The 47 Th Proposition Of Euclid Made Easy

Short Papers Competition 2009 © 2010 Internet Lodge and the author Paper 8/2009 Title The 47th Proposition of Euclid Made Easy Author Bro Karen Kidd – United States The 47 th Proposition of Euclid is in the Past Master’s jewel in a number of Masonic Obediences, Many Brothers point out the Proposition was known long before Euclid, or Pythagoras by whom it often also is called. Right triangles are part of megalithic monuments built several thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt and Northern Europe, suggesting those builders understood the Proposition.
However, many Brothers cannot easily explain t he Proposition’s importance to Freemasonry. It is simple: A 2 + B2 = C2,
3 + 4 = 5
bro. A + bro. B = bro. C. At first glance, these figures, and brothers, have no relation at all. The Proposition is important because it reveals the interrelation between these numbers and these brothers.
It states that in any right triangle, the square of the triangle’s base, or level, (A) added to the square of the upright (B) will equal the square of the third, longest, side called the “hypotenuse” (C).
Let’s say A = 3 and B = 4 3 x 3 = 9 4 x 4 = 16 9 + 16 = 25 The level is 9, the upright 16 and the hypotenuse, 25. Therefore, 3 + 4 = 5 Freemasonry hints often at this. In the First Degree, the C* approaches the ar by Irr Sps. In those Obediences where this approach is practiced, the 3, 4 and 5 are veiled but visible, along with the level and upright with which each sp begins and ends. So what is the Proposition’s importance to Freemasonry? The answer, my Brothers, is that we are not operative but speculative Masons. Therefore, we apply this Proposition to our morals.
Short Papers Competition 2009 © 2010 Internet Lodge and the author I believe the late Bro. C.C. Hunt stated it best in his own paper, “The Forty-Seventh Problem of Euclid”: “So it is in life. Measured on the level of our lower natures, there is no relation between our own desires and our brother’s needs. We are connected, it is true, as the sides of a triangle are connected, but there is no reason we should not use him for the accomplishment of our own selfish purposes, irrespective of his welfare. It is only when we square our lives by the square of virtue, and our selfish desires are raised to spiritual purposes, that we perceive that our own welfare is intimately connected with that of our brother. His misfortunes are our misfortunes, as we can no more injure him and not be ourselves harmed thereby, than we can strike off our right hand and be none the worse by reason thereof.” I think it significant that Bro. Hunt, when he says “brother” in this passage, does so with a small “b”. For the Proposition shows our interrelation not only with our Brothers in the Craft, but within the larger brotherhood of all mankind.