Which Way Up

Short Papers Competition 2009 © 2010 Internet Lodge and the author Paper 25/2009 Title Which Way Up Author Bro Kerry LeBoutillier – Australia Brethren! Who has ever given any thought to the orientation of our square and compasses? Most centres in this country (Australia) display the logo with the compass points facing down (in what would be a working position) and the square in the opposite direction. If I stand to the west of the altar facing east and look down I see the square and compasses oriented the same way. For years I thought that this was one of those inflexible rules that abound in every society. I liken it to placing the capital on top of the column rather than the base. But I then visited another lodge. There on top of the VSL I saw the square and compasses facing the opposite way, i.e. the compasses on top as I face west. This required some research. Brethren, I don’t like being confused. So I looked to where I might find the solution, to Albert Mackey’s Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry.
I found some interesting things about this symbol and I will relay some to you. “The Compasses and Square are the embodiment of the rectangular and the round, just as the prophets of old were the embodiment of the due relationship between man and man.” and; “This is one of the most important and significant Symbols in Freemasonry. As such, it is proper that its true form should be preserved. French Freemasons have almost universally given it with one leg longer than the other, thus making it a carpenter's square. American Freemasons… have, while generally preserving the equality of length in the legs, unnecessarily marked its surface with inches; thus making it an instrument for measuring length and breadth which it is not. It is simply the trying square of a stone-mason, and has a plain surface...” and;
“In Masonic symbolism the Square and Compasses refer to the Freemason's duty to the Craft and to himself; hence it is properly a symbol of brotherhood, and thereby significantly adopted as the badge or token of the Fraternity.” So where did all this get me on my quest, Brethren? The answer is nowhere. I can’t find a reference about it anywhere. So I used the only thing I have left, reason. I think it is a matter of orientation and tradition. Where do we look at the symbol from? If we as a lodge look to the east (the place of the master) then we would see them oriented with the points of the compasses to the west. If we look from the point of view of the master, then they should be reversed. We each have our own views on much of the symbolism of Freemasonry. Symbolism itself should be topic of debate in lodges, so if this topic generates some discourse, then I have been successful. Sources: http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/mackeys_encyclopedia/s.htm