Page:Manual of the Lodge.pdf/90

Rh remembered that, at the era of the Temple, the earth was supposed to have the form of a parallelogram, or "oblong square." Such a figure inscribed upon a map of the world, and including only that part of it which was known in the days of Solomon, would present just such a square, embracing the Mediterranean Sea and the countries lying immediately on its northern, southern, and eastern borders. Beyond, far in the north, would be the Cimmerian deserts as a place of darkness, while the pillars of Hercules in the west, on each side of the Straits of Gades—now Gibraltar—might appropriately be referred to the two pillars that stood at the porch of the Temple. Thus the world itself would be the true Mason's Lodge, in which he was to live and labor. Again; the solid contents of the earth below, "from the surface to the center," and the profound expanse above, "from the earth to the highest heavens," would give to this parallelogram the outlines of a double cube, and meet thereby that definition which says, that "the form of the Lodge ought to be a double cube, as an expressive emblem of the powers of light and darkness in the creation."



A Lodge has three principal supports, which are Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, because it is necessary that there should be wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and beauty to adorn all great and important undertakings. Of these, the column of Wisdom is