Tracing board: Difference between revisions
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In [[1820]] Bro. John Harris created tracing boards for the first three Degrees of the Craft, establishing them as an accepted, though unofficial part of Craft Freemasonry in England.<ref>[http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/tracing_boards_from_st_andrews_lodge.htm] Phoenix Masonry 'Tracing Boards from St. Andrews Lodge No. 1817'</ref> The tracing board became a near-essential{{Fact|date=October 2008}} piece of equipment for Masonic Lodges in [[UK|Britain]], continental [[Europe]], [[Australia]] and elsewhere. As different Masonic jurisdictions established official, or standard, Degree rituals the creation of new tracing boards by Freemasons waned and has since all but entirely disappeared. |
In [[1820]] Bro. John Harris created tracing boards for the first three Degrees of the Craft, establishing them as an accepted, though unofficial part of Craft Freemasonry in England.<ref>[http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/tracing_boards_from_st_andrews_lodge.htm] Phoenix Masonry 'Tracing Boards from St. Andrews Lodge No. 1817'</ref> The tracing board became a near-essential{{Fact|date=October 2008}} piece of equipment for Masonic Lodges in [[UK|Britain]], continental [[Europe]], [[Australia]] and elsewhere. As different Masonic jurisdictions established official, or standard, Degree rituals the creation of new tracing boards by Freemasons waned and has since all but entirely disappeared. |
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==References== |
==References==[http://www.example.com link title] |
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It is encouraging that the Brothers Jackson have created a set of six masonic Tracing Boards. A description of this work has now been published by the masonic author Dr. Robert Lomas in the form of a book entitled "The Secret Science of Masonic Initiation". Thankfully new tracing boards by Freemasons may have waned but has yet, not entirely disappeared. |
It is encouraging that the Brothers Jackson have created a set of six masonic Tracing Boards. A description of this work has now been published by the masonic author Dr. Robert Lomas in the form of a book entitled "The Secret Science of Masonic Initiation". Thankfully new tracing boards by Freemasons may have waned but has yet, not entirely disappeared. |
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Revision as of 17:31, 23 October 2008
Template:Freemasonry2 Tracing boards are painted or printed illustrations depicting the various emblems and symbols of Freemasonry. They can be used as teaching aids during the lectures that follow each of the three Masonic Degrees, when an experienced member explains the various concepts of Freemasonry to new members . They can also be used by experienced members as self-reminders of the concepts they learned as they went through their initiations.
History and development
The Masonic tracing board took several decades to develop into its pictorial form. Initially a drawing was made on the floor of the hired tavern room in which a Masonic Lodge had met, the work being executed either by the Tyler or Worshipful Master.[1] Evidence suggests that a simple boundary in the shape of a square, rectangle (or "double square"), or a cross was drawn first, with various Masonic symbols of a geometric type (e.g., circle, pentagram, etc.) were drawn later, the former possibly being drawn by the Tyler and the latter by the Master. Later various objects, such as a (ladder, beehive, etc.,) were added.[2]
By the second half of the eighteenth century the Masonic symbols were being painted on a variety of materials ranging from small marble slabs to canvas, though the various Grand Lodges were then generally hostile to the creation of physical representations of the Ritual and symbols of the Craft. prior to the development of the upright-standing tracing board such as is used today a "floor cloth" displaying a degree's symbols was common.[3]
In 1820 Bro. John Harris created tracing boards for the first three Degrees of the Craft, establishing them as an accepted, though unofficial part of Craft Freemasonry in England.[4] The tracing board became a near-essential[citation needed] piece of equipment for Masonic Lodges in Britain, continental Europe, Australia and elsewhere. As different Masonic jurisdictions established official, or standard, Degree rituals the creation of new tracing boards by Freemasons waned and has since all but entirely disappeared.
==References==link title
- ^ "The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 243
- ^ "The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 244
- ^ "Tracing Boards Their Development and Their Designers" by T.O. Haunch in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.75 (1962) pg 24
- ^ [1] Phoenix Masonry 'Tracing Boards from St. Andrews Lodge No. 1817'
It is encouraging that the Brothers Jackson have created a set of six masonic Tracing Boards. A description of this work has now been published by the masonic author Dr. Robert Lomas in the form of a book entitled "The Secret Science of Masonic Initiation". Thankfully new tracing boards by Freemasons may have waned but has yet, not entirely disappeared.
Publications
- Tracing Boards Their Development and Their Designers by T.O. Haunch Pub by QC Correspondence Circle Ltd (April 2004) ISBN 0 907655 95 5