One can’t be a Mason and not see the number three everywhere in our symbolism. Clearly it exists so prominently in our ritual in order to communicate a serious lesson.
But what is that lesson? What should we take away from the triad symbolism in our ritual, and our Lodge Rooms?
Pike wrote a bit about it in what I see as his lecture for the Fellowcraft Degree:
“Three, or the Triad, is most significantly expressed by the equilateral and the right-angled triangles. There are three principal colors or rays in the rainbow, which by intermixture make seven. The three are the blue, the yellow, and the red. The Trinity of the Deity, in one mode or other, has been an article in all creeds. He creates, preserves, and destroys. He is the generative power, the productive capacity, and the result. The immaterial man, according to the Kabalah, is composed of vitality, or life, the breath of life; of soul or mind, and spirit. Salt, sulphur, and mercury are the great symbols of the alchemists. To them man was body, soul, and spirit.”
Some of my thoughts. As with everything having to do with Masonic symbolism, we are each encouraged to interpret for ourselves, so if you think I sound nuts, disregard at will!
We know Deity to be such because Deity creates, and we see that creation all around us. Deity creates through an active, male, force meeting and acting on a generative, female, capacity, and in doing so, creation results.
The divine spark of Deity that resides in each of us is also expressed through our own personal creation. Through continuation of our species: Male + Female = Child. But through everything else we create as well: Our active effort to create, combined with our capacity to create, combined result in our creation. In this way we add to the world around us and if we create well, our efforts will outlive us, indeed can live forever.
But this also speaks to the very nature of reality. Our active Will, combined with the generative capacity provided by pathways of probability, when combined, create our own reality. Some might call this Magick, a crazy popular New Age repackaging some years ago called it The Secret, some might look at it as a form of affirmations, long ago it was packaged popularly as New Thought. However it is packaged and sold, the fundamental nature does not change. The divine spark within us allows us to create our own reality, just as Deity creates. Our Will, acting upon what can happen, shapes our reality.
When we engage in the process of creation, we are acting through the divine spark within.
If we think of it in basic human terms we are born, live and die. What we do in life is for everyone to determine. Masonry teaches us to add to mankind and strive to make things better, without injury to ourselves. May not be eloquent but a base truth that can be understood by all.
The answer seems to be a problem, and all problems have a solution. This is hinted on the masonic 47th Problem of Euclid (3 sides of the Right Triangle). I delved deep into this on my article here: https://truthprevails.life/topics/f/47th-problem#af04c0a1-9c42-4c63-a2f6-98a8744c60e4
Also here is a key found in Psalms 82: 6- “I said, 'You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High."
Some of my thoughts. As with everything having to do with Masonic symbolism, we are each encouraged to interpret for ourselves, so if you think I sound nuts, disregard at will!
We know Deity to be such because Deity creates, and we see that creation all around us. Deity creates through an active, male, force meeting and acting on a generative, female, capacity, and in doing so, creation results.
The divine spark of Deity that resides in each of us is also expressed through our own personal creation. Through continuation of our species: Male + Female = Child. But through everything else we create as well: Our active effort to create, combined with our capacity to create, combined result in our creation. In this way we add to the world around us and if we create well, our efforts will outlive us, indeed can live forever.
But this also speaks to the very nature of reality. Our active Will, combined with the generative capacity provided by pathways of probability, when combined, create our own reality. Some might call this Magick, a crazy popular New Age repackaging some years ago called it The Secret, some might look at it as a form of affirmations, long ago it was packaged popularly as New Thought. However it is packaged and sold, the fundamental nature does not change. The divine spark within us allows us to create our own reality, just as Deity creates. Our Will, acting upon what can happen, shapes our reality.
When we engage in the process of creation, we are acting through the divine spark within.
Everything is in goups of three. The 3 is the manifesting principle.
The power of one will move the particles, the power of two will shape it and the power of three will bring to existence the shaped form.
In egyptian mythology, Ptah (the god of the builders), created the world with the help of his 3 companions:
Sia (power of the mind),
Heka (power of magic), and
Hu (power of the speaking word).
By understanding this, the hermetics principles come to life:
1. The All is Mind, everything has to be thought first
2. Then the corresponding force will happen, Heka, the heart, where the magic happens because without magic (heart) any thought will not take form.
3. And last, the spoken word, the vibration that will manifest that that was thought and formed in the mind.
And what freemasons lost?
If we think of it in basic human terms we are born, live and die. What we do in life is for everyone to determine. Masonry teaches us to add to mankind and strive to make things better, without injury to ourselves. May not be eloquent but a base truth that can be understood by all.