In the lecture of the First Degree we are told that a Lodge has three symbolic Lesser Lights; one of these is in the East, one in the West, and one in the South. There is no light in the North, because King Solomon's Temple, of which every Lodge is a representation, was placed so far north of the ecliptic that the sun and moon, at their meridian height, could dart no rays into the northern parts thereof. The North we therefore Masonically call a place of darkness. This symbolic use of the Lesser Lights is very old, being found in the earliest lectures of the eighteenth century. The three lights, like the three principal officers and the three principal supports, refer, undoubtedly, to the three stations of the sun - its Rising in the East, its Meridian in the South, and its setting in the West; and thus the symbolism of the Lodge, as typical of the world, continues to be preserved.
See also: Three Burning Tapers
~~ooOoo~~
This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.
