In lodge, we speak of traveling from west to east in search of further light in Freemasonry. We speak of it so often that it almost become cliché. In fact, when we meet a brother on the street, we may ask him: Are you a traveling man? and Of what are you in search? Our dating system begins 4000 BC (the purported year when the earth was created by g-d’s fiat. We note that the Masonic date is AL, Anno Lumis, the year of light.
So, given that we speak of it so often… have you ever stopped to think: What they heck does “seeking more light” actually mean?
Until recently, I hadn’t really either. Russell Holland posted, in response to my article about the Masonic Pencil as post #4: It may be useful to consider what it is you mean by Light and how your Beacon of Masonic Light connects to that source or sources.
Now, Russell and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, he is given to tossing out one-liners and walking away, but for the first time in, oh, six years, what he wrote struck me, differently than I think he intended, to be sure, but it made me stop and ask, so what IS this “Further Light In Masonry” we are all seeking. I had an answer, one I had formed over the years, but I thought I would look at what other brothers had said, rather than reinvent the wheel:
WHAT IS LIGHT? At first glance it would appear that we should begin by asking "What is Light?" Over the seven years that I have lived in Alberta, I have come to love the Ancient York Rite. I will strive to the utmost to defend it for I believe that it contains the last existing vestiges of the work of our ancient Operative brethren. Nevertheless, I have to concede that it does have one glaring omission. One that our Canadian Rite brethren will instantly recognize. Every other ritual for the High and Sublime degree that I have ever read or seen worked, contains the statement: "I beg you to observe that the Light of a Master Mason is Darkness Visible." The Light of a Master Mason is Darkness visible. I put it to you, Brethren, that this is the most accurate description of Masonic Light that you will ever find.(1)
As I searched for… well, light, on this subject, I came across the above, written by Wr. John W. Alexander of Britania Lodge #18. At first, I was appalled, but in keeping with my search, I finished reading his article, and began to realize… he was right. Later in his article, he goes on to say:
For primitive man, the absence of light, by impairing his ability to see, seemed to plunge the world into nothingness. Thus, even from the earliest times, we find darkness, as the negation of light, regarded as a cause of fear and, therefore, of evil. The Ancient Mysteries, which coexisted with and underlay the conventional religions of those far-off times, developed the idea of Light as a symbol of Knowledge and Truth. Thus we find that they all regarded its opposite as representative of Ignorance and Error. It is in this form that Freemasonry, the heiress of all the Systems of Initiation, has received the concept. Our candidate, like those of the Ancient Mysteries, enters the lodge room enshrouded in darkness. This is not to hide anything from him. After all, once he has assumed the necessary obligations, he will be shown everything. No, it is to impress him with the idea that he is blind in spirit, that he lacks knowledge, that he is in a State of Darkness. Hopefully he comes to understand that it was not the lodge which was darkened but he himself and will realize the truth that he brought his own darkness in with him! The item that we use to blindfold him is called, Masonically, a hoodwink. But a hoodwink means more than a simple blindfold. The Peerage Reference Dictionary defines the verb 'to hoodwink' as 'to deceive' thus the candidate's condition on entry is considered to be that of a man deceived. Deceived by Ignorance.(1)
I had always considered the “light” to be that of discovery, of knowledge, of ignorance dispelled. To seek further light in Masonry is to seek further understanding, of ourselves, of our brothers, of our society, of our place in the universe, and last, but certainly not least, in our g-d. After all, the source, The Fount Of All Knowledge Is The Deity, The Godhead, The Supreme Being, The Grand Artificer Of The Universe… in a word, g-d.
After all, we have the “Great Lights of Masonry” open in front of the candidate when we announce to him that he is seeing the light by which masons see… the Holy Writings, the Square and Compass. The three (there is that three thing again!) together form a single symbol for the godhead… a direct connection between Freemasonry and the light… dispelling ignorance.
As a mason advances in his degrees, he is shown more and more light, and in the third degree, is told that he is about to receive all the light that can be conferred upon him in a lodge of master masons. Once he is raised, it becomes incumbent upon the master mason to SEEK OUT THE LIGHT, to educate himself, to seek g-d, within and without. Receiving the light, the master mason cannot help but shine WITH that light, to spread the light, as he becomes a veritable Beacon of Masonic Light.
May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.
(1) FIAT LUX - SOME THOUGHTS ON MASONIC LIGHT, by John W. Alexander, WM (Britannia Lodge No. 18) http://www.masonicworld.com/education/files/mlight.htm
