EXPLANATION - THE POINT AND THE CIRCLE
by Clarence
The oldest reference to a point within a circle that I can find
in a
Masonic context is in La Reception Mysterieuse, a French exposure published
in 1738. It comes in the catechism of the Fellowcraft degree:
Q. How many fundamental elements are there for Masons?
A. In know four of them.
Q. What are they called?
A. The Point, the Line, the Surface & a Solid Body.
Q. Explain that.
A. The Point or the central Point prevents the Master
making any mistake in
drawing the circumference, the Line is length without breadth, the Surface is
length with breadth, a Solid body comprehends the whole.
While much of La Reception Mysterieuse is very close to
Prichard's Masonry
Dissected, this particular explanation of the Point as allowing the Master to
draw an accurate circumference does not appear in Prichard. A similar
explanation appears in the Wilkinson Manuscript, which probably dates from a
couple of decades later.
My speculation is that the point within the circle and the
two parallel lines
were originally separate symbols. I would guess that this relatively simple
explanation of the point within the circle is the original usage, and the
more elaborate explanation in the present lecture is derivative.
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