A Journey in Stone – Extracts of Wisdom p.8

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“This book is the result of years of exploration by myself since I joined the Order of Freemasons in 2004. After following an identical story to the one expressed at the beginning of this preface, I found the process of initiation a truly transformative process.”

Craig Weightman.

​A Journey in Stone

‘The Entrance to King Solomon’s Temple’

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Technically, any building that is made out of stone blocks would do. However, Freemasonry has a particular building in mind to act as the perfect symbol for the wider purpose of Freemasonry. That building is King Solomon’s Temple.

Depiction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem by the 16th-century French scholar François Vatable.

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The reason that this particular building is used in Freemasonry is because it is the ideal symbol for its purposes.

It is the most important building mentioned in the Bible, which is just one expression of the Volume of the Sacred Law.

When Freemasonry was developed in Europe, Christianity was the dominant religion, and it would have been this particular religion that the mediaeval stonemason would have subscribed to.

Therefore, the most important building mentioned in the central scripture of Christianity would have been the most appropriate symbol recognisable to the Mason of that time.

King Solomon’s Temple was particularly important in the Bible because it was considered to be the actual house of God.

In modern times, we might use the term ‘house of God’ with reference to any church, but in the times of ancient Judaism it was taken to be literal in the case of the first temple. They believed that God actually lived there.

It should be remembered that all Masonic lodges represent King Solomon’s Temple, which is why lodge rooms are sometimes called temples.

Therefore, all Freemasons meet inside a representation of the first temple at Jerusalem, and anything that the lodge room itself symbolises applies to the symbol of the temple itself.

Illustration of the analogy between the human body and a geocentric cosmos. Robert Fludd: Der Mensch als Mikrokosmos, 1619.

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Left: Ceiling of the Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall, London. By The wub – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

Right: Chequered floor and Master’s Chair – Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall, London. By The wub – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

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Ideally, the ceiling is painted in a dark blue colour, representing the night sky, and the zigzag pattern around the edge of the chequered floor of the lodge is supposed to represent the motion of the planets.

The black and white floor itself represents the opposites encountered in life, like light and dark, good and evil, difficult and easy, or beautiful and ugly.

The Masonic Candidate moves around the lodge on this Masonic flooring, showing the pathway of a Mason through their life and through the trials and tribulations we all encounter in our lives.

If we compare the Masonic lodge room, based as it is on the wider universe, with the original temple at Jerusalem, we can see how the latter might represent the universe at large, with God situated at its centre.

The microcosm, as has already been mentioned, is also represented by the Masonic lodge room, and it is here where we can further relate the lodge to the idea of initiation.

With the aid of the officers within a Masonic lodge we can see how initiation works and how initiation can be seen to be a journey within oneself.

Outside the door of the lodge stands the Tyler, who is essentially a guard to prevent any unqualified person from entering the meeting taking place inside.

Psychologically speaking, this person represents the ability to be selective in what we see and hear. It is all too easy to believe everything that we hear, and we must be discerning so that we can get a more accurate representation of the world in our minds.

For instance, it is well known that we should be mindful of listening to gossip, since we could end up getting the wrong idea about a person when that idea could be unjustified.

Essentially, anything that we allow into our minds should be as accurate as possible, and tested with our sense of logic and insight.

If we don’t know anything about a person, or a situation, we should be mindful of exactly what we observe and seek to learn more about them from experience.

Inside the door of the lodge, there stands the Inner Guard, who acts as a double-measure of security for the lodge. This insistence on ensuring that no one unqualified enters the lodge room backs up the psychological need to be aware of what we allow into our minds.

However, the Inner Guard also has the job of allowing people out of the room if they leave. This represents the psychological faculty of being mindful of what one says. Everyone knows that some of what we say can be inappropriate and hurtful, so we should be mindful of every situation in which we might need to choose our words carefully.

Another instance of being careful of what we say is when people confide in us. The trust that has been placed in us when we are asked to keep a secret is fundamental to the stability of that particular relationship.

Any information that a person doesn’t want disclosing should be kept firmly within one’s mind. Of course, it is also important to be aware of how we speak to people, and therefore clear and articulate speech should always be our preferred style of communication.

After the two Deacons in the lodge, there are the two Wardens: the Junior Warden, and the Senior Warden. The Junior Warden represents both beauty and the sun. Beauty is a quality that most of us recognise, and it seems to be fundamental to the workings of our mind.

The sun which, being the source of natural light, represents the source of knowledge. This symbol reminds the Freemason of the need to educate themselves, as pointed out by the symbolism of the chisel in the First Degree.

The Senior Warden in the lodge also represents two things, namely the quality of strength and the Moon. Strength is required in all our endeavours; it is not simply a faculty that is associated with one’s physical muscles, but is more a quality of mind.

Finally, the officer in charge of the whole lodge is the Master of the lodge, who represents both wisdom and the light that shines from the East [which] is directly related to the faculty of wisdom. Wisdom is an interesting subject.

It is often confused with knowledge, but this does not quite offer a complete definition of what wisdom actually is.

Certainly, wisdom requires knowledge. However, that knowledge only enables us to engage more with the world around us and encourages the faculty of wisdom to flourish.

Wisdom also requires experience, because acquiring facts is one thing, while spending time applying and experiencing the things that comprise this knowledge is entirely another.

‘The Ionic Column, Representing Wisdom’

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Throughout the Freemason’s career, they will advance through the offices from Inner Guard to the Master of the lodge. This, in itself, is part of the journey of Freemasonry.

The taking up of each office, in turn, symbolises the embodiment of each of the different aspects of the inner human psyche.

As the Freemason contemplates the faculty represented by the office they hold, they slowly come to an understanding of their total inner life and, as they progress towards the chair of the Master of the lodge, they are following a symbolic pathway deeper and deeper into the Self, culminating in the source of wisdom represented by the Master.

This symbolic journey should mirror the development of the individual’s conscious mind as they establish more and more of a connection with their innermost selves.

The image of society being built around a central transcendent principle then can still work. Even with diverse belief systems in the world, the simple acceptance of each religion as a genuine perspective will allow mutual respect.

People who claim to be atheists can still see value in this model of society, because it is obvious that the origin of all things can be approached through scientific examination alongside the emotional, inner psychological exploration that can be embarked upon when appreciating a beautiful work of art that challenges perceptual concepts.

It is not necessary to see the source of all things as a God, since God is simply a word that conveys a dim shadow of the true reality.

There is indeed something that originated the universe, which, ultimately, can only truly be understood in part.

The main feature that King Solomon’s Temple highlights is the need for interdependent relationships for society to function properly. Human civilisation cannot work properly if people act from the position of the Self, and don’t acknowledge the greater need for selflessly directed action.

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