Greetings Brethren, our Worshipful Master was on the Zuhrah cruise to Alaska at press time and he asked me to mention the following on his behalf.
Arcana Lodge thanks the brothers and guests who donated so generously to the Masonic Cancer Center Fund at our Prime Rib Dinner on May 24th. We raised in excess of $500 for this very worthy cause. Minnesota Masons can be very proud of the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota as 91 cents of every dollar donated is used for cancer research!
On June 21st brother Kevin Mattson was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft. Please join us on July 24th when he will be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. The degree will begin at 4:00 PM with dinner about 5:30.
Arcana has scheduled a set of degrees this Fall and the One-Day-to-Masonry class is scheduled for November 20th, so let’s get those lodge petitions turned in. This year at our annual Pumpkin Give-Away we will be offering the Kid ID Program to parents for their children.
Minnesota DeMolay has waived the fee for candidates initiated at Conclave this year. Please do a favor for your 13-21 year old sons, grandsons, and the young men in your neighborhood by introducing them to DeMolay.
I wish everyone a fun and safe summer, remember that the Lodge is air conditioned, so get out of the heat and come on down to lodge to cool off on any meeting night.
Fraternally yours,
Doug Roswold, PM
William K. Bissey is a member of North Park Lodge #646, Indianapolis, IN. The article G.A.O.T.U. first appeared in the Indiana Freemason, Spring 1997, was reprinted in the Aug 1997 Scottish Rite Journal, the June 1999 Short Talk Bulletin, and in the July/Aug. Arcana Trestleboard with permission.
-Editor
The Masonic abbreviation G.A.O.T.U., meaning the Great Architect of the Universe, continues a long tradition of using an allegorical name for the Deity.
G.A.O.T.U. means the Great Architect of the Universe. In some Masonic jurisdictions the abbreviation is considered to mean Grand Architect. Also, sometimes the abbreviation includes, at the beginning, a capital T meaning The. The abbreviation can also mean Grand or Great Artificer of the Universe. According to the Mentor's Manual published by the Grand Lodge of Indiana, "In any event, these are titles under which Freemasonry refers to Deity."
G.A.O.T.U. has been used by members of religious groups to attack Freemasonry. Some of these critics have claimed that this is a false god worshipped at our altar; other critics claim that G.A.O.T.U. "makes God seem like an abstract being."
The question then becomes how did G.A.O.T.U. enter into Masonry? Our search starts with the Compass. The Indiana Monitor states in the section on the Master Mason Degree that "The Compass is peculiarly dedicated to this degree."
What is a compass? One of the definitions of a compass in The Oxford English Dictionary is "an instrument for taking measurements and describing circles." The dictionary then cites an example of this usage of a compass from Milton's Paradise Lost vii 224 "In His hand He took the golden Compasses prepared ... to circumscribe This Universe." The capitalized pronouns refer to the Deity. An even earlier work, Dante (1265-1321) in his Divine Comedy has the following: "He that with turning compass drew the world's confines." Like Milton, Dante is referring to the Deity.
A 13th century painting (the artist is not mentioned in the reference book) in the Austrian National Library shows the Deity as The Great Architect of the Universe circumscribing Heaven and Earth. Another painting depicting the Deity using a compass is by William Blake (1757-1827), an English poet and artist. Blake's painting is titled The Ancient of Days whose subject matter is the Deity using a compass.
By itself the compass has been used as an allegorical tool by which the Deity created the Universe. As a compass is a measuring device, it is logical to assume that the instrument would be used by the operative masons in the era of Cathedral building. In the Middle Ages, the terms Master Mason and Architect were used interchangeably. Architect is defined in The Oxford English Dictionary as "a master builder." This definition also infers that a Master Mason would also be a craftsman or artificer.
This leads back to The Oxford English Dictionary which defines an artificer as 14 one who makes by art of skill; especially a craftsman." The definition also refers "to the Artificer of the Universe; meaning the Creator." The dictionary cites two further usages of artificer in this manner. One is from Person's Creed of 1659 "The Great Artificer of the World." The second is from Wordsworth's Excursion vi 551 "By the Great Artificer endued With no Inferior power."
But exactly how did G.A.O.T.U. come to be used in Freemasonry?
Wallace McLeod, an eminent Canadian Masonic scholar, discusses T.G.A.O.T.U. in his book The Grand Design. McLeod states the phrase entered Freemasonry in the first Book of Constitutions of 1723 of the first or premier Grand Lodge of England. The Book of Constitutions was written by the Reverend James Anderson who was minister of a Scottish Presbyterian Church on Swallow Street in London from 1710 to 1734. Anderson was a graduate of Marischal College which is a part of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
In the seventeenth century, when Anderson was probably studying at the University of Aberdeen, the role of education in Scotland's universities was to train their students to become ministers. This meant the students learned the Bible and their theology "according to the reasoned theology of Calvin's Institutes."
John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French reformer of the Church who, at the age of 26, first published his classic work of theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1536. In this work, which formed the basis of theology for Presbyterian and Reformed Churches, Calvin repeatedly calls the Deity "the Architect of the Universe" and refers to His works in nature as "Architecture of the Universe" ten times. Calvin also refers to the Deity as the Great Architect or Architect of the Universe in his Commentary on Psalm 19.
In literature, art, and theology the Deity has been referred to as an Artificer and Architect. Thus, in using G.A.O.T.U. Freemasonry has continued a long tradition of using an allegorical name for the Deity.
Endnotes
Coil, Henry Wilson. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, revised edition. Richmond, VA: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1995.
Hamil, John and Robert Gilbert, editors. Freemasonry, A Celebration of the Craft. London: Mackenzie Publishing Limited, 1992.
Indiana Monitor and Freemason's Guide. Indianapolis, IN: Grand Lodge of Indiana, 1975.
Jones, Bernard E. Freemason's Guide and Compendium, Revised Edition. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1956.
Langton, Jane. The Dante Game. New York: Viking Penguin, 1991.
Leyburn, James G. The Scotch-Irish, A Social History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1962.
McLeod, Wallace. The Grand Design. Highland Springs, VA: Anchor Communications, 1991.
Mentor's Manual. Indianapolis, IN: Grand Lodge of Indiana, 1975.
Noss, John. Man's Religions, Second Revised Edition. New York: Macmillan, 1956.
The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (Prepared by J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Arcana Lodge is proud to acknowledge the outstanding Mason of the month for July/August, Steve Northquest. Steve petitioned Arcana Lodge early in 1997, and was raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason on August 23, 1997. In his two years at Arcana Steve has served the lodge as Tyler and Senior Steward, but has filled in for a number of other officers as needed. Steve has also taken on several parts and lectures in our degree work, and is becoming one of the finest ritualists in the Lodge. His regular attendance at meetings, degrees, practices and other Lodge activities along with his cheerful attitude and dedication to the fraternity manifests the Masonic tenants we should all strive to incorporate in our daily lives.
This year featuring the KIDS Program
A One Day Class for the Three Degrees of a Master Mason
November 20th, 1999 - 8:00 AM - Scottish Rite Temple, 2011 Dupont Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN 55405