Sharon Masonic Lodge No. 97 at 20146 Leslie Street, Queensville, Ontario, Canada
Masonic Rough Aslar and Tracing Board.
A Masonic Moment- The Tracing Board
We are told in the Junior Wardens lecture the Tracing Board is one of the three Immovable Jewels for the Worshipful Master to “lay lines and draw designs on”. From time immemorial, man has recorded his experiences and relationships to the world through various images of the human condition. As we advanced, man learned the value of tracing out for himself pictures of ideas and then communicating them in elaborate pictorial language to his companions. These visuals were eventually applied to practical projects like the planning of battles, laying out of settlements and drafting of buildings.
In our Craft, Hiram Abiff’s Tracing Board was traditionally believed to been made of wood, coated with wax. Each day he would draw his measurements and symbols into the wax to instruct his Master Masons of the work that was to be accomplished. At the end of the day he would simply scrape off the wax and pour a new layer onto the board to ready it for the next day’s work. Much closer to the recent past, when Lodges were held in secret locations, the Tyler would draw an oblong square into the dirt that represented the form of the lodge. The Masters plan was then drawn along with the working tools that were to be used in the degree. Through the years the Masonic Tracing Board progressed to using charcoal or chalk on the floor of taverns where lodges were usually held. At this time several exposures of Freemasonry were published, one appearing in 1762 stating the images they drew on the floor were not to be seen by the profane.
Freemasonry has always been about the use of images and symbols which regular words are too simple to explain, allowing us to use our individual insight to de-code the messages. During the closing of our Lodges the meaning of the words “...nothing remains but, according to ancient custom, to lock up our secrets ...” is a reference to the now antiquated use of these Tracing Boards that were erased from the floor to leave no trace of the form of the lodge or the instructive drawings. After the lecture the lodge Stewards or the Entered Apprentices would get a broom or mop and remove all evidence of these drawings. This was a tedious and messy procedure so cloths or rugs were eventually created which could be laid on the floor and simply folded up when the lecture was completed.
The Tracing Boards used in the Emulation Lodge of Improvement in London were designed and painted by John Harris in 1845 and measured approximately 6 feet x 3 feet. These Tracing Board images created for each of the three degrees are the ones we commonly see on the walls of our lodges still today. The First Degree Tracing Board represents the Universe, both the inner one and the one stretching to infinity. It pictures life emerging from the eternal centre and radiating outwards. The Second Degree Tracing Board may be described as an intermediate stage of life’s journey and the beginning of ascension from a lower to a higher plane. The Third degree Tracing Board is simpler, there are fewer objects but their import is deeper than the other two, with different symbols and a coded Masonic cypher. Tracing Boards are designed with the objective of directing candidates along a path where their interpretations will vary from brother to brother and many books have been written amplifying their various meanings.
Tracing Boards should not be confused with Trestle Boards, the two are entirely different. The Trestle Board is a framework from which the Master inscribes ideas to direct the workman in their labours. It is usually in written form containing words, diagrams and figures, allowing the Tracing Board to be created as a picture formally drawn, containing a delineation of the symbols of the degree to which it belongs. It is through the Tracing Boards we introduce the brethren to their next step, a step that they must decipherer on their own to continue their personal journey through the mysteries of Freemasonry. The Tracing Board teaches us clearly that the path to realization of brotherly love is through the study of spiritual teachings and the development and strengthening of those myriad of virtues we hold dear including the ultimate trio of Faith, Hope and Mercy.
W Bro Garry Perkins FCF
Sharon Masonic Lodge No. 97 at 20146 Leslie Street, Queensville, Ontario, Canada
Masonic Rough Aslar and Tracing Board.
A Masonic Moment- The Tracing Board
We are told in the Junior Wardens lecture the Tracing Board is one of the three Immovable Jewels for the Worshipful Master to “lay lines and draw designs on”. From time immemorial, man has recorded his experiences and relationships to the world through various images of the human condition. As we advanced, man learned the value of tracing out for himself pictures of ideas and then communicating them in elaborate pictorial language to his companions. These visuals were eventually applied to practical projects like the planning of battles, laying out of settlements and drafting of buildings.
In our Craft, Hiram Abiff’s Tracing Board was traditionally believed to been made of wood, coated with wax. Each day he would draw his measurements and symbols into the wax to instruct his Master Masons of the work that was to be accomplished. At the end of the day he would simply scrape off the wax and pour a new layer onto the board to ready it for the next day’s work. Much closer to the recent past, when Lodges were held in secret locations, the Tyler would draw an oblong square into the dirt that represented the form of the lodge. The Masters plan was then drawn along with the working tools that were to be used in the degree. Through the years the Masonic Tracing Board progressed to using charcoal or chalk on the floor of taverns where lodges were usually held. At this time several exposures of Freemasonry were published, one appearing in 1762 stating the images they drew on the floor were not to be seen by the profane.
Freemasonry has always been about the use of images and symbols which regular words are too simple to explain, allowing us to use our individual insight to de-code the messages. During the closing of our Lodges the meaning of the words “...nothing remains but, according to ancient custom, to lock up our secrets ...” is a reference to the now antiquated use of these Tracing Boards that were erased from the floor to leave no trace of the form of the lodge or the instructive drawings. After the lecture the lodge Stewards or the Entered Apprentices would get a broom or mop and remove all evidence of these drawings. This was a tedious and messy procedure so cloths or rugs were eventually created which could be laid on the floor and simply folded up when the lecture was completed.
The Tracing Boards used in the Emulation Lodge of Improvement in London were designed and painted by John Harris in 1845 and measured approximately 6 feet x 3 feet. These Tracing Board images created for each of the three degrees are the ones we commonly see on the walls of our lodges still today. The First Degree Tracing Board represents the Universe, both the inner one and the one stretching to infinity. It pictures life emerging from the eternal centre and radiating outwards. The Second Degree Tracing Board may be described as an intermediate stage of life’s journey and the beginning of ascension from a lower to a higher plane. The Third degree Tracing Board is simpler, there are fewer objects but their import is deeper than the other two, with different symbols and a coded Masonic cypher. Tracing Boards are designed with the objective of directing candidates along a path where their interpretations will vary from brother to brother and many books have been written amplifying their various meanings.
Tracing Boards should not be confused with Trestle Boards, the two are entirely different. The Trestle Board is a framework from which the Master inscribes ideas to direct the workman in their labours. It is usually in written form containing words, diagrams and figures, allowing the Tracing Board to be created as a picture formally drawn, containing a delineation of the symbols of the degree to which it belongs. It is through the Tracing Boards we introduce the brethren to their next step, a step that they must decipherer on their own to continue their personal journey through the mysteries of Freemasonry. The Tracing Board teaches us clearly that the path to realization of brotherly love is through the study of spiritual teachings and the development and strengthening of those myriad of virtues we hold dear including the ultimate trio of Faith, Hope and Mercy.
W Bro Garry Perkins FCF