A View Of Mortality
Something valuable to contemplate
I’ve been reading Brother Austin Shifrin’s latest book of Masonic essays, and hope to have a review of it published here as soon as I’m done.
But, last night, while reading his essay about the Chamber of Reflection I was really struck by one of the passages within it, and decided that I should share that passage here.
“I feel that one challenge of the scythe for the modern audience is much like that of many other biblical metaphors; being rooted in agrarian activities, and those of animal husbandry, they can be rather unfamiliar diminishing the resonance...”
“…I think that a modern man might look upon a scythe in the chamber of reflection and immediately recognize a reference to ‘The Grim Reaper’ but possibly overlook some subtler nuances inherent in the metaphor of death-as-harvest; First that the harvest is not an aggressive or punitive activity - this representation of death does not arrive with a weapon, he arrives with an implement which is part of the process of gathering that which is valuable, even precious; and second, that the harvest is an activity that takes place at a foreordained time, because the season has arrived, and the old crops must give way so that new ones may appear in the proper cycle…”
When I grew up of course the harvest of my family's farms was brought in with diesel powered tractors pulling modern implements.
But, I well remember a couple of old scythes, hanging in the barn. It’s hard to imagine how much labor would be required prior to the widespread adoption of engine powered farm equipment, but obviously they would have been used long ago, lest they wouldn’t have been there.
I never thought however when looking at representations of the Grim Reaper, or Death, or Santa Muerte, as the scythe being carried as a symbol of the harvest. I guess I didn’t consider the tool much at all. But, that’s a mistake of course, for as our Brother points out in his book, the scythe is a symbol that can teach us. In hindsight it is clear to see that the name Reaper is of course a clue as well, pointing towards the meaning of the scythe.
And of course the scythe is a Masonic symbol outside of the Chamber of Reflection as well, appearing in one of our Degrees.
I found this interpretation from Brother Shifrin very interesting, and I hope that you do as well.
Please watch for my review of his latest book Black Ink, Farther Stars to be posted here soon.
In the meantime, you can read my review of his previous book here:
Very timely. I participated in an MM degree last night, and gave a portion of the lecture including the emblems. This morning I am tired and this discussion adds a new dimension to my thinking as I continue to age. While I don’t look for the “ultimate” next chapter anytime soon (although no one is guaranteed tomorrow), I will be thinking about the value I may be able to bring to the “harvest”. Thank you all.
It's always been a harvesting tool to me. In korea when I lived there, you would see farmers and their families out with hand scythes. Even on base, they employed locals as landscapers, and they would be out there cutting the grass with their small hand held scythes. They couldn't afford modern machinery back then. Of course, martial arts had incorporated them as weapons. Japanese in feudal times weren't allowed to carry swords, you had to be samurai, but the farmers had to protect themselves so they adopted to the tools they had on hand.