Ear of Corn.

This was, among all the ancients, an emblem of plenty. Ceres, who was universally
worshipped as the goddess of abundance, and even called by the Greeks Demeter, a
manifest corruption of Qemeter, or mother earth, was symbolically represented with a
garland on her head composed of ears of corn, a lighted torch in one hand, and a
cluster of poppies and ears of corn in the other. And in the Hebrew, the most significant
of all languages, the two- words, which signify an ear of corn, are both derived from
roots which give the idea of abundance. For shibboleth, which is applicable both to an
ear of corn and a flood of water, has its root in shabal, to increase or to Mow
abundantly ; and the other name of corn, dagan, is derived from the verb dagah,
signifying to multiply, or to be increased. Ear of com, which is a technical exprestion in
the second degree, has been sometimes ignorantly displaced by a sheaf of .wheat.
This is done in America, under the mistaken supposition that corn refers only to Indian
maize, which was unknown to the ancients. But com is a generic word, and includes
wheat and every other kind of grain. This is its legitimate English meaning, and hence
an ear of corn, which is an old expression, and the right one, would denote a stalk, but
not a sheafof wheat. See Shibboleth.
Reyes Libro 1, 8 y 9
In return for this kindness, Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures, or corim, of wheat
and the same quantity of oil, which was nearly 200,000 bushels of one and 1,500,000
gallons of the other; Plenty. The ear of corn, or sheaf of wheat, is, in the Masonic
system, the symbol of plenty. In ancient iconography, the goddess Plenty was
represented by a young nymph crowned with flowers, and holding in the right hand the
horn of Amalthea, the goat that suckled Jupiter, and in her left a bundle of sheaves of
wheat, from which the ripe grain is falling profusely to the ground. There have been
some differences in the representation of the goddess on various medals ; but, as
Montfaucon shows, the ears of corn are an indispensable part of the symbolism. See
Shibboleth.
Wages of the Workmen at the Temple.
Neither the Scriptures, nor Joaephua, give us any definite statement of the amount of
wages paid, nor the manner in which they were paid, to the workmen who were
engaged in the erection of King Solomon's Temple. The cost of its construction,
however, must have been immense, since it has been estimated that the edifice alone
consumed more gold and silver than at present exists upon the whole earth; so that
Josephus very justly says that "Solomon made all these tilings for the honor of God,
with great variety and magnificence, sparing no cost, but using all possible liberality in
adorning the Temple." We learn, as one instance of this liberality, from the 2d Book of
Chronicles, that Solomon paid annually to the Tyrian Masons, the servants of Hiram,
"twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley,
and twenty thousand batlis of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil."
Arch of Heaven.
Job, xxvi. 11, compares heaven to an arch supported by pillars. "The pillars of heaven
tremble and are astonished at his reproof." Dr. Cutbush, on this passage, remarks,
"The arch in this instance is allegorical, not only of the arch of heaven, but of the higher
degree of Masonry, commonly called the Holy Royal Arch. The pillars which support
the arch are emblematical of Wisdom and Strength; the former denoting the wisdom of
the Supreme Architect, and the latter the stability of the Universe." — Am. Ed.
Brewster's Encyc.
Archives.
This word means, properly, a place of deposit for records; but it means also the records
themselves. Hence the archives of a Lodge are its records and other documents. The
legend in the second degree, that the pillars of the Temple were made hollow to
contain the archives of Masonry, is simply a myth, and a very modern one.
Astronomy.
The science which instructs us in the laws that govern the heavenly bodies. Its origin is
lost in the mists of antiquity ; for the earliest inhabitants of the earth must have been
attracted by the splendor of the glorious firmament above them, and would nave sought
in the motions of its luminaries for the readiest and most certain method of measuring
time. With astronomy the system of Freemasonry is intimately connected. From that
science many of our most significant emblems are borrowed. The Lodge itself is a
representation of the world; it is adorned with the images of the sun and moon, whose
regularity and precision furnish a lesson of wisdom and prudence ; its pillars of strength
and establishment have been compared to the two columns which the ancients placed
at the equinoctial points as supporters of the arch of heaven ; the blazing star, which
was among the Egyptians a symbol of Anubis, or the dogstar, whose rising foretold the
overflowing of the Nile, shines in the east; while the clouded canopy is decorated with
the beautiful Pleiades.
Boaz.
The name of the left hand pillar that stood at the porch of King Solomon's Temple. It is
derived from the Hebrew 3i b, " in," and f^, oaz, " strength," and signifies " in strength."
See Pillars of the Porch.
Broken Column.
Among the Hebrews, columns, or pillars, were used metaphorically to signify princes or
nobles, as if they were the pillars of a state. Thus, in Psalm xi. 3, the passage, reading
in our 'translation, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" is, in
the original, " when the columns are overthrown," i. e. when the firm supporters of what
is right and good have perished. So the passage in Isaiah xix. 10 should read: " her
(Egypt's) columns are broken down," that is, the nobles of her state. In Freemasonry,
the broken column is, as Master Masons well know, the emblem of the fall of one of the
chief supporters of the Craft. The use of the column or pillar as a monument erected
over a tomb was a very ancient custom, and was a very significant symbol of the
character and spirit of the person interred. See Monument.
Chapiter.
The uppermost part of a column, pillar, or pilaster, serving as the head or crowning,
and placed immediately over the shaft and under the entablature. The pillars which
stood in front of the porch of King Solomon's Temple were adorned with chapiters of a
peculiar construction, which are largely referred to, and their symbolism explained, in
the Fellow Craft's degree. See Fillars of the Porch.
Globe.
In the second degree, tlie celestial and terrestrial globes have been adopted as
symbols of the universal extension of the Order, and as suggestive of the universal
claims of brotherly love. The symbol is a very ancient one, and is to be found in the
religious systems of many countries. Among the Mexicans the globe was the symbol of
universal power. But the Mar sonic symbol appears to have been derived from, or at
least to have an allusion to, the Egyptian symbol of the winged globe. There is nothing
more common among the Egyptian monuments than the symbol of a globe supported
on each side by a serpent, and accompanied with wings extended wide beyond them,
occupying nearly the whole of the entablature above the entrance of many of their
temples. We are thus reminded of the globes on the pillars at the entrance of the
Temple of Solomon. The winged globe, as the symbol of Cneph, the Creator Sun, was
adopted by the Egyptians as their national device, as the Lion is that of England, or the
Eagle of the United States.
Siguen líneas abajo…
The interpretation of the Masonic globes, as a symbol of the universality of Masonry,
would very well agree with the idea of the Egyptian symbol referring to the extent of
creation. That the globes on the pillars, placed like the Egyptian symbol before the
temple, were a representation of the celestial and terrestrial globes, is a very modern
idea. In the passage of the Book of Kings, whence Masonry has derived its ritualistic
description, it is said, (1 Kings vii. 16,) "And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to
set upon the tops of the pillars." In the Masonic ritual it is said that " the pillars were
surmounted by two pomels or globes." Now pomel, S'Dia, is the very word employed
by Eabbi Solomon in his commentary on this passage, a word which signifies a globe
or spherical body. The Masonic globes were really the chapiters described in the Book
of Kings. Again it is said, (1 Kings vii. 22,) " Upon the top of the pillars was lily work."
We now know that the plant here called the lily was really the lotus, or the Egyptian
waterlily. But among the Egyptians the lotus was a symbol of the universe ; and hence,
although the Masons in their ritual have changed the expanded flower of the lotus,
which crowned the chapiter and surmounted each pillar of the porch, into a globe, they
have retained the interpretation of universality. The Egyptian globe or egg and lotus or
lily and the Masonic globe are all symbols of something universal, and the Masonic
idea has only restricted by a natural impulse the idea to the universality of the Order
and its benign influences. But it is a pity that Masonic ritualists did not preserve the
Egyptian and scriptural symbol of the lotus surrounding a ball or sphere, and omit the
more modern figures of globes celestial and terrestrial.
Hiram Abif
According to Masonic tradition, which is in part supported by scriptural authority, Hiram
was charged with all the architectural decorations and interior embellishments of the
building. He cast the various vessels and implements that were to be used in the
religious service of the Temple, as well as the pillars that adorned the porch, selecting
as the most convenient and appropriate place for the scene of his operations, the clay
grounds which extend between Succoth and Zaredatha ; and the old lectures state that
the whole interior of the house, its posts and doors, its very floors and ceilings, which
were made of the most expensive timber, and overlaid with plates of burnished gold,
were, by his exquisite taste, enchased with magnificent designs and adorned with the
most precious gems. Even the abundance of these precious jewels, in the decorations
of the Temple, is attributed to the foresight and prudence of Hiram Abif; since a
Masonic tradition, quoted by Dr. Oliver, informs us, that about four years before the
Temple was begun, he, as the agent of the Tyrian king, purchased some curious
stones from an Arabian merchant, who told him, upon inquiry, that they had been found
by accident on an island in the Eed Sea. By the permission of King Hiram, he
investigated the truth of this report, and had the good fortune to discover many
precious gems, and among the rest an abundance of the topaz. They were
subsequently imported by the ships of Tyre for the service of King Solomon. In allusion
to these labors of taste and skill displayed by the widow's son, our lectures say, that
while the wisdom of Solomon contrived the fabric, and the strength of King Hiram's
wealth and power supported the undertaking, it was adorned by the beauty of Hiram
Abif's curious and cunning workmanship. In the character of the chief architect of the
Temple, one of the peculiarities which most strongly attract attention, was the
systematic manner in which he conducted all the extensive operations which were,
placed under his charge. In the classification of the workmen, such arrangements were
made, by his advice, as to avoid any discord or confusion; and although about two
hundred thousand craftsmen and laborers were employed, so complete were his
arrangements, that the general harmony was never once disturbed. In the payment
ofwages, such means were, at his suggestion, adopted, that every one's labor was
readily distinguished, and his defects ascertained, every attempt at imposition
detected, and the particular amount of money due to each workman accurately
determined and easily paid, so that, as Webb remarks, "the disorder and confusion that
might otherwise have attended so immense an undertaking was completely
prevented." It was his custom never to put off' until to-morrow the work that might have
been accomplished to-day, for he was as remarkable for his punctuality in the
discharge of the most trifling duties, as he was for his skill in performing the most
important. It was his constant habit to furnish the craftsmen every morning with a copy
of the plans which he had, on the previous afternoon, designed for their labor in the
course of the ensuing day. As new designs were thus furnished by him from day to
day, any neglect to provide the workmen with them on each successive morning would
necessarily have stopped the labors ol' the whole body of the workmen for that day ; a
circumstance that in so large a number must have produced the greatest disorder and
confusion. Hence the practice of punctuality was in him a duty of the highest obligation,
and one which could never for a moment have been neglected without leading to
immediate observation. Such is the character of this distinguished personage, whether
mythical or not, that has been transmitted by the uninterrupted stream of Masonic
tradition. The trestle-board used' by him in drawing his designs is said to have been
made, as the ancient tablets were, of wood, and covered with a coating of wax. On this
coating he inscribed his plana with a pen or stylus of steel, which an old tradition,
preserved by Oliver, says was found upon him when he was raised, and ordered by
King Solomon to be deposited in the centre of his monument. The same tradition
informs us that the first time he used this stylus for any of the purposes of the Temple
was on the morning that the foundationstone of the building was laid, when he drew the
celebrated diagram known as the forty-ieventh problem ot" Euclid, and whicli gained a
prize that Solomon had oflfered on that occasion. But this is so evidently a mere myth,
invented by some myth-maker of the last century, without even the excuse of a
symbolic meaning, that it has been rejected or, at least, forgotten by the Craft. Another
and more interesting legend has been preserved by Oliver, which may be received as a
mythical symbol of the faithful performance of duty. It runs thus : " It was the duty of
Hiram Abif to su- Eerintend the workmen, and the reports of is officers were always
examined with the most scrupulous exactness. At the opening of the day, when the sun
was rising in the east, it was his constant custom, before the commencement of labor,
to go into the Temple, and offer up his prayers to Jehovah tor a blessing on the work ;
and in like manner when the sun was setting in the west. And after the labors of the
day were closed, and the workmen had left the Temple, he returned his thanks to the
Great Architect of the Universe for the harmonious protection of the day. Not content
with this devout expression of his feelings, he always went into the Temple at the hour
of high twelve, when the men were called off from labor to refreshment, to inspect the
work, to draw fresh designs upon the trestle-board, if such were necessary, and to
perform other scientific labors, —never forgetting to consecrate the duties by solemn
prayer. These religious customs were faithfultj' performed for the first six years in the
secret recesses of his Lodge, and for the last year in the precincts of the most holy
place."