The symbolism of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

FIFTEEN. A sacred number, symbolic of the name of God, because the letters of the holy name יה, JAH, are equal, in the Hebrew mode of numeration by the letters of the alphabet, to fifteen; for י is equal to ten, and ה is equal to five. Hence, from veneration for this sacred name, the Hebrews do not, in ordinary computations, when they wish to express the number 15, make use of these two letters, but of two others, which are equivalent to 9 and 6.

FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM. The forty-seventh problem of the first book of Euclid is, that in any right-angled triangle the square which is described upon the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares described upon the sides which contain the right angle. It is said to have been discovered by Pythagoras while in Egypt, but was most probably taught to him by the priests of that country, in whose rites he had been initiated; it is a symbol of the production of the world by the generative and prolific powers of the Creator; hence the Egyptians made the perpendicular and base the representatives of Osiris and Isis, while the hypothenuse represented their child Horus. Dr. Lardner says (Com. on Euclid, p. 60) of this problem, "Whether we consider the forty-seventh proposition with reference to the peculiar and beautiful relation established by it, or to its innumerable uses in every department of mathematical science, or to its fertility in the consequences derivable from it, it must certainly be esteemed the most celebrated and important in the whole of the elements, if not in the whole range of mathematical science."

FOURTEEN. Some symbologists have referred the fourteen pieces into which the mutilated body of Osiris was divided, and the fourteen days during which the body of the builder was buried, to the fourteen days of the disappearance of the moon. The Sabian worshippers of "the hosts of heaven" were impressed with the alternate appearance and disappearance of the moon, which at length became a symbol of death and resurrection. Hence fourteen was a sacred number. As such it was viewed in the Osirian Mysteries, and may have been introduced into Freemasonry with other relics of the old worship of the sun and planets.

FREEMASONRY, DEFINITION OF. See Definition.

FREEMASONS, TRAVELLING. The travelling Freemasons were a society existing in the middle ages, and consisting of learned men and prelates, under whom were operative masons. The operative masons performed the labors of the craft, and travelling from country to country, were engaged in the construction of cathedrals, monasteries, and castles. "There are few points in the history of the middle ages," says Godwin, "more pleasing to look back upon than the existence of the associated masons; they are the bright spot in the general darkness of that period; the patch of verdure when all around is barren." The Builder, ix. 463

G

G. The use of the letter G in the Fellow Craft's degree is an anachronism. It is really a corruption of, or perhaps rather a substitution for, the Hebrew letter י (yod), which is the initial of the ineffable name. As such, it is a symbol of the life-giving and life-sustaining power of God.

G.A.O.T.U. A masonic abbreviation used as a symbol of the name of God, and signifying the Grand Architect of the Universe. It was adopted by the Freemasons in accordance with a similar practice among all the nations of antiquity of noting the Divine Name by a symbol.

GAVEL. What is called in Masonry a common gavel is a stone-cutter's hammer; it is one of the working tools of an Entered Apprentice, and is a symbol of the purification of the heart.

GLOVES. On the continent of Europe they are given to candidates at the same time that they are invested with the apron; the same custom formerly prevailed in England; but although the investiture of the gloves is abandoned as a ceremony both there and in America, they are worn as a part of masonic clothing.