The Rite of Circumambulation
by GABRIEL VASILE OLTEAN
Expert Inspector of NGLR for Western Region Past Worshipful Master, Zamolxis Lodge, no. 182, Deva
When we wish to comment, to explain the ceremonies of freemasonry, we are forced to look into an especially important aspect within the ritual, that is to say the direction of the circulary motion in the procession of the Brethren within the Temple, in fact to study a universally attested rite – The Rite of Circumambulation (the term meaning a certain kind of movement, circulation around the Altar or in the Temple generally). How must the mason move in the Temple and how does he do it? Is the direction of movement of any importance? With which foot must he start moving? who surrounds completely the Lodge and why? These would be some of the questions to which this modest paper will address itself, with the claims of an Architectural Paper. "Circumambulation" is the name given to the religious right of formal procession around an altar or antoher holy object which is consecrated in the time of ancient initiatic ceremonies, this Rite referring to the apparent route of the Sun. the priests of Ancient Greece went three times around the Altar when they were engaging in rites of sacrifice. performing this circumambulation, it was considered strictly necessary that the right side always be close to the altar, so that the procession effectively moved from West to North to East, thus representing the apparent revolution of the sun. there are witnesses that bring to our knowledge this thing: "If you will pay homage to the gods, you must turn to the right", wrote Plautus in his comedy Curculio. Gronovius comments on this passage: "Adoring the gods and praying to them, they were used to turn to the right" In a hymn sung by the priests of Apollo in Delos, we find: "We imitate the example of the Sun and follow its fruitful course", in fact all these circumambulations were accompanied by the intonation of sacred odes, as happens in our days and not only nowadays in Christian Churches. The Romans found the rite of circumambulation irreplaceable in all their sacrificial or purification rites. the union of the two ceremonies of purification and circumambulation through a circular procession was in fact a quotidian thing, hence the term "lustration", which initially meant "to purify" has come to be synonymous with the term "circuire" in the sense of going around a given object. consequently, the two rites were described through a single word. The lines of Virgil in his Ennead remain emblematic: "Thrice they surrounded them, throwing at men, like a dew / clean water from olive branches in bloom". The Hindi people had the Brahmin practice the rite of circumambulation in the morning, as soon as he got out of bed, obviously after first adoring the sun: "Just like the Sun that follows its road around the world on the southern route, so do I follow that star, to obtain the good things that come from a journey around the Earth on the southern route". The mystical dance of the Druds around the In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, movement in the Lodge starts on the left foot, whereas in the Rectified Scottish Rite, it starts with the right foot, and in the Lodge, officers and visitors of do not go straight to their seats, but completely surround the Lodge, moving even twice through certain portions of the route so that together with the Venerable Master directing them, they magnetize the mosaic on the floor, as well as the space above it, with a view to building and consolidating the form-thought in the Temple, a foundation on which the Lodge as an ensemble will erect the Ideal Temple. Arabs practice circumambulation around the holy stone, Jews practice it around the Altar, Buddhists circulate around the hives in a complex rite with incantations and mystical invocations, whereas Tibetan sacerdotes practice it around the Temple. in the framework of the Mindang procession, the Chinese Emperor surrounded the Palace, stopping at each of its 12 gates, corresponding to the signs of the zodiac, whereas according to Japanese mythology, the primordial couple untied only after a complete turn around the holy pole. It is necessary to try in the sequel to specify the exact meaning of the terms sinistrorsum, as the sense of motion of clocks (from right to left), whereas the reverse sense of motion will be called dextrorsum, because the dexpressions from right to left and from left to right are not sufficient to describe exactly a circular motion. the tongue of the clock moves from left to right in the superior part of the clock, but from right to left in the inferior. The same difficulty of expression occurs also when the motion of stars from the Orient to the Occident is considered, or the other way around. for these reasons, we call dextrocentric the sense of circulary movement in which the right hand is constantly to the center of the circle and sinistrocentric the sense of motion in which the left hand is toward the center of the circle. these expressions derive also from the fact that in Latin dexter means right and sinister left, and in the specifications of Roman Augurs, whatever was to the left (sinister) was bad, as opposed to what was on the right. The counterclockwise direction was named by Rene Guernon "polar" and the clockwise direction "solar". In astrology and astronomy, the reverse of the motion of clocks is called direct sense and the contrary motion retrograde sense. The two directions have its partisans and detractors each. For some, the solar direction is the only possible one, keeping in mind that the Sitting opens at midday and closes ad midnight, so it is normal that it follow the direction of the sun’s circulatory motion: East to West through South (Orient, South, Occident), the masons coming in through the Occident and walking through North and when they close the Masonic work they see in the Orient the rising of the sun whence the Light comes, passing then through the South and leaving the Temple through the gate in the Occident. In all this movement, in this circumambulation, the right hand of the mason points permanently to the Lodge’s Painting, the right symbolizing active power, craft, the positive, favorable aspects. The solar direction was adopted by Hiram as well, when he runs from the three companions that attack him. Rites AASR Scottish Rectified Emulation Traditional French Gate I Orient Occident South Occident Gate II South South North South Gate III Occident Orient Orient Orient Direction Solar Polar Solar Polar There are however two exceptions, one in the moment of the opening of the debates, when the Wardens must walk – one to the right and the other to the left – in front of the columns formed by the gathered Brethren and intersect a first time in front of the Venerable and a second time when they go back to their places. If they proceed otherwise, that is if they walk one in front of the other, they are forced to pass in front of the Brethren of the Southern column – if they walk counterclockwise. the Brethren of the Northern column would thus have the possibility to see the sign that they must make in front of the Warden. the second exception: this is to do with the first initiatic journey of the Candidate, when in order to underline symbolically the impotence of the Candidate to understand the profundities of the universe and conform to them, he is led through the temple counterclockwise. The direction adopted and consecrated through Ritual must be rigorously practiced because it is inadmissible that each move at random in the Lodge. Before I close, I wish to transmit the Brotherly salutations and the Triple Accolade, not only on my account, but also from the Brothers in Valea Hunedoarei, to all the readers of this prodigious and respectable publication that is the Masonic Forum, and I attach the Invitation to participate in an event that has become part of tradition in the landscape of Masonic gatherings in Romania, whicjh will take place Hunedoara in the last weeked in May (28 and 29), titled: "Castelul Corvinilor – de la trecut Istoric la prezent Masonic". May the GAOTU keep lighting the work and our work, help us attain the Forece and Wisdom necessary for the permanent work of the Lodges of which we are a part and ley us all rememember the famous words Arnold: "Masonry is a moral Order, founded by intelligent and generous men, based on the highest truths: LIBERTY, BROTHERLY LOVE, AND CHARITY" I have spoken!
so-called cairn or sacred stone was nothing else than the rite of circumambulation through which the priest executed together with all the worshipers the three complete circuits around the cairn. we find out from A specimen of the Critical History of the Celtic Religion and Learning that druids: "never moved straight to the old sacrificial cairns consecrated in fire, but went around them thrice, from East to West, alike to the sun in the sky". Trying to review what we have noted hitherto, we realize that the essence of the ancient rite consisted in performing circumambulation around the altar from East to West through South, a fact that coincides with the Masonic Rite of circumambulation and that this circuit was designed to the right as a representation of the movement of the Sun around the Earth.
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