…presented at St. John's Lodge No. 82, Paris, October 9, 2007.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” Marcel Proust (French novelist) 1871-1922

The summarization of what is understood to encompass all of life is no small task. It does not appear to have deterred our brethren of old from creating a symbolic representation of our universe and our part in it.

Metaphysics of ancient times found its speaker in the person of Aristotle. It is seen as an attempt to address the nature of reality. It sought to explain the nature of the universe, the gods, and man. The results of their pursuits had tremendous effect on the development of philosophical thinking, scientific endeavour, religion and theology and its influence is still much with us. It may be argued, the sciences of today, while certainly supplying many of the specifics, falls short of sufficiently providing all the answers. In the final analysis, the great minds of out time, such as Stephen Hawking, are left to reflect on the likelihood of the existence of a creator by finding a unified theory which explains everything, including our psychologies, with totally predictable accuracy.

The period in history, called the Renaissance, was a time of resurgence in the pursuit of truth and learning was its active endeavour. Their studies expressed themselves in all areas of practical and theoretical science, art, and, in social and theological expression.

Freemasonry is heir to many of the notions and beliefs which devolved, and, today, we find their influence in the symbolic representations of our rituals.

Principles such as the Law of Unity, of duality and complementarity, and the “Rule of Three” are reflected on our Tracing Board in the Entered Apprentice degree.

Inherent in the Law of Unity is the idea that, for each tendency, there is a complement. There is, also, a third force which balances and harmonizes the two.

While I have over-simplified, the idea is satisfactory for our purposes.

Let us turn to the Tracing Board and explore it for them.

Before we do, however, I will preface my remarks by noting that they are my own and others will see with different eyes.

The floor is a mosaic pavement of opposing squares contained within a complementary tessellated border and housing a blazing star at the center. The mosaic represents reality as we see it and experience it and the star represents reality as it really is.

We find three columns each representing an order of architecture: the exuberant and creative Corinthian, assigned to the Junior Warden; the restrained and passive Doric, assigned to the Senior Warden, and the balanced equilibrium between the two, the Ionic, assigned to the Worshipful Master. They, appropriately, represent beauty, strength and wisdom which is the balance between strength and beauty.

The harmony of the heavens is depicted by the sun, hot, life-sustaining and ablaze balanced by the pale, cool reflective moon.

There is a glory, a blazing star, representing the Creator, a ladder and an Altar upon which rests the Volume of the Sacred law which supports the ladder. The Volume of the Sacred Law points the way, the ladder presents the struggle and leads to the star which is our transcendent goal.

We cannot pass on without noting the square and united compasses which lay on the Volume. The compasses which keep us within due bound and the square which regulates our actions, are themselves regulated by the combination which provides our guidance and forms our identifying symbol.

The tracing Board represents the whole of man’s experience whether material, psychological or spiritual and deserves much thought in the Entered Apprentice Degree. It is equally true of the Tracing Boards of the other degrees but a discussion of them is not the purpose of this address.

My purpose has been to point out our connection to the mysteries, man’s attempt to make meaning of them and the truths that came from their thought.

Look harder for there is more. What area the cardinal points of the compass portraying? Why does Jacob’s Ladder lean to the East? Should we investigate the Tracing Board from the floor to the symbol of creation, from the Creator to the material or both? Why do we need the working tools on the Tracing Board? Why is the Master’s tracing Board so different from the others?

In the effort of this task, the giving of yourself may result in finding yourself. Give of yourself.