Page 39 - MML - Journal - Centenary Edition - Vol. 01 / 2023

It would seem probable, however, that the ancient pass word had reference to an artificer, mythical, if not deified, and possibly dating back to the close of the Stone Age. As already mentioned, iron- workers often formed guilds among primitive people; in some cases they constituted a separate clan, even a cult, while they are everywhere treated with marked respect.
Seven steps:
Note that these steps are divided into groups of three and four, the meaning of which may be derived from the triangle and the square. Bro. Ward, in his book "Who was H.A.B.?" recently published, suggests that the form of these steps is connected with re-incarnation or rebirth, and quotes similar customs which undoubtedly have this significance. Among most primitive peoples, however, stepping over a grave like this would be an unthinkable action and an insult to the dead. It is possible that they have a more materialistic origin and that formerly the steps of the Second Degree were performed on a Square, by walking round the angle, and those of the Third Degree on the Square and Compasses, combined by stepping on the corners of the figure thus made. Until quite recently chalk or charcoal drawings were executed on the floor on which the steps were carried out, though we have no information as to the subject of these drawings.
The Obligation - "Lodge duly opened on the centre":
In the centre of the Lodge is the Eye, the symbol of Osiris. The dead god was said to be situated at the Pole-Star, guarded by the Seven Masters who revolved about him, never setting; in this aspect he was symbolised by the point within a circle. Osiris, as God of the Resurrection was the possessor of the symbol sought by the candidate in the Mysteries, which symbol he
would therefore expect to find "on the centre" and in the Lodge "opened on the centre".
The Principal Architect:
This is not strictly true: Hiram Abif was, of course, a worker in metals. The title Hiram Abif is taken direct from the Hebrew of 2 Chron.: IV - 16 and means "Hiram his father." Hiram means "Exaltation of life, their liberty or whiteness, he that destroys"; it is of interest to note that Abib in Hebrew means "ears of corn", or "green fruits", and there is just a possibility that this is the correct title of Hiram.
The Entrances of the Temple:
In our Craft Ritual the three doors at which the murderers were posted are given as South, North and East; in that of the Scotch Constitution they are East, West and South. Both are agreed in this, that the fatal blow was struck in the East. The reason for the difference in the Scotch ritual would appear to be the custom still observed in some Lodges of enacting the murder, instead of merely relating it, the three principal officers taking the parts of the assassins; thus, the candidate is taken first to the South, then to the West, and is finally despatched by the Worshipful Master in the East.
The assignment of two of the entrances to the North and South in the Indian and English Rituals (and, I think, probably in the old Scotch Ritual) betrays the influences of the Solar cult, in which the Sun was said to be in difficulties at both the northern and southern solstices, and, in the northern hemisphere at least, was said to die and be reborn at the latter. The difficulties encountered by Hiram Abif at the North and South gates are therefore easily understandable; if he had been finally despatched in the South the allegory would obviously have referred to the annual death of the sun, whereas his death in the West would refer to the daily death of that body. Both views would have ample authority.
Madras Masonic Journal Vol. 01 / 2023 - Centenary Year Edition
A Publication of Madras Masters Lodge No. 103, GLI 38