Ashlar Chippings

New Master 

Making one’s very first toast to the Provincial Grand Master at Installation can be something of an ordeal.

As you would imagine I was very nervous, so the DC wrote down a few words on the back of an old Summons: the trouble was, he was a doctor and I took one look at the scrawl and said to him: Am I supposed to read this or take it three times a day?’

Veiled in Allegory and illustrated by Symbols

 

Allegory of true and false wisdom. Etching by J.G. Bergmüller
IMAGE LINKED: Wellcome Collection Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Allegory – A subject which recalls another by reason of its analogous context.

For instance, a bunch of grapes, because of the time of the year in which it is harvested, is symbolic or allegorical of Autumn.

Allegorical subjects were very popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The gods of classical mythology all had objects sacred to them.

The laurel was sacred to Apollo (Helios); the vine to Bacchus (Dionysius); the lightning bolt and the eagle to Jupiter (Zeus); the lionskin and club to Hercules (Hercules); and the caduceus to Mercury (Hermes), the names in brackets being the Greek equivalents of the Roman names first given.

These attributes, standing by themselves, were symbolic of the gods who bore them.

In Christian art both the lamb and the fish symbolized Jesus Christ.

Groups of this kind were termed trophies, Symbolism was carried to great lengths, especially in the eighteenth century, when sets of porcelain and bronze figures represented the Seasons, Continents, Elements (Earth, Fire Air and Water), and so on, the meaning of which could only be deduced from the symbols they carried.

Thus, flowers represented Spring; a sheaf of corn, Summer; grapes, Autumn; and a brazier, Winter. Everyone was expected to be sufficiently well acquainted with this kind of symbolism to be able to identify the meaning.

[George Savage, Dictionary of Antiques, as quoted in Symbolism in Craft Freemasonry by Bro Colin Dyer. In considering the need for symbolism and allegory, we should remember that literacy was far from universal in past times.]

Emasculation!

Whilst visiting a Lodge in April 2012, the Master asked why it was taking so long to prepare a ballot. The ADC replied:

‘We seem to have lost our balls’.

Whereupon the Master said: ‘There’s no answer to that!’

The Lodge erupted!

 

A ballot box
IMAGE LINKED:  wikimedia Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

*These ‘Chippings’ were featured in previous issues of The Square and are reproduced with permission of the author.

Article by: Hugh O'Neill

Hugh O'Neill

Past Master of Craft lodges under the constitution of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Member (Master 2022-2023) of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076,  the world’s premier Masonic research lodge.

Masonic historian and orator on Masonic topics.

 

 

Recent Articles: Ashlar Chippings

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
1) Track and Trace - nailed it!,
2) Trouble at t’mill ,
3) The ‘Official’ Visit and
4) Whence the penalty? 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
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2) Penalties - worth it? 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
1) Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols
and
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Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
1) Lord Carnarvon's 'recuperation' and
2) "Freemasonry" in Naples in the Eighteenth Century 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
1) Take care for whom you vouch!
2) Perilous Time
3) On asking for a Certificate of Good Standing and
3) The Wrong Frequency! 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
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Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
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Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: - Emblems on an Installed Master’s Apron. 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
1)The Stiff Upper Lip - Keep Calm and Carry On – Masonic Style and
2)Ladies’ Freemasonry 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) Understanding Freemasonry,
2) Where was the Foundry? and
3) Answer this and answer true 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) How to get your Knighthood,
2) The Cowan,
3) Keeping the Tankards topped up! and
4) Installation of a Lodge Master (1723) 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) Whence Came the Rosettes,
2) The Freemasons' Motto and
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Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) New Master,
2) Veiled in Allegory and illustrated by Symbols and
3) Emasculation! 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
Masonic Symbolism 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) The well qualified Master Elect,
2) An Irish Obligation,
3) A chair going spare?,
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5) Nature’s Bounty 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) A ‘Masonic’ Dodo!,
2) Public ‘Open Nights’ and
3) Fraternity or Corporation? 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -
Tercentenary of United Grand Lodge of England - 1721-2021 season 2 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) Our charitable visitors,
2) Speculation?,
3) The Recovery of that which was Lost and
4) Showing the flag 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) The Future of Masonry,
2) Why is the apron flap sometimes up and sometimes down? and
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Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) That ‘H’ word,
2) Lesser Lights - what are they?,
3) The darkness comprehended it not!,
4) Interpretations of Symbols and
5) Tailpiece 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

Neville Barker Cryer personal view of Freemasonry 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) Equality,
2) The Faithful Few,
3) What’s the Attraction? and
4) Slap on the wrist for a Past Grand Master 

Fifty Shades of Blue

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

Fifty Shades of Blue! - The discussion of Provincial Honours amongst UGLE members appears to be ever contentious 

Masonic Sea Chest

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

Masonic Sea Chest from the Orlop Deck of HMS Victory 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar: -

1) Symbolic Masonic Penalties,
2) Eligibility? – It depends and
3) Provincial AGMs During COVID-19 Suspension 

Ashlar Chippings

Hugh O’Neill's regular chippings whilst smoothing the ashlar -
1) We are where we are, because… and
2) Ornaments to the Society 

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