This is the spiritual ancient alchemy symbol for the right eye of the soul, by which it looks to the eternal. Embroidered, this symbol allows focus on higher, finer spiritual vibrations. It also ascertains the infinite nature of our soul, and our capability to tap into the infinite universe.
The work for which the Craft was designed is described in the language of Alchemy as the "ERGON"-primary work; the work of natural science and the making of physical gold is but the "PARERGON"-secondary work. In the sense of the primary work Gold is the attribute of divinity and is closely connected with Fire as a spiritual emblem:-
"But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Regading the metaphysical aspect of the Great Work. The entire object of the Royal Art of the Rosicrucians and spiritual Alchemists is said to be the uncovering of the inner faculty of insight and wisdom, alluded to above, and the removal of the veils intervening between the mind and dividing it from its hidden divine root. Not only does this science envisage an individual in whom the several constituents of consciousness are united, but it aspires towards the development of an integrated and free man who is likewise building up in the present life what is known in the technical language of mysticism as the "resurrection" or "arch-natural" body.
This is also the profound idea which governs our symbolic craft of Masonry; the "raising of a superstructure, perfect in all its parts and honourable to the builder."
As to the metaphysical material of which these structures are to be reared, the Hermetic and Alchemical schools adopted the mystical terms of Scripture and called it a "stone," the "philosopher's stone." It is, indeed, the "white stone" which is given "to him that overcometh" the lower nature, as that Apostle did who thereupon received the name that implies "a stone"; for it is only then that the individual aspirant becomes a "foundation," a "rock" upon which may be erected a "temple," a personal sanctuary of the Spirit whose abode is the souls of men rather than temples made with hands.
The teaching of the Alchemists demonstrates how this "stone" must be "confected," worked up in the individual by a "manual art" (like our Masonic "art" not to be understood in the literal sense) from chaos to perfection. They describe the work as undergoing three stages: the black, the white, and the red, which are the Alchemical equivalents of the three Degrees of Speculative Freemasonry. Thus as, psychologically, regeneration involves the three traditional stages of purgation, illumination, and union, so, metaphysically, there are three corresponding stages of corporeal development.
The first stage in Alchemy "the stone at the black in Freemasonry a poor candidate in a state of darkness"; is intended to typify the benighted mind and unclarified state of the soul's vesture at the outset of the Great Work. At this stage the physical nature must be accounted an integral factor in the "work," and is to be dedicated and employed accordingly. It is the vessel or crucible in which the alchemic change is to be wrought, but the regimen enjoined is "the renewing of your mind," not the maceration of the body; for, in a deeper than the familiar sense, "corpus sanum" will ensue surely enough upon "mens
The second stage ; in Alchemy " the stone at the white"; in Freemasonry "clothed in White Apron and gloves as emblems of innocence"; signifies that the clouded mind and the soul's black vesture of "earth" have been cleansed by the baptism of "a fall of water"-the Alchemical remedy of "the Elixir of Life."
The third stage in Alchemy "the stone at the red"; in Freemasonry the sublime Degree"; symbolises entrance into the sanctuary and denotes the aspirant whose purified soul enters the experience of the divine union. Following the Alchemical precedent Freemasonry recognizes that the third stage involves two "operations," known in Alchemy as the refining of silver and gold, and accordingly the three Degrees of Freemasonry also "include the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem" as their climax.
The clothing, therefore, worn in the Master Mason Degree is distinguished by silver, the first of the "noble" or "precious" metals; whereas in the Royal Arch Degree, "the completion of the Master Mason Degree," it is adorned with gold. The transmutation has now been effected ; in the Holy Royal Arch the soul is "all glorious within" and the clothing is of wrought gold ; " wrought," since gold indicates that holy ultimate substance, which, although always latent in each one of us, like gold-dust in common soil, needs mining, refining, and working up by skilful craftsmanship before becoming a "jewel" for the King's Treasury. Lastly, the "gold must be tried in fire"; the growing celestial body must be perfected and fixated until capable of eternal endurance in the burning heat of the Divine "penetralia."
This perfecting is scarcely to be looked for in the present life, but its achievement, as the state attained by those who become "king and priests unto God," is symbolically attested in Speculative Freemasonry by the robes worn by those who are called to corresponding rank in the outer Chapter; the prince prelates of the Grand Sanhedrin, represented " in the persons of the three Principals." (More ...)
