Masonic Symbols are similar to the many words which mean different things at different times to different people when used in different ways. That sounds confusing at first. Here are some simple examples of the word good : A good man can be (1) a moral and upright man or (2) a man who is competent in his craft or vocation. A good game can mean one that is enjoyable to play Or it could mean a game that is played at such a high level it is a pleasure to watch.

Pearl S. Buck wrote a classic of literature called “The Good Earth”.

We know that the earth can’t be moral or upright, competent or even fun to play. It must mean fertile and capable of growing an abundance of crops to sustain life.

As a rule, only one meaning of a symbol is used during the ritual and that is the simplest . The rest of the meanings are left for the individual brother to discover for himself. Masonry is “A beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.” Therefore, the symbol is a picture. It is an illustration with more than one meaning.

The Apron is “an emblem of innocence and the badge of a mason”. Innocence does not mean ignorance. A baby may be innocent , ignorant of the difference between good and evil, but a baby can’t be a mason. A Man ‘of lawful age’ can’t be an innocent. He must be able to recognize evil to be able to choose to do ‘good’. His innocence is not from a lack of knowledge of evil but rather is that of intent to not do evil. The Mason is innocent when his heart is gentle towards weakness, chivalrous to those who are dependent upon him, tolerant of his fellows’ failings and forgiving of his brothers’ mistakes.

The second part of the statement is ‘the badge of a mason’. Does that mean that it is symbolic of all of the badges of a Mason?

Here is a quote from Judge Clyde Myers 32 degree.

“It takes a lifetime of thought and study for anyone to know and understand our privileges and duties as Masons and what Masonry means. I am sure Masonic rights and privilege are not to be interpreted as they were by a litigant in my court.

I was hearing a lawsuit that was quite important to the parties involved. I finally indicated what my decision would be and was actually against the accused. His attorney later told me what happened next. He said the accused poked his attorney in the back and whispered angrily, “What’s the matter with that damned judge. I’m a Mason the same as he is, and I’ve been giving him the grand hailing sign of distress for half an hour and he pays no attention to me.”

The accused is like many other masons. He is looking for something that he is not entitled to in law or conscience. He is looking for an advantage by reason of his Masonry. He has not yet learned that justice is not dependent upon race or religion, or even the fact that he is a Mason.”

Every truth and every lesson is a thing that will make you a better man and a better Mason. TRUTH IS A BADGE to be worn by every Mason.

All through the degrees you have heard of toleration. Albert Pike said in Morals and Dogma “ We have no right to assume the prerogatives of a god and punish a man for his beliefs. It is reasonable to expect a man born a protestant to be one ... just as it is reasonable to expect a man born a Muslim to be one.”

TOLERANCE IS A BADGE of a Mason. No man can be a good Mason unless he is tolerant of his neighbors’ beliefs and recognizes his neighbors right to those beliefs.

Masonry wears the BADGE OF RELIGION. Masonry teaches no religious doctrines except those common to all religions accepting and believing in one God. In Masonry we call deity “the Great Architect of the Universe”. This represents to Masons GOD, Allah, Jehovah, or any other name of God that one believes in. Masonry is not a religion but it gives us the Bible as a guide. You are not expected by Masonry to accept all of the Biblical tenets but it does require us to live by the rules of brotherly love, sympathy, tolerance and good deeds as expressed in the Golden Rule.

THE BADGE OF A MASON is that he does all things required of him as a Mason and as a man to promote and actually live the morals, dogma, citizenship, neighborliness, worship, appreciation, tolerance and the thousand other things required of him as a Mason. If he does all of these things, he will have “lived that purity of life” necessary to his gaining admission in to the Celestial Lodge, the goal of all Masons.

Beneath everything else is one of the truly great meanings of the Apron; that of the dignity and worth of labor, the honor of being a workman, the glory of being able to contribute to life and living. The apron is a badge signifying that it is an honor to do constructive work . So, every time I put on an apron in lodge I am reminded of all of the badges that it is symbolically to me.

Few symbols are less understood than “the certain point within a circle”. We are taught that the point represents the individual and that circle that boundary of conduct beyond which he should not suffer his passions , his prejudices or his interests to betray him.

In operative Masonry, the point within the circle was the beginning of the process in which the King’s master mason, overseeing and managing the building of a great Cathedral, tried the squares of the workmen that they might be true 90 degree angles.

Every school boy knows the simple geometrical demonstration, but in the days when only a few could read and write, this was the great secret.

Draw a circle, put a dot upon it anywhere. Draw a line through the center of the circle so that it crosses the circle on both sides. Connect the dot with the points. The result is a right angle.

Originally the charge was “While a Mason kept his tools circumscribed by the point and circle, he could not materially err.

Today the line across has become two ; we have added the Holy Saints John and the Holy Scriptures and we now circumscribe our passions and not our tools, thus losing the old significance of the symbol. But the meaning is still there, the symbol behind the symbol is the need for true tools in our work, whether the tools be of wood and metal for physical labor, or science and wit for work upon the affairs of life.

The symbol behind the symbol is the need for standards known to be correct and a right pattern to follow during all of Masonic life

One of the great symbols of the fellowcraft degree is the letter G. Of its obvious meanings the degree is sufficiently explanatory. But why the emphasis upon geometry?

Prove all things - Hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians V:21)

There is no such thing as proof of a belief which has no evidence. Man cannot prove GOD in the same way he can prove an algebraic equation. Faith is a matter of the heart and geometry is a matter of the mind. But there is a meeting point between the two.

The question of the watch has confounded many who have refused to believe in a creator. It is impossible for the human mind to believe that a watch can make itself or wind itself. It must be the work of a man. In as much as it can predict, it must work in accord with natural laws. No one who found a watch keeping time could be convinced that it had not been wound and had not been put there by some human agency.

Geometry proves the visible universe to be a great watch. Geometry can predict the future just as a watch can predict the interval of elapsed time before a certain hour. As obviously, man did not create the solar system or the laws by which geometry can predict the eclipses, the sunrise and sunset, the phases of the moon, and the tides, they must have had another creator. Geometry proves that the universe runs according to law. Masons name the creator the G A O T U. Other men have a thousand different names for him. BUT, it is geometry which provides the nearest possible “proof” of his existence. Hence the symbol behind the symbol of the letter G is the scientific demonstration not only that ”order is heaven’s first law” (Galileo) but that there is a creator no matter what you call him.

The lesson of the third degree is “The search for that which was lost”. Yet too many see the literal story of the tragedy of Hiram and thus fail to see the greater symbol which is the realization of the dearest hope of all mankind. If we had lost only a word of one or more syllables, we could have easily invented another. But the word that was lost is far greater.

Throughout history there are tales of a lost or golden age, an age of innocence ..Atlantis, Eden, Arcadia, Xanadu, Shangrila, all were places where men were happy and all joys were constant; a place and time of contentment before evil came into the world.

It is a longing for a certainty about life here and in the hereafter. We constantly strive to arrive at the land which has no born in a state to be accepted by the Great Architect of the Universe. “Then by benefit of the pass - a pure and blameless life - a firm reliance on Divine Providence, shall we gain ready admission into that Celestial Lodge above where the Supreme Grand Warden forever presides and forever reigns. He will be pleased to pronounce us just and upright masons, then shall we be fitted as living stones for that spiritual temple “that house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens.

To discuss all of the symbols of Masonry would take a book as large as Morals and Dogma. I would point out that Albert Pike wrote what to his mind was obvious. Anyone who has read Morals and Dogma knows that it is not obvious to us what he meant.

The are meanings for each of the symbols of Masonry that are different for each man. . People like Carl Claudy, John F. Newton and Manly P. Hall have written learned books about the meanings of the symbols of Masonry. They all came up with different conclusions that all have equal merit. All of them were writing from their experience and personal bias.

What the Apron, Point within a circle, The letter G, and the Search for that which was lost mean to me will be different than the meaning for each of you. This does not discount my definitions or yours. It actually celebrates the individuality of man. The symbols are intended to make the thoughtful mind consider them in light of his own beliefs and wisdom