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"The Tracing Boards are stunning! It is a real privilege for me to think that something I wrote might have contributed, even a little bit, to such a wonderful work. Many thanks again for these lovely Tracing Boards."
W. Kirk MacNulty
Author of 'Tracing Boards and the Western Metaphysical Tradition', 'Freemasonry - A Journey through Ritual and Symbol','The Way of the Craftsman: A Search for the Spiritual Essence of Craft Freemasonry'.
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1st
Degree Tracing Board
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The First Degree Tracing
Board
by Robert Lomas "The Secret Science of Masonic
Initiation"
To help an Apprentice understand the sacred law
which runs the cosmos, Freemasonry offers the
First Degree Tracing Board. This set of symbols
is to focus your thoughts and guide your
meditation. At first sight it seems to be a
casual collection of emblems found in every
masonic lodge. But, as your masonic insight
develops, order and purpose emerge from it. You
begin to see that it is a diagram of the
material, mental and spiritual elements in us
all. These are shown as the earth, the
Intermediate Fermament and the Heavens.
"The symbolic staircase he could ascend enabling him to
participate in the mysteries of human science...through the
staircase of the spine, energy ascends and descends,
circulating, connecting the heavenly mind with the physical
body." - Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol. |
2nd
Degree Tracing Board
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The Second Degree Tracing Board
by Robert Lomas "The Secret Science of Masonic
Initiation"
‘The purpose of this board is personal. If you
want to work the Second Degree you must allow it
speak to your intellect. This degree is about
the higher, mental reaches of your nature.
The First Degree taught you to lay the
foundation of a new life in the sacred law. You
were told to erect a temple, purged of the flesh
upon the ground floor of your natural
personality. Now with your animal instinct
beautified with virtue and adorned by grace of
character, you are bidden to move upwards, to
gain instruction and experience a higher level
of being.’
"The winding staircase, as it was known, appeared on
the 2nd degree tracing board. It represented man's
intellectual climb toward the divine truth." - Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol. |
3rd
Degree Tracing Board
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The Third Degree Tracing Board
by Robert Lomas "The Secret Science of Masonic
Initiation"
‘The Third Degree Tracing Board is a diagram
that contains many truths. Like every effective
symbol, it is capable of several meanings, each
one true upon its own level.It’s first and
simplest meaning is the quasi-historical one you
acted out in the ritual. It shows the grave of
the murdered Hiram Abiff and the tools that
killed him.Secondly, it has a cosmic and
philosophical meaning. At his level it is a
visual metaphor for the spiritual mystery of the
origin of evil and death.Thirdly, it has a
personal application. It is a symbol of
ourselves and shows the traditional way of being
raised from darkness to light.’
"A coffin shaped tracing board on the floor, the 3rd
degree, this was the death ritual, the most
rigorous of the three degrees." - Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol. |
Turning the Hiram Key |
Turning the Solomon Key |
Turning the Templar Key |
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"Robert Lomas reveals how
the rites and symbolism of Freemasonry are
intended to awake, perhaps gently and over time,
sometimes suddenly and decisively, any spiritual
curiosity, any curiosity about esoteric
mysteries that lies inside the individual,
however deep, however dormant. New dimensions
may open up to him."
Mark Booth author of The
Secret History of the World.
“I would like to thank 2
people for inspiring me to write this book. The
first is Brother Martin Jackson, a master
craftsman in the art of Tracing Boards, who
spent many hours probing my emotional response
to Freemasonry. Martin forced me to articulate
ideas that i felt but never tried to put into
words. The second is Mark Booth, one of the best
editors it has been my good fortune to work
with.
The Bros Jackson highly recommend The Secret
History of the World: as laid down by the Secret
Societies by Jonathan Black (Mark Booth)”
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Tracing Board of the Centre
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TRACING BOARD OF THE CENTRE
“It
has been part of our path for the past 7 years
to create Masonic Tracing Boards. This is our
latest work, The Tracing Board of the Centre
based upon an understanding by Walter Wilmshurst.
Bro. Wilmhurst died in 1939 and left behind a
huge legacy of works reflecting his 50 years as
a mason, the most well known being “The Meaning
of Masonry”. A beautiful journey through his
expression of The Craft. He is one of the few
brethren to have created a Masonic ritual to be
worked within a Lodge. This is “The Book of the
Perfect Lodge” which is still worked each year
at Wilmshursts Lodge of Living Stones in
Leeds, England.
I would encourage any sincere mason to visit this
Lodge and experience this ritual. And that word
“experience” is the most important word in The
Craft. The Wilmshurst ritual leaves you knowing,
without doubt, that you have experienced strong
changes in your emotions towards ,and
understanding of,
our Craft. It is the subconscious
emotions which are triggered and fired and it is
the symbolism of our Craft which fires our
work.”
“The personality of a Mason is made up of four
basic metaphysical elements called by the
ancients, fire, water, air and earth. In the
Tracing Board this is represented by a circle
made up of four equal parts. The four parts of
this circle are a reminder that the human
organism is compounded of those four elements in
balanced proportion. Water represents the
psychic nature; Air, the mentality; Fire, the
will and nervous force; whilst Earth is the
material condensation in which the other three
become stabilised and encased.”
The Secret Science of Masonic Initiation.
Robert Lomas.
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The Mark Tracing Board
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MARK MASTER MASONS
The 'Mark' portion of the title of the degree
takes its name from the practice of the
stonemason appending his unique mark on his work
to identify it |
The
Kirkwall
Scroll
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KIRKWALL SCROLL
On the west wall of
the temple of Lodge Kirkwall Kilwinning No.
38(2) in Orkney hangs one of the oldest and
most important Masonic artefacts in the
world. |
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"I
must say how moving I found the three boards. The way in which the symbols
are depicited and laid out indicates a grasp of their deeper meanings.
I intend
to frame them and hang them in my study, to remind me
of the key symbols of each degree"
Dr.
Robert Lomas
Author of 'The Hiram Key','Second Messiah','Uriels Machine','The Book
of Hiram','The Invisible College' |
