Saturday, December 11, 2010

Freemasonry, Fraternity, and Friendships




“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody.”
Mother Teresa


As we sit in lodge our eyes are often drawn to the pictures of our esteemed past Worshipful Masters that line both sides of the room.  Almost half of the pictures are marked with a black ribbon as a tribute, and acknowledge that these fine men have passed on to what we call the celestial lodge.  Their pictures are a reminder that our time here on earth is limited, and that others have walked much the same path through the Masonic rites that we do today. 

I respect these men, not because of their contributions to the craft, but simply because they struggled with the same issues that each one of us must also confront in our own lives.  Although I have never met them or even been told about their lives, I have no doubt that one or more of them suffered the loss of a child, the loss of a life partner, humiliation, fear of war, a loss of income, fear of failure, loneliness, desperation, sickness, hopelessness, etc.   I have no doubt that they suffered these things, because these are all human conditions.  If we live – as the Buddha said – we suffer.  But why would I discuss this when discussing our fraternity?  What does Freemasonry have to do with life struggles?

Each meeting, I walk into the lodge and am greeted by my brothers.  We smile and offer a friendly handshake before taking our seats.  Many of us know each other on a superficial level, and at least some of us have even gotten to know each other on a much deeper level.  The lodge is a place of geniality and friendship – a place to forge bonds over a common interest and shared goals.

But what about the younger brother sitting in the corner?  And what of the older gentleman who has been helped to his seat but sits quietly alone throughout the meeting?
What are their hardships?  What is their past? Has this one lost a wife or a child?  Is that one afraid that he will outlive his income?  Is this one a single parent? Was that one raised without a father or mother? Has that one been neglected by family?  Does this one have a family member stricken by disease or mental illness?  Can this one no longer afford his medication?  As a retired social worker, I could go on and on, and on.

Am I over-dramatizing?  I don’t think so.  I used to live in a small neighborhood of 60 or so homes.  One day I made a list of what I knew about my neighbors.  My notes were enlightening.  In four homes there were individuals who were being treated for cancer.  In five homes the homeowner had lost their partner.  In three homes people were struggling with enormous debt.  In one home a family member was totally paralyzed at the age of seventeen.  In another home a family struggled with an autistic child.  In four homes family members suffered from some form of mental illness.  The owners of four homes had been divorced, and the owners of two homes struggled with children with severe behavioral problems.  In fact, it seemed as if no one was untouched by significant life problems.

            So, am I over-dramatizing?  No, I am merely pointing out what we would all admit if we were to give it a bit of thought - Life is often difficult for each of us, and sitting across from us and to either side is a fellow human being facing similar difficulties on a day to day basis.

We often sit in lodge fretting over the mechanics of ritual, or the allegorical nature of our ceremonies, but far too often forget about the brother sitting at our side.  We cocoon ourselves, sitting in cliques, satisfied that a simple handshake or nod of the head is sufficient.  Can we do more?  I have no answers, but am eager to hear your opinions.

Respectfully submitted,

Bro. Tavit Smith         

Freemasonry, Mysticism, and Mathematics



Of all of the great scientific minds throughout history, our fraternity chose one in particular to mention in our esteemed rites – the name of Pythagoras of Samos.  Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher, mystic and mathematician from the Ionian tribe who is believed to have lived between 495 BCE and 570 CE, but many of us may remember his name from early schooling when we were taught the “Pythagorean theorem.”  The concept that

“…in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides…”  [1]    

But why do Freemasons honor this man in their rites?  Is it simply a reference to his role in one of the “seven liberal arts”?   Is it because he was the leader of a fraternity much like our own in which there were initiation rites and formal degrees?  What about his reputed reputation as a mystic?  Is there a relationship that exists between mysticism and mathematics?

A detailed study of this last question would fill a library, and although you may never have considered mathematics to be a spiritual pursuit, there are many written essays that do just that.  There is a beauty to mathematics, and while I cannot, in this short essay, do justice to this exploration, I will do my best to urge you on to further study.

I personally believe that Pythagoras is mentioned in our rites not simply because of his mathematical acumen, but specifically because of his belief that “All things are numbers.”[2] Pythagoras felt that there was an affinity between numbers and reality that directly pointed to a higher power (or as we say, to the GAOTU).  By the way, another great scientific mind mirrored this same thought; Galileo himself wrote that the “grand book” of the universe “…is written in the language of mathematics, and it’s characters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it.”[3]

“That mathematics, in common with the other humanities, can lead us beyond ordinary existence, and can show us something of the structure in which all creation hangs together, is no new idea.”[4]  “The ability of mathematics to provide frameworks of reality and of action, and its ability to change our perception of what is, is very great.”[5]  But what is more important is the fact that “Mathematical truth is independent of human judgment.  Mathematical reality is there to be discovered or observed.”[6]    Math is true and does not depend upon judgment, that is, 1 + 1 is always 2.  The square root of 25 is always 5.  29 is a prime number, 27 is not.  And despite the ever-changing appearances of reality, mathematics serves as a stalwart marker of reality.  It is the fixed point within a circle. 

So mathematics appears to be an unchanging reflection of reality – a map used by the GAOTU for us to discover and reflect upon  – a mystical endeavor open to anyone who cares to consider it. Is this what Pythagoras meant when he said that “All is numbers”?  I believe so, and I believe that here too is the reason that he is given such recognition in the Masonic rites.  Mathematics is more than a tool used to count, or a way to record dimensions.  Mathematics is a signpost for anyone who wishes to better understand their world, and their own reality. 

Freemasonry is a fraternity that is veiled in allegory.  Its rituals reflect man’s passage through life leading from birth to his ultimate reconnection with the Great Architect.  In our second degree we are advised to study the seven liberal arts – which includes mathematics.  Perhaps we should consider that this suggestion is not a simple directive to know how to calculate, but how to better know that there is “something more behind the curtain.”

Respectfully submitted,

Bro. Tavit Smith    


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras
[2] http://www.mathopenref.com/pythagoras.html
[3] Vico, Opere, ed. R. Parenti (Naples, 1972), I 83. “Vico’s Concept of Knowledge”, in his against the Current (New York, 1980), pp. 111-19.
[4] Essays in humanistic Mathematics, ed. Alvin M. White, The Mathematical Association of America/ Notes Number 2.  1993
[5] Ibid, pg. 10
[6] Ibid, pg. 29.

Sunday, December 5, 2010



Hiram Abiff, Noah, and Gilgamesh. 

Mythology “Repurposed”



As a young college student, I was fortunate enough to spend a semester studying in Puebla, Mexico at the University Of The Americas.  I lived nearby in a small village called San Andres, which sat at the base of a mountain that had been excavated to reveal a buried pyramid, the great Cholula Pyramid.  According to an online article, This “temple-pyramid complex was built...  starting from the 3rd century BCE through the 9th century CE”, and “is, in fact, the largest pyramid...ever constructed anywhere in the world.”[1] 

Sitting atop of the yet unexcavated part of this temple sits the Iglesia de Nuestra SeƱora de los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of the Remedies), which was built by Spaniards in 1594.  When I asked a professor at the University why the church was built upon a pyramid, I was told that the Catholic Church simply built where the people were already coming to worship – that it was an easy way to convert the indigenous population to a new and unfamiliar religion.  I later learned that this is called “repurposing” a religious site.

Since then, I have learned that the idea of “repurposing” is not only done with religious sites, but also with religious myths.  A general example of this would be the several myths, which have been passed along from the Babylonians to the Egyptians to the Jews, and finally to the Christians.  Interestingly enough, a more specific example of repurposing can be found in the stories that form the basis of one of our own Freemasonry rituals.

Many brothers may be surprised to learn that the Hiram Abiff legend was not always a part of Masonic lore.  Prior to 1730, our masonic brothers were taught that “the secret word” that they sought was buried with the Old Testament biblical character, Noah.[2]

   According to the story, Noah’s sons were in search of the “word” that they believed God had given to Noah so that he might start a new civilization after the flood.  After a failed attempt by his sons to raise him from his grave, a substitute word was chosen.  The secret was never revealed, and remained lost. 

While there are minor differences between the Hiram Abiff story and the earlier story of Noah and his sons, the general outline remains the same – a great builder is in possession of a word (or words), which will allow the building to continue.  However, the word(s) are lost, and mankind continues to this day to search.  

Let us now jump ahead to 1844 when a British researcher, named Austen Henry Layard was traveling in Northern Iraq around the town of Mosul.  Excavating the ruined palaces of Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria, he discovered of a hoard of stone tablets inscribed with cuneiform script.  At the time, it was considered to be an interesting, but minor find. [i]

These tablets remained undeciphered until 1872 when a young British museum curator named George Smith translated the Akkadian writing.  Reportedly, when he deciphered one particular section of the tablets, he became so excited that he tore off his clothes and began running around the laboratory.  You see, the tablet he deciphered, which had been written more than 3 thousand years ago, told the story of a Babylonian “Noah” who survived a great flood.  The similarities between what was written on the stone tablets and the Old Testament flood story were remarkable.

This three thousand year old story is about a man/god named Gilgamesh who sets off on a journey with a man, named Enkidu (formed out of dust by the god, Aruru) to do battle with a great monster.  During the journey Enkidu dies ands Gilgamesh, having never known death, is filled with fear and grief, lamenting

“Must I die too?  Must I be as lifeless as Enkidu?  How can I bear this sorrow that gnaws at my belly, this fear of death that drives me onward?  If only I could find the one man whom the gods made immortal, I would ask him how to overcome death.”[3]


Here then, in one of the earliest written stories that civilization has yet uncovered, we finds man’s first search for the secret of everlasting life – immortality.  Over three thousand years ago, man’s greatest fear was written in stone. 

Could the story of Gilgamesh have been “repurposed”?  Is the story of Hiram Abiff’s assailants, and Noah’s sons search for the secret word actually a “repurposing” of Gilgamesh’s search for everlasting life?   Is the search for the lost words – so that we may continue to build the temple, an allegorical story of man’s search to find the one thing that will allow us to continue to build our own allegorical temples -- our lives? 

In all three stories the content centers on a search -- a search for the greatest of secrets.  In the Hiram Abiff story, Hiram is a supervisor of builders, Noah is the builder of the ark, and Gilgamesh is ruler of a city that he describes by saying

“See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun.  Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine, ... walk on the wall of Uruk... inspect it’s mighty foundations, examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built...”[4]


Continuing with the Gilgamesh epic, we learn that Gilgamesh eventually meets with Utnapishtim, the Babylonian “Noah” who survived the great flood, and asks him to intervene on his behalf and to ask the gods to grant him eternal life.  Utnapishtim refuses, but tells Gilgamesh where to find a magical plant that will give him everlasting life.  Gilgamesh finds the plant only to later lose it to a snake that carries it off. 

In the Gilgamesh story, we are not told what this magical plant is.  Could it have been from the acacia plant?  If not, it certainly, at least symbolically, shares the same traits, as it is the antidote to death. 

In masonic lore, the acacia plant is the symbol of everlasting life.[5]  It is the sprig of acacia that marks the grave of Hiram Abiff, and the sprig which the three searchers find when they search for Hiram.  As an aside, it is interesting to consider the following question: Did they mistakenly miss the true object of their search (for the secret to everlasting life), and instead look for the secret in the decomposing body of their master?   Is the hidden message that the secret to everlasting life not to be found in material or transient things?

Finally, in the Noah legend, while aboard the ark, we are told that Noah sends a dove out to search for signs of life.  The dove returns after the seventh day with an olive branch in its beak.  And although the olive branch is usually considered a symbol of peace, doesn’t it make more sense that it actually represents what Noah was searching for, the “continuance of life,” much as the acacia sprig?

In all three stories, Hiram Abiff, Noah, and Gilgamesh, there is a search for the ultimate secret.  In all three stories, the secret remains forever lost, and forever sought.

Most importantly, in each of the three legends we are reminded that god (or in the case of Gilgamesh, gods) hold the ultimate answer.  In the end, we find ourselves frail, and painfully human, forever seeking solace from the ultimate question in life, our own demise.

Are the legends similar enough in traits to merit consideration?  Were the stories of Hiram Abiff and Noah “repurposed” from one of mans’ earliest recorded stories? Is there an answer to mans’ ultimate question?  Perhaps it depends upon the searcher to discover that answer for himself.  Perhaps it should be sought in the allegorical and symbolical stories of our brotherly  fraternity.

Respectfully submitted,

Bro. Tavit Smith 





[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Cholula  (December 5, 2010)
[2] See: http://www.masonicsites.org/Graham_Ms.htm  for a discussion of the Graham Manuscript (1726). 
[3] Gilgamesh, by Stephen Mitchell, Free Press, NY, ©2004. 
[4] Ibid.
[5] http://www.masonicworld.com/education/files/artoct02/sprig_of_acacia.htm


[i] In my opinion, the best and most complete translation of the tale of Gilgamesh can be found in the book “Gilgamesh” by Stephen Mitchell, Free Press, NY, ©2004.  Mitchell tells the tale twice, once with full commentary and background.  For additional reading, read “The Buried Book,” by David Damrosch, Henry Holt & Company, © 2006.