Death in Freemasonry

Death seems to be omnipresent in Freemasonry. Many Masonic regalia and ritual accessories are adorned with a skull and two crossed tibias, particularly at the Master Mason degree. Is this to say that Freemasonry is fascinated by death ? Is it a morbid society ? What could be the significance of these symbols of death in Freemasonry ?

Death symbols absent from ancient Freemasonry 

Have symbols linked to death always existed in Freemasonry, or did they appear at some given time? Most of the old Masonic catechisms from the early eighteenth century confined themselves to a symbolism linked to the builders and generally made no mention of elements evoking death, except in the macabre description of the eventual death of someone who had betrayed his oath. These descriptions are shocking today, but similar formulas were frequently used in English judicial oaths at the time.

There is, however, one exception among the earliest documents : the "Dumfries" manuscript no. 4 (circa 1710) adds a strange eight-line poem in verse decorated with small sketches after the end of its catechism, which can be translated as follows:

"A caput mortuu[m] here you see

To mind you of mortality

Behold great   I strength by ... fell 

but establish … in heaven doeth dwe[ll]

Let all your actions   be just and trwe 

which, after death gives life to you

Keep round within of your appointed sp[here] 

be ready for your latter end daws near."

Curiously enough, this poem is often omitted from publications of this manuscript. It is clearly not part of the catechism itself, which concludes with the word FINIS. Was the addition of the poem the personal initiative of the editor, or was this text used by the Freemasons ? We will certainly never know. But in any case, it fits perfectly into the tradition of the "Memento Mori" (Remember of the Death), which was particularly popular in the artistic expressions of the Baroque period. Although the little poem in "Dumfries" No. 4 adds some Masonic terms, it nonetheless presents a face of death that was entirely appropriate for its time : death that reminds us of the vanity of all things, inviting us to become aware of the brevity of life and to act accordingly.  

There is nothing specifically Masonic or innovative about this little poem on death, as the author is simply repeating commonplaces of the time. At what point was death treated differently in Freemasonry and did it become a central element of the Masonic initiatory process ?

The theme of the Master's death 

The same "Dumfries" manuscript, no. 4, may give us a clue, if we read it carefully. The question relating to the Master's place in the Lodge is strange, to say the least, in the choice of words it uses : "Q. where layes ye master – A. in a stone trough under ye west window looking to ye east waiting for ye son rising to sett his men to work."

The Master does not "stand", nor does he "sit" in such and such a place, "he layes in a stone trough" ! We do not know the ritual elements to which this reference alludes, but we are allowed to imagine that this document is based on a tradition that affirmed the death of the Master, who thus lays in a stone trough, the symbol of a tomb. But it seems that this death was not definitive, since it was from this trough where he lays that he could observe the rising sun and set the men to work.

The insistence on death in Freemasonry thus seems to appear with a legend concerning the death of the Master or some other mythical figure. The legend of Hiram comes immediately to mind, but the "Graham" manuscript of 1726 seems to suggest that the death and discovery of Noah's body preceded the legend of Hiram, for which it provided most of the plot.

Why and how did this theme find its way into Masonic rituals ? We can assume that this process corresponded with the growth of the esoteric and initiatory dimension of Freemasonry, when it had less and less to do with the operative tradition of the builders. This also implies that Freemasonry was led by educated people, even scholars, who enriched rituals with the esoteric dimensions they discovered in the numerous descriptions of the Mysteries of Antiquity found in Greek and Latin authors. People like Jean-Théophile Désaguliers immediately spring to mind.

Little is known about English Masonic Lodges prior to the foundation of the Grand Lodge of London in 1717 (or more likely 1721) : who attended the Lodges, who ran them, what were their aims? At most, we know the Masonic affiliation of a few personalities such as Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), scholar, architect and founding member of the Royal Society. But the presence of such scholars is much better documented from the foundation of the Grand Lodge onwards. And it is widely accepted that the degree of Master Mason, with its ritual centered on the death of Hiram, appeared around 1730, in the context of this new form of Freemasonry, led by intellectuals who were trying to revive the ancient initiations. However, "Dumfries" manuscript no. 4 suggests that the first traces of a tradition affirming the Master's death may have existed as early as 1710.

The Chambers of Reflection and the initiation

The symbolic death described in the Master Mason's degree is not the Freemason's first encounter with death, at least in French (and European) and American Freemasonry. Candidates for initiation are first confronted with death in the Chamber of Reflection, developed in French Freemasonry during the 18th century. This device, which precedes the initiation ceremony, is unknown to English, Scottish and Irish Freemasonry.

In this small, dark place where the candidate has to meditate, are various objects, some of which are reminiscent of death (the skull, the hourglass, the scythe), the descent into the earth (the V.I.T.R.I.O.L.), the dissolution of the elements (Salt, Sulfur and Mercury) - all symbols that signify that this phase is a symbolic death.

Masonic reception thus truly becomes an initiatory rite of passage, following a pattern found in many traditions, including the original Christian baptism : a symbolic death, i.e. the abandonment of a previous situation, marked by the seal of incompleteness, ignorance and error ; a ritual that recreates the being on another level of consciousness ; and finally integration into a new community, that of those who have undergone the same inner transformation.

In this way, Masonic initiation becomes much more than mere aggregation to an association, but the new birth that enables those who undergo it to enter into a true spiritual communion. Far from being an indication of morbid preoccupations, death is much more a symbol of personal evolution, which requires leaving behind all the burdens of the past.