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Orientation of the pillars

Roger McDonald

Registered User
I am attempting the memorize the MC lecture/ aka the staircase lecture. Boaze is on the lft hand side while jachin is on the right. Is left and right the perspective as if being inside or outside the temple?
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
Not all states indicate which orientation. In California I learned "floor work" to point with my right hand when saying that on your left and vice versa. This tells me that in California it is the perspective of the candidate that matters. This makes sense as the degrees are always about the candidate. No such "floor work" happens in Illinois. Texas deletes the lecture from the SD and moves it to the east at the end of the degree so there too orientation is not specified.

The King James Version says bowls. The ritual says balls. It's a fun mutation in our ritual. Does any jurisdiction teach which globe goes with which name? When setting up I try to put the celestial globe on the candidate's right so it gets mentioned second. Because astronomy is mentioned in the second degree. But that's just me.
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
Not all states indicate which orientation. In California I learned "floor work" to point with my right hand when saying that on your left and vice versa. This tells me that in California it is the perspective of the candidate that matters. This makes sense as the degrees are always about the candidate. No such "floor work" happens in Illinois. Texas deletes the lecture from the SD and moves it to the east at the end of the degree so there too orientation is not specified.

The King James Version says bowls. The ritual says balls. It's a fun mutation in our ritual. Does any jurisdiction teach which globe goes with which name? When setting up I try to put the celestial globe on the candidate's right so it gets mentioned second. Because astronomy is mentioned in the second degree. But that's just me.
In NJ, the candidate walks with the SD so the right and left are the same for both.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
In NJ, the candidate walks with the SD so the right and left are the same for both.

In CA and IL the SD drops the candidate off just outside of the pillars, steps through, turns and addresses the candidate through the pillars. Same wording but different floor work, therefore gesturing with the other hands.
 

Roy_

Registered User
A little anecdote. My (irregular) Mother lodge and the (also irregular) lodge I'm member of now, both work with a ritual that is ultimately based on Emulation. Both lodges rent their space from (regular) Grand Orient of the Netherlands lodges. The GON lodges have their pillars the other way around than we do! Also the Lesser Lights are different from us and perhaps even the officers are switched. In 'our case' the Junior Warden sits in the North-West near the pillar B overlooking the EAs while the JW sometimes sits in the South-East so he has a better look at the North column (where the EAs sit). Then again, the EA password with us is (of course) B, while there are lodges where the EA password is J, so the pillars may be the other way around as the Wardens.
To finish the anecdote. The lodge room of my mother lodge has the Latin letters stuck to the pillars with velcro. My current lodge has Hebrew letters that can't be removed, so when the WM asks the JW what his place in the lodge is, he'll say: "In the West near column B" while a Jod is visible over his head.

I guess what I'm saying is: it depends.
 

Scoops

Registered User
Guess what? I bet you won't believe it that GLof PA does EVERYTHING differently. NO pillars here!
Don't worry, you're not the only jurisdiction that doesn't mandate pillars. Our pillars have been reduced to the Wardens columns. Although, a few older lodge rooms still have them, there's no mention of them in our ritual as physical objects in the temple.
 
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