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Masonic Key Words
G To L
G 

The letter "G"

Is one of the most sacred symbols in Freemasonry. The Lodge cannot open, and no work can be performed unless this sacred letter is conspicuously seen in its regularly assigned place of honor in the Lodge hall. It has a double meaning, representing, first, the Supreme Deity as the Great Architect of the Universe and the one true and living God of all Masons; and, secondly, the pre-eminence of the science of geometry in the rituals of Freemasonry. In this twofold symbolism, the letter "G"represents to the Mason unity of Heaven with the earth, of the Divine Being with the human, of the temporal with the eternal, and of the finite with the infinite.

Gates of the Temple

The Temple of Solomon had only one entrance or portal, but the walls of the enclosure had a gate at each points of the compass. Freemasonry makes special symbolic use of three of these gates, the one on the east, the one on the west, and the one on the south. These gates are symbols of the progress of the sum, rising in the east, reaching its zenith in the south, and setting in the west. They also symbolize birth, life, and death as well as youth, manhood and old age.

Glory and Beauty of the Day

Daylight has many beauties, many advantages, and many blessings; but its supreme glory is in marvelous utterances of the goodness and glory of God.

Golden Bowl Be Broken

This sublime and unique rule of conduct in man's relation to and treatment of his fellow man spoken by the Saviour has been adopted by Freemasons, and it is used with its full significance in all the ramifications of human actions.

Grasshopper Shall Be A Burden

This expression is a figure of the weakness accompanying old age.

Great Porch

This was the name give to the vestibule at the entrance into the Temple of Solomon.

Great and Sacred Name

Any name that is used as a title of Deity is held sacred by Freemasons, and all names of our God are to be uttered with profound reverence and never thoughtlessly or blasphemously.

Great White Throne

This term refers to the pure and glorious throne of God. Before it, every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Christ is God to the Glory of the Father.

Ground Floor of the Lodge

Mount Moriah, the site on which Solomon's Temple was erected, is symbolically referred to as the "ground floor of the Lodge."
 

H

Harodim

This was the title given to the overseers and princes appointed by Solomon to supervise the workmen in the preparation of the material and in the building of the Temple.

Heaven

A distinctive tenet of Freemasonry is that there is a Heaven of bliss beyond the grave. The symbolic meaning of the "foreign country" in which the Master Mason seeks wages is Heaven, the higher state of man's existence after death and following the Resurrection.

Hills and Valleys

In ancient times, and even today, high elevations suggest the worship of God. The hilltop or mountaintop is a symbol of "Holiness unto the Lord."

Holiness

Throughout Masonic ritual, the absolute and superlative Holiness of God is recognized, and every representation of the Deity in symbols, attitudes and words must be in the most reverent manner.

Holy of Holies

The ancient Tabernacle erected by Moses at Mount Sinai was divided into two compartments or rooms. At the west end was the Most Holy Place constructed of a perfect cube fifteen feet in all dimensions. It was separated from the other room, the Holy Place, by curtains. The only article of furniture in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Book of Law, the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded. The Most Holy Place was entered only by a high priest once each year on the Great Day of Atonement. Like the Tabernacle, King Solomon's Temple was divided into two compartments. The Most Holy Place was a perfect cube forty feet in all its dimensions. All the walls were overlaid with fine gold as was the floor. Again, the only article of furniture was the Ark of the Covenant.

Holy Place

One of the two compartments of the Tabernacle of Moses was the Holy Place or Sanctuary at the east end of the Tabernacle. The furniture of the Holy Place consisted of the great Candlestick, the table for shewbread and the altar of incense with its censer and snuffers. In King Solomon's Temple, the Holy Place, sometimes referred to as the Greater House, followed the pattern of the Tabernacle, but was much larger. Instead of one candlestick, there were ten: five on the right side and five on the left, all made of pure gold. The Altar of Incense occupied the west end of the Sanctuary and was also made of pure gold, as was it censer.

House Not Made With Hands

This expression comprehends the eternal dwelling place of God and the resurrected and glorified body of the redeemed in the life beyond.

Human Senses

There is here the recognition of the truth that all the natural faculties and endowments of man are the products of the creative energy of God and are loving gifts from Him.

I

I Am That I Am

This is the English translation of the most distinctive and significant title of Jehovah God given to Moses at the burning bush. In its original Hebrew form, it was regarded with such sacredness by the Israelites that it was never spoken above a whisper. It signifies the "self-existent, independent, unsearchable One."

Immortality

Much of the ritual in Freemasonry assumes the doctrine of man's immortality, and in many specific instances, professions of this fundamental tenet are uttered.

Indwelling of God

That God deigns to dwell among his people and with the hearts of the pure and the good is a fundamental truth to Masons.

Ineffable Name

It is generally agreed among the Believers that the correct pronunciation of the most sacred name of God has been lost, and to this traditional fact Masons assent. In it believed, however, that the mysteries of this Ineffable Name is held by the Messiah until the Day of Resurrection.

Inner Door

Just as the mysteries of God's truth are available to those who earnestly knock, so admittance to the lessons of Freemasonry are opened by the proper knock at the Inner Door of the Lodge.

Innocence

From time immemorial, the lamb has been regarded as an emblem of innocence. Since Masons are required to strive after perfect innocence, especially in the Masonic conduct, the apron worn by them must be made of pure white lambskin.

Interment

The grave is the natural resting place for the bodies of the dead, but it is not the final abode of these bodies. We honor our dead in interment, but we await their Resurrection.

Iron Tools

In order that perfect quiet and reverence might prevail in the building of the Temple, no iron tool of any kind was employed, and

J
 

Jachin - He doth establish

The two great pillars of Solomon's Temple supporting the Great Porch, known as Solomon's Porch, were called Boaz and Jachin. Jachin is a combination of two words, Jah, the poetical name of Jehovah, and iachin, meaning establishment. The full significance
of the name is, therefore, "With God's help to establish," the symbolical meaning given to in the work of Freemasonry.

Jacob's Ladder

The story of Jacob's dream or vision is which he saw a stairway leading from earth to Heaven and angels descending and ascending on it holds an important place in Masonic ritual. It is employed as a symbol of the progressive course from earth to Heaven, and of the transition from death to life.

Jah

The poetical name of Jehovah.

Jesus and the Temple

The parents of Jesus carried him to the Temple when he was only forty days old for purification ceremonies. At the age of twelve, he attended the Passover in Jerusalem and visited the Temple. After beginning his public ministry,he honored the Temple on a number of occasions, cleansed it twice, taught the people, performed miracles within its sacred precincts, and otherwise recognized it as the House of God, even though it was being greatly profaned.

Judah - praised

Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and the founder of the tribe bearing his name, is also the representative of a key point in ancient Masonry. Judah distinguished himself on a number of occasions and was given Messianic distinction in the tribal blessings of his
father and by Moses. The royal house of Israel was of the tribe of Judah, even as was Jesus the Messiah. The tribe of Judah was the first to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. For this reason, and because of its distinction as the tribe of David,
Solomon and the Messiah, Judah represents or symbolizes the entrance of the candidate into the Light and liberty of Freemasonry.

K

Keepers of the House Shall Tremble

This expression is a figure of the failings of the body in old age or as weakened by the approach of death. The usual interpretation is that the arms and legs are the keepers.

   L                   
The Eagle Of the Lagash  History of the Eagle

"The Double Headed Eagle of Lagash" is the oldest Royal Crest in the World...  No emblematic  device of today can boast of such antiquity.  Its origin has been traced to the ancient city of Lagash.  It was in use a thousand years before the Exodus from Egypt and more than two thousand years before the building of "King Solomon's Temple."
"As time rolled on,  it passed from the Sumerians to the men of Akkad,  from the men of Akkad to the Hittites, from the denizens of Asia Minor to the Seljukian Sultans from whom it was brought by the Crusaders to the Emperors of the East and West,  whose successors were the Hapsburgs and the Romanoffs."
"In recent excavations,  the city-emblem of Lagash was disclosed also as a lion headed eagle sinking his claws into the bodies of two lions standing back to back.  This is evidently a variant of the other eagle symbol". "The city of Lagash is in Sumer in Southern Babylonia, between the Euphrates and the Tigris and near the modern Shatra in Iraq,
Lagash had a calender of twelve lunar months, a system of weights and measures,  a banking and accounting system and was a center of art, literature,  military and political power,  five thousand years before Christ".
"In 102 B.C. the Roman Consul Marius decreed that the Eagle be displayed as a symbol of Imperial Rome.  Later, as a world power,  Rome used the Double-Headed Eagle,  one head facing the East the other facing the West,  symbolizing the universality and unity of the Empire.  The Emperors  of the Holy Roman Empire continued its use and the symbol was adopted later in Germany during the halcyon days of conquest and imperial power".

So far as is known,  the Double-Headed Eagle was first used in Freemasonry in 1758 by a Masonic Body in Paris - the Emperors of the East and West.  During a brief period the Masonic Emperors of the East and West controlled the advanced degrees then in use and became a precursor  of the "Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite".

The Latin caption under the Double-Headed Eagle - "Spes Mea in Deo Est"  translated is "My Hope Is In God".

Landmark

In ancient times, it was customary to mark the boundaries of lands by the means of stone pillars or heaps of stones. The removal of such landmarks was a grievous crime and an evidence of fraudulent intent by the offender. In speculative Masonry there are also landmarks, and the same rigid rule with reference to ancient landmarks applies to these.

Level of Equality

The level in Masonry is a symbol of the fraternal equality of mankind as the offspring of God, all races and nations having been made of one blood. The fundamental principle that all men are created equal, with certain inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is basic in Freemasonry.

Light

Throughout the ritual and work of Freemasonry, Light is the symbol of knowledge, and just as God spoke into existence physical light, so He is the original source of all true knowledge. The Great Light of Masonry is His inspired work. Masons are pledged to
strive after more and more Light as life goes on and should seek above all things Light Eternal.

Light of Life

The source of enlightenment and knowledge for life's darkness, perplexities and doubts, as well as for life's responsibilities and duties, is the Holy Bible - the Great Light of Masonry.

Lily Work

The lily has always been an emblem of peace and purity. For this reason, lily work occupied a place of conspicuousness and distinction in the ornamentations of the Temple and its furniture.

Lion of the Tribe of Judah

In the tribal benediction pronounced upon Judah, the "lion's whelp" is used emblematically of strength. Hence, the ensign on the banner of Judah was a lion. The phrase in the Masonic ritual, "The lion of the tribe of Judah," is Messianic and refers to Christ, the
anointed of God and royal head of God's Kingdom.

Lodge

Two or more Freemasons, "in regular assembly and properly opened and prepared for work or business," constitutes the Lodge.

Lost Word

The lost word was the ineffable name of God, but the term is used symbolically of Divine Truth.
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