11/20/23, 12:52 PM The Letter G

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The Letter G
by Bro. Mark Dwor

This paper is based on an article written by Harry Carr, P.A.G.D.C., P.M.,

Secretary of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 1963, in Volume 76 of the
Transaction of that Lodge, page 170.
The Letter G is one of those odd parts of masonic history that does not
seem to follow a predictable path. The research that I have done and
the research that Harry Carr has published indicate that it is an
example of the unruly nature of symbols that have either outlived their
original usefulness or have been somehow changed into having new
meaning. In fact, the issue is so potentially confusing that Harry Carr's
article ended off with the following postscript on page 195;
Doubtless there are many other variations of practice and
interpretation that have arisen during the centuries. All are interesting,
and some are surprising. This essay was written in an attempt to
ascertain whence the practices arose and how they developed. It was
not designed to show that a particular symbol or a certain form of the
words is right, and that others are therefore wrong. There is a great
need for a proper tolerance in such matters. We may regret that certain
symbols and phrases have tended to disappear from practice, or that
their importance and symbolism has been changed or altered far
beyond their original significance. Within the vast boundaries of
Masonry universal there is room for every shade of interpretation, and I
believe the Craft is strengthened and enriched by these variations and
by the absence of uniformity.
The real issue about the letter G is not so much where it came from but
how it gradually changed its original meaning and how it is that this
new meaning has now become the predominant one.
There are two distinct meaning given for the letter G: the first is for
Geometry, and the second is for God. This is very clear in the two
different versions given for it, as outlined in the Second Degree work.
At the end of the Tracing Board lecture in the Second Degree, the
following statement occurs, in reference to the seven who make the
Lodge perfect:
They have likewise an allusion to the seven liberal arts and sciences,
namely grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and
astronomy.
The Tracing Board lecture then concludes with the following:

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After our ancient brethren had gained the summit of the winding
staircase, they passed into the middle chamber of the temple where
their attention was directed to certain Hebrew characters which are
depicted in a Fellow Craft Lodge by the letter G, denoting God, the
Grand Geometrician of the Universe to whom we must all submit and
whom we ought to humbly adore.
There are two charges in the Canadian work, either one of which may
be chosen by the Worshipful Master to give the Fellow Craft at this
point. In one of the charges, the reference to the G is as follows: "The
science of Geometry which is established as a basis of our art." In the
other charge, the reference is a follows: "Especially the science of
Geometry which is established as the basis of our art. Geometry, or
Freemasonry, originally synonymous terms."
It is the originality of Geometry and Freemasonry as synonymous that
is without doubt. This can be traced back to documents as early as
1410. It is difficult to assume that the ritual as we now use it was in
any way, shape or form contemplated in the 15th century, but the
notion of Geometry as being particularly synonymous with Masonry is
consistent, and the underlying reason that it got into being part of the
regalia or furnishings of the Lodge, and consequently the ritual.
The first time that we see the letter "G" used as anything other than
Geometry is in one of the early 18th century English Exposures
(Richard), about 1727. This is a vague reference in the catechism to a
secondary meaning for the letter G, which had until that time always
been described as being in the centre of the Lodge and standing for
Geometry. The most specific reference to the letter G having another
meaning occurs in a French Exposure of 1744, Le Catéchisme des
Francs Maçons, and in outlining how the Entered Apprentice became a
Fellow Craft, describes the journey into the Middle Chamber of the
Temple with the catechism –

Q. When you entered [the middle chamber] what did you

see?
A. A great Light in which I perceived the Letter G.
Q. What does the Letter G signify?
A. God, that is to say DIEU, or one who is greater than
you.

It must be remembered that the eighteenth century was a time of

great masonic innovation in both the regalia and rituals. What we have
from that time is a series of unauthorized rituals, at least up until the
latter part of the 18th century, and these are all somewhat suspect;
however, the information they contain is relatively consistent.
Another example of masonic innovation in the eighteenth century was
the changing of a Two Degree system to a Three Degree system around
1730 in England. To make the Three Degree system, the First Degree
which was based on the two pillars of the temple, was basically split
into two degrees and the existing Fellow Craft Degree, which was based
on the five points of fellowship, became the Third Degree to which was
added the Hiramic Legend.
At about the same time, there was a gradual change from the long
catechism form and the long lecture forms into a somewhat easier form
to deal with, which is the basis of our present ritual work. Remnants,
however, of the earlier catechism and lecture forms are still in
existence and are still part of our ritual work.
One of the issues that comes up again and again is the relationship
between the Blazing Star and the letter G. This Blazing Star is in
drawings of the Lodge in some of these exposures, and also crops up in
other publications and some of the earlier Floor Cloths or Lodge Cloths
that are still extant.
The Blazing Star appears throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries always in the centre of the lodge, and that is where it was
drawn. Remember that the Lodge Cloth and the Tracing Boards were
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still all meant to be looked down upon as being on the floor, not as we
would put our present Tracing Boards up on easels, etc. Some of the
earlier drawing have the G and the Blazing Star separate, however,
gradually these two symbols were incorporated into one and, about the
same time, the general usage of G standing for God, and, specifically in
the Second Degree, the Grand Geometrician came into play. This latter
happened, surprisingly enough, in Europe around the 1750s and not in
England until the end of the 18th century. In fact, in some of the
English exposures, the letter G was taken to denote "glory, grandeur
and geometry." By the end of the eighteenth, beginning of the
nineteenth centuries, the letter G, at least as far as English authorities
were concerned, was taken to have a symbolic meaning of God as
compared to Geometry. It is these two separate notions that are still
alive in the rituals as we practice them today in Canadian work.
There is sill a reference to the Blazing Star in our ritual in the First
Degree Tracing Board lecture:

The Ornaments are the Mosaic Pavement, the Indented

Skirting that surrounds the Pavement, and the Star in the
centre.

The Tracing Boards themselves show the relative non-conformity in

regard to this matter, because some Tracing Boards from 1801 have
the letter G inside a Blazing Star on them, and some Tracing Boards up
to the 1840s do not have the letter G or a Blazing Star on them.
There are a number of masonic jewels from about 1760 which have the
letter G intertwined with working tools; however, the practice of having
the G inside a square and compasses is relatively modern, although it
is used in Ireland, as I will note below, for different purposes.
The other issue regarding the letter G is its placement in the lodge. In
our particular lodge it is placed on the wall above the Master's chair. In
many other lodges in this jurisdiction it is hung from the ceiling. In
London and Southern England there is no letter G attached to the wall
or hung from the ceiling in Lodge Halls. Once you get further north in
England and Scotland, the practice appears to be that the G is attached
right to the ceiling or to the wall behind the Master's chair.
In the Scottish ritual lecture known as Middle Chamber Lecture, the
final paragraph goes as follows:

My brother, we have now arrived at a place representing

the Middle Chamber of King Solomon,s Temple. Behold the
letter G suspended in the east; it is the initial letter of
geometry, the first and noblest of sciences.

In Ireland, on the other hand, the G is displayed in the lodge room,

quite often intertwined with the square and compasses above the
Worshipful Master's chair. However, the ritual practice in Ireland is such
that the G does not mean God, it does not mean Geometry – very
specifically, what it means is the first letter of the Worshipful Master's
word.
In Ancient work, as practised in this jurisdiction, the G also stands for
both Geometry and God, as outlined in their Second Degree work.
It is hard to draw a conclusion, except to say that the G originally
meant Geometry and, gradually, when the new Second Degree was
established in the eighteenth century and when the needs of the Craft
required, G also came to represent God, although the original
geometrical meaning has never disappeared, at least in our work.
There is no "A" in the First Degree work to denote the Great Architect,
nor is there an "M" or an "H" in the Third Degree work to denote Most
High, but somewhere along the line the G started to stand for, not just
Geometry, but also the Grand Geometrician of the Universe (God) and
that is how our ritual has evolved.

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11/20/23, 12:52 PM The Letter G
Presented to Centennnial-King George Lodge No. 171 B.C.R. on December 3, 1996 by Bro.
Mark Dwor, Education Officer.

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