The Grand Royal Arch Room, Dublin
by R.E.Comp. W.J. O'Brien, G.D.C., P.G.H.P. (Hon.).
[Published in the Chapter of Research No. 222 Transactions for the Years 1978 - 1985, Volume I, pages 167-186] [The Pictures have been added by Irish Masonic History] [at the end of this webpage you will find a .pdf copy of the text of this paper by R.E.Comp. O'Brien]
During the traditional Open Forum following the Annual Informal Dinner of the Excellent Kings and Registrars of the Irish Metropolitan Royal Arch Chapters held in Dublin on March 31st, 1982, with the M. E. Deputy Grand King presiding as Chairman, the Registrar of Royal Arch Chapter No. 120, Dublin, sought enlightenment on the symbolism embodied in the design and decor of the Grand Chapter Room and its appointments.
The M. E. Deputy Grand King requested me to comment and I then very briefly explained some of the more obvious features.
The inquirer thereupon suggested, through the Chair, that I should amplify my observations by writing a Paper dealing more extensively with the subject.
My immediate reaction was to express the opinion that there was insufficient further purely Masonic potential additional to the information just given, distinct from that relating to the symbolism of the actual Royal Arch Ritual with which all experienced Companions are already familiar, to provide enough material for a worth-while essay. Later reflection induced me to change my mind with the realisation that if non-Masonic symbolism and other matter identified with some of the Grand Chapter Room's features were included—there would be enough to justify a Paper. I therefore set to work and now offer you the result of my research in the hope it may be of interest. A clear distinction must be observed all through between non Masonic, historical or religious symbolism referred to identified with features in or of the room and the officially approved symbolism directly related to the Royal Arch working of our Constitution; and where Masonic and non-Masonic symbolism or meaning emanate from the same source, both will be alluded to and described—as far as is allowable—in typescript for circulation regarding the former, and so far as interest resides in the latter, clarifying 'en passant' always the category with which the particular explanation is identified. Of course, in a vouched Royal Arch Chapter, Masonic explanations can be augmented verbally ad lib. additional to this script as deemed requisite within the immediate vouching limitation.
No one entering our Grand Chapter Room for the first time can be in any doubt whatever but that the intention of the designer was to simulate an Egyptian interior. The question poses itself —Why? Among other reasons, perhaps, to create an aura of mystery, but while a desire for such an atmosphere might be indulgently conceded, surely that motive alone would have been quite insufficient reason or justification for reproducing an interior mirroring the mode of an Egyptian Temple at the dawn of history many thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, there seems to be no record of the motivation inspiring the styling of this room in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Ireland which body, between
The M. E. Deputy Grand King requested me to comment and I then very briefly explained some of the more obvious features.
The inquirer thereupon suggested, through the Chair, that I should amplify my observations by writing a Paper dealing more extensively with the subject.
My immediate reaction was to express the opinion that there was insufficient further purely Masonic potential additional to the information just given, distinct from that relating to the symbolism of the actual Royal Arch Ritual with which all experienced Companions are already familiar, to provide enough material for a worth-while essay. Later reflection induced me to change my mind with the realisation that if non-Masonic symbolism and other matter identified with some of the Grand Chapter Room's features were included—there would be enough to justify a Paper. I therefore set to work and now offer you the result of my research in the hope it may be of interest. A clear distinction must be observed all through between non Masonic, historical or religious symbolism referred to identified with features in or of the room and the officially approved symbolism directly related to the Royal Arch working of our Constitution; and where Masonic and non-Masonic symbolism or meaning emanate from the same source, both will be alluded to and described—as far as is allowable—in typescript for circulation regarding the former, and so far as interest resides in the latter, clarifying 'en passant' always the category with which the particular explanation is identified. Of course, in a vouched Royal Arch Chapter, Masonic explanations can be augmented verbally ad lib. additional to this script as deemed requisite within the immediate vouching limitation.
No one entering our Grand Chapter Room for the first time can be in any doubt whatever but that the intention of the designer was to simulate an Egyptian interior. The question poses itself —Why? Among other reasons, perhaps, to create an aura of mystery, but while a desire for such an atmosphere might be indulgently conceded, surely that motive alone would have been quite insufficient reason or justification for reproducing an interior mirroring the mode of an Egyptian Temple at the dawn of history many thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, there seems to be no record of the motivation inspiring the styling of this room in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Ireland which body, between
The Royal Arch Room, Freemasons' Hall, 17 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2
the years 1869 and 1877, was responsible for the planning and construction of the whole building. We are, therefore, left to speculate on the reason for adopting an Egyptian-style design and decor for our Grand Royal Arch Chapter Room.
It would seem now, in the absence of official information, the most probable reason was that those responsible for the decision originally must have been influenced then by the belief of certain contemporary Masonic writers of an older uncritical generation of Masonic thought that adhered firmly to the quite honestly held but erroneous belief that Freemasonry originated and derived solely from the Egyptian Mysteries and so considered the choice of design appropriate then.
That notion of the birth of Freemasonry was entirely repudiated and rejected by the later Authentic School of factual Masonic historians, and no enlightened mason today gives any credence to that particular earlier-held belief by some as to the source of our Order.
Clutching as it were at a straw in the wind for a possible tenable alternative reason for choosing an Egyptian Room, could the connection in the minds of those who made the decision, by a remote chance, have been Moses, the Great Law Giver who looms so largely in the earlier part of our present Royal Arch Degree - and prior to 1864 in the immediately preceding qualifying Excellent Mason Degree?
Though a Hebrew born, Moses was totally reared from early infancy at the royal court of Egypt in the 'City of the Sun' called On in the V.S.L. - later called Helipolis - where he was educated as an Egyptian and in all the wisdom of Egypt, and became 'mighty in word and in deed' but withal remained aware of his Hebrew origin. Even the name 'Moses' was derived from an Egyptian word 'ms, 'son'. The name which Moses had received from his Hebrew parents is said to have been 'Joachim', but it was only natural that an Egyptian Princess would give an Egyptian name to her adopted son. She called him Moses, 'Because I drew him out of the water/ (Ex. 2-10) (The Hebrew form, Moshe, means 'to draw out'). The career of Moses as an Egyptian Prince came to a sudden end when, as a grown man, he went off alone one day to find out what was happening to his kinsmen. He saw an Egyptian taskmaster flogging an Israelite slave. Thinking himself unobserved Moses slew the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand. Next day he intervened in a fight between two Israelites and was alarmed when one of them said pointedly 'Who made you a Prince and a Judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? (Ex. 2-14). Report of his deed reached Pharaoh, and he had to flee for his life eastward into the Sinai desert.
Notwithstanding his initial very close identification with the Egyptian scene, the fleeting thought that Moses might have provided a link and reason for our having an Egyptian stage to accommodate our Royal Arch working has to be dropped immediately when, on re-capping the story just now, it is recalled that the incidents in the later life of Moses intimately relating to our Royal Arch Ritual - as told in the V.S.L. - occurred after his complete severance and alienation from the Egyptian Court and favour.
In ruling out an exclusive Egyptian origin for Freemasonry there is, however, no absolute denial that, driving at long distant range from the lore and thought of that very extended historic epoch, some of the eternal truths realised and knowledge gained seeping through succeeding civilisations, may too have been absorbed by Freemasonry. Inevitably every age of human endeavour bequeaths something of proven truth born of its particular experience to succeeding peoples, sometimes under changing names and guises, and in this way the sum total of knowledge and truth tends in time to increase and become the property of many. Broadly speaking modern Freemasonry is a distillation of the aggregate of proven inherited philosophical truth, the whole essence of which has not originated nor been realised in any one particular age or place, but gained painfully in the furnace of experience over the whole spectrum of time.
Resuming our main theme, what now we are certain of is that we have inherited a strikingly handsome room with a largely irrelevant anachronistic design and decor in relation to its purpose. While undeniably impressive, it is rather a pity that the first word of its official title - Grand Royal Arch Room - is a misnomer as practically, it falls short of the adjectival 'Grand' in relation to size and capacity for it is not large enough to accommodate the convocations of Supreme Grand Chapter - if it ever was - a serious miscalculation.
Surely also, again relating to its comparatively diminutive size, it is an architectural contradiction bearing in mind that the Egyptian Temples of the type it is modelled on were invariably constructed on a vastly colossal scale.
It would seem now, in the absence of official information, the most probable reason was that those responsible for the decision originally must have been influenced then by the belief of certain contemporary Masonic writers of an older uncritical generation of Masonic thought that adhered firmly to the quite honestly held but erroneous belief that Freemasonry originated and derived solely from the Egyptian Mysteries and so considered the choice of design appropriate then.
That notion of the birth of Freemasonry was entirely repudiated and rejected by the later Authentic School of factual Masonic historians, and no enlightened mason today gives any credence to that particular earlier-held belief by some as to the source of our Order.
Clutching as it were at a straw in the wind for a possible tenable alternative reason for choosing an Egyptian Room, could the connection in the minds of those who made the decision, by a remote chance, have been Moses, the Great Law Giver who looms so largely in the earlier part of our present Royal Arch Degree - and prior to 1864 in the immediately preceding qualifying Excellent Mason Degree?
Though a Hebrew born, Moses was totally reared from early infancy at the royal court of Egypt in the 'City of the Sun' called On in the V.S.L. - later called Helipolis - where he was educated as an Egyptian and in all the wisdom of Egypt, and became 'mighty in word and in deed' but withal remained aware of his Hebrew origin. Even the name 'Moses' was derived from an Egyptian word 'ms, 'son'. The name which Moses had received from his Hebrew parents is said to have been 'Joachim', but it was only natural that an Egyptian Princess would give an Egyptian name to her adopted son. She called him Moses, 'Because I drew him out of the water/ (Ex. 2-10) (The Hebrew form, Moshe, means 'to draw out'). The career of Moses as an Egyptian Prince came to a sudden end when, as a grown man, he went off alone one day to find out what was happening to his kinsmen. He saw an Egyptian taskmaster flogging an Israelite slave. Thinking himself unobserved Moses slew the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand. Next day he intervened in a fight between two Israelites and was alarmed when one of them said pointedly 'Who made you a Prince and a Judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? (Ex. 2-14). Report of his deed reached Pharaoh, and he had to flee for his life eastward into the Sinai desert.
Notwithstanding his initial very close identification with the Egyptian scene, the fleeting thought that Moses might have provided a link and reason for our having an Egyptian stage to accommodate our Royal Arch working has to be dropped immediately when, on re-capping the story just now, it is recalled that the incidents in the later life of Moses intimately relating to our Royal Arch Ritual - as told in the V.S.L. - occurred after his complete severance and alienation from the Egyptian Court and favour.
In ruling out an exclusive Egyptian origin for Freemasonry there is, however, no absolute denial that, driving at long distant range from the lore and thought of that very extended historic epoch, some of the eternal truths realised and knowledge gained seeping through succeeding civilisations, may too have been absorbed by Freemasonry. Inevitably every age of human endeavour bequeaths something of proven truth born of its particular experience to succeeding peoples, sometimes under changing names and guises, and in this way the sum total of knowledge and truth tends in time to increase and become the property of many. Broadly speaking modern Freemasonry is a distillation of the aggregate of proven inherited philosophical truth, the whole essence of which has not originated nor been realised in any one particular age or place, but gained painfully in the furnace of experience over the whole spectrum of time.
Resuming our main theme, what now we are certain of is that we have inherited a strikingly handsome room with a largely irrelevant anachronistic design and decor in relation to its purpose. While undeniably impressive, it is rather a pity that the first word of its official title - Grand Royal Arch Room - is a misnomer as practically, it falls short of the adjectival 'Grand' in relation to size and capacity for it is not large enough to accommodate the convocations of Supreme Grand Chapter - if it ever was - a serious miscalculation.
Surely also, again relating to its comparatively diminutive size, it is an architectural contradiction bearing in mind that the Egyptian Temples of the type it is modelled on were invariably constructed on a vastly colossal scale.
The Royal Arch Room, c.1900.
There is another kind of contradiction too that obtrudes at a certain point in the ritual. Many a knowledgeable and perceptive candidate down the years must have wondered if he had heard aright when his Conductor solemnly informed him, despite the all round visual evidence to the contrary, that the room represented a Hebrew Tabernacle.
However, as our purpose is not to resolve these particular puzzles I will leave them aside unanswered and address myself to the main object of this essay which is to endeavour to shed some light on the symbolism, Masonic and otherwise, relating to the design, decor and furnishings of this interior as it is with all its inconsistencies as a Grand Royal Arch Room, ever bearing in mind that its purely Egyptian styling will claim an inordinate part of the explanatory information.
The first feature visitors usually notice, comment on and inquire about is the pair of reproduction recumbent lions with human heads at the entrance of the Council Chamber facing the Chapter Room. These represent Egyptian Sphinxes, identifiable as such from the Royal Head-dress (wig) of Egypt on their heads and the stylised artificial beards on the chins. The Egyptian Sphinx (as distinct from other later types with which we are not here concerned) was the Sun-god Arum's symbol of mystery with the body of a lion couchant and the head of a man. According to Egyptologists, the lion's body represented strength and the human head intellect, the whole figure typifying kingly royalty and the wisdom of the monarch. A brief digression here for two short notes on the original Sphinx may not be unfitting.
"In an inscription of the fourth dynasty mention is made of the Sphinx as being a monument whose origin is lost in the night of time, and that it had been found by chance in that period buried in the desert sand beneath which it had been forgotten for long generations. The fourth dynasty carries us back to 4,000 years before Christ. Judge then of the antiquity of the Sphinx."
(The Great Initiates: p. 160)
"It is, I think, one of the most astounding facts in the history of man, that a man was able to contain within his mind--to conceive even--the conception of the Sphinx. That he could carry it out in stone is amazing . . . into the conception and execution of the Sphinx has been poured a supreme imaginative power. He who created it looked beyond Egypt, beyond the life of man. He grasped the conception of Eternity. Realised the nothingness of time, and he rendered it in stone."
(Egypt and its Monuments: p. 22)
Replica Sphinxes were always placed before temples in Egypt — either in a pair or pairs — and in great abundance were depicted on their monuments to heighten the aura of mystery and to denote that sacred truth is often shrouded in enigmatical fables, allegories and legends. Plutarch states that their doing so was to emphasise that their religion was enigmatical, and to guard the mysteries, revealed to Initiates only, by warning those who penetrated within, that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated. These Sphinxes here then are perfectly apt in their guardian role and position at the entrance of the Council Chamber, but they have no Masonic function or application whatsoever there.
Mackey says that in the United States of America the Sphinx has been adopted in its Egyptian version as a symbol of mystery and is often found in front of Masonic Temples there and engraved on Masonic documents. It cannot, however, be properly called an ancient recognised symbol of the Order. Its introduction in the Masonic context there has been of comparatively recent date and, as here, rather as a decoration than as an essential of any Masonic dogma. It certainly is not nor ever has been an approved Masonic symbol in these islands but, it is interesting to find - and it is surely just coincidental - that two Craft Lodges on the register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland are named 'Sphinx', i.e., No. 107, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and No. 399, Dublin.
"In an inscription of the fourth dynasty mention is made of the Sphinx as being a monument whose origin is lost in the night of time, and that it had been found by chance in that period buried in the desert sand beneath which it had been forgotten for long generations. The fourth dynasty carries us back to 4,000 years before Christ. Judge then of the antiquity of the Sphinx."
(The Great Initiates: p. 160)
"It is, I think, one of the most astounding facts in the history of man, that a man was able to contain within his mind--to conceive even--the conception of the Sphinx. That he could carry it out in stone is amazing . . . into the conception and execution of the Sphinx has been poured a supreme imaginative power. He who created it looked beyond Egypt, beyond the life of man. He grasped the conception of Eternity. Realised the nothingness of time, and he rendered it in stone."
(Egypt and its Monuments: p. 22)
Replica Sphinxes were always placed before temples in Egypt — either in a pair or pairs — and in great abundance were depicted on their monuments to heighten the aura of mystery and to denote that sacred truth is often shrouded in enigmatical fables, allegories and legends. Plutarch states that their doing so was to emphasise that their religion was enigmatical, and to guard the mysteries, revealed to Initiates only, by warning those who penetrated within, that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated. These Sphinxes here then are perfectly apt in their guardian role and position at the entrance of the Council Chamber, but they have no Masonic function or application whatsoever there.
Mackey says that in the United States of America the Sphinx has been adopted in its Egyptian version as a symbol of mystery and is often found in front of Masonic Temples there and engraved on Masonic documents. It cannot, however, be properly called an ancient recognised symbol of the Order. Its introduction in the Masonic context there has been of comparatively recent date and, as here, rather as a decoration than as an essential of any Masonic dogma. It certainly is not nor ever has been an approved Masonic symbol in these islands but, it is interesting to find - and it is surely just coincidental - that two Craft Lodges on the register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland are named 'Sphinx', i.e., No. 107, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and No. 399, Dublin.
One of the ten seven-branch candlesticks mentioned below.
The ten seven-branch candlesticks (electric lamps in lieu of candles) equally distributed along the side walls, one in each section, surmounting differing ornamental human heads resting on individual bracket shelves will probably next attract the attention of a visitor. These definitely link with Moses for they are derived from the 'holy candlestick' which he was commanded by God to construct of beaten gold for the use of 'the Tabernacle which the Chapter Room (though architecturally a contradiction) is supposed to represent during the ceremony of the 'Passing of the Veils'. I will not weary you with a detailed description of the original 'Golden Candlestick' (or Menorah as it was called) which you will find in Ex. XXV, 31-39. In the Tabernacle it was placed opposite the table of shew-bread, which it was intended to illumine, in an oblique position, so that it looked to the east and south. What became of this original golden candlestick between the time of Moses and that of Solomon is unknown, but it does not appear to have been in the First Temple which was lighted by ten golden seven-branch candlesticks similarly embossed - the number we have here. These ten candlesticks became the spoil of the Chaldean conqueror at the time of the destruction of the first Temple, and could not have been among the articles afterwards restored by Cyrus, for in the second Temple there was only a single candlestick of seven branches, a replica of that which had been in the Mosaic Tabernacle, and its form has been sculptured on the Arch of Titus in Rome, where it was taken by that conqueror as 'spolia opima' after he had sacked the Herodian Temple. It is a replica of this candlestick that is used as a decoration in American Royal Arch Chapter rooms. The seven branches were at one time supposed by some to refer to the planets (as then known) together with the Sun and the Moon - the centre and tallest branch representing the Sun; the others the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Earth was not included as a planet but as a recipient; of light from the other bodies. It was a novel idea but the discovery of two further planets - Uranus in 1781 and Pluto in 1930 rather upset it. By others it was taken to refer to the seventh day or Sabbath. The primitive Christians made it allusive to Christ as 'The Light of the World' and in this sense it is a common symbol in early Christian art. In Irish Royal Arch Masonry the Menorah has no esoteric or ceremonial significance. It is prominently associated with the historic periods coincident with our Royal Arch Degree, therefore, when used as here in a decorative way for illumination, it should be clearly borne in mind that in the first phase of our degree, only one, the original seven-branch candlestick was employed in the corresponding historic period in the Mosaic Tabernacle; but in the second phase of the Degree, dated in the epoch of the first Temple, wherein ten golden candlesticks were used, our decor is correct in that respect.
Our visitor's eyes now stray upwards to the ceiling which is divided into five recessed sections - one over the Council Chamber and four over the Chapter Room - each section bounded by a splendid incurved cornice of a type that was a very common ornamental feature of Egyptian Temples. These cornices are adorned all along with beautiful formalised golden feathers after the pattern of an Ostrich Feather which, taken alone is a symbol of Truth, and multiplied here, how much more is symbolic of Truth and Justice because of the equal length of the feathers all the way around each cornice. This symbolism is derived from Maat, the goddess of Truth and Justice in ancient Egypt who is always depicted wearing on her head 'Shu' Feather of Truth.
One of the recessed ceilings.
The crossed feathers forming the Registrar's Collar Jewel should not be confused with the traditional symbolism associated with feathers. They, as in the Craft, simply represent the quill pen of a Scribe, the tool of his calling from time immemorial - unless imagination is allowed to run wild and arbitrarily extend the ancient symbolism of the feather to embrace the concept that all the Registrar should record is Truth!
The twenty brightly coloured pillars or columns supporting the ceiling of the room are formalised replicas of the Egyptian Papyrus Cluster Columns which imitate in a stylised way the expanded papyrus stalks, with capitals variously decorated with lotus and other water flowers which, to the Egyptians signified resurrection. At the lower part was invariably represented the sheaths that envelop the base of the papyrus stalk in nature. No Masonic symbolism attaches to these Papyrus inspired columns. Egyptian colouration of the features is reproduced throughout.
Between the columns hang the Veils, the Royal Arch teaching with regard to which I shall not touch on as you are all familiar with it, except to supplement with a brief homily which one occasionally used to hear but seldom does now:
"We can take these four veils, White, Scarlet, Purple and Blue —of fine linen—to epitomise Earth, Fire, Water and Air, the White representing purity. We must grow in knowledge conditioned by Earth, Water and Air, cleansed of all things that defile as typified by Fire, and so be fit to pass into the place, through the White Veil where Light resides and complete knowledge is attained"
Confronting us on entering the Council Chamber is the handsome raised Sanctum of the Three Principal Officers, its massive canopy supported by four columns, miniatures of those in the Chapter Room already described. It is separately illuminated from above through leaded stained glass panels portraying a pair of Hexalphas or Hexagrams, of which more later. The Throne of the King, in the centre position below, has the Tetragrammaton on the wall immediately behind and over it, and I do not have to explain to Royal Arch Masons what that is nor its significance.
The Dias of the Royal Arch Room
|
Centred on the feathered cornice of the canopy over the throne is the Egyptian form of the Winged Disk or Orb, supported by a pair of serpents of the genus Asps. The central globe represents the Sun, the source of Light and warmth and therefore of life. The serpents symbolise maternity and the Wings, under which birds gather their young, denotes protection. The Asp, in Egypt, was the emblem of Royalty, and the Sun Disk also, that of the Pharaoh. The Winged Disk symbol was timeless and widespread in the ancient world in various cults and religions. It has no place in Royal Arch philosophy however, and so must be regarded here as just another part of the decoration, as it is on our First Principal's certificate. |
As a symbol, the serpent had a prominent place in most of the ancient initiations and religions. For the Egyptians it was a symbol of Divine Wisdom. When extended at full length, and with its tail in its mouth, was an emblem of eternity. Together with the Winged Disk, as on the Canopy here, it symbolised the Egyptian Triune Deity. In our Royal Arch the Serpent is featured at one point in the ritual - of which you are all aware - and Moses, as a 'modus operandi' used the Serpent in the wilderness to save the lives of those who looked at it. (Numbers: 21-9). The Serpent itself, by casting its skin annually, has been regarded by many peoples as a symbol of regeneration. The belt-buckle of a Master Mason should properly be in the form of a pair of serpents for linking together, and this practice is retained in the Royal Arch unless the supplier is ignorant of the old tradition. I imagine the reasons the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft Aprons do not have the snake buckle is because that of the former denotes innocence; and while the Fellowcraft has had some education, it is only when this is completed in the Third Degree that he attains wisdom.
The Serpent had a prominent place in the symbolism of many other peoples of the earlier ages. In China, for example, the ring between two Serpents was a symbol of the world governed by the power and wisdom of the Creator, and in almost all ancient rites some allusion to this reptile is found, but the idea of the serpent devouring itself (as earlier alluded to) and other variations of the Serpent motif are less encountered today.
Before moving on let me return briefly to the Winged Disk array above the centre of the canopy over the throne in a summarised quotation from the "Myths of Horus" by Naville to show how very important this was to the Egyptians: "Horus commanded Thoth that the Winged Sun-Disk, with Uraei, should be brought into every Sanctuary wherein he dwelt; in order that they might drive away evil from therein. Then Thoth made figures of the Winged Sun-Disk, with Uraei, and distributed them among the temples and sanctuaries and places wherein there were any Gods." It also shows—and it is quite amazing—that symbols originating in ancient Egypt, whose civilisation and religion was old before other nations, since called to empire had a name and have withered away, should have trickled through to us in our Chapter room, even as part of the decoration, but certainly now, for us Royal Arch Masons, they have no Masonic symbolism or significance.
The small Egyptian-style table immediately in front of the King's Throne on which the Volume of the Sacred Law rests has, appropriately, its top surface shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle. This is supported at the apices by gilded legs simulating those of a cloven-hoofed animal which I have been unable to identify positively but take to be those of a goat, which animal was the symbol of fecundity in ancient Egypt. To the uninitiated the goat has ever been a figure of ribald joking and speculation as to admission ceremonial to Freemasonry. If they only knew how much in error they can be on this idea and could know that of all animals it was the goat that was chosen and sent into the wilderness as an atonement, they would surely be ashamed of themselves. The goat in olden times received much notice from the Hebrews, Greeks and others. I have been unsuccessful in tracing anything linking it directly with the Royal Arch symbolism in Ireland, but in the History of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, Volume 1, page 411, I noted a reproduction impression of an old lodge seal of the extinct 'Millvale Masonic Lodge No. 213' depicting a bearded goat in the centre space. Regarding the shape of the table top—an Equilateral Triangle —the Egyptians referred to it as the Sacred Delta because it was similar in form to the alluvial deposits between the twin mouths of the Nile, so vitally important to their survival, and the word delta today is used to describe any area of land bounded by the mouths of a river. In the particular atmosphere of this room it is not inappropriate to mention that the portal through the darkness along which the neophyte for admission to the Egyptian Priesthood was made to pass was represented by the trowel in their hieroglyphs in the form of a triangle. They considered the Equilateral Triangle the most perfect of figures and representative of the principles of animated existence, each of its sides referring to one of the three divisions of creation— the animal, vegetable and mineral. Today, particularly in the Royal Arch, we are all instructed and made aware of the Masonic symbolism of the Equilateral Triangle. It is for us, as it was for most of the nations of antiquity, a symbol of the Deity. There are few figures—if any—more important in signification; more various in its application; nor more generally diffused throughout the whole system of Freemasonry than the Equilateral Triangle; in short, it is one of the most constant and important examples of Masonic symbolism at every level. In the Royal Arch it even supplies the frame within which the Officers' Jewels are supported.
Turning about and stepping down from the Council Chamber one is confronted with an Altar representing a thirty-two inch cube of white marble, with the Tetragrammaton depicted on the side facing east. On the north and south faces the interlaced Equilateral Triangles enclosing a Triple Tau appear and while these are basically explained in our Royal Arch Degree, I have something additional to say about them later. On the west face there is the All Seeing Eye, also within an Equilateral Triangle, representing the idea of an Omnipresent God, an important emblem of the Supreme Being. Originating in Egypt where it was a hieroglyph representing their concept of Deity (Osiris), it was employed by the people as an amulet against evil. Later it was also used by other peoples of antiquity who regarded it as the Eye of Divine Watchfulness for the care of the universe, and which is upon man wherever he is or whatever he does.
It was adopted by Freemasonry to remind its adherents that nothing is hidden from the Deity, who knows our every thought and action and who will reward or punish us as we obey or disregard his divine commands.
Along the south side of the Chapter Room are four Banners relating individually to the Veil of corresponding colour, on all of which appears a pair of interlaced equilateral triangles together forming a six-pointed star which has been variously misdescribed, but is properly named an Hexalpha because it includes six smaller triangles. It is often referred to as Solomon's Seal among other reasons after its similarity to the flower of that name; but as the national emblem of the Jewish people it is correctly known as The Shield of David, though it dates back much earlier than King David's time in origin and use, and was regarded by other ancient peoples—as well as the Hebrews— as a perfect sign of the absolute and was worn as an amulet for protection against evil and dangers; indeed, there has been considerable symbolism identified with it veering from the profound to the fanciful. Additional to our own teaching anent it, other interpretations have been attributed to this figure as follows: The upward pointing triangle is said to represent 'Good' and the inverted one 'Evil'. Again, the upward one symbolises Trinities of various religions and also represents 'Fire' and the three virtues of 'Love', 'Trust' and 'Wisdom'. That with its apex pointing down typifies 'Water' and also the three enemies of the soul - the 'World, the 'Flesh' and the 'Devil'; also the three ordinal sins of 'Envy', 'Hatred' and 'Malice'. The triangles interlaced epitomise the triumph of good over evil and spirit over matter. There are many other triad interpretations too numerous to mention here which in essence can all be summed up in the lines: "He who with intelligence and will is armed with this emblem has no need of any other aid." A mildly humorous situation arises due to the female principle being symbolised by the inverted triangle which, when coloured red, denotes passion, on realising that in modern times, through a purely coincidental accident of chance presumably, a triangle similarly positioned was adopted as the badge of the Y.M.C.A. Finally, a brief amplification of the information normally imparted in our Royal Arch Degree relating to the ancient Tau which appears in a modern three-fold form within the intersection of the upper and lower triangles of the Hexalpha on our Royal Arch Banners.
The Serpent had a prominent place in the symbolism of many other peoples of the earlier ages. In China, for example, the ring between two Serpents was a symbol of the world governed by the power and wisdom of the Creator, and in almost all ancient rites some allusion to this reptile is found, but the idea of the serpent devouring itself (as earlier alluded to) and other variations of the Serpent motif are less encountered today.
Before moving on let me return briefly to the Winged Disk array above the centre of the canopy over the throne in a summarised quotation from the "Myths of Horus" by Naville to show how very important this was to the Egyptians: "Horus commanded Thoth that the Winged Sun-Disk, with Uraei, should be brought into every Sanctuary wherein he dwelt; in order that they might drive away evil from therein. Then Thoth made figures of the Winged Sun-Disk, with Uraei, and distributed them among the temples and sanctuaries and places wherein there were any Gods." It also shows—and it is quite amazing—that symbols originating in ancient Egypt, whose civilisation and religion was old before other nations, since called to empire had a name and have withered away, should have trickled through to us in our Chapter room, even as part of the decoration, but certainly now, for us Royal Arch Masons, they have no Masonic symbolism or significance.
The small Egyptian-style table immediately in front of the King's Throne on which the Volume of the Sacred Law rests has, appropriately, its top surface shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle. This is supported at the apices by gilded legs simulating those of a cloven-hoofed animal which I have been unable to identify positively but take to be those of a goat, which animal was the symbol of fecundity in ancient Egypt. To the uninitiated the goat has ever been a figure of ribald joking and speculation as to admission ceremonial to Freemasonry. If they only knew how much in error they can be on this idea and could know that of all animals it was the goat that was chosen and sent into the wilderness as an atonement, they would surely be ashamed of themselves. The goat in olden times received much notice from the Hebrews, Greeks and others. I have been unsuccessful in tracing anything linking it directly with the Royal Arch symbolism in Ireland, but in the History of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, Volume 1, page 411, I noted a reproduction impression of an old lodge seal of the extinct 'Millvale Masonic Lodge No. 213' depicting a bearded goat in the centre space. Regarding the shape of the table top—an Equilateral Triangle —the Egyptians referred to it as the Sacred Delta because it was similar in form to the alluvial deposits between the twin mouths of the Nile, so vitally important to their survival, and the word delta today is used to describe any area of land bounded by the mouths of a river. In the particular atmosphere of this room it is not inappropriate to mention that the portal through the darkness along which the neophyte for admission to the Egyptian Priesthood was made to pass was represented by the trowel in their hieroglyphs in the form of a triangle. They considered the Equilateral Triangle the most perfect of figures and representative of the principles of animated existence, each of its sides referring to one of the three divisions of creation— the animal, vegetable and mineral. Today, particularly in the Royal Arch, we are all instructed and made aware of the Masonic symbolism of the Equilateral Triangle. It is for us, as it was for most of the nations of antiquity, a symbol of the Deity. There are few figures—if any—more important in signification; more various in its application; nor more generally diffused throughout the whole system of Freemasonry than the Equilateral Triangle; in short, it is one of the most constant and important examples of Masonic symbolism at every level. In the Royal Arch it even supplies the frame within which the Officers' Jewels are supported.
Turning about and stepping down from the Council Chamber one is confronted with an Altar representing a thirty-two inch cube of white marble, with the Tetragrammaton depicted on the side facing east. On the north and south faces the interlaced Equilateral Triangles enclosing a Triple Tau appear and while these are basically explained in our Royal Arch Degree, I have something additional to say about them later. On the west face there is the All Seeing Eye, also within an Equilateral Triangle, representing the idea of an Omnipresent God, an important emblem of the Supreme Being. Originating in Egypt where it was a hieroglyph representing their concept of Deity (Osiris), it was employed by the people as an amulet against evil. Later it was also used by other peoples of antiquity who regarded it as the Eye of Divine Watchfulness for the care of the universe, and which is upon man wherever he is or whatever he does.
It was adopted by Freemasonry to remind its adherents that nothing is hidden from the Deity, who knows our every thought and action and who will reward or punish us as we obey or disregard his divine commands.
Along the south side of the Chapter Room are four Banners relating individually to the Veil of corresponding colour, on all of which appears a pair of interlaced equilateral triangles together forming a six-pointed star which has been variously misdescribed, but is properly named an Hexalpha because it includes six smaller triangles. It is often referred to as Solomon's Seal among other reasons after its similarity to the flower of that name; but as the national emblem of the Jewish people it is correctly known as The Shield of David, though it dates back much earlier than King David's time in origin and use, and was regarded by other ancient peoples—as well as the Hebrews— as a perfect sign of the absolute and was worn as an amulet for protection against evil and dangers; indeed, there has been considerable symbolism identified with it veering from the profound to the fanciful. Additional to our own teaching anent it, other interpretations have been attributed to this figure as follows: The upward pointing triangle is said to represent 'Good' and the inverted one 'Evil'. Again, the upward one symbolises Trinities of various religions and also represents 'Fire' and the three virtues of 'Love', 'Trust' and 'Wisdom'. That with its apex pointing down typifies 'Water' and also the three enemies of the soul - the 'World, the 'Flesh' and the 'Devil'; also the three ordinal sins of 'Envy', 'Hatred' and 'Malice'. The triangles interlaced epitomise the triumph of good over evil and spirit over matter. There are many other triad interpretations too numerous to mention here which in essence can all be summed up in the lines: "He who with intelligence and will is armed with this emblem has no need of any other aid." A mildly humorous situation arises due to the female principle being symbolised by the inverted triangle which, when coloured red, denotes passion, on realising that in modern times, through a purely coincidental accident of chance presumably, a triangle similarly positioned was adopted as the badge of the Y.M.C.A. Finally, a brief amplification of the information normally imparted in our Royal Arch Degree relating to the ancient Tau which appears in a modern three-fold form within the intersection of the upper and lower triangles of the Hexalpha on our Royal Arch Banners.
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The Tau.
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The Tau is a very old symbol coming to us from the mists of antiquity, its exact origin unchronicled. It has been found sculptured or otherwise depicted on Egyptian and Coptic monuments and was called the Key of the Nile or Nileometer—the operation of which is normally explained to Candidates following Exaltation. Thus early it was used as a means of life preservation. The actual Tau, which we know as the Greek letter - but which exists in similar form in some other languages (including our own) was, from earliest times regarded as a symbol of life. The Tau is also a very early form of cross and in Egypt was developed into what was called the 'Ankh' (later known as Crux Ansata- handled cross). Over the crossbar of the phallic Tau, in the centre, was placed an upright Oval Loop (the hieroglyph of Ra) known as the Vesica Piscis representing the creative loop—thus combining the male and female aspects in a composite symbol of eternal life. Hence it was the most venerated of all symbols there.
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It must be remembered that the Hebrews too regarded the Tau (Tov) as a sacred symbol of salvation and preservation, for it was the mark referred to in the vision of Ezekiel (IX, 4), which was put on the foreheads to distinguish the persons to be saved, on account of their sorrow for sin, from the idolators who were to be slain. Also, it was a Tau Cross that supported the serpent in the wilderness which Moses used to save the lives of those who looked at it. Among the Phoenicians and their kindred races the Tau Cross was known, and as St. Anthony's Cross it was found with almost the same signification in Palestine, the Christian Catacombs, Gaul and other places, so called because that saint suffered martyrdom on a Tau Cross, which was the type customarily used for crucifixions—especially by the Romans—and not the later Passion Cross conventionally pictured today. Anthony the Copt, a descendant of the earliest native Egyptians, professing a modified form of Christianity, was a hermit gifted in the cure of Erylipelas, commonly afterwards known as Saint Anthony's Fire, employing the Tau Cross to cure the condition. In rural Ireland St. Anthony's Cross (the Tau) was worn or used in past times as a charm against sickness. The Romans employed it in the marking of the roll call after battle. A Tau was placed against the names of the survivors and a Theta (0) — the sign of death — against those of the slain. Tertullian (who was himself an initiate) stated that the Tau was inscribed on the foreheads of persons admitted into the mysteries of Mithras. The mythology of Scandinavia held that the Tau symbolised Mjolmir, the formidable cross-shaped hammer of Thor, and signified that the wearer had brought his three lower natures — physical, emotional and mental under complete control. In the ritual of a high Initiate in the Brahmin religion the Aspirant is decorated with an inverted level, in essence the Tau, as a symbol of life. There was worship of a Supreme Goddess in the Cretan civilisation about 1700 1800 BC, and her emblem was the Double headed Axe. The Tau in this form symbolised the divine attributes of rule and power, surviving in and still to some extent manifest today in the form and function symbolically of the Gavel.
For the last words on this subject and to conclude the Paper, let me repeat what every Irish Royal Arch Mason is, or should be told prior to being presented for the concluding charge: "As any symbol thrice repeated is held to possess an infinitely increased significance, Royal Arch Masons regard the Triple Tau as a symbol of Eternal Life; also, it serves to distinguish those who have been taught the triune name of God from those ignorant of that sublime mystery." The Triple Tau then is to Royal Arch Masons the greatest of all emblems indicating that as the possessors of the Degree they are set apart as the recipients of a sublime yet hidden wisdom.
For the last words on this subject and to conclude the Paper, let me repeat what every Irish Royal Arch Mason is, or should be told prior to being presented for the concluding charge: "As any symbol thrice repeated is held to possess an infinitely increased significance, Royal Arch Masons regard the Triple Tau as a symbol of Eternal Life; also, it serves to distinguish those who have been taught the triune name of God from those ignorant of that sublime mystery." The Triple Tau then is to Royal Arch Masons the greatest of all emblems indicating that as the possessors of the Degree they are set apart as the recipients of a sublime yet hidden wisdom.
Works Consulted:-
Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry (Mackey).
Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia (McKenzie).
Kennings Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry (Woodford).
A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry (Waite).
Freemason's Reference Book (Pick and Knight).
Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods (Ward).
The Royal Arch Degree (Ward).
The Origin and Evolution of Freemasonry (Churchward).
A Handbook of Freemasonry (Coppin).
Freemasons Book of the Royal Arch (Jones).
History of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, Vol. 1 (Lepper and Crossle).
The Martyrdom of Man (Reade).
Migration of Symbols (Count Goblet D'Alviella).
Myths of Horus (Naville).
The Tau or Cross (H. G. M. Murray-Aynsley: A.Q.C. Trans. Vol. 5, -1892). The Ancient Egyptians (Wilkinson).
The Pyramids of Egypt (Edwards). The Lost Pharaohs (Cottrell). Tutankhamen (Desroches-Noblecourt). Ancient Egypt (Rawlinson).
Egyptian Myth and Legend (Mackenzie). V.S.L. (Revised Version).
Dictionaries (Webster & The Imperial Bible).
A .pdf copy of the text of the above paper by R.E.Comp. W.J. O'Brien can be accessed through
the following link ~ "The Grand Royal Arch Room, Dublin by R.E.Comp. W.J. O'Brien".