Post by bod on Jul 5, 2005 16:04:44 GMT
Almost one of the first things we learn about freemasonry is that it is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
Taking each of these in turn, and with the assistance of Wikipedia.
Morality is described as a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong.
Morality is a subject that varies from country to country, and even within countries there will be differences, it expresses itself outwardly in the way the majority of the grouping in question. The morality that is within freemasonry, the basic lessons of morality as I view them, are almost a universally accepted code of conduct. There is nothing in the morality of freemasonry that wouldn’t be found on the statute books of most democratic countries.
An allegory (from Greek áëëïò, allos, "other", and áãïñåõåéí, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal.
Through allegory a subject of a higher spiritual order is described in terms of that of a lower, which is made out to resemble it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject being so kept out of view that we are left to construe the drift of it from the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
An allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in painting, sculpture or some form of mimetic art.
Though it is similar to other rhetorical comparisons, an allegory is sustained longer and more full in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination where an analogy appeals to reason. The fable or parable is a short allegory with one definite moral.
The allegory has been a favourite form in the literature of nearly every nation. The Hebrew scriptures present frequent instances of it, one of the most beautiful being the comparison of the history of Israel to the growth of a vine in Psalm 80:19-17. In the Rabbinic tradition fully-developed allegorical readings were applied to every text, with every detail of the narrative given an emblematic reading, a tradition that was inherited by Christian writers, for whom allegorical similitude’s are the basis of exegesis, the origin of the arts of hermeneutics. The late Jewish and Early Christian visionary Apocalyptic literature, with its base in the Book of Daniel, presents allegorical figures, of which the Whore of Babylon and the Beast of Revelation are simply the most familiar.
In classical literature two of the best known allegories are the cave of shadowy representations in Plato's Republic (Book VII) and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa (Livy ii. 32); and several occur in Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Late Antiquity Martianus Capella organized all the information a 5th-century upper-class male needed to know into an allegory of the wedding of Mercury and Philologia, with the seven liberal arts as guests, an allegory that was widely read through the Middle Ages. In the late 15th century, the enigmatic Hypnerotomachia, with its elaborate woodcut illustrations, shows the influence of themed pageants and masques on contemporary allegorical representation.
Allegory has always been with us, it is a traditional art of the human spirit, the ability to impart a teaching or to convey a message without explicitly doing so.
Through the allegory of the ritual, the words, the actions, we become familiar with the underlying moral lessons, the words we first hear as candidates make very little sense the first time round, by becoming more familiar with them, we start to understand what is being hinted at.
Why use allegory?
Allegory is a way of communicating in a largely religious society which sees history and nature as charged with hidden divine meanings that can be revealed to a studious, attentive reader. There are three main justifications for allegory:
Then we come to the last one.
A symbol can be a material object whose shape or origin is related, by nature or convention, to the thing it represents: for instance, the cross is the main symbol of Christianity, and the scepter is a traditional symbol of royal power.
A symbol can also be a more or less conventional image (i.e. an icon), or a detail of an image, or even a pattern or color: examples include , the olive branch in heraldry which represents peace, the halo is a conventional symbol of sainthood in Christian imagery, tartans are symbols of Scottish clans, and the color red is often used as a symbol for socialist movements.
Symbols can also be immaterial entities like sounds, words and gestures, such as the wardens gavels in reply, and there is also the 'symbolic penalty' alluded to in each degree.
Symbols can be interpreted in different ways, and this can make it a turbulent area of discussion, but it is sometimes helpful to have someone elses eyes to look through.
Taking each of these in turn, and with the assistance of Wikipedia.
Morality is described as a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong.
Morality is a subject that varies from country to country, and even within countries there will be differences, it expresses itself outwardly in the way the majority of the grouping in question. The morality that is within freemasonry, the basic lessons of morality as I view them, are almost a universally accepted code of conduct. There is nothing in the morality of freemasonry that wouldn’t be found on the statute books of most democratic countries.
An allegory (from Greek áëëïò, allos, "other", and áãïñåõåéí, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal.
Through allegory a subject of a higher spiritual order is described in terms of that of a lower, which is made out to resemble it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject being so kept out of view that we are left to construe the drift of it from the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
An allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in painting, sculpture or some form of mimetic art.
Though it is similar to other rhetorical comparisons, an allegory is sustained longer and more full in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination where an analogy appeals to reason. The fable or parable is a short allegory with one definite moral.
The allegory has been a favourite form in the literature of nearly every nation. The Hebrew scriptures present frequent instances of it, one of the most beautiful being the comparison of the history of Israel to the growth of a vine in Psalm 80:19-17. In the Rabbinic tradition fully-developed allegorical readings were applied to every text, with every detail of the narrative given an emblematic reading, a tradition that was inherited by Christian writers, for whom allegorical similitude’s are the basis of exegesis, the origin of the arts of hermeneutics. The late Jewish and Early Christian visionary Apocalyptic literature, with its base in the Book of Daniel, presents allegorical figures, of which the Whore of Babylon and the Beast of Revelation are simply the most familiar.
In classical literature two of the best known allegories are the cave of shadowy representations in Plato's Republic (Book VII) and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa (Livy ii. 32); and several occur in Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Late Antiquity Martianus Capella organized all the information a 5th-century upper-class male needed to know into an allegory of the wedding of Mercury and Philologia, with the seven liberal arts as guests, an allegory that was widely read through the Middle Ages. In the late 15th century, the enigmatic Hypnerotomachia, with its elaborate woodcut illustrations, shows the influence of themed pageants and masques on contemporary allegorical representation.
Allegory has always been with us, it is a traditional art of the human spirit, the ability to impart a teaching or to convey a message without explicitly doing so.
Through the allegory of the ritual, the words, the actions, we become familiar with the underlying moral lessons, the words we first hear as candidates make very little sense the first time round, by becoming more familiar with them, we start to understand what is being hinted at.
Why use allegory?
Allegory is a way of communicating in a largely religious society which sees history and nature as charged with hidden divine meanings that can be revealed to a studious, attentive reader. There are three main justifications for allegory:
- to convey moral truths in a pleasing form
- to conceal ideas from the vulgar and reveal them only to the deserving few; sometimes called the "nut and kernel" approach, the reader must work hard to extract or unlock the hidden meaning
(in Matthew 13:10-17, when Jesus's disciples asked him why he spoke in parables, he answered "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. . . . Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. . . . But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear") - to say things that are otherwise inexpressible
Then we come to the last one.
A symbol can be a material object whose shape or origin is related, by nature or convention, to the thing it represents: for instance, the cross is the main symbol of Christianity, and the scepter is a traditional symbol of royal power.
A symbol can also be a more or less conventional image (i.e. an icon), or a detail of an image, or even a pattern or color: examples include , the olive branch in heraldry which represents peace, the halo is a conventional symbol of sainthood in Christian imagery, tartans are symbols of Scottish clans, and the color red is often used as a symbol for socialist movements.
Symbols can also be immaterial entities like sounds, words and gestures, such as the wardens gavels in reply, and there is also the 'symbolic penalty' alluded to in each degree.
Symbols can be interpreted in different ways, and this can make it a turbulent area of discussion, but it is sometimes helpful to have someone elses eyes to look through.