determines his general purpose in life, based
upon his knowledge of his own powers and capacities, what he can
make of the character with which Nature has provided him.
204. Then he takes the Gavel and begins to knock off the rough
corners. Rough corners of WHAT? Why, of his character. Use
68 The Lost Key
your imagination and picture yourself breaking off the rough
corners of your character. What is a rough corner? It is any vice
or weakness which you have and which makes your character
imperfect. How do you get rid of such a vice or weakness? Not by
wishing, certainly. You have to work. You have to stifle that vice
or weakness, to fight against it, to throttle it. It is not easy. It is a
hard task. It is well symbolized by the breaking off of the rough
knobs on the stone. But how do you do it? Well you do it by the
exercise of the Will Power. Is not that true? You know that
wishing will not do it. You must use force. And that force must be
directed by the will. Hence the common Gavel is a symbol of Will
Power directed by the intelligence or spirit.
205. In the First Degree the candidate has been given certain
symbolic teaching. Now he is told that he must put that teaching
into practice and that it will require Will Power and Self Criticism
to do it. The Gauge is a symbol of Self-Criticism, not a detailed
criticism such as is given by the other tools but that first, rough
estimate of the powers and capacities. The Gavel is a symbol of
will power and involves pain and suffering for the ashlar, could it
feel, would undoubtedly cry out in pain when its corners were
knocked off by the vigorous blows of the Gavel. So the individual
feels pain when he applies the Gavel to the ashlar of his character
and knocks off the defects, the most prominent defects, which
would unfit his ashlar for building into the wall.
206. Then he takes the Square and determines whether the sides of
the ashlar are square to each other. He has knocked off the knobs
so far as he is able by the use of the Gavel and now he comes to a
point where the self criticism must be much deeper and more
searching. This is symbolized by the Square. The Square as a
Working Tool has somewhat different meanings from the Square
as a Great Light, yet there is the basic relationship of squareness
and right conduct. The Square, applied to the surface of the
 Chapter VI. 69
ashlar, will tell him where the bumps and hollows are, those
inequalities which are not possible to be removed by the Gavel
alone. So the Square, as a Working Tool, is a symbol of SELF-
CRITICISM.

207. Then he takes the Gavel of Will Power and the Chisel of
Corrective Training and goes to work to smooth off these rough
places and inequalities which the critical Square has pointed out.
The Chisel cuts and again we must imagine the ashlar endowed
with feeling as its prototype, the character or personality of the
candidate does feel. The Chisel is actuated by the blows of the
Gavel and so it stands for those educational and corrective
methods by which the workman in the School of Morality smooths
out the inequalities of his character. But it also symbolizes pain
and suffering for it cuts and hurts as all corrective measures do.
208. In order to make these functions of the Working Tools clear
and plain it would be well to consider the following diagram which
will help you to see the meanings of the different Tools:

Twenty-Four-Inch Gauge

1
70 The Lost Key

Gavel

Chisel
Square

209. Figure 1 is the rough ashlar. The dotted lines show the size of
the perfect ashlar which the Apprentice has discovered, by
measuring with the Twenty Four Inch Gauge, that he can make
out of it. See how much of the stone has to be knocked off. The
Twenty Four Inch Gauge is used to determine these dotted lines
and you can see where the aspect of criticism comes in with respect
to the Gauge. Figure 2 shows the ashlar after the first rough work
has been done on it. Now the Apprentice, or rather the Fellow
Craft, takes the Square and the Chisel as well as the Gavel.
210. There are many lessons in self-criticism given in the course of
the Masonic Rituals. The twenty four inch Gauge is an emblem of
self-criticism. This initial criticism is rough and is only the first
estimate of the possibilitIes of the character. The Square denotes a
much more searching criticism which must also be directed
towards one’s self, a criticism in which the little inequalities with
which the twenty four inch Gauge did not concern itself must be
taken note of and the sharp cutting edge of the Chisel applied.
And back of it all there must be the force of the will power as it is
symbolized by the Gavel. The Gavel must be heavy enough to do
the work. A Gavel which is too light will not develop enough force
to smooth anything.
 Chapter VI. 71
211. There are two other Working Tools in the Second Degree, the
Level and the Plumb. The Level serves a two-fold purpose. It may
be used to some extent to criticise the ashlar just as the Square is
doing in Sketch No. 2 but its principal use is to level the wall. A
stone built into a course should not be above or below its fellows, it
should be on the level with them. In the wall of a stone building
we may conceivably imagine that the stones are not always of the
same size. Some few of them may be very large yet, for the most
part, they are pretty much alike. At any rate, whether the stones
be larger or smaller, they must be level. The great majority being
of practically the same size, the Level is used to prevent anyone
stone being higher or lower than its fellows. Hence the Level is a
symbol of EQUALITY and also of HUMILITY.
212. In the case of a stone which thinks that it should be placed
above some other stone, the Level teaches humility. But there are
some stones which are so humble and distrustful of self that they
think they ought to be below their fellows. In this case the Level
teaches CORRECT JUDGMENT or CORRECT OBSERVATION.
213. Then comes the Plumb. This Working Tool is in a class all by
itself. The Plumb is the one absolutely perfect tool. When you tie
a weight to a string you are able to find the exact perpendicular.
There is no mistake due to imperfections in your instrument. The
string points out absolutely, the straight way from earth to heaven.
But what could that symbolize? What have we in the nature of a
Plumb? The Plumb is not a cutting tool. It is a tool of Direction
only. It is a tool of Guidance. It is let down from above. It tells
you how to build your wall. so that it will not fall over from its own
weight. It does not cut the ashlar or even criticise it. It is primarily
a tool of advice.
214. Also IT IS LET DOWN FROM ABOVE. This is a very important
feature. All the other tools you have picked up and used but the
Plumb is a method of direction in the building of the wall and it is
72 The Lost Key
let down from above. We have something which answers all these
qualifications and it is the only thing which does answer them. It
is the Divine Law.
215. The Divine Law is a direction for building the wall straight up
from earth towards the heavens. It is absolutely perfect in the way
which it points out. It is let down from above—that is—it is not of
strictly human origin and it is not a thing which works on your
character directly—you have to do that work yourself. The Divine
Law merely shows you how to work and in what direction to work.
That is, it is an advisory tool.
216. So the Fellow Craft comes first into contact with the spiritual
when he has handed to him the Plumb, symbol of the Law of God
which, if followed, will point out to him the way from earth to
heaven.
217. If you will review in your mind the meanings of all the symbols
from the very beginning of the First Degree up to as far as we have
gone, you will see that through it all one single Purpose runs. You
will see that it is no haphazard aggregation of unrelated symbols
which are put there merely to give some one a knob on which to
hang a sermon. They are all correlated parts of one beautiful
whole—a teaching so wonderful and so beautiful that it is hard to
find language in which to express our feelings when we first obtain
a glimpse of the Great Purpose which runs through all the Rituals
like a Golden Thread.
218. Here are a few more definitions:
TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE—Self Estimate.
GAVEL.—Will Power.
SQUARE (as a Working Tool)—Self Criticism.
CHISEL—Self Culture and the suffering incidental to the acquiring of
Self Control.
LEVEL.—Equality, Humility, Correct Judgment.
PLUMB.—Spiritual Law, Law of God.
 CHAPTER SEVEN
The Metals
219. We must now go back and pick up the thread of our
exposition which we interrupted, somewhat, by jumping ahead and
giving the meanings of the Working Tools of the Fellow Craft De-
gree. There comes a time when the candidate in the First Degree,
being required to deposit something of a metallic kind finds himself
divested of all metals and this is explained to him as meaning
certain things. This explanation, however, while very beautiful,
does not bring out the real symbolic meaning of the condition.
220. The Masonic Rituals are a system a tic course of instruction in
Moral Science or the Science of Right Living in accord with the
great Cosmic Laws, the Laws of God. These lessons are given to
the unseen man, the intelligence or mind of the candidate and also
the lessons are repeated to those who, having themselves gone
through the initiations long before, are watching from the side
lines. We must remember that, no matter how many years earlier
it may have been that they took their own initiations, the candi-
date is, symbolically, representing each one of them in his contact
with the great Laws of Nature.
221. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to suppose that some sort of
lesson is concealed in this lack of metals, some lesson applicable to
all men alike and not. merely to the candidate. The entire symbol-
ogy of Masonry is a progressive series of instructions with regard to
those “slow-acting” Laws of Nature which we ought to know for
our own guidance and yet which are very difficult to learn through

73
74 The Lost Key
observation. The formal explanation of the lack of metals does not
go into the matter from this standpoint at all and hence, logically,
it must be a superficial explanation.
222. Metals have always been employed as symbolic of various
qualities, usually mental. The more precious metals, such as gold
and siJver, typify the higher qualities while the so-cal1ed lower
metals typify lower Qualities. Thus gold is a symbol of spiritual
qualities or wisdom. It would be an easy matter to pick out many
passages from Scripture and also from the ancient mythology to
prove this statement but the fact is so obvious that it is not
necessary to do so. The metals are used, symbolically, even to the
present day and we frequently hear some one spoken of as
“brazen,” or some one else is described as having a character like
“steel.” We speak of an “iron constitution,” a heart “of gold,” etc.
In ancient times the symbolic meanings of the metals were some-
what more detailed than they are today but we still use the names
of the metals to typify certain qualities.
223. Metals are obtained at the expense of considerable labor.
Usually they have to be dug out of the rock and smelted. Gold
must be “tried in the fire.” Rocks are a part of the earth and the
earth, the ground, has always been used to symbolize the lower
natures. Metals are obtained by means of labor in the earth.
Qualities of the mind or of the lower nature are obtained by means
of the labor performed by the spirit or the consciousness in the
lower nature.
224. Such qualities as self-control, courage, concentration, persis-
tance, generosity and a thousand others all have to be developed
by hard work and the “smelting” of the rocky material of the lower
nature. The analogy is perfect, so perfect that the meaning is really
obvious.
 Chapter VII. 75
225. But—we must remember that the Entered Apprentice is only
just taking his first initiation, his first lesson. Presumably he has
been living an ordinary, worldly life before this, a square life as
nearly as he knew how to make it square, but still “oblong.” Now
he is being taught the Science of Right Living in accordance with
the great Laws of Nature. But he has not yet had tilne to put that
knowledge into practice. Hence he has not yet had time to work
in a scientific manner in his lower nature for he has not known
those great “slow-acting” Laws which govern the development of
character and the growth of mental and spiritual qualities, the
symbolic metals. So it cannot be expected of him that he will have
developed any of those “Qualities” which can be appropriately
symbolized by the various metals.
226. That is why the Entered Apprentice is without metals. It is to
teach him that the really valuable qualities of mind and spirit and
character are not obtained by the haphazard life which the
ordinary uninstructed man lives. Development of mind and spirit
require knowledge and this knowledge he has been taught, in part,
in this Degree, but as he has not yet had a chance to put this
knowledge into practice it is not to be expected that he can show
the mental and spiritual “qualities” which alone can be developed
or “smelted” or “mined” from the earth and rock of the lower
natures,. the personality, by the scientific training of the School
into. whose Mysteries he has just begun his study.
227. This lesson is equally valuable to the Mason who has been in
the Order for a long time and who has watched the Rituals gone
through with tinle and again until he knows them all by heart.
The lesson is strictly in accordance with the rest of the symbolism
and is still further proof of the fact that the lessons of Masonry are
progressive and also scientific.
76 The Lost Key

T HE S ECOND D EGREE
228. In the Second Degree the arrangement of the Clothing is
altered. Remembering the meaning of the Clothing as those
mental concepts which surround the mind, prejudice, precon-
ceived opinion, hostility to any new ideas merely because they are
new, as the clothing surrounds the body, and prevent that mind
from receiving or “contacting” truth as the clothing prevents the
body from “contacting” exterior objects. Remembering, also, that
the right side is positive, active, outgoing, while the left side is
negative, receptive and incoming just as the poles of a dynamo are
active and passive, positive and negative, we are ready to consider
the altered symbolism of the Degree.
229. We remember, also, that the shoes are the body, the feet are the
personality and the legs are the lower mental activities. In the First
Degree the candidate was a learner only. Hence, very appropriately,
the receptive side of his personality was bare (left foot) and the
receptive side of his lower mental activities (left leg). In the
Second Degree the condition of his right foot shows that the exal-
tation of the personality is on the positive side, the outgoing side.
230. In ancient days there was a considerable lapse of time, some
years usually, between the Degrees which were then given to a
candidate and hence there was abundant opportunity for the can-
didate to put into practice the lessons taught to him in the Mystery
School. At the present day one Degree follows fast upon the heels
of another and, as the candidate never knew what the moral lessons
were nor even that they existed any more than did his initiators, it
is easy to comprehend that this change in sides, from left to right,
holds but a scanty meaning. But in ancient times the candidate
came to a Mystery School really to learn something and, when he
had been taught that thing, he was expected to put his lessons into
practice and if he did not there was no following Degree in his case.
 Chapter VII. 77
231. So, while this change from side to side in the symbolism is now
no more than theoretical we must realize that formerly it was full of
genuine meaning. The discarding of the right shoe symbolizes that
exaltation of spirit, that lifting out of the body which accompanies
the approach to any very sacred or holy place and is, this time, on
the active and outgoing side. The candidate is now hoping to
show the brethren that he has profited by his former lessons, that
he has actually been living his life in accordance with the scientific
instruction which they gave him on the occasion of his first in-
itiation and so it is appropriately the active, positive side of his
personality which is exalted and elevated above carnal affairs.
232. Now it is the active aspect of the lower mental activities (legs)
which is bent at the Altar to the will of the Higher Self and the
position of the left hand and arm, a position familiar to all Masons,
symbolizes the determination to receive in the entire mind only
that teaching which is square and to make the higher and lower
mental activities (arms and legs) on the receptive side, square and
right and true.
233. The position of the right hand at the Altar in this Degree
symbolizes the fact that the higher mental activities on the
outgoing side (right hand and arm) shall flow into action through
the Divine Law (Holy Bible), that is, that they will be guided by
the precepts of the Divine Law while the lower mental activities on
the positive side (right leg) are bent to the will of the Master of the
Lodge or the Higher Self of the candidate.
234. Again the square must be formed before the Altar can be
approached but there is a slight difference in the square, this time,
although it is still an oblong or imperfect square. The right foot
now takes the prominent position signifying that the candidate has
been putting into practice the lessons learned. If the Masonic
student will once get the basic meaning of the right and left sides,
positive and negative, and the meanings of the various parts of the
78 The Lost Key
body firmly fixed in his mind he win then see the principle which
runs through all the changes and alterations of the candidate’s
positions on the floor of the Lodge. The reason for them all will
be clear and plain. In this square which has to be formed before
the Altar can be approached, for instance. It was appropriate that,
in the First Degree, the negative or receptive side of the personality
should be made prominent, because the candidate is a learner only.
In the Second Degree, which is supposed to be some years after the
reception of the First Degree, the candidate has had ample time,
not only to put the lessons in scientific morality into practice but to
have effected considerable changes in his character itself. Hence
the putting of the positive or active side of the personality into
prominence is not unreasonable.
235. The position of the Apron is altered to symbolize the fact that
the spirit (triangle of the Apron) has now, by means of the instruc-
tion in the moral law given to the candidate in the First Degree
and upon which he has been conducting his life, extended its
influence down into the square of the lower nature and is working
there in a conscious and scientific manner to redeem that lower
nature or rather the Lower Self, from its bondage to the material
and the carnal.
236. The Masonic student should note with care the progressive
nature of the clothing and of the shoes, the progressive nature of
the positions of the candidate at the Altar and the progressive
nature of the relative positions of the Great Lights. Owing to
obvious reasons it is impossible to write all these things out as
plainly as one could wish. But since you, who read these lines,
have not only gone through the Degrees yourself but have watched
perhaps hundreds of candidates go through them as well, you
should have so vivid a memory of the rituals that you can easily
understand that which is “written between the lines.”
 Chapter VII. 79
237. So it should be an easy matter for you to remember the
positions of the candidate at the Altar in the First Degree and in
the Second Degree. First get this matter clear in your mind. Then
apply your knowledge of the symbolic meanings of the shoes, feet,
arms and legs. Remember that to bend the knee means to submit
that side of the lower mental activities to the will of the Higher
Self. To put the knee in the form of a square means that that side
of the lower mental activities shall be ruled by the square, shall
flow into action on the Square or that all incoming or outgoing
mentalizations, thoughts, etc., shall be square (clean and honest).
It means that nothing will be allowed to enter the mind except
that which is square and honest and true.
238. The student will doubtless notice, in these pages, the
continual repetition of the teaching of thought control, guarding of
the thoughts, keeping the thoughts pure and clean which occur in
the course of the Masonic Rituals. Control of thought and control
of actions, and the control of them in accordance with the
teachings of the Divine Law, these things are emphasized so often
in the various Degrees that the Rituals seem to be one continuous
series of admonitions as to thought control. Yet, when we recall
the statements of Solomon and of Christ, who can say that these
lessons are overemphasized? Is not lack of thought control what is
the matter with the world today?
239. We must always keep in mind the fact that these dramatic
lessons, these symbolic instructions in thought control and in
moral conduct, have come down to us from a time long antedating
the Christian Era. They have come down from a time so ancient
that no man can point to their origin and say, “Before such and
such a time they were not.” Also that our sole aim is to find out
what the various items of the Rituals mean. Whether the lessons
contained in the symbolisms be of ancient or comparatively
modem origin they are nevertheless not understood by the Craft at
80 The Lost Key
the present day and our work is to find out their meaning so that
our presentation of the rituals will be intelligent.
240. This regular and systematic teaching proves itself. If you have
fonowed closely the explanations so far given and if you have sup-
plemented them with any independent study of your own, you
must be entirely satisfied in your own mind that they constitute the
correct explanation of the meaning of the Masonic Rituals, that
meaning which has, up to the present time, been looked upon as
an unsolved and perhaps unsolvable enigma. But the meaning of
the clothing, for instance, is simple and plain. Is it not the same
meaning as that used in the Scriptures when speaking of the
“Armor of God?” Armor is that which surrounds the body just as
clothing does. Armor has a more aggressive allusion than has mere
cIothing, but when we are told to put on the armor of God no one
is so stupid as to think that real, physical armor is meant. No, we
are to put around the mind a something which will protect it from
the harmful vibrations of evil thoughts just as armor protects the
body from weapons.
241. What is the “breastplate of righteousness,” the “helmet of
salvation,” if not something in the nature of prejudice which is to
be placed around the mind? Remember that there may be a pre-
judice in favor of truth just as there is a prejudice against truth.
When we speak of the “Breastplate of righteousness” as being a
form of prejudice we mean just that very thing, only the prejudice
is in favor of righteousness and truth.

T HE W INDING S TAIRS
242. One of the most beautiful and impressive symbols used in the
Second Degree is that of the Winding Stairs with its three, five and
seven steps and the payment of the Wages in the room corre-
sponding to the Middle Chamber and the question has often arisen
in the minds of candidate and lecturer alike as to the meaning of
 Chapter VII. 81
these terms and symbols. What is the Winding Stair and why does
it wind and why is it composed of three, five and seven steps and
what are the wages and why are they paid at the top of the Stair?
243. We have succeeded in asking a number of very pertinent
questions in the preceding paragraph. Let us see whether we can
be as successful in answering them, for they all can be answered,
without a doubt.
244. Let us ask another question, first. What are we trying to do?
Why, you say in some surprise, we are trying to find out the
meanings which lay in the minds of the originators of the Masonic
Symbolism. Quite so. That is very true. Please do not forget it.
We are trying to find out the meanings which lay in the minds of
the originators of the Masonic Symbolisms as the reasons why they
instituted these symbolic lessons. Let us remember this point very
carefully and also the further fact that all these symbols date back
to a period far anterior to the time of Christ.
245. It is very important to realize this for every now and then some
enthusiastic but ignorant brother tries to couple up the Masonic
Symbolism with Christianity. This is a great mistake and arises
from the ignorant assumption that nothing can be moral which is
not of Christian origin. If the reader will turn back to Sections 139
and 140 he will see that Masonry, the real Masonry, the symbolic
teachings, hid their origin not only before the time of Christ but
even before the time of Moses, before Abraham, before there was a
Jewish people. Therefore, if we are honest, let us try to find out
what the symbols really mean, not try to distort them under the
tricky and untruthful plea that they are of Christian origin. If we
are looking for facts then let us try to recognize facts when we meet
them. If we are looking for fiction only, then let us use our
imaginations more freely.
82 The Lost Key
246. The meaning of the Winding Stair is perfectly plain to any
man who is honestly looking for the meaning. Even though the
Winding Stair is mentioned in the Old Testament as a feature of
the Temple we must realize that it was probably symbolic and was
borrowed from the surrounding nations just as the two Pillars on
the Porch were borrowed. The Pillars on the Porch were a feature
in Egyptian temples and in the temvles of the so-called “Pagan”
nations long before Solomon borrowed the idea of so ornamenting
his Temple.
247. The ancients had, firmly embedded in their beliefs, the
teaching of Rebirth, the continued coming back of the spirit into
incarnation in repeated physical lives, each of which showed a
slight advance on the status of preceding lives just as the child is,
each day in school, slightly in advance of the preceding days.
There was the further teaching that the spirit, during the interim
between physical embodiments, progressed through the two higher
worlds and then came back into the physical again as a babe. With
the philosophical aspect of the truth or falsity of this idea we have
nothing to do but we do insist that, if the student really wants to
know what the symbols mean—that is, what the originators of the
symbols meant them to convey—he must try to find out what
those originators really thought. We do know that the belief in
Rebirth was widespread in the early days and is becoming more and
more so at the present day. With its truth or falsity we have
naught to do but the fact of its existence we must admit if we are
really in search of truth—truth in this instance being the ideas in
the minds of the originators of the Symbolism.
248. We want to find out what the originators of the symbolism
intended the symbols to show. We are not interested in whether
the ideas and beliefs thus shown are true or false. So far as the
symbolism relates to thought control and aligns itself with the
teachings of the Christ we believe that it has a deep and far
 Chapter VII. 83
reaching value. But if we are really searchers after truth we will
not discard an explanation merely because it involves some things
which we do not ourselves believe.
249. The ancients believed that the individual spirit incarnated
(was born in the physical world), lived a life and then passed out of
the physical world into a less material stage of existence where the
results of the experiences here were worked and amalgamated into
the spirit which then, after a period of rest, came back and was
reborn again. Thus the spirit developed or evolved, growing in
character and powers and capacities as these were trained and
fostered by its experiences in the physical world.
250. They pictured this continuous journey of the spirit as a spiral
which goes round and round while at the same time slowly
ascending. We do not need to incorporate this into our own belief.
We know that the Rite of Circumambulation is the last remnant of
some sort of Sun worship of ancient times. But we do not there-
fore have to become sun worshippers ourselves even though we
still retain the circumambulation in our rituals.
251. So the Winding Stairs are a symbol of the winding path of
spiritual development as pictured and believed by the ancients and
the three steps symbolize the three worlds through which the
ancient philosophers considered the spirit to be progressing while
the five steps allude to or symbolize the five senses by means of
which we make progress or learn our lessons in the physical world
and their counterparts (spiritual senses) by which the spirit
contacts the higher worlds. The seven steps symbolize the seven
sub worlds into which the ancients believed each of the three
worlds was divided.
252. Such is the meaning of the Winding Stairs and the three, five
and seven steps. It is a very pretty symbology when we understand
what the ancient philosophers held as their beliefs. We may alter
84 The Lost Key
the symbology to suit ourselves jf we choose to do so but the
modern ideas which have been advanced to explain the symbology
of the Winding Stairs are very weak and futile and are really
explanations which do not explain.
253. The Wages, the corn, wine and oil, are symbolic of the results
in spiritunl or mental qualities of work done by the spirit in the
lower natures. Let us see how this works out. Corn is the result of
work performed on the ground, seeding, cultivating, harvesting,
etc. The ground, as has already been pointed out, symbolizes the
lower natures, the personality, and so corn symbolizes the result in
developed qualities of work doue in the lower natures. Note that
corn grows above the ground and so we would expect the qualities
represented by corn to be higher than the ground. In other words,
they are mental qualities. Wine is a symbol of wisdom, usually
spiritual wisdom, and is so used in the ancient symbolic writings. It
is used in this sense in the Bible and also in such writings as the
Rubaiyat. It symbolizes the wisdom which the soul (candidate) will
develop as a result of his labors in the direction of a scientific
morality, controlling and dominating and bringing under subjec-
tion his lower or animalistic nature. Oil was used as a symbol of
love. This was the common symbolic meaning of oil in the
symbolic writings despite the often quoted passage which speaks of
the “oil of joy.” This really means “the oil which brings joy.”
254. The student will note that it is compulsory that the Wages be
paid at the top of the Stairs for the results of labor are not
observable until after the labor is done, wages are not paid until
the work is finished. The work in this instance is symbolized by the
development gained by the spirit in its laborious ascent of the
three, five and seven steps of the Winding Stairs which represent
the work in the lower natures.
 CHAPTER EIGHT
The Third Degree
255. In the Third and last Degree of Ancient Craft Masonry the
meaning of the shoes, the feet, the legs, the arms, the hands and
the clothing are all the same as before. The difference lies in the
different arrangement which the Mason will at once remember.
Now the square formed before the Altar can be approached must
be a perfect square. Remember that several years are supposed to
have elapsed since the Second Degree and the candidate has been
coached and taught and helped and advised and it is taken for
granted that he has learned his lessons, the lessons in scientific
morality which have been taught to him in the previous Degrees.
Now he comes, so awed by the sublimity of the mysteries which he
is approaching that his exaltation above the physical is complete
and hence both aspects of his personality are bare (feet).
256. Now the submission to the will of the Higher Self must be
complete and it will be noted that the demands of the Degree,
shown by the relative positions of the Great Lights, indicate the
requirement of complete subjugation of the material by the
spiritual. The Compasses are entirely above the Square although
both are still, as before, founded upon the Divine Law. Both the
positive and negative aspects of the lower mental powers are freed
from the hampering garments of prejudice and dogma. Both the
positive and negative aspects of the higher mental powers are
posited upon the Great Lights.

85
86 The Lost Key
257. The first Section of this Degree teaches the requirements of
perfect obedience to the lessons of the Divine Law and to the
scientific teaching given in the Degrees. The “oblong square” is no
longer tolerated for the candidate is now about to become a Master
Mason, a Master Builder of the Temple of the Spirit.

T HE T ROWEL
258. The Working Tools of the Master Mason are all the
implements of Masonry indiscriminately but more especially the
Trowel. The Trowel is the most wonderful of all the Working
Tools and teaches the lesson of service to humanity as well as
repeating the lesson of Love taught by the Apron and which we
considered in Sections 171 to 191. The Trowel is the instrument by
which the Cement is spread and it is the Cement which binds
ashlar to ashlar in the great wall of the Temple of Humanity. The
Ritual itself tells us what the Cement means, Brotherly Love and
Affection, but its meaning would be obvious even without this
explanation.
259. The Cement binds the ashlars together and the ashlars are the
stones from which the walls are built. The ashlars represent the
individual human beings. What is it that binds them together but
Love? Only that Love must be known, and it can be known only
as it expresses itself and shows itself in service. So the Trowel
symbolizes SERVICE. The Cement is the Love that binds the ashlars
together. The Trowel is the Tool which spreads the Cement.
Service to humanity is the means whereby the real Love, the
spiritual Love, is spread.

R EVIEW
260. If the reader will now go back in thought over the ground which
we have so far covered and watch, in memory, the candidate go
through the rituals and exemplify the symboIism, he cannot help
 Chapter VIII. 87
but be struck with the systematic way in which the symbolic drama
teaches the candidate in ever progressing and developing lessons
and symbols the scientific manner of complying with the demands
of the great Laws of the Universe. And now he has come, in the
last and highest Degree, overcome with awe at the near approach
to that final, great enlightenment which will soon be his and
prepared by the life which he has been living in close conformity to
the teachings already given, to form, symbolically but truly, upon
the floor which typifies the little world in which he lives, that
perfect square, no longer distorted nor oblong, which shows the
wonderful result of the Masonic Teachings and of the Light which
Masonry throws upon the dark and winding paths of life.
261. It is true that in the beautiful rituals and symbolisms of
Masonry sometimes the little things contain lessons no less
important and no less necessary for us to know than those held by
the more prominent and more emphatic symbols. So it is with the
Apron in the Third Degree. In a few short phrases the candidate is
told the manner in which a Master Mason should wear his Apron
and then there is added the statement, apparently a casual
statement, that this custom has become obsolete and never again is
any mention made of this really most important thing.
262. For in this Degree the lower corner of the Apron is turned up,
but only for a moment and, when we remember that the square of
the Apron symbolizes the personality, the more material part of
man and that the triangle represents the spirit which has come
down into the material nature there to wage its battle against the
forces of the carnal in man and against the lusts and passions of the
lower natures, so we can easily see that the turning up of the
corner is to denote the partial success of the spirit in its work,
which is an earnest of the glorious future. But, alas! The lessons of
Masonry are no longer understood and the symbolism and the
allegories and the rituals are but so many words of a curious and
88 The Lost Key
unknown meaning, so many actions traditional but unexplained,
and so the lessons are not learned and the work is not done and
the turning up of the lower corner of the Apron has become
obsolete in fact as well as in symbol and the Apron is worn by the
Master Mason in the same manner as that in which it is worn by
the Fellow Craft.
263. Some day, perhaps, that custom will be revived when Masonry
comes to realize the magnificent beauty of its lessons and when
those lessons, through the constant repetition of the symbolism
shall have sunk down into the subconscious minds of the Masons
who watch the rituals and have there become a part and parcel of
their consciousness so that they are, in time, incorporated into the
character itself. Some day the custom shall be no longer obsolete,
but now that little passage in the ritual stands there to shame the
members of the Craft and, every time they hear those words said
and every time that they see that up raised corner of the Apron
dropped again, there should arise a prayer in every heart that the
day may soon come when every Master Mason shall deserve to
wear his Apron with the corner turned up to distinguish him as
indeed and rightfully an Overseer and Master of the Work.
264. Well does the Master know the trials which the candidate
must still endure and the assaults which the ruffianly qualities of
the lower nature will make again and again against the integrity of
his high purpose and so, to help him in the struggle, the last and
most beautiful Working Tool is given him together with the lesson
of its use and purpose, that lesson which embodies the teaching
that will enable him to lay up in the heavens the Golden Treasure
of the Spirit, that Treasure which the Christ so strongly em-
phasized and whose importance He so clearly pointed out. For the
ashlars which are built into the walls of the Temple are the souls
and minds of men and the cement which binds them tog-ether and
holds them in one great solid and substantial building is that Love
 Chapter VIII. 89
which, by the use of the Trowel of good deeds and loving-kindness
and of service to humanity he spreads with all the skill of the
Master Mason, thereby binding himself to others and others to
himself with the bonds of that Cement of Love which is at once
the Law and the fulfilling of the Law.
265. For Love is the CONSCIOUS REALIZATION OF UNITY OR
IDENTITY WITH THE OBJECT LOVED and, when once this high degree
is reached, the candidate has begun to realize the unity of all men
in the spirit and the glorious truth of the Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man in the Spirit, and so there is implanted
within his heart the first dim perception of that stupendous truth
which, as he ponders it and meditates upon it, will show him the
possibi1ity of cultivating that great love despite the often hideous
masks of personality in which the blinded and almost. unconscious
spirit is encased, that love of spirit for spirit which is the Love of
which the Master spoke and which is the Love that He taught is
the fulfilling of the Law. For, as all spirit is one, so the various
sparks of that great Universal Spirit Whom we reverence and
adore as God and which sparks are the brothers and sisters who
compose the multitudes of humanity are one, and so he learns that
in loving them, not with the carnal love of matter for matter but
with the pure love of spirit for spirit, he is loving his brother, his
Maker and himself.
266. The lesson of the Trowel is, perhaps, the most profound in all
Masonry as it is the most important. All the other lessons have
been leading up to this one glorious teaching, this teaching of the
unity of one with all. To live the life as symbolized by the Trowel is
to live the life which Christ commanded and it is, as He has told
us, the “fulfilling of the Law.” He who learns the lesson of the
Trowel is no longer concerned with the other lessons of the Sym-
bolism as he who learns the Law and obeys the Law rises above the
Law and becomes a citizen of those supernal regions where law and
90 The Lost Key
the penalties of law are but a memory. For he is a Law unto
himself and that one Law is the Law of Love and Love is the
moving power of the Universe for it is of the very Nature of God.
267. Yet we are told that the Working Tools of the Third Degree
are all the implements of Masonry indiscriminately, and that is
true, for not at once do we learn the transcendent lesson of the
Trowel. It must be studied and pondered and thought over for
long and long before we can reach the point where it will become
the dominating and impelling power in our lives. And so all the
Working Tools of Masonry belong to the Master Mason, the Tools
of Self-Criticism, the Tools of Education and the Eradication of
Faults, the Tools which teach Humility and Industry and all the
other lessons which have been taught to you as you went through
the Degrees. These you must use and re-use until you become
proficient and adept in the work for we must remember that the
Mason is always going through the Chairs and, in the Lodge of his
own inner nature, he may not only be occupying all the chairs at
once but he is also the candidate as weIl.
268. And then, when he has been given this apparently simple but
really tremendous implement, the Trowel, the candidate is finished
with the first course of lessons. The lessons of the clothing and of
the shoes, the lessons of the control of mind and life and action,
the Working Tools by which he is to mould his life and character,
all these have been given to him. Yet he is not through with his
instruction. He has been taught the Operative part of Speculative
Masonry, but there yet remains another series of lessons, lessons so
deep and so profound, so wise and so comprehensive that but few
are ready to consider them in the proper light in which they were
first devised. The first course of lessons gives him instruction in
the great Moral Laws which govern human growth. The next
instruction gives him a sort of bird’s-eye view of the course of
human development and shows him the Purpose of the great
 Chapter VIII. 91
Scheme, the Goal towards which he is working, the Plan upon the
Trestleboard.
269. Fortunately, that Hermetic axiom, “As above, so below,” is so
wonderfully true that it runs through all Nature and human exper-
ience. So the lessons of the Third Degree, those lessons which
follow after the teaching of the Trowel, are true in more than one
sense and, although we may not be ready mentally or spiritually for
the deeper meaning, the less profound meaning is still true and it is
also replete with wisdom and instruction which wiII help us on the
upward Path that lies before us.
 CHAPTER NINE
The Method of Teaching—The Subjective Mind
270. Masonry is, as we have seen, a School of Morality whose
lessons are veiled in Allegory and illustrated by Symbols. It has
puzzled many to understand how and when and where this
teaching is done, for a School certainly presupposes teaching.
Who does this teaching? To understand this we must know some-
thing of the Science of Psychology. Of course we can easily
understand that, when the candidate goes through the Rituals,
there should be given to him some sort of explanation of just what
those Rituals mean. This is not done for the reason that Masonry
has lost this explanation, but, in ancient times, it was done.
271. If you will take down any good book on Psychology and read
the chapter on the Subjective Mind you will find that it is that
great, unseen part of us, nine-tenths of the mind, so some
authorities claim, which takes care of the involuntary functions of
the body and which largely governs our lives and actions. There is
a great deal of controversy over what the subjective mind is and
there seems to be but little chance that the question will ever be
settled, but we can get a good working idea of it by finding out
some of the things that it does. These things any text book on
Psychology will go into at length and it is too extensive a subect to
take up in this present volume. But we wiIl just point out that, to
a large extent, the subjective mind is said to be the character. It is
influenced by suggestion and repetition. Repetition is its keynote.
Repeat a statement often enough to your subjective mind and you

92
 Chapter IX. 93
will find yourself coming to accept that statement as true and,
when the time comes for action, the subjective mind will send up
to the conscious mind or to the nervous system, some message
whose nature will be based upon the suggestions which you have
industriously been sending down into it. Thus repeated sugges-
tions of stealing will, in time, crystallize into some sudden, actual
deed of theft. Repeated suggestions of doing an act of kindness will
also crystallize into the actual deed.
272. That is why the nursing of a “grouch” is so very harmful. It
tinges the whole atmosphere of the subjective mind with the bad,
grouchy vibrations. We use the word “vibrations” because there
really is not another word which describes the condition. Whether
what we call “vibrations” are really vibrations or not does not really
matter so long as the meaning is grasped. Now these repeated
suggestions, of whatever nature they may be, act upon the sub-
jective mind and seem to increase the vibrations in it which are of
their own nature until, finally, those vibrations grow so strong that
they flash into action before the conscious will can take control of
the situation.
273. The Masonic Rituals of the Three Degrees were designed to
have this exact effect. The silent lessons of the Lodge Room and
the platforms and the steps, the dramatic teaching of the clothing
and all the other symbolisms produce suggestive effects upon the
subjective mind when that mind has once come to understand the
meaning of the symbols. Of course, when the meaning of the
clothing, for instance, is not known, the suggestion which should
be made upon the subjective mind is lost. So it is with all the other
lessons of the Masonic symbology. Unless the meaning is first
explained and made clear, there can be no suggestion handed
down into the subjective mind for the latter to work on and
incorporate into itself. That is why the clear understanding of the
Rituals is of such extreme importance to Masonry, for, when the
94 The Lost Key
symbolism is understood, then each initiation repeats and renews
the impressions and suggestions made upon the subjective mind
until these crystallize into character.
274. As we have stated and as you will find it confirmed by any
competent text book on Psychology, the subjective mind is affected
by suggestion and the depth and power of the effect is measured by
the frequency and force of the suggestion. In other words, the two
great agents in building up the subjective mind are Suggestion and
Repetition. The Masonic Rituals afford constant repetition of the
most beautiful and dramatic lessons in Moral Science—provided—
and this must be understood well, provided the Mason watching
them knows what the symbolism means. If he does not know he
gets no lessons. This would seem to be so self-evident that it needs
no more than the mere statement. But it follows from this that
where the meaning of the symbolism is not known the great work
that Masonry could do and ought to do is wasted. Think this over
carefully and see if it is not correct. Where the meaning of the
symbolism is not known Masonry is but little more than a mere
fraternal organization and her transcendently beautiful, dramatic
lessons, are almost if not entirely wasted.

M ASONIC W ORK
275. But, when the meanings of the symbols and the Rituals are
known then the repetition of the moral lessons involved takes
place in the subjective minds of all those who understand the
meanings of the symbols and this constitutes “Masonic Work,” this
constant training and building up of the subjective mind by an
UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPLATION OF THE RITUAL. Note that the
mere contemplafon of the Rituals is not enough. The contempla-
tion must be an Understanding one. The Mason on the side lines
must understand what he sees or it cannot produce any impression
which could sink down into his subjective mind there to add itself
 Chapter IX. 95
to other previous and similar impressions and so become a part of
his character.

M ASONIC L IGHT
276. But when the Mason has received Maaonic Light, that is,
when the meanings of the Rituals and the Symbols have been
disclosed to him so that he is able to translate the actions and the
words of the initiation into those real teachings which affect
himself, when he is able to look at the arrangement of the clothing
and comprehend the symbolic meaning involved in whatever that
arrangement may happen to be, then he is in possession of that
Masonic Light by which Masons work and then and not until then,
he is able to do this real Masonic Work, the changing and
alteration of his subjective mind by the understanding and
intelligent repetition of the teachings.
277. What a beautiful idea this is, the dramatic presentation of
these lessons in the Moral Laws! By thus presenting them they
never grow stale nor tiresome. Were they spoken in some form of
words or in a sort of sermon they would inevitably become a bore.
Masons would weary of the infliction. But acted out, dramatically
presented before the eyes and appealing to the sense of the artistic,
they have a power and a cumulative force which Masons thems-
elves do not dream of. When once Masonic Light shall enable
Masons to apply themselves intelligently to the Masonic Work, the
world will soon perceive that something beautiful and grand has
happened and into the sobbing moan of pain which now humanity
is uttering there will creep a note of hope for better things.
278. No sermons, no wearisome speeches, no goody-goody, namby-
pamby mouthings of sentimental moralists but the Great Law acted
out in symbols and in allegories. God speed the day when every
Mason, everywhere, shall know the meanings of the Rituals. The
constant repetition of the lessons on the subjective mind will have
96 The Lost Key
a tremendous effect even though a man were hostile to morality
and unwilling to be taught. This is, of course, unthinkable.
Masons enter Masonry of their own free wiII and accord, but if
these dramatic presentations of the symbols would have an effect
when the mind of the spectator is hostile, how immeasurably
greater must be the effect when the mind is friendly and favorable.
It only needs that the rank and file of Masonry be taught the
meanings. Give them Light and yet more light and soon Masonry
will come into her own, soon the great fraternity will stir itself as
life returns once more to the shells and husks of the Rituals and
Masons will take their rightful place as the advance guard of
human evolution, the leaders of humanity.
279. From the foregoing one may see how vitally necessary it is to
the Mason on the side lines and also to the candidate that the
ritualistic work be well done. It is the custom of many writers to
sneer at the “parrot like” perfection which many Lodges seek to
attain, but, as a matter of fact, that machine-like perfection is most
desirable. The Ritual which is full. of flaws and mistakes and
omissions, is so because the members of the Lodge have been too
lazy to attend to their work. This attitude of mind must inevitably
produce its effect which even those who deny the existence of
“vibrations” are compelled to admit. Anything which is worth
doing at all is worth doing weIl, as well as we can possibly do it.
How much more should attention be given to the perfect presen-
tation of so important a work as a Masonic Ritual. All praise to
those faithful ones who have stuck to their ideal of as nearly
perfect a ritual as they could manage. When they see and
comprehend the real function of the Masonic Rituals they will
realize how correct their intuition was.
 CHAPTER TEN
The Drama of the Third Degree
280. In the Third Degree we have, besides the regular dramatic
presentation of the moral lessons in continuation and conclusion
of the teachings of the other two Degrees, a dramatic presentation
of the death and bringing to life again of Hiram Abif, the Grand
Master and Architect of the Temple of Solomon. There have been
many explanations of the meaning of this Drama presented to the
Craft and to the world at large, but in each and every one of these
explanations there has been some logical and fatal defect. It is a
frequent happening that some Mason, disappointed because the
mysteries of Masonry do not fall at once into his mind after having
baffled the Masonic researchers for ages, flies to the other extreme
and insists that there can be no explanation of the symbolisms or of
the allegory because, indeed, he has failed to comprehend their
meaning or because he has detected some of the usual contra-
dictions.
281. And yet there should be no difficulty whatever in
comprehending the meaning of the great bulk of the symbolism.
The symbols, with their shifting meanings are not at all difficult to
understand. On the contrary, they are very easy, infinitey easier
than is the learning of a. new game of cards. To the Masonic
student they appear so very simple and almost childish that he
wonders how they could have kept their secrets from searchers
during so many centuries.
282. The answer to this conundrum is, of course, that the meaning

97
98 The Lost Key
of the clothing was never really learned and taken to heart. One
would think that it would not be necessary to enjoin upon a
student to lay aside his prejudice, nevertheless it is true that it is
prejudice and pre-conceived opinions based upon fallacies which
are today the most potent factors in delaying the progress of the
world. We ordinarily use the instance of Galileo or Morse or
Langley to illustrate this point since the more any man is encased
in prejudice and dogma the more highly is he offended when the
fact is pointed out to him, but the truth remains that even in the
study of Masonic Symbolism we have to contend against the thick
coats of prejudice and the cloaks of dogma and blind, unreasoning
belief which utterly prevent the wearer from even considering any
explanation other than the wornout one which he is compelled, in
the depths of his own heart, to recognize as not correct.
283. So, when we come to consider the Drama of the Third Degree
we are approaching ground surrounded by the triple fence of
Ignorance, Prejudice and Dogma. With the rest of the Rituals this
difficulty was not so prominent as it is in dealing with that won-
derful dramatic presentation of the ending of Hiram Abif and the
consequent loss of the Mystic Word.
284. The Drama of the Third Degree, however, resembles the
Scriptures in this, that it has more than one interpretation. There
is the simpler and surface meaning fitted for those still unprepared
to receive the mysteries of Masonry and there is also the deeper
meaning. Both are true, and in giving the simpler explanation of
the Third Degree as well as that of the great Symbols of the Pillars,
the Mosaic Pavement, the Blazing Star, the Cable Tow and others,
there is no violence done to Truth.
285. There are a number of Myths which have practically the same
story as that given in the Third Degree of Masonry, and we may
naturally infer that, since they are so much alike, they either had
the same source or else the similarity might be accounted for by a
 Chapter X. 99
common teaching. We find, in every case, a murder, a death by
violence, succeeded by a long search for the body of the murdered
victim. The body is usually buried twice or sometimes oftener,
finalJy being deposited in a deed grave. After much distress and a
long search the grave is located and the body is resurrected.
286. There are several applications of this Masonic Drama.
Humanity, in its early state of purity, was in close touch, con-
sciously, with the divine. We read that Adam and Eve talked with
God. Finally the attractions of the physical and carnal and
emotional natures proved too strong for their resisting powers and
they yielded to the lure of the sensual and Hiram Abif, the
conscious touch with the spiritual, was killed by the increasing
coarseness of the personality. Hiram Abif was the Grand Master of
the work on the Temple. He drew the designs on the trestle-
board. When the spirit is in conscious touch with the Divine and
is able to send down its wisdom into the personality, the lower
natures, the building of the Temple goes on in accordance with the
will of God. But when the ruffians of the lower natures attack and
kill the spiritual consciousness, they prevent this consciousness
from drawing any more designs.

T HE A RGUMENT
287. The argument of the Drama would seem to be that man,
originally pure and innocent and hence intuitive, naturally obeyed
the moral laws which he recognized through the power of his intui-
tive faculty. But, as he became more conscious, he became
attracted by the glamour and pleasure of the physical world and his
first transgression, quite naturally, was in the line of abuse of the
sex force, the creative function. This abuse was a violation of the
Laws of Nature (any physician at the present day will substantiate
this assertion) and the result was a dimming and final loss of
contact with the spuiritual or a loss of the intuitive faculty. Now
100 The Lost Key
this intuition had been the man’s guide in his conduct and when
the increasing coarseness of the personality, brought about by the
abuse of the sex function, began to interfere with his intuitional
perception, the “designs on the trestle-board” or the intuitive
perception of right and wrong (the moral law ) became less distinct
and the race began to lose the spiritual perception of that oneness
which is the basis of spiritual Love and Selfishness developed.

T HE T HREE R UFFIANS
288. The race, being no longer guided by intuition, came under the
guidance or the false leadership of Ignorance and these three,
IGNORANCE, SELFISHNESS and SENSUALITY caused the complete
extinction of the intuitive faculty or the conscious touch with the
Divine and from that time on there were no more designs upon the
trestleboard—that is, man was living blindly, ignorant of the Laws
which govern the Universe.
289. Hiram Abif, the architect and Grand Master, symbolizes that
intuitive touch with the Divine and was killed by the three ruffians
of Ignor~nce, Selfishness and Sensuality and his body was buried
in the rubbish of the Temple, the iUs ,and mistakes and sins of the
personality. Yet there was a possibility of his revival and so these
three ruffians took his body and buried it in a deep grave, which
symbolizes the sectarian ,beliefs of the various religions which have
held the race in bondage, the dogmas of man-made systems which,
not knowing the truth, have concocted a theory or maze of the-
ories that have held the race in blindness and slavery as profound
as that of the grave which is used to typify them.
290. There was, planted at the head of the grave, a sprig of acacia.
This acacia has ahvays been used in symbolic writings to represent
TRUTH and the meaning is plain. When the race begins to seek and
find the TRUTH regarding the great Natural Laws, the body will be
found, the buried body of Hiram Abif the Intuitive Faculty. To
 Chapter X. 101
find the body, however, is not raising it. The instruction of the
Entered Apprentice can not raise the intuitive power. The
knowledge of the Fellow Craft is not great enough to raise it.
There is more than a mere knowledge of the Moral Law needed
more, even, than an obedience to the moral law. Not until the
great strength of the Lion's Paw is used can the body of the
murdered Intuition be raised from the grave which has held it pris-
oner during so many ages.

T HE L ION ’ S P AW
291. The Lion is the Zodiacal Sign of Leo, the sign of the Heart,
the Sign of Love. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, and not until
the Master Mason to whom has been given the wonderful teaching
of the Trowel and who knows the Law of Love, not until he comes
and uses the powerful grip of the Lion’s Paw can the murdered
body be raised. In other words, nothing will restore rran to his
pristine condition of purity and intuitive knowledge of the spiritual
Law except that perfect obedience to the Law which is embodied
in the term of “Service.” This is in strict accordance with the
teaching of Christ and in this connection read the last twelve
verses of the 22nd Chapter of St. Matthew. It is this service to
humanity and to Deity, this service which goes beyond the mere
obedience to Law, that alone can restore the intuition or the touch
with the spiritual. Did not Christ Himself say that after we have
perfectly obeyed the Law we can say that we are unprofitable
servants? We must do more than obey, we must serve our fellow
men and do what we can to ease the pain and sorrow of the world
about us. If you are in doubt as to the exact meaning of service
take down your New Testament and turn to the 34th verse of the
25th Chapter of St. Matthew and read to the end of the Chapter.
You wiII find the matter stated there far better than I can put it.
102 The Lost Key
292. This is the teaching of the ,Masonic Drama of the' Third
Degree as it appliesfo the human race. In its application to the
individual it is very much the same. There is observable in the
ordinary child at first, while perhaps not a real, conscious touch
with the spiritual, yet a sort of sensitiveness to the spiritual which
is killed by the three ruffians of selfishness, ignorance and
sensuality. The exuberant outbursts of youth at the time of
puberty and for some time thereafter, that burning desire for some
sort of “kick,” that characteristic which Shakespeare calls “Flaming
Youth,” serves to kill out this spiritual sensitiveness and to bury it
in the rubbish of desire, passions and, perhaps, vice. Later on, as
the judgment comes more to the front and the mind takes control,
the grave of sectarian beliefs and dogmatism entombs the body of
the slain intuitive faculty and nothing can raise it from this grave
but the honest search for truth assisted by that service to God and
to humanity which is symbolized by the Lion’s Paw. Unfortunately
it is not often that the body is so raised, for our desire for truth is
usually but dim and our service but perfunctory. Nevertheless,
even though it be not raised, yet the possibility of its being raised is
there could we but understand the Drama and learn its lessons.
Until we do, the six foot grave of creed-bound sectarianism will
hold us buried.
293. The search for the body is symbolical of the first faint stirrings
of that realization that something has been lost. There are no
designs upon the trestleboard and the work on the Temple seems
to be purposeless, with great confusion and dismay among the
workmen. The more advanced of the mental qualities sense that
something has gone amiss and they seek for the lost touch with the
spiritual wisdom. There is a wealth of detail in this Drama which
cannot be gone into without practically writing out the Legend
itself. But what has been said is enough to give the real purpose
and meaning of the drama and will enable any Mason to look
 Chapter X. 103
within himself and recognize the ruffians, the rubbish and the
grave. Also it will define the meaning of the Lion’s Paw and give
the clue to the identity of Hiram Abif and the Craftsmen.
294. There are some problems which must be met by those who
seek to engraft upon this Drama certain dogmatic religious
meanings which the Drama was never intended to hold. If the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah be the meaning of the Lion’s Paw how is
it that we find the sculptured Lion in the very act of raising the
dead body of Osiris as it was graven upon the monuments of Egypt
long before Moses was heard of. Also, if the raising of the body is
supposed to have been an actual, physical resurrection or a symbol
of such a resurrection then why was not the Lost Word recovered?
If the Word was merely a sort of diploma permitting the Master
Mason to travel in countries adjacent to the domains of Solomon
and there ply his trade, why could not Solomon alone have given
such a certificate? Why was the presence of the three Grand
Masters necessary? It would be well for all students of Masonry to
ask themselves, before they begin to form theories concerning the
meaning of the Drama, just what it is that they are looking for.
This would seem to be a superfluous question, yet a perusal of some
of the wild ideas and deliberate attempts to bolster up some dogma
by a perversion of the Hiramic Legend shows that it is a very
necessary one.
295. The real student is looking for the meaning of the Drama, the
original meaning held in the minds of the great philosophers who
originated the Drama or, if it was not originated at one particular
time, the teaching which it was intended to convey. We should
not attempt to prove the Drama to be something which it is not.
Hence we should remember the lessons of the clothing in the
rituals and divest ourselves of all prejudice and preconceived opin-
ions since our purpose, if we are honest students, is to find out
what the Drama was intended to mean, not what we think that it
104 The Lost Key
OUGHT to mean. Therefore, the questions indicated above must be
met honestly and squarely.
296. The identity of the Fellow Crafts is that of some of the more
advanced qualities of the mind which, feeling the loss of some-
thing, report that loss to the Higher Self and are then sent in
search of the lost something. The murderers, Ignorance, Selfish-
ness and Sensuality gradually realize what they have done and seek
to embark upon a ship, symbol of a mental vehicle in order that
they may travel to Ethiopia or the higher plane of being. In other
words, the vices which have killed the touch with the Divine are
now attempting to excuse themselves and to flee from the lower
emotional world where they belong. They wish to do this by means
of a ship, a mental vehicle or a process of mentality and to reach a
safe haven where the retribution for their conduct cannot overtake
them. But the ports are all guarded and they cannot escape. It is
not possible for the qualities of selfishness and sensuality and
ignorance to reach or exist in the atmosphere of the spiritual
world. Therefore their attempt co board a ship was unavailing.
297. But the conscious touch with the spirit is finally raised from its
sleep in the grave of dogmatism by the obedience to the Divine
Law of Love and Service as symbolized by the Lion’s Paw and as
exercised by the Senior Grand Warden, who represents or symbol-
izes the higher aspect of the Lower Self or the aspiring human soul.
 CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Three Parts of Masonry
298. Masonry as we know it today and speaking of the three “Blue
Lodge” Degrees only, readily divides itself into three distinct parts.
The first part consistsuof the dramatic section of the Degrees,
comprising the first section of each Degree, in which the
candidates goes through certain ceremonies which, when ex-
plained, indicate to him the nature and scope of the “slow-acting”
Laws of Nature under which human progress is made. This part
might be called, arbitrarily of course, the Educational Section.
299. The second part, which might be termed the Explanatory part,
consists of a number of symbols such as the Pillars, the Pavement,
the Blazing Star, the Winding Stairs, the Wages, etc., which are
not essentially parts of the action lessons given to the candidate,
that is, the part of the rituals in which the candidate takes a share.
These symbols are more general in their application than the
symbolism of the “Educational” part of the rituals. They afford a
wonderful glimpse of the wisdom held in ancient times and they
form, as it were, a running commentary on the First Sections of the
three Degrees, explaining many things which would otherwise
remain hidden in mystery.
300. The candidate, for instance, is taught in the Educational
Sections the great Moral Laws under which he is compelled to live,
but the Pillars and the Mosaic Pavement explain to him how he
came to be here and why he is under the operation of these Moral
Laws at all. The Winding Stairs explain to him the means by which

105
106 The Lost Key
he is to progress, that is, how he is to apply the knowledge he re-
ceives in the dramatic part of the rituals. It is these “Explanatory”
Symbols as differentiated from the “Educational” Symbolism such
as the body, clothing, shoes, etc., which the existing books on
Masonic Symbolism have elected to explain. But the explanation
offered has seldom taken into consideration the fact that these
symbols are explanatory and ilIuminative of the progressive lessons
which the candidate is receiving and that they must fit in with that
symbolism.
301. When this fact is realized and the Pillars and the Pavement
and the Winding Stairs are considered as a part of the entire
initiation and not as merely individual and disconnected symbols
thrown in at random in order to give “good measure,” then and
then only is it possible to arrive at a definite and logical conclusion
as to their meaning.
302. The third part of the Masonic Symbolism is the Drama which
follows the first Section of the Third Degree, the Drama of Hiram
Abif. This Drama, giving. the story of the death and resurrection
of Hiram and which we have already considered, is a sort of sym-
bolic bird’s eye view of human development, taking up the matter
from an entirely different angle from that employed in the first part
of the Degrees. It is really a pictorial or dramatic story of human
evolution and was originally designed by those who held the belief
of Rebirth or the repeated embodiments of the spirit in physical
bodies of gradually improving powers and capacities.
303. This belief of Rebirth must not be confused with the
degeneration of it met with sometimes among the ignorant and
called “Transmigration.” Under the teaching of Rebirth there is no
such thing as transmigration. At the death of the physical body
the spirit exists consciously in higher realms where it absorbs and
builds into itself the results of its experiences during physical life,
when it comes back to rebirth and is born again in an infant body
 Chapter XI. 107
which it gradually develops to a point where it can again learn
lessons on the physical plane.
304. It surely should not be necessary to repeat the warning that
the Masonic student—the real student—is seeking to find out
what the originators of the symbolism had in mind just as the
Egyptologists spent years of labor in deciphering the hieroglyphics
on the Egyptian monuments in order to find out what they said.
The Masonic student does not bind himself to incorporate into his
belief everything that the old Mythology taught. One of the
prominent featuTes of the Masonic Rituals is the Rite of Circum-
ambulation which all scholars are agreed is a remnant of the
ancient Sun worship. But, when we recognize this fact, and realize
that this Rite has come down to us from the ancient Sun
worshipping days, this realization does not involve the necessity
that we, as Masons, must immediately become sun worshippers.
305. So the recognition of the obvious fact that many of the Rites
and Symbols of Masonry were devised from the standpoint of a
believer in Rebirth or the evolution of the soul, does not involve
any necessity on the part of the Masonic student to believe the
same or to make it a part of his religious dogma any more than the
Egyptologist, when he deciphers a prayer to Ra, the Sun god,
carved upon some Egyptian tomb thousands of years before the
time of Christ, is thereby compelled to believe in the existence and
power of Ra and begin to worship him with the same prayer.
306. Those parts of the Rituals which teach Morality are extremely
valuable because of the morality they teach which, when examined
in the light of modem knowledge is just as true as the morality
taught by our own religion. This moral teaching, contained in the
three First Sections, which I have arbitrarily called the “Educa-
tional Symbolism,” is in a class by itself. The balance of the
symbolism, especially the Drama of the Second Section of the
Third Degree, can be understood only when we study the beliefs
108 The Lost Key
held by the ancient philosophers. Studying those beliefs we can
understand exactly what was meant by all of the great symbols and
also by the Hiramic Legend but, as we have already pointed out,
this understanding of the meaning does not require a belief in the
meaning.
307. To attempt to engraft some other teaching on the Hiramic
Legend and upon the great symbols than the one in the minds of
the originators would be as dishonest as for the Egyptologist to re-
write the prayer to Ra, the Sun=god, and make it a prayer to the
Christ and then insist that that was what was carved upon the
ancient monument. Many of our Masonic investigators do not
seem able to grasp the point that the Masonic Symbolism origin-
ated long before the Christian Era and that an attempt to rwist the
Symbolism to mean something other than what it was intended to
mean is not an honest treatment of it.
308. With these points held firmly in mind, let us proceed to a
consideration of the “Great Symbols” which have so puzzled
Masonic students.

T HE P ILLARS
309. The candidate, upon entering the Lodge, passes through or
between two Pillars which he is compelled to pass between before
he can enter the Lodge Room, which symbolizes the Temple of
Solomon. It is in this Lodge Room or Temple that he learns the
lessons in Masonry which teach him how to live in accordance
with the great Moral Laws of Nature, in other words, how to
square and smooth the ashlar of his character and how to build his
wall.
310. So, in ancient times, the Entered Apprentice Mason who
came to the Temple to learn his trade, had to pass between two
pillars. In a larger sense the Temple means the earth and all
 Chapter XI. 109
humanity are Entered Apprentice Masons. Now let us see what we
have. The candidate has to pass between the two pillars before he
can come into the Temule where he learns his trade. Mankind is
working in the Temple, the world, learning his lessons. Between
what two pillars did he have to pass to enter there? Remember
that we are examining this from the standpoint of the beliefs held
by the ancient philosophy. The ancients believed, as has already
been stated, in the Rebirth of the soul and in the accompanying
Law which might be called the Law of Cause and Effect, which is
practically the same thing as the first Law of Physics, that every
action has an equal and opposite reaction. Under the action or
control or government of these twin Laws the ancients held that
the spirit had to pass before it could enter the arena of the physical
world. That, the present author believes, was the original idea
behind the two pillars, for these pillars are not of Hebrew origin.
Solomon or his architects copied them from other temples in
surrounding countries. They were frequently used in the Egyptian
temples.
311. When we view the Temple as the arena of human life we have
the key to the meaning. This symbol of the pillars could also be
interpreted as the passing of the spirit into the realm of Polar-
ization, for a correlative belief accompanying that of Rebirth was
that the spirit incarnated alternately as male and female in order to
obtain all the experiences possible to the human race. The Pillars,
then, might be taken as holding; both these meanings and if such is
the case this interpretation fits in exactly with all the rest of the
symbolism and there is no discord nor irrelevancy.

T HE M OSAIC P AVEMENT AND THE B LAZING S TAR

312. The Mosaic Pavement and the Blazing Star are two other
beautiful symbols whose deeper meaning cannot be understood
until we have learned and taken to heart the symbolic lessons of
110 The Lost Key
the clothing. The Mosaic Pavement is made up of alternate
squares of black and white. Neither of these is a primary color.
Black is the negation of all color and symbolizes the negative.
White is the synthesis of all color and typifies the positive. If we
take the masculine life or body as positive and the feminine as
negative and the Blazing Star as representing the Spirit itself
posted in and drawing its means of development and growth from
its alternate positive and negative or male and female embodi-
ments we have the meaning originally intended to be conveyed by
this symbolism in the belief of the present writer. If this
explanation be the true one it corresponds and harmonizes exactly
with the meaning of the Pillars just given. To reject it because we
do not believe the things it teaches is just as illogical as for a man
to say that because he, himself, does not believe in the story of Isis
and Osiris that no one ever, did so believe and the Egyptian
sculptures must have been intended to portray something else.

T HE C ABLE T OW
313. This symbol has also eluded the grasp of the Masonic scholar.
The Cable Tow must have meant something quite particular,
something not at all such as the physical control of the candidate.
As we can see when we come to examine it.
314. The Cable Tow was not a symbol peculiar to the peoples who
lived upon the borders of the Mediterranean Sea alone. It was
used wherever the Mysteries were practiced and that was all over
the world or very nearly so. It always makes the problem of
“placing” a symbol much easier if we will only take it quietly,
without prejudice, and see what peculiarities it has. Applying this
method to the Cable Tow we find that there are two hard and fast
requirements about it. It must be a three stranded rope and it
must be fastened in three different places. That it was ever at any
time used as a means of controlling the candidate seems rather far-
 Chapter XI. 111
fetched, since the symbol has come down from very ancient times
and, in those early days, the brethren were much more deliberate
about their candidates and initiations than we are today. Also, if it
were merely a rope to hold a possibly fractious candidate, it violates
the symbolic nature of the entire ceremonial, which is uniformly
symbolic all through. The advocate of the explanation that it was
a means of control must also explain how it came to be so
universally used and why the three strands and the three locations.
If it were to control the candidate one would think that one
particular location would be found the best and the rope would be
fastened there in every initiation. Also, why the three strands?
Why would not a two-stranded rope or a braided rope be just as
well? These questions must be met and satisfactorily answered
before we can consider the matter settled. If the Cable Tow is
symbolic in two Degrees why should it not be symbolic in all the
Degrees?
315. To go back over what we know of the matter. The Cable Tow
must always be of three strands (or of three triple strands), fastened
in three places and loosed by the initiation. The only thing which
answers to these requirements in every respect is the (usually)
invisible cord which binds the spirit to the body, which is com-
posed of three strands and each strand is rooted in a different
place. This cord binds the spirit to the physical body until it is
loosed by death (or by a real initiation into the higher mysteries)
and it is the same thing as the “silver cord” of Ecclesiastes which
has been erroneously explained as referring to the spinal marrow.
This is the explanation given by the great Esoteric Schools and is
the only explanation which fits every requirement of the case. For
those who do not believe that anything can exist which they
cannot see with the physical eye, any other explanation which they
prefer will probably suit them better, even though it violate one or
all of the principles of symbolic interpretation and fail completely
112 The Lost Key
to meet the peculiar requirements of the symbolism. The
phenomenon of the silver cord which is the Cable Tow is readily
observed and studied by anyone who has developed even a slight
degree of spiritual sight. But as these are comparatively few and as
the symbol is not absolutely necessary for a comprehension of the
moral lessons of the rituals we merely give the above explanation
for whatever each reader may think it to be worth.

T HE L OST W ORD
316. There has been so much discussion and controversy con-
cerning this bit of the Masonic Symbolism that it would seem to be
useless to add anything more to the general confusion and yet, to
the student, the matter of the Lost Word is so clear and plain that
it seems impossible for it long to remain the mystery it now is to the
majority. In the past, Masonic students have gone at the matter
without observing the beautiful lessons of the clothing and the
prejudice. In fact, the Masonic investigator has usually donned a
complete suit of Arctic furs with gloves and mittens to match
which have effectually prevented him from attaining even the.
slightest inkling of the real meaning of the Word. Let us see if we
can apply some of our principles of research and gain a little light.
317. First let us understand what the Legend says. The Temple was
almost completed and the insurgents demanded the Word which
would allow them to travel in foreign countries and receive the
Wages of a Master Mason. That the Lost Word was a word only, is
inconceivable. It was a system of instruction and the expression
“Word” is symbolical just as the Temple is symbolic and Solomon
and Hiram are symbolic. Hiram Abif symbolized the touch with
the spiritual by which the intuition reached out and grasped truth
and so was enabled to draw designs upon the trestle board of life
and direct the activities of the individual. Everything in the ritual
is symbolic including the characters, why, then, should we insist
 Chapter XI. 113
upon taking the Word alone as the only literal thing in it?
318. What was the Word to do? It was to enable the one who
received it to travel in foreign countries. What was a foreign
country? We can best answer that question by finding out first
what country the individual was in. The Temple was himself, the
country his environment or the physical world about him. How
could he leave himself and the physical world about him? That
seems to be a hard question to answer, but it is not so. To the
open minded scholar who is really seeking for Light and who is
acquainted with the initiations of the ancient Mysteries so far as
they have come down to us, it is a well known fact that the phrase
“travel in foreign countries” is a technical phrase and was applied
to the belief which they held that, given a certain course of
instruction and after living a certain kind of pure and spotless life,
the initiate was able to detach his soul from the physical body and
travel in the higher realms, coming back to his body again and
resuming his ordinary life.
319. Remember the identity of the Ruffians and the identity of the
Craftsmen. These qualities were not ready for such spiritual
teaching as the Word involved. They had not yet completed their
work on the Temple and could not receive the higher instruction
which could be given only in the presence and hence, of course,
with the knowledge, consent and approval of the three Grand
Masters, all or whom are symbolic of various aspects of the
individual. Read Morals and Dogma in this connection, pages 204
to 209, also pages 730 to 732, inclusive, and page 745 before you
dismiss the above statements with the wave of the gloved and
gauntleted hand. In discussing the meaning of the Lost Word the
honest scholar is trying to find out the ORIGINAL meaning behind
it, not the meaning whic.h some modern enthusiast thinks it
OUGHT to have and, to get at this original meaning, we have to
consider what the ancient philosophers believed.
114 The Lost Key
320. The Lost Word, then, was that final system of instruction
which, following a life lived in accordance with the Laws of
Morality as taught by the symbolism of the three Degrees, would
enable the aspirant to penetrate the higher and unseen worlds,
there to work for the advancement and betterment of the human
race and so earn the Wages of a real Master Mason, a Master
Builder in the Temple of Humanity.
321. In this and in the preceding chapters the writer has given what
he honestly believes to be the true interpretation of the Masonic
Symbolism, at least the most important part of it. The active part,
that which I have termed the Educational part, is of vital and
absorbing interest and importance. The morality taught in the
lessons of open-mindedness, of honesty, of thought control, of self-
control and self-criticism, of the development of self, of the gradual
improvement of the character by means of the Working Tools,
these are surely of the very highest importance.
322. The meanings of the “Great” Symbols, even if they clash with
the present religious beliefs of the reader, do not, as we have
pointed out, have to be incorporated into his creed. But the writer
honestly believes they were the original meanings in the minds of
the originators of the symbolism. At least they were the beliefs
held by the ancient philosophers, that much is fairly certain, and
also when considered without prejudice, they fit in with the
symbolism and form a compact and coherent whole with not one
single false note or jangle of discord. They fully and honestly meet
the requirements of the symbolism as it has been handed down to
us and surely we should be willing to consider them with as much
scientific honesty as the archeologist considers the ancient
inscriptions written in praise of Ra or of Osiris or Isis or any of the
ancient divinities.
323. We are told, in the New Testament, that when the Apostles
visited Ephesus they were greeted by the shout, “Great is Diana of
 Chapter XI. 115
the Ephesians.” Shall we say that this is untrue because we,
personally, do not believe in nor worship Diana? That would be as
logical as to reject the present explanation of the symbolism on the
grounds that we, personally, do not believe in Rebirth or in the
possibility of leaving the body during physical life.
324. The only logical objection is to point out where the present
explanation does not fit the facts of the symbolism as handed down
to us and the objector should indicate the discrepancies and give
an explanation which will not only fit the particular symbol but
will not violate the harmony of the rest of the symbolism. It should
also be remembered that an explanation should be pertinent—it
should bear uuon the case in hand—it should put the symbol in
such a light that we can see its bearing unon the rest of the
symbolism. The present writer believes that this explanation
preserves all of tbe “harmonies” and that, so far at least as the
"Educational" part of the symbolism is concerned, it should make
the lessons of Masonry a much more potent factor than they are at
present in the building up of character and the development of
morality.
 INDEX
Section Section
Allegory . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Masonry, Age of . . . . . . . 139, 140
Altar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110-116 Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219-226
Apron . . 159-171, 193-196, 262-663 Mind, Subjective . . . . 68, 270-279
Arms . . . . . . . . . . . 78, 79, 83 Lower . . . . . . . . . 67
Ashlar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Higher . . . . . . . . . 67
Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Abstract . . . . . . . . 69
Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 83 Concrete . . . . . . . 69
Cable-Tow . . . . . . . . . . 313-315 Morality . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-31
Cement . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Nature, Laws of . . . . . . . . 39-40
Circumambulation . . . . . . 304 Oblong Square . . . . . . . . 93-97
Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 63 Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Compasses . . . . . . . . . . 129 Pavement . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Paw, Lion’s . . . . . . . . . . 291
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . 24-26 Personality . . . . . . . . . . 67-74
Discalceation . . . . . . . . . 98-107 Pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309-311
Emblem . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . 47-50
Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . 73, 75, 83 Plumb . . . . . . . . . . 213-217, 218
Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 94 Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . 77, 311
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Gavel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Grave . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Rap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90-91
Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 83 Ruffians . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Individuality . . . . . . . . . 67 Shoes . . . . . . . . . . 74, 75, 81, 84
Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127, 128
John the Baptist . . . . . . . 53, 87 ,, as Working Tool . . . 206
John the Evangelist . . . . . . 54, 89 Stairs, winding . . . . . . . . 242-252
Knee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Subjective Mind . . . . . 68, 270-279
Laws, Natural . . . . . . . . . 39, 40 Symbol, Definition of . . . . 24
Legs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80, 83 Nature of . . . . . . 24
Level . . . . . . . . . . 211, 212, 218 Value of . . . . . . . 18
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 System, Definition of . . . . . 29
Lights, Great . . . . . . . . . 124-150 Trowel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Lights, Lesser . . . . . . 136, 149-158 Wages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253, 254
Lodge . . . . . . . . . 36, 37, 45, 309 Wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171-191 Work, Masonic . . . . . . . . 275
Masonry, Definitition of . . . 27 Working Tools . . . . . . . . 199-218
Purpose of . . . . . 44

116