Hunt for One of These Jewels!
Along the path to a glimmer (after all, who knows when true enlightenment will really arrive?), I was introduced to some of the most complex little pieces of symbolism, personified by this image.
Actually, this is the gold/silver head of cane. I was first introduced to a real-life little fob, about 3/8 inches in diameter, made of brass and belonging to a friend. It had been handed down within his wife's family for about 100 years, but its true provenance had been lost. All that was known is that it was probably Masonic. They asked me to take a look and see what I could come up with.
Of course, it is completely Masonic and in fact, a piece of this kind is considered the "pinnacle" of Masonic jewelry. Here is a web page at one of the better Masonic websites, explaining this image and elsewhere on the page giving a diagram of a fob, very similar to the one that I looked at: Masonic Cane.
I think as a cane head, it woud be evident that it begs to be opened out. As a fob, the piece is very clever. It could seem to be a mere "charm." It looks like a tiny ornate globe and it is not evident how it opens, so that one of these could lay in a jewelbox for years and no one would know that it contains an entire little world of symbols.
As you can see, it opens to make a cross-shaped figure, and the interepretation given about the cane head is highly Christian. This illustrates a bit of a dichotomy among the Freemasons. In the Blue Lodges, no particular religion is favored and in fact, any religion is welcomed. For example, in the initiation of a Freemason, the book upon the altar can be the Bible, the Koran or the Torah, according to the initiate's religion. However, in some parts of Freemasonry, there are definite religious implications, most commonly, Christian.
I made a diagram of the fob I examined, and I will share it with a link here. Nearly half of its tiny symbols were not easily interpreted, and it differed in many respects from the fob mentioned above. So the diagram has a number of blanks. It could be a little brain-teaser to be solved by anyone interested. It's in PDF format: Masonic Ball
Anyway, if your family has one of these, treasure it, and if you see one at a yard sale, snap it up!
posted by Shugarius @ 7:02 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Some comments on the symbolism found upon the Masonic jewel that you mentioned in your post.
To identify these symbols, I would suggest that you take a good look at the symbolism and explanations thereof given in two recent books about Freemasonry, each of which is by a competent Masonic scholar:
S. Brent Morris, _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry_;
Christopher Hodapp, _Freemasons for Dummies_.
Several of the symbols are "monitorial," which, as a Masonic term, means that they are found in the published _Monitor_ of a Grand Lodge and so may be discussed fairly openly by Masons. Others just seem to be available for open discussion, witness the descriptions given in the books above. Note the following:
2A: Appears to be a crowbar (the horizontal and a pickaxe (see Morris, p. 222).
2B: A stretch, perhaps, but maybe an apron (Hodapp, p. 141).
2D: Twenty-four inch gauge (see Morris, p. 221).
3A: Square and Compasses, somewhat distorted (Hodapp, p. 138).
3B: Trowel (see Morris, p. 221).
3C: Volume of the Sacred Law (Morris, p. 68; look very closely at the altar in Hodapp, p. 145).
4B: A plumb (Morris, p. 220; Hodapp, p. 144).
4C: Hard to tell, but I would guess this is meant to be a scythe (Morris, p, 234)
4D: May be either a teardrop, or a distorted section of an hourglass (for the latter, see Morris, p. 234).
5B: Perhaps a sprig of acacia? (See Hodapp, pp. 149-150).
5C: A five-pointed star (Hodapp, p. 146).
5D: The so-called "mosaic pavement" of the traditional Lodge floor (Morris, pp. 224, 226).
6A: The setting maul (Hodapp, pp. 149-150).
6D: Perhaps an open grave with a shovel (Hodapp, pp. 149-150).
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