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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."
The Secret Science of Masonic Initiation.
Robert Lomas.
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The Mark
Tracing Board
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MARK MASTER MASONS
The equilateral triangle represents The Trinity
in Unity, having no material form, exists
pervading all space: The Creator of all things,
Governor of all animate and inanimate nature,
Foundation of Wisdom.
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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. |
The
Royal Arch Board
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THE ROYAL ARCH BOARD
In the Royal Arch we
are entering a new field of Masonic Symbolism, a
new thesis on the preservation and perpetuation
of The Secret Tradition. ..The reason is that
the original scheme of human experience became
voided by an event which appears under the
parable of the fall of man, and was replaced by
another and lower form of experience. Hence all
the souls legends, with her sorrows and
aspirations, and all the clouded sacraments and
elementary education of the material 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' |
