The symbolism of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

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EAST. That part of the heavens where the sun rises; and as the source of material light to which we figuratively apply the idea of intellectual light, it has been adopted as a symbol of the Order of Freemasonry. And this symbolism is strengthened by the fact that the earliest learning and the earliest religion came from the east, and have ever been travelling to the west.

In Freemasonry, the east has always been considered the most sacred of the cardinal points, because it is the place where light issues; and it was originally referred to the primitive religion, or sun-worship. But in Freemasonry it refers especially to that east whence an ancient priesthood first disseminated truth to enlighten the world; wherefore the east is masonically called "the place of light."

EGG. The mundane egg is a well-recognized symbol of the world. "The ancient pagans," says Faber, "in almost every part of the globe, were wont to symbolize the world by an egg. Hence this symbol is introduced into the cosmogony of nearly all nations; and there are few persons, even among those who have not made mythology their study, to whom the Mundane Egg is not perfectly familiar. It was employed not only to represent the earth, but also the universe in its largest extent." Origin of Pag. Idolatry, i. 175.

EGG AND LUNETTE. The egg, being a symbol not only of the resurrection, but also of the world rescued from destruction by the Noachic ark, and the lunette, or horizontal crescent, being a symbol of the Great Father, represented by Noah, the egg and lunette combined, which was the hieroglyphic of the god Lunus, at Heliopolis, was a symbol of the world proceeding from the Great Father.

EGYPT. Egypt has been considered as the cradle not only of the sciences, but of the religions of the ancient world. Although a monarchy, with a king nominally at the head of the state, the government really was in the hands of the priests, who were the sole depositaries of learning, and were alone acquainted with the religious formularies that in Egypt controlled all the public and private actions of the life of every inhabitant.

ELEPHANTA. An island in the Bay of Bombay, celebrated for the stupendous caverns artificially excavated out of the solid rock, which were appropriated to the initiations in the ancient Indian Mysteries.

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. Of all the Mysteries of the ancients these were the most popular. They were celebrated at the village of Eleusis, near Athens, and were dedicated to Demeter. In them the loss and the restoration of Persephone were scenically represented, and the doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul were taught. See Demeter.

ENTERED APPRENTICE. The first degree of Ancient Craft Masonry, analogous to the aspirant in the Lesser Mysteries.

It is viewed as a symbol of childhood, and is considered as a preparation and purification for something higher.

EPOPT. (From the Greek ἐπόπτης, an eye witness.) One who, having been initiated in the Greater Mysteries of paganism, has seen the aporrheta.

ERA OF MASONRY. The legendary statement that the origin of Masonry is coeval with the beginning of the world, is only a philosophical myth to indicate the eternal nature of its principles.

ERICA. The tree heath; a sacred plant among the Egyptians, and used in the Osirian Mysteries as the symbol of immortality, and the analogue of the masonic acacia.

ESSENES. A society or sect of the Jews, who combined labor with religious exercises, whose organization partook of a secret character, and who have been claimed to be the descendants of the builders of the temple of Solomon.

EUCLID. The masonic legend which refers to Euclid is altogether historically untrue. It is really a philosophical myth intended to convey a masonic truth.

EURESIS. (From the Greek εὔρεσις, a discovery.) That part of the initiation in the ancient Mysteries which represented the finding of the body of the god or hero whose death was the subject of the initiation.

The euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential part of the ritual of the third degree.

EVERGREEN. A symbol of the immortality of the soul.

Planted by the Hebrews and other ancient peoples at the heads of graves.

For this purpose the Hebrews preferred the acacia, because its wood was incorruptible, and because, as the material of the ark, it was already considered as a sacred plant.

EYE, ALL-SEEING. A symbol of the omniscient and watchful providence of God. It is a very ancient symbol, and is supposed by some to be a relic of the primitive sun-worship. Volney says (Les Ruines, p. 186) that in most of the ancient languages of Asia, the eye and the sun are expressed by the same word. Among the Egyptians the eye was the symbol of their supreme god, Osiris, or the sun.