“Further, that I will not aid, nor be present at, the initiation, passing, or raising of a woman, an old man in his dotage, a young man in his nonage, an atheist, a madman, or fool, knowing them to be such.
“Further, that I will not sit in a Lodge of clandestine-made Masons, nor converse on the subject of Masonry with a clandestine-made Mason, nor one who has been expelled or suspended from a Lodge, while under the sentence, knowing him or them to be such.
“Further, I will not cheat, wrong, nor defraud a Master Mason’s Lodge, nor a brother of this Degree, knowingly, nor supplant him in any of his laudable undertakings, but will give him due and timely notice, that he may ward off all danger.
“Further, that I will not knowingly strike a brother Master Mason, or otherwise do him personal violence in anger, except in the necessary defense of my family or property.
“Further, that I will not have illegal carnal intercourse with a Master Mason’s wife, his mother, sister, or daughter knowing them to be such, nor suffer the same to be done by others, if in my power to prevent.
“Further, that I will not give the Grand Masonic word, in any other manner or form than that in which I shall receive it, and then in a low breath.
“Further, that I will not give the Grand Hailing Sign of Distress except in case of the most imminent danger, in a just and lawful Lodge, or for the benefit of instruction; and if ever I should see it given, or hear the words accompanying it, by a worthy brother in distress, I will fly to his relief, if there is a greater probability of saving his life than losing my own.
“All this I most solemnly, sincerely promise and swear, with a firm and steady resolution to perform the same, without any hesitation, mental reservation, or secret evasion of mind whatever, binding myself, under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes, the ashes scattered before the four winds of heaven, that no more remembrance might be had of so vile and wicked a wretch as I would be, should I ever, knowingly, violate this my Master Mason’s obligation. So help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.”
The usual routine of asking for further light and removing the hoodwink follows the administration of the oath. He is shown how to wear the apron of a full-fledged Mason and is told about the use of the trowel, the main third-degree working tool. The Master tells the candidate he may retire to the anteroom while the lodge takes thirty minutes of refreshment, a Masonic term for recreation.
Unless forewarned, the candidate may expect that nothing more remains but the usual platitudes in the charge. As a matter of fact, the work on his final degree is just beginning. The altar, lights and pillars are removed, and some of the brethren fetch the paraphernalia used in the completion of the ceremony.
The candidate returns to the lodge room to receive the congratulations of the other members. They ask him how he enjoyed the work and if he is not glad it is through. The Master calls the lodge to “labor” and asks the Senior Warden, Junior Warden, and Secretary if they have any further business for the evening. They reply in the negative, but the Master calls the candidate to his seat in the east. “Brother ________, I presume you now consider yourself a Master Mason, and, as such, entitled to all the privileges of a Master Mason, do you not?” He replies that he does.
“Brother ________, you are not yet a Master Mason, neither do I know that you ever will be, until I know how well you will withstand the amazing trials and dangers that await you. The Wardens and brethren of this Lodge require a more satisfactory proof of your fidelity to your trust, before they are willing to entrust you with the more valuable secrets of this Degree. You have a rough and rugged road to travel, beset with thieves, robbers, and murderers; and should you lose your life in the attempt, it will not be the first instance of the kind, my brother. You will remember in whom you put your trust, with that divine assurance, that ‘he who endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.’ Heretofore you have had someone to pray for you, but now you have none. You must pray for yourself. You will therefore suffer yourself to be again hoodwinked, and kneel where you are, and pray orally or mentally, as you please. When through, signify by saying Amen, and arise and pursue your journey.”
At this point the Junior Warden assumes the role of Jubela, the first ruffian, and grasps the blindfolded candidate by the collar. A dialogue follows.
Ruffian: Grand Master Hiram Abif, I am glad to meet you thus alone. I have long sought this opportunity. You will remember you promised us, that when the Temple was completed, we should receive the secrets of a Master Mason, whereby we might travel in foreign countries, work, and receive Master’s wages. Behold! the Temple is now about to be completed, and we have not obtained that which we have so long sought. At first, I did not doubt your veracity; but now I do! I therefore now demand of you the secrets of a Master Mason!
Conductor (for candidate): Brother, this is an unusual way of asking for them. It is neither a proper time nor place; but be true to your engagement, and I will be true to mine. Wait until the Temple is completed, and then if you are found worthy and well qualified, you will unquestionably receive the secrets of a Master Mason; but, until then, you cannot.
Ruffian: This does not satisfy me! Talk not to me of time or place, but give me the secrets of a Master Mason, or I will take your life!
Conductor: I cannot; nor can they be given, except in the presence of Solomon, king of Israel, Hiram, king of Tyre, and myself.
Ruffian: That does not satisfy me. I’ll hear no more of your caviling! Give me the Master’s word, or I will take your life in a moment!
Jubela brushes the candidate’s throat with his hand and steps aside so that the conductor may shuffle the candidate along to the Senior Warden’s station. The Senior Warden, playing the part of Jubelo, also seizes the candidate’s collar and demands the secrets of a Master Mason. He brushes the left breast of the candidate who is hustled along to the Master’s seat. The Master takes both collars of the candidate’s coat while shouting. “You have escaped Jubela and Jubelo—me you cannot escape. My name is Jubelum. What I purpose, I perform. I hold in my hand an instrument of death; therefore, give me the secrets of a Master Mason, or I will take your life instantly!” The conductor answers for the jostled candidate, “I will not.” Jubelum declares, “Then die!”
At this Jubelum hits the candidate a light blow on the head with a stuffed setting maul, pushes him backward and trips him so that he falls into a seven-foot-by-six-foot canvas held by several of the brethren. He is lowered to the floor, bewildered and perhaps frightened. Remember that he is blindfolded.
Jubelum asks if he is dead, and the brethren reply, “He is; his skull is broken in.” Jubelum: “What horrid deed is this we have done? Brethren: We have murdered our Grand Master, Hiram Abif, and have not obtained that which we have sought; this is not time for vain reflection—the question is, what shall we do with the body?” They decide to bury it in the rubbish of the Temple until low twelve when they plan to meet and give it a decent burial. The lodge becomes silent until the Master strikes the hour of low twelve (12:00 midnight) on a triangle or bell. The three ruffians appear to carry out the burial, and a group of brethren hoist the canvas-wrapped body of the candidate onto their shoulders and carry it around the lodge three times. They pretend to bury it and plant an acacia plant at the head in order to identify the spot. The conspirators plot to escape but are unable to deliver the pass needed to board a ship to Ethiopia; they decide to flee to the interior.
Now the remaining brethren begin to shout, laugh, and move about. They are supposed to be Temple workmen who report to the Master (who now plays King Solomon) that no work has been laid out on the trestle board and that they therefore have no work to do. A search is undertaken for Hiram and a roll call taken of the Fellow Crafts. They soon discover that the three assassins are absent. Meanwhile twelve Fellow Crafts are admitted to King Solomon’s presence, kneel before him and confess that they and the three murde
rers entered into a conspiracy to extort the secrets of a Master Mason from Hiram but they backed out. The King deputizes them to find the three escapees. Three of them sit down near the candidate, discover the newly planted acacia, and hear the assassins accusing themselves of their crime. They overpower the ruffians and drag them to Solomon, to whom they admit their guilt.
“Vile, impious wretches! despicable villains! reflect with horror on the atrocity of your crime, and on the amiable character of your Worshipful Grand Master, whom you have so basely assassinated. Hold up your heads, and hear your sentence. It is my orders that you be taken without the gates of the court, and be executed, according to your several imprecations, in the clefts of the rocks. Brother Junior Grand Warden, you will see my orders duly executed. Be-gone!”
The brethren rush into the anteroom and set up a clamor amid the groans of the “dying” ruffians. They return to tell Solomon that they have carried out the execution, and he further orders them, “You twelve Fellow Crafts will go in search of the body, and, if found, observe whether the Master’s word, or a key to it, or anything that appertains to the Master Degree, is on or about it.”
They stroll over to where the candidate lies shrouded in the canvas and discover the grave. “Here is the body of our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, in a mangled and putrid state. Let us go and report. But what were our orders? We were ordered to observe whether the Master’s word, or a key to it, or anything appertaining to the Master’s Degree was on or about the body; but, brothers, we are only Fellow Crafts, and know nothing about the Master’s word, or a key to it, or anything appertaining to the Master’s Degree; we must, however, make an examination, or we will be put to death.”
They fumble around the candidate’s body and find the jewel which was attached to the yoke around his neck. “This is the jewel of his office,” they exclaim, and they detach the jewel and take it to King Solomon. They inform Solomon that they have been unable to find the Master’s word, and he tells the Treasurer: “My worthy brother of Tyre, as the Master’s word is now lost, the first sign given at the grave and the first word spoken, after the body is raised, shall be adopted for the regulation of all Master’s lodges, until future generations shall find out the right.” By this the lodge hints at the discovery of the true Master’s word which is given in the Royal Arch degree for those who wish to advance through the York rite.
All now form a circle around the body and sing the Masonic funeral dirge, which is also used in Masonic burial services.
At the conclusion of the hymn the Master makes the grand hailing sign of distress by throwing both arms in the air. He exclaims, “O Lord my God, I fear the Master’s word is lost forever.” He tells the Junior Warden, “You will take the body by the Entered Apprentice grip, and see if it can be raised.” He halfheartedly grasps the candidate’s hand but lets it slip out. “Most Worshipful King Solomon, owing to the high state of putrefaction, it having been dead already fifteen days, the skin slips, and the body cannot be raised,” he relates. The Master repeats the grand hailing sign and ejaculation and asks the Senior Warden to try raising the body with the Fellow Craft’s grip. He too reports, “Owing to the reason given before, the flesh cleaves from the bone, and the body cannot be so raised.” The Master wails, “O Lord my God; O Lord my God! O Lord my God! Is there no hope for the widow’s son?” All kneel and repeat the following prayer:
“Thou, O God! knowest our down-sitting and our up-rising, and understandest our thoughts afar off. Shield and defend us from the evil intentions of our enemies, and support us under the trials and afflictions we are destined to endure, while traveling through this vale of tears. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee; that hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, turn from him that he may rest, till he shall accomplish his day. For there is hope of a tender branch thereof will not cease. But man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down, and riseth not up till the heavens shall be no more. Yet, O Lord! have compassion on the children of thy creation, administer and comfort in time of trouble, and save them with an everlasting salvation. Amen.”
Finally the Master sighs, “My worthy brother of Tyre, I shall endeavor to raise the body by the strong grip, or lion’s paw, of the tribe of Judah.” He grips the candidate with the Master Mason’s grip and pulls him to his feet, giving him the grand Masonic word on the five points of fellowship. The word is “Ma-hah-bone” which the Master whispers to the candidate and asks him to repeat with him. The two exchange this word on the so-called five points of fellowship: foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back, and cheek to cheek or mouth to ear. The candidate’s blindfold has been slipped off, and he sees light for the first time in about an hour. The following explanations of the five points is given by the Master:
First: Foot to foot—that you will never hesitate to go on foot, and out of your way, to assist and serve a worthy brother.
Second: Knee to knee—that you will ever remember a brother’s welfare, as well as your own, in all your adorations to Deity.
Third: Breast to breast—that you will ever keep in your breast a brother’s secrets, when communicated to and received by you as such, murder and treason excepted.
Fourth: Hand to back—that you will ever be ready to stretch forth your hand to assist and save a fallen brother; and that you will vindicate his character behind his back, as well as before his face.
Fifth: Cheek to cheek, or mouth to ear—that you will ever caution and whisper good counsel in the ear of an erring brother, and, in the most friendly manner, remind him of his errors, and aid his reformation, giving him due and timely notice, that he may ward off approaching danger.
All the brethren take their seats while the candidate stands before the Master in the east and hears a lecture on the degree. This recounts the parts of the degree and the Hiram Abif legend. He concludes by explaining the three grand Masonic pillars:
“The pillar of Wisdom represents Solomon, King of Israel, whose wisdom contrived the mighty fabric; the pillar of Strength, Hiram, King of Tyre, who strengthened Solomon in his grand undertaking; the pillar of Beauty, Hiram Abif, the widow’s son, whose cunning craft and curious workmanship beautified and adorned the Temple.
“The construction of this grand edifice was attended with two remarkable circumstances. From Josephus we learn, that although seven years were occupied in building it, yet, during the whole time, it rained not in the daytime, that the workmen might not be obstructed in their labor, and from sacred history it appears that there was neither the sound of hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house while it was building. This famous fabric was supported by fourteen hundred and fifty-three columns, and two thousand nine hundred and six pilasters—all hewn from the finest Parian marble.
“There were employed in its building three Grand Masters; three thousand three hundred Masters, or overseers of the work; eighty thousand Fellow Crafts, or hewers on the mountains and in the quarries; and seventy thousand entered Apprentices, or bearers of burdens. All these were classes and arranged in such a manner, by the wisdom of Solomon, that neither envy, discord, nor confusion was suffered to interrupt that universal peace and tranquility which pervaded the world at that important period.
“Brother ________, seven constitute a Lodge of Entered Apprentices—one Master Mason, and six Entered Apprentices. They usually meet on the Ground Floor of King Solomon’s Temple.
“Five constitute a Lodge of Fellow Crafts—two Master Masons and three Fellow Crafts. They usually meet in the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple.
“Three constitute a Lodge of Master Masons—three Master Masons. They meet in the Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies of King Solomon’s Temple.”
He also explains more Masonic symbols such as the three steps, the pot of incense, beehive, book of constitutions, sword pointing to a naked heart, the all-seeing eye, the anchor and ark and the forty-seventh problem of Euclid, the hourglass, scythe, setting maul, coffin, grave, acacia, and spade.
The Master delivers a charge to the lodge which follows:
“And now, my brethren, let us see to it, and so regulate our lives by the plumb-line of justice, ever squaring our actions by the square of virtue, that when the Grand Warden of Heaven may call for us, we may be found ready; let us cultivate assiduously the noble tenets of our profession—brotherly love, relief, and truth—and, from the square, learn morality; from the level, equality; from the plumb, rectitude of life. Let us imitate, in all his various perfections, him who, when assailed by the murderous band of rebellious craftsmen, maintained his integrity, even in death, and sealed his pledge with his own blood. Let us emulate his amiable and virtuous conduct, his unfeigned piety to his God, his inflexible integrity to his trust; and as the evergreen that bloomed at the head of the grave betoken the place of his interment, so may virtue’s ever-blooming loveliness designate us as free and accepted Masons. With the trowel, spread liberally the cement of brotherly love and affection; and, circumscribed by the compass, let us ponder well our words and actions, and let all the energies of our minds and the affections of our souls be employed in the attainment of our Supreme Grand Warden’s approbation. Thus, when dissolution draws nigh, and the cold winds of death come sighing around us, and his chilly dews already glisten on our foreheads, with joy shall we obey the summons of the Grand Warden of Heaven, and go from our labors on earth to everlasting refreshments in the Paradise of God. Then, by the benefit of the pass—a pure and blameless life—with a firm reliance on Divine Providence, shall we gain ready admission into that Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Grand Warden forever presides—forever reigns. When, placed at his right hand, he will be pleased to pronounce us just and upright Masons, then shall we be fitted as living stones for that spiritual temple, ‘that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,’ where no discordant voice shall be heard, but all the soul shall experience shall be perfect bliss, and all it shall express shall be perfect praise, and love divine shall ennoble every heart, and hallelujahs exalted employ every tongue.”
The Gods of the Lodge Page 7