Well I'm not the only nut who has put it together (More esoteric masonic symbolism for 9/11), page 3

I read this thread a while back and for some reason the 'chequered floor conspiracy' stuck in my head. Anyway I've just read the following which is very enlightening on the subject.

This is from section five of the lectures of first degree of freemasonry craft.

Q - Of what is the interior of a Freemason's Lodge composed?

A - Ornaments, Furniture, and jewels.

Q - Name the Ornaments.

A - The Mosaic Pavement, the Blazing Star, and the Indented or Tessellated Border.

Q - Their situations?

A -The Mosaic Pavement is the beautiful flooring of the Lodge; the Blazing Star the glory in the centre; and the Indented or Tessellated Border the skirtwork round the same.

Q - I will thank you to moralise them.

A - The Mosaic Pavement may justly be deemed the beautiful flooring of a Freemason's Lodge, by reason of its being variegated and chequered. This points out the diversity of objects which decorate and adorn the creation, the animate as well as the inanimate parts thereof. The Blazing Star, or glory in the centre, refers us to the Sun, which enlightens the earth, and by its benign influence dispenses its blessings to mankind in general. The Indented or Tessellated Border refers us to the Planets, which, in their various revolutions form a beautiful border or skirtwork round that grand luminary, the Sun, as the other does round that of a Freemason's Lodge.

Q - Why was Mosaic work introduced into Freemasonry?

A - As the steps of man are trod in the various and uncertain incidents of life, and his days are variegated and chequered by a strange contrariety of events, his passage through this existence, though sometime attended by prosperous circumstances, is often beset by a multitude of evils; hence is our Lodge. furnished with Mosaic work, to point out the uncertainty of all things here on earth. Today we may travel in prosperity tomorrow we may totter on the uneven path of weakness, temptation, and adversity. Then while such emblems are before us, we are morally instructed not to boast of anything but to give heed to our ways, to walk up rightly and with humility before God, there being no station in life on which pride can with stability be founded; for though some are born to more elevated situations than others, yet, when in the grave, we are all on the level, death destroying all distinctions; and while our feet tread on this Mosaic work, let our ideas recur to the original whence we copy; let us, as good men and Masons, act as the dictates of reason prompt us, to practice charity, maintain harmony, and endeavour to live in unity and brotherly love.

Nice sentiments. It seems strange that some lodges do not include this and it does raise questions to the possibility that modern freemasonry has altered somewhat from its original format or purpose. I don't have any opinion as such, I came upon this by chance and thought I'd share as it is relevant to the previous discussion.