Q. Has your Lodge any lights? A. It has; three.

Q. How are they situated? A. East, West, and South.

The Mysteries of Free Masonry — Part 18

Q. Has it none in the North? A. It has not.

The Mysteries of Free Masonry — Part 18

Q. Why so? A. Because this and every other Lodge is, or ought to be, a true representation of King Solomon's Temple, which was situated North of the ecliptic; the Sun and Moon, therefore, darting their rays from the South, no light was to be expected from the North; we, therefore, Masonically, term the North a place of darkness.

The Mysteries of Free Masonry — Part 18

Q. Has your Lodge any jewels? A. It has; six; three movable and three immovable.

Q. What are the three movable jewels? A. The Square, Level, and Plumb.

Q. What do they teach? A. The Square, morality; the Level, equality; and the Plumb, rectitude of life and conduct.

Q. What are the three immovable jewels? A. The rough Ashlar, the perfect Ashlar, and the Tressel-Board.

Q. What are they? A. The rough Ashlar is a stone in its rough and natural state; the perfect Ashlar is also a stone, made ready by the working tools of the Fellow Craft to be adjusted in the building; and the Tressle-Board is for the master workman to draw his plans and designs upon.

Q. What do they represent? A. The rough Ashlar represents man in his rude and imperfect state by nature; the perfect Ashlar also represents man in that state of perfection to which we all hope to arrive, by means of a virtuous life and education, our own endeavors, and the blessing of God. In erecting our temporal building, we pursue the plans and designs laid down by the master workman on his Tressle-Board: but in erecting our spiritual building, we pursue the plans and designs laid down by the Supreme Geometrician of the Universe, in the Book of Life, which we, Masonically, term our spiritual Tressle-Board.

Q. What did you serve him with? A. Freedom, Fervency, and Zeal.

Q. What do they represent? A. Chalk, Charcoal, and Earth.

Q. Why so? A. There is nothing freer than chalk, the slightest touch of which leaves a trace behind; nothing more fervent than heated charcoal; it will melt the most obdurate metals; nothing more zealous than the earth to bring forth.

Q. How is your Lodge situated? A. Due East and West.

Q. Why so? A. Because the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.