Masonic Tracing Boards.....

I have a couple of questions for you fellas that are in the know. What is a Masonic tracing board , and what is it used for?

Originally posted by ANTONIO
I have a couple of questions for you fellas that are in the know. What is a Masonic tracing board , and what is it used for?

Pietre-Stones Collection Of Masonic Tracing Boards
www.freemasons-freemasonry.com...

They have a pretty good set of photos of the tracing boards, but you better get a mason to explain the use. I am sure anything I could say would be inaccurate. Perhaps the website may have an explanation also.

Historicallly the tracing board was the blue print of the day. the specific
instructions as it were for a particular design, engraving, or section of the
structure being worked on.

that is the operative use as i recall. as for the speculative use i will bow to
those who's knowledge is far greater than mine.

Originally posted by ANTONIO
What is a Masonic tracing board , and what is it used for?

In the old days, Lodges used Tracing Boards while giving the Lectures during the conferral of the Degrees. The Tracing Board was usually a long cloth, with Masonic symbols painted on it. The Lecturer would point to the various symbols on the Tracing Board, and then explain them to the Candidate.

Today, many Lodges still have these Tracing Boards in their archives, due to the immaculate art work and history. But today, they�re not often used anymore during the degree. These days, it is much more common for the Candidates to be seated in front of a screen, while the Lecturer shows a slideshow of the various symbols. The Lecture itself is, however, the same.

Fiat Lvx.

Originally posted by Masonic Light
Today, many Lodges still have these Tracing Boards in their archives, due to the immaculate art work and history. But today, they�re not often used anymore during the degree.

This is not true in the Canadian Rite, just as a note. We do use tracing boards, and they are explained to the candidate. We do not use slide shows at all in the Canadian Rite (although some Canadian York Rite Lodges do use slide shows during the third degree).

It's the same in the UK too.

Every single Lodge has it's own set of tracing boards. We try to give all of our candidates the ritual surrounding them too. The First is the hardest one and there aren't many who can do it, but every Lodge likes to have at least one brother who can deliver it.

Originally posted by Masonic Light
Today, many Lodges still have these Tracing Boards in their archives, due to the immaculate art work and history. But today, they�re not often used anymore during the degree. These days, it is much more common for the Candidates to be seated in front of a screen, while the Lecturer shows a slideshow of the various symbols. The Lecture itself is, however, the same.

It seems that using the tracing boards would serve to reenforce to the student a historic connection to masons that have come before him that can not be replicated in a slide show even though the lecture is the same. Also I have read that degrees are being given in some lodges requiring only a one day class with some masons referring to such a degree as a McMason degree.

Is a McMason looked upon as less of a mason by those that have taken the long road?

And do you think that individuals that learn the craft via slideshows and one day classes have less of an understanding of what it means to be a mason than those which become a mason by the more traditional route?
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Originally posted by df1
It seems that using the tracing boards would serve to reenforce to the student a historic connection to masons that have come before him that can not be replicated in a slide show even though the lecture is the same.

Apparently, the Tracing Board is alive and well in Canada and the UK; but I�ve never seen a Tracing Board used in an American Lodge except for the Second Degree. I can only assume that film slides and projectors are less costly than decorative and antique Tracing Boards, and is why American Lodges use them.

Also I have read that degrees are being given in some lodges requiring only a one day class with some masons referring to such a degree as a McMason degree.[/
Is a McMason looked upon as less of a mason by those that have taken the long road?

No, but we traditionalists in the fraternity oppose the one day classes. A few Grand Lodges have instituted this practice, but most are firmly against it; the practice is by no means universal, even though it has generated a lot of controversy.

The Brethren who are made in these classes are true Brethren, and it is not their fault that they have been slighted. It is unlikely that they will have learned much in a one day class, due to the (IMO) laziness and apathy of the more experienced Brethren who have voted to allow such a thing to be done.

Hopefully, this practice will subside; in the meantime, I would only recommend one day class Brethren to take the extra time to study and learn about the fraternity, as they would have been required to do in the traditional fashion.

And do you think that individuals that learn the craft via slideshows and one day classes have less of an understanding of what it means to be a mason than those which become a mason by the more traditional route?

No. The slideshow shows the exact same symbols as were found on the Tracing Boards. The only difference is that the Candidate may be seated while watching the slideshow, instead of walking around a Tracing Board.

Whereas the Tracing Board has all the symbols painted on it in a mosaic, the slideshow presents them one by one, while the Lecturer explains them.

Fiat Lvx.

Thanks ML.

Masonic Tracing Boards and the Western Metaphysical Tradition

The symbols used in 18th-century Masonic tracing boards are references to the vast body of literature and philosophy which documents Renaissance thought.

Masonic Tracing Boards are training devices. In the earliest days of speculative Masonry, the Master would sketch designs on the floor of the Lodge using chalk. Then he would talk about the drawing during the meeting. During the course of the 18th century, the drawings were transferred to "Tracing Boards" which are pictures, one per Degree, that encapsulate the symbols of each of the Degrees. The Boards to which we will refer are English.

Speculative Masonry started in the 1600s, and its symbols are references to that vast body of literature and philosophy which documents Renaissance thought. In the Renaissance, the dominant metaphysic was Judeo-Christian monotheism with an admixture of Classical thinking. Renaissance philosophers incorporated many Greek (particularly neo-Platonic) and Jewish mystical ideas into their orthodox Christianity. Some of these influences came from the Hermetica which had, itself, been a substantial influence in the formation of early Christian doctrines. Others came from Kabbalah, the mystical tradition of Judaism. This fusion of classical and Jewish philosophy is called the "Hermetic/Kabbalistic Tradition"; and after it had been interpreted in the context of orthodox Christian doctrine, it became the basis of Renaissance thinking. Speculative Masonry dates from the end of the Renaissance (the mid-17th century), and it is no surprise that Masonic symbolism reflects this tradition.

www.tracingboard.com...

I had seen the pictures, but I was unaware of the use of tracing boards until this thread. The article above provides a more detailed explanation of the tracing board. I have enlarged several of the tracing boards with a graphic program and printed copies. It appears that they will be useful in understanding the symbology which is discussed in the various free ebooks available on the pietre-stone website.

welcome.to...

So much for the myth of masons being a secret society. The amount of solid information available on freemasonry at no cost is just amazing.
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We are under the Grand Lodge of Scotland at my lodge in Japan and we also use the tracing boards as well. Our tracing boards reflect which degree we are working in during the meeting and is also explained to the candidates on raising. Our tracing boards are actualy paintings and the candiates are seating during the lecture.... And anyone that can do the 1st degree tracing board by heart gets a mighty .

[edit on 2-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

Thanks a lot fellas i appreciate the info .........by the way i am still waiting for the freemasons to come over and meet me and my family. Should be some time this month. Should i have my wife take down her Black Sabbath posters??

Originally posted by ANTONIO
Thanks a lot fellas i appreciate the info .........by the way i am still waiting for the freemasons to come over and meet me and my family. Should be some time this month. Should i have my wife take down her Black Sabbath posters??

Make sure you have shrunken heads added to the living room, get a large knife with a few live chickens and blacklight and and candles spread out in the shape of a huge pentagram on your living room floor. Then tell them that you prepared everything for the meeting. When they ring the door get on your knees and



I am sure you rill get some very fun reactions.

PS.... tell them that you have already purchased the incubator for the reptilian eggs....

[edit on 4-7-2004 by JCMinJapan]

Originally posted by JCMinJapan
Make sure you have shrunken heads added to the living room, get a large knife with a few live chickens and blacklight and and candles spread out in the shape of a huge pentagram on your living room floor. Then tell them that you prepared everything for the meeting. When they ring the door get on your knees and

I am sure you rill get some very fun reactions.

PS.... tell them that you have already purchased the incubator for the reptilian eggs....

Sure, sure, make it easy for him will ya? That's the problem these days, everyone wants to take the fun out of it. Let him earn his Fox Maidens on his own. Big A, just put on some "Flock of Seagulls" (Leveller will say otherwise, but trust the funny monkey) and sit back and enjoy your journey to Light.

p.s. Get battery backup for the incubator.

Originally posted by ANTONIO
Should be some time this month. Should i have my wife take down her Black Sabbath posters??

Only if it's the one from the '77 world tour where Ozzy is wearing a dress!

firstly i would like to introduce myself. im known as boris. i am a third degree mason in australia, mark master mason, and a companion of the holy royal arch. i would also like to stipulate that as freemasonry is NOT a secret society, it is a society of secrets which should, and cannot be divulged to those that are not in the craft and those that have not earned the rite to learn them. the tracing boards are indeed used to assist in delivering important teachings, but i must insist that if anyone wishes to learn more, they should try to join our world-wide fraternity.

Originally posted by Masonic Light
In the old days, Lodges used Tracing Boards while giving the Lectures during the conferral of the Degrees. The Tracing Board was usually a long cloth, with Masonic symbols painted on it. The Lecturer would point to the various symbols on the Tracing Board, and then explain them to the Candidate.

Today, many Lodges still have these Tracing Boards in their archives, due to the immaculate art work and history. But today, they�re not often used anymore during the degree. These days, it is much more common for the Candidates to be seated in front of a screen, while the Lecturer shows a slideshow of the various symbols. The Lecture itself is, however, the same.

I m pleased to say under UGLE it is still done by memory and the tracing board is still expalined as symbolism and allegory. While the board , not fabric, is laid on the Lodge Room floor.

Trust the Yanks to get a television in there.

might it be possible to change this UGLE to this U.G.L.E.? while i after a second
realize it is United Grand Lodge England (right?) , at first glance and to someone
unfamiliar with it it might register as UGLY which i have seen misspelled UGLE.

Brought my thread back from the dead i see ..........anyways during my 1st. degree i did not see a tracing board in sight??

Originally posted by stalkingwolf
might it be possible to change this UGLE to this U.G.L.E.? while i after a second
realize it is United Grand Lodge England (right?) , at first glance and to someone
unfamiliar with it it might register as UGLY which i have seen misspelled UGLE.

Wait till you have been there?

Tracing boards-

Kind of visual stimuli aren't they?

Goes with the symbolism/subliminal projection school of thought don't they?

Slide-shows? That's the ticket. Now the 'hidden' meaning can be tweaked from time to time as updated slides are sent 'down the Pike'(mason humor).

Lectures, repetition, visual stimuli sure reminds me of Jonestown and David Koresh., don't you agree?

What with kiddie indoctrination (Demolay, Rainbow, Job's) kind of �child-youth-corps?�

Don't forget mom and the Star or another servile path.

Have you given thought to masonry for pets?

That kind of has a nice ring to it and Pavlovian techniques are already used in some lodges aren't they?