THE POINT WITHTHIN THE CIRCLE
We are informed in our Masonic instruction that there exists within every regular and well governed lodge a particular point within a circle embordered by two parallel perpendicular lines with a volume of Holy Scriptures or Sacred Law at the top. We are further informed that the two parallel lines represent St. John the Baptist and St. John the Beloved or Evangelist.
This particular instruction further informs us that the point within the circle represents the individual brother and the circle, that boundary beyond which he must never let his prejudices or passions betray him. The teaching goes on to say that if a brother keeps himself within the due boundary of the circle, it is impossible for him to materially err. This is an important moral instruction relative to the allegory presented. But as every Mason knows every instruction given in Masonry is allegorical. The deeper levels of meaning are revealed through the medium of the symbols of the craft.
When a brother is brought from darkness to light there is a particular configuration of the brethren about the altar. When the brother is at the altar, he represents that point within the circle. Before him on the altar is the volume of Sacred Scripture or Sacred Law. On either side of the particular brother, along the north and south columns, are two parallel lines formed by the brethren assisting the W.M. in bringing the brother to light. This configuration exists in each degree. The explanation given here can be relegated to one level of understanding of this symbol. It is an important one but one that exist on a particular level of understanding.
A formula for understanding the symbols of any system, and in this case Masonic symbols, one must begin to examine the symbol for its content and then how the symbol relates to the context in which it is applied. For example a point with the circle has many applications. In the alchemical literature the point within the circle represents gold, in Christianity it represents the Christ and the soul, in astrology the point within the circle represents the sun, in Masonry as already explained it represents the individual brother. We can also examine this same symbol from a geometrical point of view.
The point is fundamental in geometry. All polyhedron in plane geometry are constructed from the simple context of a point within a circle. The very existence of a circle implies the existence of the point at its center. We are instructed that T.G.A.O.T.U. is omnipresent in that his point is everywhere and circumference is nowhere. So an examination of the point within the circle informs us that a circle can be drawn anywhere we place the single point of a compass. Around that point we inscribe the circle. The circle cannot exist without the point. The circle only exists when the point is established and a due boundary is circumscribed. Once the boundary is established we have a relationship between the point and the circumference. This relationship is called a ratio and it is determined by the number 3.14 or Pi, an irrational number. No matter the size of the circle the relationship or ratio always remains the same. This informs us that the outer expression of T.G.A.O.T.U., which is the inscribed circle, is an expression of the initial impulse which is the point. Therefore all outer expressions on the circumference of the circle have a relationship to the originating impulse at its center.
If we examine the various applications of the point within the circle we find that there is a fundamental commonality between the various contexts of expression. The point represents a Logos, or logic center. Thus we read in the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist,” In the beginning was the word or Logos.” If we examine a fundamental phenomenon in nature we discover that everything revolves around a center, expressing the will and purpose of the inner originating impulse, the point. Protons and neutrons revolve around a nucleus. A planet revolves around a solar logos or sun. A solar logos revolves around another logos such as a galactic center. A cluster of galaxies take on the nature of protons and neutrons as they revolve around yet a still greater center and so on. So the point within the circle demonstrates this continual array of interdependent lives or existences which goes far beyond our capacity to cognize it or them.
The exercise we just went through shows one example of how to examine a symbol. Our Masonic symbol, the point within the circle, has other components which include the two parallel perpendicular lines and the Volume of Sacred Scriptures or Sacred Law. We have already pointed out the outer explanations given in the Masonic teachings relating the two lines to the Holy Saints John. There are other levels in which to examine these lines when we take into consideration some of the other meanings of the point within the circle.
When we consider that the point represents a logic center such as a nucleus of an atom, a soul, a Christ, a sun, or galactic center, we can begin to draw a relationship between the symbolic meanings of the Saints John and the movement of the Sun through the cycle of the day or year. The Holy Saints John each has feast days at diametrically opposite times of the year. St. John the Baptist is celebrated just after the summer solstice while St. John the Evangelist is celebrated just after the winter solstice. There are two teachings given revealed relative to the Festivals of the Holy Saints John. One of the teachings deals with the phenomenon of greatest light and greatest darkness. The second teaching alludes to the positions and duties of the three principle officers and how they relate to the movement of the sun through the cycle of the year.
It is the duty of the J.W. to mark the sun at its meridian height whether it is during the cycle of a day or the cycle of the year. The Festival of St. John the Baptist marks the Sun at the Summer Solstice and more importantly the movement of the sun as it begins its noticeable descent three days after the solstice. Thus the Festival of St. John the Baptist occurs on the 24th of the June, and not on the solstice itself which occurs three days before.
There is no officer or lesser light in the north. From the Masonic perspective the north is considered the place of darkness. The sun at its meridian height ascends to 23 ½ degrees above the equator at the Cancer, or summer Solstice. During this time the sun reaches the bottom edge of the Tropic of Cancer. The City of Jerusalem, which is located at 33 degrees north of the equator, was the fabled location of the Temple of King Solomon. The Sun at its meridian height was still 9 1/2 degrees below the location of the City of Jerusalem. This is the astronomical reason why the sun or moon could cast no light in the northern part of the temple, and why the north is considered the place of darkness.
These tropical pieces of information inform us about the symbol of the point within the circle embordered by two parallel perpendicular lines. It further informs us about their relation to and location of the three principle officers of a Masonic lodge and their reason d’être. We have already seen how this symbol relates to the J.W. The question can now be asked how does this symbol relate to the W.M. and S.W.? The answer lies in the description of the two parallel perpendicular lines. We know that the two parallel lines run along the south and north columns of the temple in a due east and west direction. Not only are the lines parallel to each other and are tangent to the circle containing the point within the circle but they are also perpendicular to something. The south and north parallel lines are perpendicular to the east and west the place of the sunrise and sunset and the location of the W.M. and S.W. respectively. As the J.W. marks the sun at its meridian height, so the W.M. and S.W. symbolize the rising and setting of the sun, during the cycle of the day and the 365 day cycle of the year.
If the parallel line in the south represents Cancer and the summer solstice, and the parallel line in the north represents the Capricorn and the winter solstice, which we have already discussed, then the lines perpendicular to the south and north are the east and west. If we examine the phenomenon of the astrological year we find that the sun rises in the year at the spring equinox. The tropical frame of reference for the spring equinox is the sign of Aries. Likewise the sun sets at the autumnal equinox. The tropical frame of reference for the autumnal equinox is the Sign of Libra. If we were to draw lines connecting the two signs of Aries and Libra we would find them perpendicular to the signs of Cancer and Capricorn, not only forming a right angle but a cross as well. Further if we allocated the line in the south to Cancer and the line in the north to Capricorn, then we would have to parallel lines. If we allocated the line in the east to Aries, and the line in the west to Libra, then the lines in the north and the south would be two parallel perpendicular lines thus fulfilling the description in the Masonic lecture. This is illustrated by the following diagram.
The above diagram reveals several orientations.
- The Cardinal cross of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
- The location of the three principle officers of a lodge and the place of darkness
- The duties of the three principle officers indicated from the astronomical point of view
- The location of the individual brother as the point within the circle
- The location of the altar and the Volume of Sacred Scriptures or Sacred Law
- The location of the brethren in the north and south columns when a brother is being brought to light
- The location of the three lesser lights placed in a triangular form about the altar.
Thus far we have said nothing of the three lesser lights which is another subject that will be dealt with in another paper. It is however important to indicate at this time the interdependent relationship between the point within the circle and the location and placement of the symbolic representation of the three lesser lights.
Further contemplation and meditation of this symbol will reveal more to the inquiring brother. Let us make it our first care to discover the meaning and depth of the carefully guraded secrrets of M0asonry.
Fraternally
Kevin Townley
April 2010