Before proceeding to the examination of those more important mythical
legends which appropriately belong to the Master's degree, it will not, I
think, be unpleasing or uninstructive to consider the only one which is
attached to the Fellow Craft's degree--that, namely, which refers to the
allegorical ascent of the Winding Stairs to the Middle Chamber, and the
symbolic payment of the workmen's wages.
Although the legend of the Winding Stairs forms an important tradition of
Ancient Craft Masonry, the only allusion to it in Scripture is to be found
in a single verse in the sixth chapter of the First Book of Kings, and is
in these words: "The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of
the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third." Out of this slender material has been constructed an allegory, which, if properly considered in its symbolical relations, will be found to be of surpassing beauty. But it is only as a symbol that we can regard this whole tradition; for the historical facts and the architectural details alike forbid us for a moment to suppose that the legend, as it is rehearsed in the second degree of Masonry, is anything more than a magnificent philosophical myth.
Let us inquire into the true design of this legend, and learn the lesson
of symbolism which it is intended to teach.
In the investigation of the true meaning of every masonic symbol and
allegory, we must be governed by the single principle that the whole
design of Freemasonry as a speculative science is the investigation of
divine truth. To this great object everything is subsidiary. The Mason is, from the moment of his initiation as an Entered Apprentice, to the time at which he receives the full fruition of masonic light, an investigator--a laborer in the quarry and the temple--whose reward is to be Truth. All the ceremonies and traditions of the order tend to this ultimate design. Is there light to be asked for? It is the intellectual light of wisdom and truth. Is there a word to be sought? That word is the symbol of truth. Is there a loss of something that had been promised? That loss is typical of the failure of man, in the infirmity of his nature, to discover divine truth. Is there a substitute to be appointed for that loss? It is an allegory which teaches us that in this world man can only approximate to the full conception of truth.
Hence there is in Speculative Masonry always a progress, symbolized by its
peculiar ceremonies of initiation. There is an advancement from a lower to
a higher state--from darkness to light--from death to life--from error to
truth. The candidate is always ascending; he is never stationary; he
never goes back, but each step he takes brings him to some new mental
illumination--to the knowledge of some more elevated doctrine. The
teaching of the Divine Master is, in respect to this continual progress, the teaching of Masonry--"No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." And similar to this is the precept of Pythagoras: "When travelling, turn not back, for if you do the Furies will accompany you."
Now, this principle of masonic symbolism is apparent in many places in
each of the degrees. In that of the Entered Apprentice we find it
developed in the theological ladder, which, resting on earth, leans its
top upon heaven, thus inculcating the idea of an ascent from a lower to a
higher sphere, as the object of masonic labor. In the Master's degree we
find it exhibited in its most religious form, in the restoration from
death to life--in the change from the obscurity of the grave to the holy
of holies of the Divine Presence. In all the degrees we find it presented
in the ceremony of circumambulation, in which there is a gradual
inquisition, and a passage from an inferior to a superior officer. And
lastly, the same symbolic idea is conveyed in the Fellow Craft's degree in
the legend of the Winding Stairs.
In an investigation of the symbolism of the Winding Stairs we shall be
directed to the true explanation by a reference to their origin, their
number, the objects which they recall, and their termination, but above
all by a consideration of the great design which an ascent upon them was
intended to accomplish.