Page 104 - Amo Amass A-muse is some of the fruit of a lifetimes love of Freemasonry - the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235

ThE ThREE lESSER liGhTS & ThE ThREE GREAT PillARS

T OUR INITIATION, after having been brought to light and raised, the three
Lesser Lights are pointed out to us. These are the lights from the Candles which
Aare lit at the opening of the Lodge, representing the Sun to rule the Day, the
Moon to govern the night and the Master to rule and direct his Lodge. We were shown
that they were situated in the East, South and West but we are not told which is situated in
which direction. Neither on the Tracing Board nor in the Lectures are we told anything
more about them. I began to wonder whether Masonry was a Cult based upon ancient
Egyptian Lore, the Sun representing the all powerful Deity, the Moon contemplation and
truth, whilst the Master seemed to be a kind of High Priest.
Later, I discovered the teaching about the three Great Pillars. These are not alluded
to in any of our Ceremonies but are greatly enlarged upon in the explanation of the 1st
degree Tracing Board and in the Lectures, which sadly are seldom heard today, although
they sometimes may be explained when a Grand Lodge Certificate is presented. These
Pillars are also situated in the East, South and West, one being linked with the Master
but the other two with The Senior and Junior Wardens instead of the Sun and Moon.
They portray three of the Noble Orders of Architecture, namely the Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian, and are surmounted by the figures of Faith, Hope and Charity. I must add
that these three Pillars never had any connection with the Two Pillars which stood at the
entrance to King Solomon’s Temple.
Both the Traditions of the Candlesticks and the Pillars have evolved from early times.
I believe that the Candlesticks or Lights have descended to us from the Operative
Masons, being the only means of illumination after dark. They were sometimes placed
in a Triangle upon the Centre and sometimes in a row. The Speculative Masons began to
apply them to their morals. The earliest record of this is from Scotland when, in 1696, the
Edinburgh Register House Catechism asks — “How many Lights are there in a Lodge?”
This is followed by many other Catechisms and Exposures but the answer to this Question
varies a good deal. There were usually said to be three, representing the Sun and the Master
Mason, but the representation of the third varied a good deal from the Moon to the Square.
Some said that they referred to the Trinity whilst one exposure said that there were twelve,
and the working tools were included in their representation. By about 1740 the position