STB-1995-07
Music by Brother J. L. F. Mendelssohn.
THE SYMBOLISM OF STONE
By: Bro. Leon Zeldis
Editor, "The Israel Freemason"
This STB was taken from a longer article
printed in Vol. 106 for the year 1993 of Ars
Quatuor Coronatorum transactions.
A fundamental question, rarely asked, is the
reason why our ancient brethren, who developed the complicated symbolic structures of
moral and philosophical teaching we now know
as speculative Freemasonry, would choose to
base their system on such modest materials as
the builder's trade, his tools and legends. Such
activities as seafaring, metalworking, agriculture and husbandry, among others, could have
been used just as well in developing a 'peculiar
system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.' Indeed, they have been used
for this purpose at one time or another, by various individual thinkers and organizations.
However, the Stonemason' s trade, and his
material--stone--have such profound, farreaching and universal significance and connotations that the choice was not only justified but
inevitable.
Stone has been, since prehistoric times, the
principal material used to build and adorn
important structures, where solidity and permanence are the paramount considerations. Stone
became paradigmatic of stability, hardness and
endurance in all languages, bearing a wealth of
symbolic meaning, with many deep rooted
psychological and historical associations and
suggestions.
Stone was in all probability the first material
used by primitive man. The first coarse tools
were simply rough stones used to hammer, cut
and grind. The first giant step taken by mankind
towards civilization was the change from using
natural stones to chipped or flaked implements
and arrowheads, with improved cutting edges
or allowing the use of a handle. By this apparently simple act, of modifying a stone before
using it as a tool, Man became homo faber and
started to fashion his environment, instead of
being the passive receiver of what nature had to
offer.
Stones were not only used as tools, but
became the object of veneration of primitive
men, whose survival depended on them.
Rubbing and polishing stones is a well-known,
exceedingly ancient activity of man. In Europe,
holy stones, wrapped in bark and hidden in
caves, have been found in many places; as containers of divine powers they were probably
kept there by men of the Stone Age.
STONE IN JEWISH TRADITION
Sacred stones or pillars, called in Hebrew
'Matzevot,' are mentioned by Herodotus (5th
Cent. B.C.) and appear in several places in the
Old Testament.
Jacob, after striking a pact with Laban, erected
a stone monument which he called Gal-Ed
(Testimonial Pillar). Moses erected twelve
stone pillars near the altar of sacrifices.
After crossing the Jordan river, Joshua ordered
the taking of twelve stones from the river bed,
one for each tribe, setting them up in their
camps and carrying them later on their shoulders as a memorial of the crossing on dry
ground (Joshua 4). Joshua also set up twelve
other stones in the middle of the river, in the
place where the priests carrying the Ark of the
Testimony had stood. Finally, Joshua erects at
Gilgal the twelve stones he had brought from
the Jordan, so that future generations would
know that the Lord had done to the Jordan just
what he had done to the Red Sea.
Later, Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal,
made of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had
been used (Joshua 8:30-31). Finally, before
dying, wrote down the Law on a large stone he
set up under an oak tree in Shechem, as a witness against the people of Israel should they
betray their covenant (Joshua 24:26-27).
Samuel put up a stone which he called 'EbenEzer' (Stone of Help) after the Philistines were
routed at Mizpah (I Samuel 7:12). Adoniah
offered a sacrifice near the rock of Zohelet
(Joyful), near the fountain of Rogel (I Kings
I :9).
Jacob's ladder, which figures on the First
Degree Tracing Board, is directly related to the
stone pillar erected by Jacob after his dream.
He had used the stone as a pillow and poured a
libation of oil to consecrate the memorial
(Genesis 28: 18). Jacob names 'Beth-EI', the
house of God, as the place where he had his
dream.
This identity of stone, human being and
anthropomorphic deity throws light on the saying: 'Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry whence you were hewn; look
to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave
you birth' (Isaiah 51 :1-2). There is a Jewish
custom, of placing a small stone over the grave
one has visited. This may be connected to the
Greek traveler's adding a stone to the Hermes
monuments, in order to secure a safe journey.
STONE IN CHRISTMN TRADITION
The best example of the importance of stone in
Christian teachings is, of course, the case of
Simon the fisherman, called Peter (Petrus--the
stone) by Jesus: 'I tell you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church'
(Matthew 16:18).
The Pope, as linear successor to Peter, is
called Holy Father. The connection between
Pater (father) and Petrus (stone) is obvious. In
the Hebrew language as well, the same letters
forming the word 'father' (av: alef-beth) appear
in the word for 'stone' (even: alef beth-noon).
In another instance, Christ himself is compared to a rock (1 Cor. 10:4).
A passage in the book of Revelation (2:17)
mentions a white stone with a secret name written on it, which only the recipient will understand.
STONE IN ISLAMIC TRADITION
The central point of worship for a Muslim is
the Ka'aba at Mecca. Every pious Muslim must
make a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hadj) at least
once in his lifetime, making seven circumambulations around the sanctuary of the Ka'aba,
the Black Stone which, according to witnesses'
reports, appears to be a meteorite. The pilgrims
also throw stones at pillars representing the
devil, in the vicinity of Mina.
In Jerusalem, there is a stone in the Dome of
the Rock, built on the spot where the Sanctum
Sanctorum of the Temple is supposed to have
been located, from which Muhammad is said to
have jumped to heaven, mounted on 'Al
Burak.'
STONE IN MASONIC LITERATURE
In Masonic rituals and legends, stone plays a
leading role. Beginning with the Entered
Apprentice, who is enjoined to polish the rough
stone with hammer and chisel, and culminating
with the variously shaped stones appearing in
the Master Mason Degree, there is hardly a ceremony in symbolic Freemasonry which is not
connected in some way with stones.
After completion of the initiation ceremony,
the new Brother is placed in a particular position within the Lodge and is usually told that he
represents the cornerstone on which
Freemasonry's spiritual Temple must be built.
In the Edinburgh Register House MS (1696),
the Jewels of the Lodge include the Perpend
Esler and the Broad Ovall. The first is a perpendicular ashlar, that is, a stone placed crosswise through a wall, while the second is
believed to be a corruption of a 'broached dornal,' that is, a chiseled stone.
Similar information appears in the Chetwode
Crawley MS (c. 1700): 'perpendester' and
'broked-mall.'
The Mason's work is thus described in the
Dumtries No 4 MS (c. 1710): 'to work in all
manner of worthy work in stone: Temple,
Churches, Cloysters, Cities, Castles, Pirimides,
Towers & all other worthy buildings of stone.'
In the same manuscript we find a reference to
the 'two pillars of stone,' one that would not
sink and the other that would not burn, which
held the noble art or science.
The Mason himself, as we have noted, is
likened to a stone. In Robert Samber's dedicatory Preface to Long Livers, (London, 1722),
we find this pithy definition: 'Ye are living
stones, built up a spiritual House, who believe
and rely on the chief Lapis Angularis, which the
refractory and disobedient Builders disallowed..."
In conclusion, the deep and various meanings
of stone as a physical object and as allegory
make it easy to understand why the art of the
builder should have been selected as the appropriate vehicle to convey the philosophical and
mystical teachings of speculative Freemasonry
in its different manifestations.
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