The
Badge of a Mason
by Bro. John Rodgers Magill
The Master
Mason - October 1926
"TO him who in the love of Nature holds
communion with her visible forms," sang William Cullen Bryant in
Thanatopsis, "she speaks a various language." Paraphrasing, we
might say: To him who in the love of Masonry holds communion
with her mystic lore she speaks a various language." The
language of Masonry is symbolism. It at once preserves her
mysteries inviolate from the profane and indelibly stamps them
upon the minds and hearts of those members of the Craft who are
earnestly seeking f or light. The very word badge is full of
mystic meaning. The dictionary says that a badge is a mark,
sign, token or symbol to denote the occupation, allegiance,
association or achievements of the person by whom it is
worn. What, then, is the Badge of a Mason? The
uninitiated will doubtless reply that it is the square and
compasses. As illustrative of the extent to which these
instruments are known as symbols of Masonry, it will be recalled
that in 1873 the Commissioner of Patents denied the application
of a flour manufacturer for permission to use them as a
trade-mark. He gave as his reason the fact that "there can be no
doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons,
has an established mystic significance, universally recognized
as existing. Whether comprehended or not, is not material to the
issue." And we know that this device is appropriately so worn
and employed by members of this great Fraternity, for it is the
proper Masonic emblem of their profession. But we know
that the Badge of a Mason is not some device wrought in precious
metals, set perhaps with costly jewels. To us the simple Lamb
Skin, or White Leather Apron, the emblem of innocence, is the
distinguished Badge of a Mason. THE apron is the oldest
article of apparel of which we have any record. We are told that
our first parents made for themselves aprons of fig leaves when
they were in the Garden of Eden. Some of us believe in the story
literally, while in this day of modernism some may perhaps
regard it as merely a beautiful allegory. But however we may
accept it, we should not fail to grasp one great truth that it
teaches - that the obligation to work accompanies the wearing of
the apron. Aside from the Scriptural story of the Garden of
Eden, there are evidences without number as to the antiquity of
the apron. Archeologists delve back into the remote periods of
time before the written history of man began and bring to light
from far beneath the soil crude carvings and engravings showing
man clad in aprons of various materials and patterns. Later,
when records begin to assume al more systematic form, we find
history replete with references to the apron. From this
information we learn that this humble garment of the working man
has been used as a mystic symbol or vesture by' practically all
the peoples of the earth from the earliest times. It appears in
various forms - sometimes very similar to its lowly prototype,
in some cases transformed into a girdle, and again we find it
elaborated into a robe. A girdle formed a part of the
investure of the Israelitish priesthood. The Jewish sect of the
Essenes clothed its novices with white robes. In Persia the
candidate for admission into the Mysteries of Mithras was
invested with a white apron. A girdle, called the "Sacred
Zennar," was substituted for the apron in the initiations
practiced in Hindustan. I certain rites of initiation practiced
by the Japanese, the candidate is invested with a white apron.
In the Scandinavian Rites a white shield was used instead of an
apron, prompted, it has been suggested, by the martial spirit of
the people, but it was accompanied by a charge similar to that
of the Masonic apron. Throughout the ages the apron has
been an honorary badge of distinction, and by its variations the
wearer's degree of preferment has been made known to the world.
In the Jewish priesthood the superior orders wore elaborately
decorated and richly ornamented girdles, while the inferior
priests wore plain white. The Indian, Jewish, Egyptian, Persian
and Ethiopian aprons are said to have been equally superb,
though each was dissimilar in design from the
others. WHILE in primitive times the apron was used as an
ecclesiastical rather than a civil decoration, yet it sometimes
served as a national emblem. The royal standard of Persia, for
instance, was originally an apron. However, the more common use
of the apron was in connection with the worship of a supreme
being, it having been used in this manner by practically every
people of the ancient world. The Masonic apron as we have
it today was handed down to us from the builders of the Pyramids
of Egypt, to whom we are indebted for much of our symbolism. It
is not mere empty verbiage when we are told that geometry, the
first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the
superstructure of Masonry is erected. Through this science we
are enabled to interpret the symbolism of the ancients and to
discern that the mysteries upon which this great superstructure
was erected were hoary with age when Hiram Abiff began his
apprenticeship. By its aid we find that the knowledge of these
mysteries existed not only in the old world, but on the American
continents as well. The museums of this country are full of
geometrical evidence connecting the aborigines of the American
continents with the ancient old-world worshipers of Jehovah, the
Great Architect. Many of the American cliff-dweller pictures in
the collection of the Smithsonian Institute are of a Masonic
nature, and much of a Masonic significance is to be found in the
Peruvian collection of the American Museum of Natural History in
New York City. For instance, in the design of the ancient
ceremonial cloaks, or ponchos, of the Peruvians, we find the
Pythagorean Triangle, the basis of the Forty-seventh problem of
Euclid. This was the sacred triangle of the Egyptians, the
symbol of their "Sun-God," who was known as the "Eye of Heaven."
This figure is the original of the Egyptian amulet, the "Eye of
Horus," known to us Masons as the "All-Seeing Eye" whom the sun,
moon, and stars obey. Two of these triangles, placed back to
back, form the flap of our Masonic apron. Perhaps the
greatest surprise that comes to us as we investigate these
prehistoric peoples of our own hemisphere lies in the fact that
the stone statues of the Sun-God of the ancient American Mayas,
found on the sites of the ruined cities of Yucatan, always show
that deity clothed in an apron very similar to that used by this
great Fraternity. TWO things are necessary to the
preservation of the symbolic character of the Badge of a Mason -
its color and its material. A Mason's apron should be white,
pure and spotless, which color has always been a symbol of
purity to all peoples. It must be White Lamb Skin. The lamb
has always been recognized as an emblem of innocence, and we are
told in the first degree that by the lamb skin the Mason is
reminded of that purity of life and rectitude of conduct which
is so essentially necessary to his gaining admission to the
Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the
Universe forever presides. The apron is the Alpha and the
Omega, the beginning and the end, of a Mason's connection with
the terrestrial lodge, being presented to him upon his entrance
into the Fraternity and deposited in his grave when he takes his
dimit to the Celestial Lodge above. This emblem of innocence
and purity, is the Badge of a Mason - more ancient than the
Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle; and, when worthily worn, more
honorable than the Star and Garter, or any other order that
could be conferred upon you at this or any future
period. The Operative Mason wears his apron to protect
his clothing from soil or damage incident to his calling; but
we, as Speculative Masons, are taught to wear it for a more
noble and glorious purpose: that its pure and spotless surface
may be to us an ever present reminder of a purity of life and
conduct, a never ending argument for nobler deeds, for higher
thoughts, for greater achievements. "The Lamb Skin is an
emblem of innocence and the Badge of a Mason." When we received
it we were charged to wear it with pleasure to ourselves and
honor to the Fraternity. What a precious privilege; what a great
responsibility! Yet the two are inseparable, for we can wear the
apron with pleasure to ourselves only when we wear it with honor
to the Fraternity. And the pleasure of wearing the apron lies
not in idle display, but in wearing it as an emblem of the pure
and spotless heart which should be the goal of every Mason,
bearing ever in mind that we have in our keeping the honor and
reputation of this great Fraternity. We make our profession
openly and the world is watching us; let us then preserve this
badge unspotted and unsullied, thus wearing it with honor to the
Fraternity.
Wear worthily this thy Masonic
badge,
While still thy body toils to build thy soul
A mansion
bright, beyond the gates of death,
No edifice that crumbles back
to clay,
But a glorious house eternal in the skies.
TO
every true member of the Craft the apron should be a constant
reminder of his duty and privilege to worship according to the
dictates of his conscience that God in whom he professed belief
before he was admitted to this Order. Of a truth, Masonry is
religious, but it does not seek to displace religion. On the
contrary, it admonishes its members to pay their devotions to
their Creator. The flesh is weak and temptations are many.
Without belief in prayer and faith in God no Mason could hope to
live a life even approximating that typified by his
Badge. BUT the apron is something more than an emblem of
innocence and purity - it has yet another meaning, one more
obvious, yet often lost sight of. We have seen that it was worn
by the Operative Mason while engaged in his occupation. The
apron is, therefore, a symbol of service. When we donned the
Masonic apron we thereby assumed an obligation to work. Then we
became Master Masons that we might receive Master's wages, not
the wages of a beginner or apprentice; and to receive the wages
of a Master we must do the work of a Master, otherwise we shall
receive little when we appear before the Senior Warden in the
Grand Lodge above and ask for our wages, if any be
due. We very appropriately wear the apron when we attend the
funeral of a brother, for we are thus reminded that there shall
come a time when our own weary feet shall come to the end of
their toilsome; journey, and from our grasp shalt drop the
working tools of life. And on these sad occasions we look upon
the snow-white surface of the Lamb Skin and feel renewed within
us the hope that when our spiritual bodies shall stand naked and
alone before the Great White Throne, it shall be our portion to
hear from Him who sitteth as the Judge Supreme, the welcome
words: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord." back to top
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