Ornaments of Hampton Lodge No. 204
By Right Worshipful Bro. Ellison W. Messick, Jr., PDDGM
|
|
|
According to our Ahiman Rezon “The ornaments of a Lodge are the Mosaic Pavement, the Indented Tessel and the Blazing Star. The Mosaic Pavement is emblematical of human life, checked with good and evil; the beautiful border which surrounds it is emblematical of those manifold blessings and comforts which surround us, and which we hope to obtain by a faithful reliance on Divine Providence, which is hieroglyphically represented by the Blazing Star in the Center.”
The Mosaic Pavement, according to the Ahiman Rezon, “Consisting of stones of various colors, so disposed as to represent different shapes or forms, were common in the temples of ancients." Fellows say that they represented the variegated face of the earth in the places where the ancients formerly held their religious assemblies. The true derivation of the word is unknown, or at least unsettled. |
According to the Entered Apprentice Lecture, the Mosaic Pavement is checkered with white and black squares, representing good and evil. We are also told that it is, or was, an exact pattern of King Solomon’s floor in the Temple.
According to Brother Rev. Neville Barker Cryer, in his book, ‘I Just Didn’t Know That', (The Brother is an historian and Freemason in England), “Masons generally are familiar with the explanation of this feature as representing the diverse charter of the life we lead with its dark and light periods. Its difficulties and achievements, its promises and disappointments. But that is explaining its symbolism. What its origin was and why it has been deemed so important and essential form the earliest use, not only of tracing boards but of Lodge carpet decoration, is not explained. It is that which might well be termed ‘unknown’.”
“Freemasonry in Britain has always been associated in some way with the temple of King Solomon. The Lodge room itself represents some part of that structure, the Master himself stands for that monarch, incidents in the course of completing the building of the Temple are referred to in the several degrees and in the consecration of every new Masonic Lodge, direct connecting with the Temple hallowing is always invoked. It is, therefore, not surprising that in each of the three tracing boards, and not only in the First Degree, there should be something that directly relates to the edifice. That ‘something’ is the squared black and white flooring. The reason why there is such a connection is as follows.”
“In the Middle of the 16th century, after Henry VIII had at last reluctantly accepted the need for a Bible in the ‘vulgar tongue’, that is, in English, new translations of the scriptures began to flourish. In 1560, after the short reign of Queen Mary, there was published a Bible that was called the Geneva Version, because the translators of it had been exiles in that city when it was being produced. One of the new features of this particular Bible were its illustrations, the first such to appear in any Bible in England. These illustrations were all, of course, in black and white since no printing press for some centuries could produce the colored pictures of the earlier monastic manuscripts.”
“What is important for our purpose is to note that whenever the Temple of Solomon, or even Solomon’s house and throne, are shown in these pages the floor is always depicted as made up of black and white checkered squares. Thus was born the 17th century idea that this was the correct indication of the Temple of Solomon. You might give it medieval towers, characters in medieval dress, and even a long Christian type altar but you made sure that your readers knew it was the Temple of Solomon by the black and white flooring. When the designers of the first floor-cloths, or floor drawings, and then tracing boards, for Masons had to depict the Temple of a reference to it, there was no alternative. The Masonic pavement was the only option. It was called ‘Mosaic’ because in that same Bible the precursor of the Temple was the Tabernacle in the wilderness built by Moses’ command on God’s instructions. The floor of that same holy meeting place was also always shown as black and white squares. The Temple mosaic pavement was born. It is with us still.”
We have therefore chosen a floor 10ft. X 15ft. with black and white tiles. Black and white, because of the reasons above. 10ft, because 10 is a number for man, you have 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 ears, 2 eyes, 1 nose and 1 mouth, these add up to 10. 15ft tall because in the Fellow Craft Lecture, it mentions that the Syric name of God ‘JAH’ was in their numerical value equivalent to 15. Also in Geometry, a rectangle with one side one and a half times the other is called a Golden Rectangle.
The floor tiles are arranged so there is a black tile in the Northwest corner, because this where the hoodwinked candidate enters the Lodge. There is also a black tile in the Northeast corner, because, in Masonry, this is called a place of Darkness.
According to the Ahiman Rezon, “The Indented Tessel is a border of stones, of various colors, placed around the pavement. Tessel, from the Latin tessels, means a little square stone, and to indented to cut or notch a margin into inequalities resembling teeth. A tessellated Border is, therefore, a notched border of variegated colors.”
Brother Cryer in his book tells us; “The Four Tassels, these apparently discreet attachments to the board are often thought to be explained by attaching them to the four virtues also mentioned in the First Degree Charge – prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice. That, as with the payment, is fine for explaining the symbolism but does not explain its origin and additional importance.
“In first considering the erection of any edifice, the architect had to select a site and then mark out the line for the foundations. This he did by fixing pegs at the four corners and attaching a cord or string from one peg to another. Thus the area was enclosed and the line of the walls determined. Where the cord or string was tied round each peg there was created a knot that was later formalized and became the tassel at each corner. In forming their ‘Lodge’, the architect–Mason quite literally established its dimensions by the lines and tassels that they could see. In exactly the same way the dimensions of the Lodge are still defined by the lines of the board and the tassels at its corners. This is why, when a new Lodge is due to be consecrated, the order is given at one part of the ceremony, ‘let the board be uncovered’, and the tracing board, with its tassels, is laid bare in the centre of the floor and is then duly ‘dedicated’ by the pouring of corn, wine and oil upon it – for it is thus representing the new Lodge itself. It is still at that point without human members who have yet to be themselves purged with salt before being constituted as the latest Lodge No --.”
“So significant are the tassels considered to be as defining the limits of the Lodge that in older English and Welsh halls the tassels are hung from the four corners of the ceiling, thus ensuring that everyone present is ‘within the Lodge’. Otherwise, with the tassels only on the mosaic ‘carpet’ it might be said that the members were sitting around, but outside, the Lodge.”
“In the USA and parts of Canada, the Lodge is actually defined as the modest area of mosaic ‘carpet’ with tassels that lie in the middle of the room westward of the central pedestal or altar. No-one may cross or step onto that area which is the fixed replica of the consecrated ‘Lodge’. To emphasize this point, I have seen on that continent tassels actually drawn out in relief from each corner of the carpet so as to emphasize its presence. In view of what was said earlier about the origin of the mosaic carpet it is also interesting to remember that it was tassels which were worn by the priests in the service of God in the Temple of Solomon.”
Across the pavement from outside of the boarded to outside of the other boarder is 12 ft. 12 is the number of months in a year, the number of the signs of the Zodiac, the number of Tribes of Israel, and the number of Apostles Jesus had.
In our case, we have chosen to let the border represent the genealogy of the Lodge. In the West, you will see Amity Lodge No. 121; this is the first Lodge in Florence charted in 1866. In 1879, they elected and installed Brother Edward William Lloyd as their Master. Those same officers with the same furniture,
meeting the same night and place formed Hampton Lodge No. 204. Amity Lodge No. 121 did not meet after this, nor did they surrender their Charter, but a Grand Master in 1882 arrested all Charters on Lodges not working. On the North side of the border, you will see Lucile Lodge No. 276. This was a small Lodge that never had more than 27 members and worked during the First World War. In 1919, they merged with Hampton Lodge No. 204. On the South side of the border, you will see Mecca Lodge No. 407. They were chartered in 1965 and worked until 2014 when they merged with Hampton Lodge No. 204. You will see that these three Lodges are facing to the outside; this is to show that they are no longer working. In the East side of the border, you will see Hampton Lodge No. 204 which faces inward to show that it is still working and is the result of the combination of all these Lodges.
In the corners of the border, you will see 13 little blue forget-me-nots flowers. During World War II, when the Nazi’s put an end to Masonry, the Brothers wore little blue forget-me-nots in their lapels, ever since the little flower has been a remembrance of Brothers These little blue flowers are there to remind us of our rich history and to teach us not to ever forget our Brothers who worked hard to give us what we have today, and to teach us we are only caretakers of this Lodge, till we shall someday pass it on to other younger Brothers who will also take care and love this Lodge. These 13 little blue forget-me-not Flowers also remind us that there are 13 cards is a suite, and there are 4 suites in a deck of cards. Life is often referred to as a hand of cards. We have all heard; you must play the hand you were dealt or you were dealt a bad, or a good hand, and there are many others. Some people are said to even be able to tell the future by ‘reading the cards’.
In the Northwest corner, you will see a black tile and the 13 little blue forget-me-nots flowers; this is to remind that on Friday the 13th, 1307 that Philip the Fair of France destroyed the Knights Templar. This was a very dark day, and Friday the 13th is said to receive its reputation form this very bad day. The 13 little blue forget-me-not flowers in the North East corner and the 7 squares down the center form the date of 1307. The 13 forget-me-not flowers in the South East and South West form the date of 1313; this is one year after Jacques DeMolay, last Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake.
On each border we find the number 17ft., put together this reminds us that that the Speculative Masons pulled away from the Operative Masons in that year 1717, and Freemasonry was born, this is also the date of the formation of what would be known as the United Grand Lodge of England.
On one side we find 17ft., and down we find the black square with 3 squares, and below that to the outer edge is 6 squares, this reminds us that our Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina was formed in the year 1736.
Down the middle of the floor we find the numbers 3, 5 and7. These are the first three prime numbers (numbers divisible by only 1 and itself). They are also very important numbers in Ancient Craft Masonry.
Down the center of the floor we find the number 7 and the two numbers composing it, the 3 tile across the black cube and the 4 white tiles just above it. Brother Albert Pike writes: “Some numbers have a long tradition of mystical association; the number 7 should readily come to mind. There are 7 virtues: 4 cardinal and 3 theological, taught in Masonry. This suggests the number 7 itself derives from two other numbers also having strong mystical associations; that is the number 3 which permeates Freemasonry, and the number 4 which reminds us of the 4 cardinal virtues and the elements of the ancients: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
“The ancients used the number 4 to represent the physical world, the world we can touch, because they believed that everything in the physical world was made up of the same 4 elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Thus the numeral became a symbol by which the physical world was represented.”
“The Spiritual world and GOD they represented by the number 3, from the belief that there were 3 essential attributes of GOD. There was the intellect that desired to create, the power to create, and the actual coming forth of that creation when the Will and the Power combined. Since 4 represented the physical world and 3 the spiritual world, then 7 came to represent the whole, everything that was, is and ever will be.”
Across the black cube in the middle we find four white tiles, these remind us of the four cardinal virtues, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. The black cube has three tiles both up and down. These three tiles are to remind us of the three great tenets of a Mason’s profession, which are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. They also remind us of the three precious jewels of a Master Mason: Friendship, Morality and Brotherly Love.
This black cube reminds us of the 3 lesser lights and the 3 great lights of Masonry; the Holy Bible, square and compasses. It is emblematic of the great emblem of our Fraternity; the square and compasses with the letter “G” in the center. This Black cube is also to remind us trinity of God and it black because the glory of God is so great that everything close seems black.
The Blazing Star is said by Webb to be “Commemorative of the star which appeared to guide the wise men of the East to the place of our Savior’s nativity.” This, which is one of the ancient interpretations of the symbol, being considered as too sectarian in its character, and unsuitable to the universal religion of Masonry, has been omitted since the meeting of the Grand Lecturers at Baltimore, in 1842.
This white Blazing Star, having 5 arms, reminds us of the 5 Points of Fellowship. It also reminds us that God should always be in the center of our lives.
According to Brother Rev. Neville Barker Cryer, in his book, ‘I Just Didn’t Know That', (The Brother is an historian and Freemason in England), “Masons generally are familiar with the explanation of this feature as representing the diverse charter of the life we lead with its dark and light periods. Its difficulties and achievements, its promises and disappointments. But that is explaining its symbolism. What its origin was and why it has been deemed so important and essential form the earliest use, not only of tracing boards but of Lodge carpet decoration, is not explained. It is that which might well be termed ‘unknown’.”
“Freemasonry in Britain has always been associated in some way with the temple of King Solomon. The Lodge room itself represents some part of that structure, the Master himself stands for that monarch, incidents in the course of completing the building of the Temple are referred to in the several degrees and in the consecration of every new Masonic Lodge, direct connecting with the Temple hallowing is always invoked. It is, therefore, not surprising that in each of the three tracing boards, and not only in the First Degree, there should be something that directly relates to the edifice. That ‘something’ is the squared black and white flooring. The reason why there is such a connection is as follows.”
“In the Middle of the 16th century, after Henry VIII had at last reluctantly accepted the need for a Bible in the ‘vulgar tongue’, that is, in English, new translations of the scriptures began to flourish. In 1560, after the short reign of Queen Mary, there was published a Bible that was called the Geneva Version, because the translators of it had been exiles in that city when it was being produced. One of the new features of this particular Bible were its illustrations, the first such to appear in any Bible in England. These illustrations were all, of course, in black and white since no printing press for some centuries could produce the colored pictures of the earlier monastic manuscripts.”
“What is important for our purpose is to note that whenever the Temple of Solomon, or even Solomon’s house and throne, are shown in these pages the floor is always depicted as made up of black and white checkered squares. Thus was born the 17th century idea that this was the correct indication of the Temple of Solomon. You might give it medieval towers, characters in medieval dress, and even a long Christian type altar but you made sure that your readers knew it was the Temple of Solomon by the black and white flooring. When the designers of the first floor-cloths, or floor drawings, and then tracing boards, for Masons had to depict the Temple of a reference to it, there was no alternative. The Masonic pavement was the only option. It was called ‘Mosaic’ because in that same Bible the precursor of the Temple was the Tabernacle in the wilderness built by Moses’ command on God’s instructions. The floor of that same holy meeting place was also always shown as black and white squares. The Temple mosaic pavement was born. It is with us still.”
We have therefore chosen a floor 10ft. X 15ft. with black and white tiles. Black and white, because of the reasons above. 10ft, because 10 is a number for man, you have 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 ears, 2 eyes, 1 nose and 1 mouth, these add up to 10. 15ft tall because in the Fellow Craft Lecture, it mentions that the Syric name of God ‘JAH’ was in their numerical value equivalent to 15. Also in Geometry, a rectangle with one side one and a half times the other is called a Golden Rectangle.
The floor tiles are arranged so there is a black tile in the Northwest corner, because this where the hoodwinked candidate enters the Lodge. There is also a black tile in the Northeast corner, because, in Masonry, this is called a place of Darkness.
According to the Ahiman Rezon, “The Indented Tessel is a border of stones, of various colors, placed around the pavement. Tessel, from the Latin tessels, means a little square stone, and to indented to cut or notch a margin into inequalities resembling teeth. A tessellated Border is, therefore, a notched border of variegated colors.”
Brother Cryer in his book tells us; “The Four Tassels, these apparently discreet attachments to the board are often thought to be explained by attaching them to the four virtues also mentioned in the First Degree Charge – prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice. That, as with the payment, is fine for explaining the symbolism but does not explain its origin and additional importance.
“In first considering the erection of any edifice, the architect had to select a site and then mark out the line for the foundations. This he did by fixing pegs at the four corners and attaching a cord or string from one peg to another. Thus the area was enclosed and the line of the walls determined. Where the cord or string was tied round each peg there was created a knot that was later formalized and became the tassel at each corner. In forming their ‘Lodge’, the architect–Mason quite literally established its dimensions by the lines and tassels that they could see. In exactly the same way the dimensions of the Lodge are still defined by the lines of the board and the tassels at its corners. This is why, when a new Lodge is due to be consecrated, the order is given at one part of the ceremony, ‘let the board be uncovered’, and the tracing board, with its tassels, is laid bare in the centre of the floor and is then duly ‘dedicated’ by the pouring of corn, wine and oil upon it – for it is thus representing the new Lodge itself. It is still at that point without human members who have yet to be themselves purged with salt before being constituted as the latest Lodge No --.”
“So significant are the tassels considered to be as defining the limits of the Lodge that in older English and Welsh halls the tassels are hung from the four corners of the ceiling, thus ensuring that everyone present is ‘within the Lodge’. Otherwise, with the tassels only on the mosaic ‘carpet’ it might be said that the members were sitting around, but outside, the Lodge.”
“In the USA and parts of Canada, the Lodge is actually defined as the modest area of mosaic ‘carpet’ with tassels that lie in the middle of the room westward of the central pedestal or altar. No-one may cross or step onto that area which is the fixed replica of the consecrated ‘Lodge’. To emphasize this point, I have seen on that continent tassels actually drawn out in relief from each corner of the carpet so as to emphasize its presence. In view of what was said earlier about the origin of the mosaic carpet it is also interesting to remember that it was tassels which were worn by the priests in the service of God in the Temple of Solomon.”
Across the pavement from outside of the boarded to outside of the other boarder is 12 ft. 12 is the number of months in a year, the number of the signs of the Zodiac, the number of Tribes of Israel, and the number of Apostles Jesus had.
In our case, we have chosen to let the border represent the genealogy of the Lodge. In the West, you will see Amity Lodge No. 121; this is the first Lodge in Florence charted in 1866. In 1879, they elected and installed Brother Edward William Lloyd as their Master. Those same officers with the same furniture,
meeting the same night and place formed Hampton Lodge No. 204. Amity Lodge No. 121 did not meet after this, nor did they surrender their Charter, but a Grand Master in 1882 arrested all Charters on Lodges not working. On the North side of the border, you will see Lucile Lodge No. 276. This was a small Lodge that never had more than 27 members and worked during the First World War. In 1919, they merged with Hampton Lodge No. 204. On the South side of the border, you will see Mecca Lodge No. 407. They were chartered in 1965 and worked until 2014 when they merged with Hampton Lodge No. 204. You will see that these three Lodges are facing to the outside; this is to show that they are no longer working. In the East side of the border, you will see Hampton Lodge No. 204 which faces inward to show that it is still working and is the result of the combination of all these Lodges.
In the corners of the border, you will see 13 little blue forget-me-nots flowers. During World War II, when the Nazi’s put an end to Masonry, the Brothers wore little blue forget-me-nots in their lapels, ever since the little flower has been a remembrance of Brothers These little blue flowers are there to remind us of our rich history and to teach us not to ever forget our Brothers who worked hard to give us what we have today, and to teach us we are only caretakers of this Lodge, till we shall someday pass it on to other younger Brothers who will also take care and love this Lodge. These 13 little blue forget-me-not Flowers also remind us that there are 13 cards is a suite, and there are 4 suites in a deck of cards. Life is often referred to as a hand of cards. We have all heard; you must play the hand you were dealt or you were dealt a bad, or a good hand, and there are many others. Some people are said to even be able to tell the future by ‘reading the cards’.
In the Northwest corner, you will see a black tile and the 13 little blue forget-me-nots flowers; this is to remind that on Friday the 13th, 1307 that Philip the Fair of France destroyed the Knights Templar. This was a very dark day, and Friday the 13th is said to receive its reputation form this very bad day. The 13 little blue forget-me-not flowers in the North East corner and the 7 squares down the center form the date of 1307. The 13 forget-me-not flowers in the South East and South West form the date of 1313; this is one year after Jacques DeMolay, last Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake.
On each border we find the number 17ft., put together this reminds us that that the Speculative Masons pulled away from the Operative Masons in that year 1717, and Freemasonry was born, this is also the date of the formation of what would be known as the United Grand Lodge of England.
On one side we find 17ft., and down we find the black square with 3 squares, and below that to the outer edge is 6 squares, this reminds us that our Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina was formed in the year 1736.
Down the middle of the floor we find the numbers 3, 5 and7. These are the first three prime numbers (numbers divisible by only 1 and itself). They are also very important numbers in Ancient Craft Masonry.
Down the center of the floor we find the number 7 and the two numbers composing it, the 3 tile across the black cube and the 4 white tiles just above it. Brother Albert Pike writes: “Some numbers have a long tradition of mystical association; the number 7 should readily come to mind. There are 7 virtues: 4 cardinal and 3 theological, taught in Masonry. This suggests the number 7 itself derives from two other numbers also having strong mystical associations; that is the number 3 which permeates Freemasonry, and the number 4 which reminds us of the 4 cardinal virtues and the elements of the ancients: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
“The ancients used the number 4 to represent the physical world, the world we can touch, because they believed that everything in the physical world was made up of the same 4 elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Thus the numeral became a symbol by which the physical world was represented.”
“The Spiritual world and GOD they represented by the number 3, from the belief that there were 3 essential attributes of GOD. There was the intellect that desired to create, the power to create, and the actual coming forth of that creation when the Will and the Power combined. Since 4 represented the physical world and 3 the spiritual world, then 7 came to represent the whole, everything that was, is and ever will be.”
Across the black cube in the middle we find four white tiles, these remind us of the four cardinal virtues, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. The black cube has three tiles both up and down. These three tiles are to remind us of the three great tenets of a Mason’s profession, which are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. They also remind us of the three precious jewels of a Master Mason: Friendship, Morality and Brotherly Love.
This black cube reminds us of the 3 lesser lights and the 3 great lights of Masonry; the Holy Bible, square and compasses. It is emblematic of the great emblem of our Fraternity; the square and compasses with the letter “G” in the center. This Black cube is also to remind us trinity of God and it black because the glory of God is so great that everything close seems black.
The Blazing Star is said by Webb to be “Commemorative of the star which appeared to guide the wise men of the East to the place of our Savior’s nativity.” This, which is one of the ancient interpretations of the symbol, being considered as too sectarian in its character, and unsuitable to the universal religion of Masonry, has been omitted since the meeting of the Grand Lecturers at Baltimore, in 1842.
This white Blazing Star, having 5 arms, reminds us of the 5 Points of Fellowship. It also reminds us that God should always be in the center of our lives.