Perhaps no symbols are as deeply engrained in the mind of a young man as he approaches the alter of Freemasonry as are the Square and Compasses. Besides being the obvious ‘logo’ of the fraternity that adorns our mantles, polo shirts, lapel pins, and bumpers, it carries an obvious weight of esoteric mystery that is palpable to the uninitiated. One gets a sense when first beholding it that it represents some great mystery; some closely kept secret begging to be uncovered.
It cannot be, then, that this author is the only Freemason who has ever felt the explanations offered of these great and enduring emblems in the Blue Lodge’s work, catechisms, and lectures to be somewhat… unfulfilling.
This is not to say that those explanations are in any way insufficient or flawed, but rather to say that it seems obvious that they are, among those who hunger and thirst, breadcrumbs which should lead us to a buffet of esoteric delight. Let us therefore delve deeper together into the mystery of these ancient and enlightening emblems, mining them for additional significance and seeing what adheres to the sticking place.
In Albert Pike’s Esoterika, he says “In a lodge of French Rite, when the Senior Warden is asked “Are you a Master Mason?” His answer is, “I am, for I have passed from the square to the compasses.”” (Pike et al.) This more ancient and origin-adjacent work gives us further clues into the potential esoteric explanations for the symbols. What is involved with ‘passing’ from the square to the compasses, and what does it mean exactly?
Traditional Blue Lodge Apologetics of the Square and Compasses
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, on their blog, offer the following information in reference to the symbols:
“The square and compass is at the very heart of Masonic lessons. They are recognized as tools of the architect and builder, which Freemasons use to teach symbolic lessons. Commonly, the square is thought to enjoin a man to “act squarely,” meaning being true and honest to his fellow man. The compass is said to remind a man to keep himself in check and not to overindulge in life’s vices. By combining these two key lessons, Freemasonry encourages man to look at himself and keep these lessons in mind during his daily life.” (Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 2022)
These sentiments track very closely with the prescribed discourse in our own state. The explanation, while perfectly functional, is somewhat pedantic. Do we honestly believe that educated, worldly men of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries created such enduring symbols with the intent that the Craft merely ‘keep our passions within due bounds, and square our actions by the square of virtue?”
Moreover, on the movement of the points of the compasses from where they begin in the Entered Apprentice degree, to where they end up in the Master Mason degree…
The final position of which was meant to invoke the thought that one is “entitled to receive all the secrets…” Even a relative neophyte can scarcely accept such an explanation from an organization known to enbue it’s ritual with deep, mystical meaning.
Indeed, many of the men involved in the earliest phases of the emergence of figurative Masonry from its operative roots were known to be rogue esotericists. One needn’t dig too deeply to see the powerful and abiding influences of Kaballah, Rosicrucianism, Hermeticism, Alchemy, and more in the symbolism of the Craft. Let us, therefore, cast a wider net in an attempt to ascertain whether there is deeper esoteric meaning in the symbols, and allow the reader to form his own opinion.
Firstly, Let’s Just Look At The Thing
Allow me to digress from the academic rigors of research and into the somewhat fuzzy realm of the mind’s eye for a moment. Find a square and compass and stare at it softly for a moment. Allow your eyes to become unfocused, so that the image of the emblems becomes hazy. What does it look like?
Once could argue that it resembles, loosely, the seal of Solomon.
The Hexagram and Hebraic Sacred Science
First, we must establish the academic principle that virtually all ancient esoteric traditions value and elevate the sacred science of Geometry to parallel and evidence the mind of God. In her book ‘The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah: Recovering the Key to Hebraic Sacred Science,’ author Leonora Leet dives into the topic:
“That Geometry is particularly expressive of cosmological meaning was understood by the Greeks as well as the Hebrews.” She continues, “It is through Geometry that the mind can embrace with rational precision and clarity those universal principles that otherwise appear so paradoxical to reason. Such mystical paradoxes as that expressed in the Hermetic formula ‘As above, so below.’” (Leet, Leonora, 2022)
Indeed, in light of this revelation, one could consider the ominous letter “G” found amidst the square and compasses in Western lodges to be a clue directing us down this very path. “G” is said to invoke God, or Gnosis in various oral traditions. Could it be that “G” is for Geometry? She goes on to offer a further explanation of the Hexagram in Hebrew Kabbalistic thought:
“Variously called the Shield of David, The Star of David, and the Seal of Solomon, the Hexagram… [is] composed of two oppositely pointed equalateral triangles whose apexes are defined by the radial arc points of a circle. This six-pointed star is an important esoteric symbol associated with the heart chakra in Tantric yoga, and [even] discovered in the ground plan of Stonehenge.” (Leet, Leonora, 2022)
The Symbolism of Triangles
When one encounters triangles, one invariably thinks first of the Alchemical esoteric tradition. The downward pointing triangle typically represents the alchemical element of Water. The Western (early modern) alchemical symbol for earth is a downward-pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line (Jacobi, 2013)
Conversely, the upward pointing triangle traditionally references Fire, and the upward pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line represents Air. (Holymard, 1990) A complete Seal of Solomon, therefore, represents all of the elements comprising the universe in which we find ourselves, the mastery of which would have been akin to ‘magic’ in antiquity. Observe in the figure below the various Alchemical symbols for the four elements:
Next, observe how all of the base elements of alchemy can be extracted from the Seal of Solomon in the figure below:
We, as modern esotericists and Freemasons, should probably be less concerned with the nuts and bolts of sacred alchemical practice in its various traditions, and more concerned with the ‘big idea.’ In the case of Alchemical philosophy, that ‘big idea’ can typically be reduced to the least common denominator of duality. One such discourse can be observed on the excellent esoteric blog ‘The Alchemist Studio:’
“Only the Creator, only the Universe itself is Oneness – everything else is duality… Our work, and the work of alchemy in its most basic form, is to re-unite these dualities, to combine fire and water, male and female in order to return to Oneness.” (Duality, As Above So Below, 2021)
Duality in The Symbols of Freemasonry
Dr. Moody A Amakobe, Senior Steward of Stone Square Lodge #22, Most Worshipful Price Hall Grand Lodge of Delaware offers the following perspective in his paper entitled ‘Duality, Unity and the Craft:’
“Masonic symbols always have a dualistic aspect attached to them. The very nature of masonry; The exoteric and esoteric existence, the square and compasses, the checkered floor, the description of the working tools, black ball rejects-white ball elects, death and resurrection.” (Amakobe, 2016 )Indeed, Boaz and Jachin, and even the Saints John represent dualistic balance in Masonic iconography:
“Realistically, St.John the Baptist and St.John the Evangelist serve to represent the balance in Masonry between zeal for the fraternity and learned knowledge.The Saints John, stand in perfect parallel and harmony representing that balance.” (Messimer, 2020)
That much Masonic symbolism is dualistic in nature seems scarcely up for debate. The question becomes, then, what particular aspects of dualistic philosophy are represented by the square and compasses. Manly P. Hall offers us yet another breadcrumb to follow:
“Man’s threefold lower nature—consisting of his physical organism, his emotional nature, and his mental faculties—reflects the light of his threefold Divinity and bears witness of It in the physical world. Man’s three bodies are symbolized by an upright triangle; his threefold spiritual nature by an inverted triangle. These two triangles, when united in the form of a six-pointed star, were called by the Jews “the Star of David,” “the Signet of Solomon,” and are more commonly known today as “the Star of Zion.” These triangles symbolize the spiritual and material universes linked together in the constitution of the human creature, who partakes of both Nature and Divinity. Man’s animal nature partakes of the earth; his divine nature of the heavens; his human nature of the mediator.” (Hall, 2011)
Representations of Carnality and Divinity in the Symbolism of the Square and Compasses
Let us digress once again to the work of Albert Pike. In ‘Esoterika: Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry,’ he offers the following thoughts:
“The square is an instrument that can be applied to level surfaces and rectilinear angles only. The Earth was anciently supposed to be a level, with occasional inequalities of hills and valleys.” He continues, “Every human being is of a compound and double nature, animal and material in part, and in part intellectual and spiritual. His body is said to have been formed of the dust of the earth: his sould, spirit, and intellect are of another nature. One is earthly, the other heavenly, one material, the other spiritual.” (Pike et al.)
If the square represents the flat plane of the Earth, from which man’s carnal existence is derived, then it is not a stretch to assume that the square is emblematic of the carnality of man – his ‘fleshly’ existence and appetites. The compasses then, representing spherical trigonometry and the heavens, is emblematic of his divine nature.
“In every human being that lives, there are four forces, each always acting, and two of them apparently antagonistic to the other two.” says Pike. (Pike et al.) in other words, the iconography of the square and compasses can be observed to be emblematic of the internal struggle of a man to rise above his animalistic nature and ascribe to his heavenly proclivities, achieving the ultimate balance between his physical existence here on this earth and his heavenly aspirations.
Regarding those opposing forces, Pike further clarifies: “Two of these [forces] belong to the animal, earthly, material nature of man, the animal or sensual appetites and the passions. The other two belong to his intellectual and spiritual nature. One of them is the moral sense, given in greater or less degree to every man. The other is reason, which teaches man what is the wisest and best thing for him to do for his own good.” (Pike et al.)
Herein we see our research come full circle to the original, somewhat unsatisfying explanation of Blue Lodge esoteric work – that the compasses exist to help us ‘keep our passions in due bounds,’ albeit, given the context, now a deeply more satisfactory narrative. In closing, and once again referencing the French work – A man is said to be a ‘Master’ by passing from ‘the square to the compasses:’ emblematic of his spiritual nature overcoming his carnality, and achieving the oneness of dualistic balance.
The elevating of the points of the compasses above the square in Masonic work can therefore be said to be a narrative of how, in due course, the Freemason gradually overcomes his animal nature and ascends to his divine self, becoming one with deity in the process. Will he acquire the ‘secrets’ which can be communicated to him in the process? Of course. But perhaps,
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