Encyclopedia Masonica

The oldest existing Tracing Boards of early Eighteenth Century Lodges contain the two Pillars. One gathers from the Minutes that during the days when Lodges had their dining table in the center of the Lodge room and sat around it while a Candidate was being initiated, the Tracing Board, painted on cloth, was laid on the floor, or hung on the wall, and "lectures" were used to explain it. The set of symbols in the still-existing Tracing Boards correspond 80 closely to those mentioned in the Legend of the Craft in the Old Charges that it is reasonable to believe that the key to the interpretation of the symbols given to the Candidate is found in the latter. If that be true, the two pillars in the Tracing Boards in the oldest of the Lodges must have referred to the two pillars described in the Cooke MS., one of marble and one of "lacerns," or tile.

When the Allegory of Solomon's Temple was introduced into the Second Degree, perhaps about 1740 or 1750 in its present form, the two Great Pillars belonging to it came into a prominent place. This meant that the older Lodges then had two sets of Pillars. Whether the former was dropped out, or the two became coalesced, it is impossible to know.

In some of the Tracing Boards and in engravings used on certificates, etc., three pillars often were used, but these probably represented columns; and in some instances these were either Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, or else, to judge by the figures sometimes shown on top of them, the three Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. With the columns representing the Five Orders, Lodge symbolism contained no fewer than ten, and it may even have been thirteen, pillars and columns together.

Two problems about the Temple pillars are not yet solved: first, whether they stood out on the platform beyond the Temple, or stood in the facade of it, and as structural members of the building; second, what their height was. The narrative in the Book of Kings does not give an answer to either question. On the basis of the general custom in Egypt and in the Near East it is most likely that the Two Pillars stood apart from the building; and it is possible that the Chapters on their tops were really large metal baskets which could be filled with burning pine or cedar knots for illumination at night, and also possibly as a reminiscence of the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.

There were four cubits, or units of measurement, in use. Generally, a cubit was the distance from the elbow to the end of the fingers, but the others differed; in one instance, one of the cubits in use is almost twice the length of another. The Book of Kings does not say which cubit was employed, but if the Pillars were in the facade of the building and formed two sides of the entrance they were probably about seventeen feet high; if, as is more likely, they stood apart they were probably thirty-four feet high. As far as known records go the early Speculative Masons saw so little of importance in the question of height that apparently they never decided it one way or another; in any event, the exact height means nothing to the symbolism.

In both the oldest Minutes and the oldest engravings the two Globes appear to have been unconnected with the Pillars. They were put sometimes in one place in the room and sometimes in another. Remarks incorporated here and there in the Minutes suggest that the Brethren used them to represent "the universality of Masonry," not in the sense that Masonry took in everything but in the sense that Lodges are constituted in every country. One globe was the sky, the other the land; together they made up the world. The two Great Pillars in the Old Charges represented the Liberal Arts and Sciences; in the Allegory of Solomon's Temple they were guardians and gates to the Presence of Jehovah; both of these interpretations became loosely fused in the Second Degree.

By a similar development of symbolic interpretation the Terrestrial Globe came also to mean the earth, the earthy; the Celestial, to mean the heavenly, the spiritual. When the Globes and the Pillars were combined both sets of symbolism were synthesized, so that as used in modern Speculative Rituals they are very rich in significance, not the least of which was the complete fusing of education (Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences) with religion (Temple worship), an idea in absolute contrast to the Medieval idea, when church and school were often at war with each other, and faith and knowledge were considered to be opposites, or foes.

The Encyclopedia Masonica exists to preserve the wealth of information that has been generated over the centuries by numerous Masonic authors. As Freemasonry is now Speculative and not Operative, the work of a Mason is now conducted in the quarries of symbolism, literature, history and scholasticism. Freemasonry encourages intellectual exploration and academic achievement in its members and many Masons over the years have taken up this calling. The result has been that an incredible amount of philosophy, symbolic speculation and academic insights have been created. However, as Freemasonry teaches, human knowledge is frail and fragile. It is easily lost in the turnings of the ages and unforeseen catastrophes can result in great setbacks to human knowledge.

For too long these great works have sat on forgotten shelves, gathering dust and concealing the light that could be shed on the darkness of our ignorance. The Encyclopedia Masonica has been created to act as an ark, sailing through time, to ensure that future generations of Freemasons have access to the same knowledge that inspired the Brethren that came before them. It will contain the works of such Masonic Luminaries as Albert G. Mackey, Manly Palmer Hall, G.S.M. Ward, Albert Pike and many others. The Encyclopedia Masonica is a living work and the volunteers of Universal Co-Masonry will continue to labor until the most comprehensive Masonic reference work the world has ever seen has been created. The Encyclopedia Masonica is open to any who wish to use it and will remain open so that the treasures contained within may increase the wealth of all those who seek its wisdom.