67 § The Chain of Union
O n e of the Masonic symbols which tends in our day to be least understood is the 'chain of union' [1] that surrounds the upper part of the Lodge. Some are inclined to see in this the chalk-line with which the operative Masons would trace out the contour of a building. They are certainly right but, even so, this is insufficient, and it must at least be asked what was the symbolic value of the chalk-line itself. [2] Moreover such a position accorded to a 'tool' for making an outline on the ground might well seem abnormal, and this also calls for some explanation.
In order to understand these points, it must first of all be remembered that from the traditional point of view, any edifice whatsoever was always built according to a cosmic model. It is clearly specified, moreover, that the Lodge is the image of the Cosmos, and we have here no doubt the last remnant of this idea that has continued to exist in the Western world until today. In view of this tradition, the site of a building had to be determined and 'enframed' by something which in a certain way corresponded to what might be called the very 'frame' of the Cosmos; we shall soon see what this is, and we can say at once that the 'materialised' delineation by the chalkline represented strictly speaking its terrestrial projection. We have moreover already seen something comparable in the plan of cities established according to traditional rules; [3] in fact, the case of the city and that of buildings taken separately do not differ essentially in this respect, for it is really always a question of imitating the same cosmic model.
When the building is constructed, and even once it has begun to rise, the chalk-line obviously has no further part to play. Thus the position of the 'chain of union' does not refer precisely to the outline which it has served to effect, but much rather to its cosmic prototype, the remembrance of which on the contrary always helps to determine the symbolic meaning of the Lodge and of its different parts. The chalk-line itself, under this form of the 'chain of union', then becomes the symbol of the 'framework' of the Cosmos; and its position is to be understood without difficulty if, as is in fact the case, this 'framework' has a celestial and no longer a terrestrial significance. [4] We will add that by such a transposition the earth simply restores to heaven what had initially been borrowed from it.
What makes the meaning of this symbol particularly clear is that while the chalk-line as tool is naturally a plain line, the 'chain of union' on the contrary has knots at intervals. [5] These knots are or ought normally to be twelve [6] in number, and thus they evidently correspond to the signs of the Zodiac. [7] It is indeed the Zodiac, within which the planets move, that truly constitutes the 'envelope' of the Cosmos, that is, the 'framework' of which we have spoken, [8] and it is obvious that there is really, as we have said, a celestial 'framework' here.
Now there is still something else that is no less important: a 'framework' has among its functions, and perhaps even as its principal function, that of maintaining in their place the diverse elements that it contains or encloses within itself, so as to form an ordered whole, which is moreover commonly known to be the etymological meaning of the word 'Cosmos'. [9] Thus, it must in some way 'link' or 'unite' these elements among themselves, which the designation 'chain of union' formally expresses; and it is even from this that the most profound meaning derives, for as with all symbols in the form of a chain, a rope, or a thread, it is to the sūtrātmā that it ultimately refers. We will limit ourselves to calling attention to this point without entering here and now into more ample explanations, because we shall soon have to return to it, inasmuch as this characteristic is still more clearly apparent in the case of certain other symbolic 'frameworks' which we are going to examine.