Masonic Articles and Essays
The Secrets of the Masonic Temple
Exc... Bro... Aksel Suvari 18o
Date Published: 7/24/2024
The Temple is as old as humanity itself. It is the center of traditional human life and the hub around which the wheel of civilization turns, the spokes of society radiating out from its center. But what is the symbolism of the Masonic Temple and what does it teach us about our place in the cosmos?
For as long as Man has inquired after the nature of the Divine, he has erected temples to his various gods and goddesses in order to draw closer to the ineffable energies he seeks to understand. From the crumbling remnants of the ancient world to the soaring eaves and flying buttresses of more modern edifices, humanity’s desire to create sacred spaces is essential to our character. Though we find few worthy examples in modern architecture and design, buried deep within the human heart is the knowledge that the Divine does inhabit physical space if its geometry is adequately arranged to accommodate such a lofty presence.
The rituals of Freemasonry teach us that all of Creation was set in order by the Great Architect of the Universe. Its laws are immutable and constant in their operation. We cannot overthrow them nor rewrite them to our liking, but it is within our power to understand them. These laws were set forth according to measure and number and thus by the sacred science of geometry. Literally meaning “Earth measure”, geometry is the science and understanding of the forms of physical manifestation – forms which are naturally shaped by these invisible laws of creation.
Never content with the surface of things, Freemasonry dives deeper, beyond the shapes created by the laws and seeks to understand the laws themselves. By practicing symbolic, internal geometry the Freemason is able to bring his whole being into alignment with the ceaseless operation of the laws of the Universe and thereby achieve a state of cooperation with Nature.
This process, however, is not a simple one. Freemasonry knows that the veil of its secrets are not easily penetrated and thus constructs temples to aid in the discovery of this hidden science. The Masonic Temple is no mere building, chosen only for convenience or the mundane ease it may provide for the members of a Lodge. A Masonic Temple is an intentional space, a conscious creation intended in all its aspects to bring us closer to the Divine. A Masonic Temple, like all holy spaces, is a bridge between Heaven and Earth. It is the cosmos itself, reproduced in miniature so that it can be explored and inhabited by those who wish to understand the mystery of existence. Its alignment with universal principle does not set the Masonic Temple apart from the world, in fact in brings forth the glory of creation from its otherwise mundane materials.
The Ancient Mysteries have taken many forms throughout the ages. From the simple fire worship of the Chaldean mystics to the rites of the shipbuilders on the shores of Egypt, the secrets of the mysteries of Nature and Science have been concealed in numerous ways. The choice of Freemasonry to cloth itself in the symbolism of the building craft is latest form but it is no arbitrary decision. When constructing a temple, Masons mingle the materials of the earth with the spiritual direction and will of their Architect thereby making divine the mundane. A brick is just a brick but when it is laid in the edifice of a great temple it transcends its earthly nature and becomes a piece of a living structure that is inhabited by the very presence of the Deity. This is the principal symbolism of Freemasonry, that by fashioning ourselves into living stones of the Temple not made with hands, we too may raise the vibration of our rude worldly material to be in harmony with that which rules on high. That which is below becomes like that which is above and the proportions, dimensions, and geometry of the architecture of creation are displayed in those who complete this transformation.
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Of course, these macrocosmic proportions are but a mirror of the microcosm of Man. The human body, from which all ancient systems of measurement were derived, is itself a temple. It is the temple which we all occupy and whose altar we each lay our sacrifices upon. Its altar is our mind and its Sacred Flame is our soul, that divine spark which we have each been given to guard and to keep from the extinguishing forces of darkness and ignorance. The impulse to reproduce this grand geometry has emerged in every human civilization worthy of the name. Beginning over 14,000 years ago with the construction of Gobekli Tepe, the world’s oldest known temple structure and continuing through the present day, temple building has been the mark of civilization for millennia. It is no coincidence that in the regions surrounding Gobekli Tepe we find the first evidences of agriculture and the taming of animals by human beings. This evolution would culminate in the mighty ziggurats of the Mesopotamian empires of Iraq and ancient Chaldea. The arts and sciences produced by these temples would be refined and perfected in the glory of ancient Egypt whose immense pyramids covered in resplendent, shining limestone drew seekers after wisdom from the four corners of the known world and stood as monuments to the spiritual achievement of the people who built them. In the East, the towering spires of the Hindu mandir rose above the treetops and stretched forth to the starry skies above.
Oriented from East to West the Masonic Temple aligns itself perfectly with the path of the Sun, the bringer of light and wisdom to the human species and the object of veneration of the countless ancient religions inspired by the perennial mystery traditions. Because it is aligned with the path of the Sun it is also aligned with the procession of the celestial bodies, those mysterious wanderers who shed their influence upon our planet and that have drawn the curious observations of humanity for millennia. Like the shepherds of old, even the modern Freemason still has much to learn from the celestial processes depicted in the very structure of our Temples.
The rituals of Freemasonry are centered upon the legend of one temple in particular: the Temple of King Solomon. This architectural wonder of the ancient world forms the basis of Masonic Legend and holds the keys to the understanding not only of the Craft of Freemasonry but of Man’s innermost nature. 60 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide, the Temple of Solomon the King was constructed to house the Ark of the Covenant, the mysterious artifact that had brought the ancient Israelites their victories and which now desired a resting place from its wanderings in the desert. While certainly adorned with the most wonderful of earthly splendor, the true beauty of the Temple was to be found not in its outer trappings but in its very architecture. The plan of the Temple of Solomon was formed in units of measurement derived from the human body and its proportions corresponded to the enigmatic Golden Ratios known to the Greeks and Egyptians as the connection between the human body and the divine cosmos. By bridging these two worlds, the human and the divine, the Temple of Solomon fulfills its purpose as a holy place, for if a temple is not raised with such proportions it cannot be said to be a true dwelling place of the spirit of the Lord. For in this idea we find the central concept of the Masonic Temple legend; namely that once the spirit of God dwelled in the temple of Man but has now come to be lost among its rubble. If it can be raised once more to higher life then shall humanity know itself and the cosmos and be complete
Wherever the benevolent influences of civilization have sprang up upon the Earth, there we first find such Temples. They are the epicenter of our evolution and the source from which all wisdom flows.
The pyramids of the Ancient Egyptians, original practitioners of our ancient Mysteries, united a people for generations in their building. Likewise, the magnificent step-pyramids of the Amazon and Mexican peninsula, the soaring temple complexes of India and Cambodia, the towering pagodas of China and Japan, the lofty columns and stalwart buttresses of the Gothic cathedrals. All such constructions have served but one purpose – to inspire and accelerate the progress of human evolution. Whole civilizations have been formed around the influence of such structures and the energies that their natural order and symmetry emits. Who has not entered one of these buildings and felt for themselves the profound yet invisible weight of their timeless construction? Who has stood in such a temple and not been awed by the deafening silence of their beauty?
Such places are essential for the human being. Without them we are lost, unmoored from our connection with the sacred and the Divine. Freemasonry is a building craft. Its symbols are those of the tools and materials used in the raising of such structures and it is this timeless temple that we are engaged in building. Yet unfinished, the temple “not made with hands” may yet take countless further generations to complete. Meanwhile we Masons gather in our temples, earthly approximations of Divine perfection, that we may experience for ourselves the infinite grandeur of cosmic order and grace. For if we can emulate in our own lives the principles and beauty displayed in our Masonic Temple, however weakly and imperfectly, we can draw ever closer to the Divine union that is the aim and object of all Mystery traditions.
