A Brother Asks: Orders of Architecture

A Brother Asks: Coach, Would you tell me how the columns figure into our Masonic journey?

Coach: I sure can.

Brother: Great!  Please do!

Coach: The first thing you must realize is what each column actually denotes allegorically.

Brother: Allegorically?  You mean the columns are standing in symbolically for a quality that a Brother must embrace Masonicly?

Coach: Exactly!

Brother: Wow!  I had never considered that approach before.

Coach: Many don’t.  Yet, they first are presented in a symbolic lodge and you’d think that most members would. I mean, it is a symbolic lodge.

Brother: True enough. Let’s start with the Tuscan.

Coach: No.  Let’s start with the Doric.

Brother: Why the Doric?                                                                 

Coach: Great question. What do you know about the symbolism of the Doric as it relates to the officers of the lodge?

Brother: I know that the three principle officers are denoted by the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns.

Coach: Meaning?

Brother: The Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Wardens respectively.

Coach: Great! So which officer is the Doric?

Brother: The Senior Warden.

Coach: Correct.  And what quality does the Senior Warden represent?

Brother: Strength.

Coach: Agreed. Using this understanding, what do the Ionic and Corinthian columns represent?

Brother: The remaining officers respectively, and by default, the qualities of Wisdom and Beauty too.

Coach: Yes.  So, you’re telling me that the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns represent Wisdom, Strength and Beauty?

Brother: No. Ritual is telling us this through our ritual lectures.

Coach: Indeed! 

Brother: How does this play into our Masonic journey?

Coach: Let’s overlay these qualities.

Brother: Okay.

Coach: The Doric column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has worked sufficiently upon his Strength.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the apprentice ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his heart?

Coach: Precisely!

Brother: That makes perfect sense.  What about the Ionic column?

Coach: The Ionic column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Wisdom.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the fellow craft ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his mind?

Coach: Yes. 

Brother: I like that! What about the Corinthian column?

Coach:  The Corinthian column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Beauty?

Brother: Beauty?  How is that possible?  How do we work upon our appearance?

Coach: It’s symbolic my Brother.  And it means that a Brother has applied what he has learned within the first two degrees to create a recognizable masterpiece of Beauty.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the master ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his spirit?

Coach: Indeed!  You’re getting the hang of this symbolic stuff.

Brother: Thanks… your coaching helps a lot.

Coach: So does your ability to grasp the allegorical elements and apply them.

Brother:  Thanks... so, what about the Tuscan?  What does it represent?

Coach: The Tuscan is the plainest and simplest of all the columns presented to them within the staircase lecture. 

Brother: Okay…

Coach: When this is to symbolize any quality assigned to a member, it is to denote any Brother who demonstrates that he has yet to Work upon any aspect of his Wisdom, Strength or Beauty.

Brother: So, they have yet to do any of the Work pointed toward by the first three degrees?

Coach: Exactly!  They may have done the memorization work, but they have not applied anything that they have memorized toward their lives.

Brother: So, they are rough ashlars?

Coach: Yes, they have yet to even take up their Working Tools and applied them toward their Ashlars.

Brother: So, they are members, but they have yet to truly do anything other than fit in.

Coach: Sadly, I have to say "yes."

Brother: What about the Composite column?  How does that apply to our Masonic journey?

Coach: The Composite column is any Masterful Mason.

Brother: As in?

Coach: As in any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Wisdom, Strength and Beauty to create a masterpiece, most especially of himself.

Brother: You mean the Work that is pointed toward by the three symbolic degrees?

Coach:  Yes! Furthermore, he has integrated this Work fully and suitably into his being and everyday manner such that they all are present and they all agree.

Brother: Wow!  That’s a lot to take in?

Coach: Yes, and the sad aspect of this whole thing is that its hidden within plain sight and most members do not see it.

A Brother Asks... Are the Twelve Fellow Crafts Reformed Ruffians?

A Brother Asks: Were the remaining Twelve Fellow Crafts Reformed Ruffians[1]?

My Response: Before I respond directly to your question, let me take some liberty here and lay a foundation for it. 

Freemasonry does not make good men better. That is a fabricated slogan that serves the purpose of gaining the interest of a target market.  It has worked unbelievably well over the years and is well suited to that purpose.

If you inspect the results of Craft influence in an unbiased way, it should become obvious from the evidence that it is only by Seeking and Practicing Masonry, not Freemasonry, that a Good Man becomes a Better Man.

That being said, Mainstream Freemasonry is an organization of men who collectively claim that they seek to make Good Men Better.  They also lay claim to supporting this end without wavering.  They do this by directing members' attention toward focusing upon those things that each can do to improve themselves.  They do this in the hope that Members may eventually come to know and embrace Masonry; not just Freemasonry.

However, these claims must be backed by action on the part of each member for that Betterment to be realized.  The first step toward that end is Realizing and Understanding that there actually is a difference between the organization and what it espouses. The second step is Realizing and Understanding that Participation in organizational activities is not the same as doing the Work that it espouses; these are two entirely different activities and they serve different ends. 

Should you get upset or offended by this information? Only if you insist upon not earnestly examining what Betterment of yourself actually entails.

Back to your Question

From a very deep and personal perspective, I find the Three Fellow Crafts who went back to Work more heroic than any other characters within the Temple's Allegorical Tale. I see taking up the Work with unwavering intent to Complete it, as in "to complete their respective temples," to be one of the most heroic and noblest of journeys any Man can undertake.

To Recognize this need and Dedicate oneself to its fulfillment and completion to be a rare and noble quality.

But that's just me. I know from experience what it actually takes. A man must cultivate something very special and utterly unique within himself to take such Work on and then move it toward completion.

It Transforms the man, his life and his world.

The Work is not for wimps, wusses, or Ruffians. 

 The other Nine Ruffians?  The story doesn't say what happened to them.  That being said, it was clear that all twelve were threatened with the same punishment that the three who committed the crime eventually suffered, if the three were not brought to justice.  The Nine Ruffians who were never heard from again did not bring the three to justice and therefore we are left to understand that they left for parts unknown, never to return, much like many who depart who never apprehend the Work necessary to bring their Work to justice.

And there in lies the answer to your question. 

The Twelve Fellow Craft were part of the original conspiracy to ruff[2] on the required Work.  They had every intention to ruff.  They were going to follow through with ruffing and ultimately changed their minds.  Of the twelve, we are left with the distinct impression that only three returned and planned to opt out of ruffing and followed suit on pursuing the Work.  By all Blue Lodge accounts, we are left with a distinct understanding that only three had plans to reform their ways and get back to business - doing the Work.

So, "Yes", only these three were reformed Ruffians, or, at least, Working toward that end.

F&S,

Brother John S. Nagy
-------------------------------

[1] Ruffian: One who ruffs; one who does not follow suit; one who skips over what is usually necessary to accomplish a desired end.
[2] Ruff: an archaic term meaning to "trump"; to not follow suit; to skip over what is usually necessary to accomplish a desired end.