From sentto-1040416-505-968717797-nagasiva=luckymojo.com@returns.onelist.com Mon Sep 11 17:16:46 2000 Return-Path: sentto-1040416-505-968717797-nagasiva=luckymojo.com@returns.onelist.com Received: from c3.egroups.com (c3.egroups.com [208.50.99.225]) by prop.sonic.net (8.8.8/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA30663 for ; Mon, 11 Sep 2000 17:16:45 -0700 X-envelope-info: X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1040416-505-968717797-nagasiva=luckymojo.com@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.10.35] by c3.egroups.com with NNFMP; 12 Sep 2000 00:16:40 -0000 Received: (qmail 2043 invoked from network); 12 Sep 2000 00:14:56 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by m1.onelist.org with QMQP; 12 Sep 2000 00:14:56 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtp.allinfosys.com) (209.235.9.8) by mta2 with SMTP; 12 Sep 2000 00:14:56 -0000 Received: from smtp.allinfosys.com ([209.235.9.8]) by smtp.allinfosys.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.5.1877.977.9); Mon, 11 Sep 2000 19:13:41 -0500 Received: from netmastersinc.com (adsl-138-88-43-122.bellatlantic.net [138.88.43.122]) by smtp.allinfosys.com with SMTP (MailShield v1.5); Mon, 11 Sep 2000 19:13:40 -0500 Message-ID: <39BD669D.A0A2A8B1@netmastersinc.com> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en]C-CCK-MCD BA45DSL (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en To: Sacred Landscape From: Dan Washburn MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list sacredlandscapelist@egroups.com; contact sacredlandscapelist-owner@egroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list sacredlandscapelist@egroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 19:11:26 -0400 Reply-To: sacredlandscapelist@egroups.com Subject: [sacredlandscapelist] Freemasonry and the Five-pointed Star Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Status: RO The five-pointed star is a Masonic symbol. From her collection of pictures of Lodges, Cat Yronwode has told us that it is frequently inlaid in the black and white chequered floor of a Lodge. If you look at a picture of the Masonic apron worn by George Washington you will find a five-pointed star. If you look at a picture of the Masonic sash worn by Ben Franklin, you will find several blazing five-pointed stars. Masonic iconography sometimes has a blazing five-pointed star with the letter G in the center. (W. Kirk MacNulty Freemasonry, a journey through ritual and symbol, illustrations on pages 62 and 67.) Robert Moray was the quartermaster of the Covanenters' army of rebellion against king Charles I when he was initiated into the Lodge of Edinburgh in 1641 by members serving with the army. He chose a five-pointed star as his mason's mark and forever afterward worked it into his signature. He had a seal made using the five-pointed star and a second seal of his, called the 'cube seal,' has a picture of a tilted cube with a five-pointed star on each of the three visible faces. (David Stevenson, The Origins of Freemasonry, 1988, plates 6 & 7.) In 1583 William Schaw was appointed master of works with responsibility for all Scots Royal castles and palaces. In 1598 Schaw issued, 'The statues and ordinances to be observed by all master masons within the realm," acting as master of works, "and general Warden of the Craft." In 1599 he issued a second set of statutes. David Stevenson notes that in the 13th statute of this second set there is a requirement to test every aprentice and fellow craft in 'the art of memory and the science therof.' This is immensely important, says Stevenson, because it shows that in reforming the craft Schaw was introducing Renaissance ideas. These formed the foundation for the elaboration of speculative masonry. Much of what we know about Schaw comes from an inscription on his tomb in Dunfermline Abbey (d. 1602). Plate 1 in Stevenson's book shows a picture of this tomb. Besides the inscription, in the center of the face of the sculpture there is a geometric diagram. It shows a square with an inscribed circle. The circle is quartered by a cross that looks like this +. The top angles of the square are joined by lines to the midpoint of the bottom side and the bottom angles of the square are joined by lines to the midpoint of the top side so that the lines form an interlaced up V shape and down V shape. Those of you who have been following my exposition on the Sacred Geometry of the Feeding of the 5,000 know that a circle can be divided into five equal segments and the 5-pointed star drawn by means of the diagonal of a doublecube rectangle. When the square is quarted in the Schaw diagram, two vertical doublecube rectangles are formed. The up and down V lines are the diagonals of those doublecube rectangles. I conclude that the Schaw diagram is a disguised formula for dividing a circle into 5 equal segments and drawing the five-pointed star. The method: The center of the cross is O. The place where the vertical line of the cross hits the top of the circle is T. And the mid-point of the left arm of the cross is M. Place the point of your compass at M and the end at T. Swing the arc down so that it crosses the right arm of the cross (call it R). The line between T and R is the side of the pentagon inscribed in the circle. Take your compass set to that length and mark off five divisions around the circle. (See my Feeding of the 5000 exposition for a proof based on figures given in Robert Lawlor's book on Sacred Geometry.) The interlaced up and down V shapes are very similar to the compass and square figure which is probably the world's most well-known Masonic symbol. Could it be that it was originally a secret diagram relating to the five-pointed star and that it was transformed into the the compass and square in the early days of Freemasonry? The fact that the compass and square figure is often shown with the Masonic G in its center and that the five-pointed star is also shown with the Masonic G in its center is suggestive. One line of research that might answer this question is to examine early Masonic images. Is the square a true right angle in all of these pictures, or does it have a different angle? For example, the illustration on p.72 of MacNulty's book shows a French print from circa 1745 that has a square and compass in which the square is distinctly not a right angle. Dan W.