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ONE 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 chalk-line 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

Footnotes

[11]'The Symbolism of the Ladder' [56 above].

[12]The initiatic use of the spiral staircase is explained by the identification of the degrees of initiation with as many different states of the being. One can cite as example of this, from Masonic symbolism, the winding staircase of 15 treads, divided into 3 + 5 + 7, which leads to the 'Middle Chamber'. In the other case, the same hierarchical states are also represented by the rungs, but their disposition and very shape indicates that one cannot stop on them and that they are only the means of a continuous ascension, while it is always possible to tarry more or less on the steps of a staircase or at least on the landings between different flights into which the stairs are divided.

[1]The term used by the medieval guilds is 'chain of alliance'.

[2]This symbol also bears another denomination, 'serrated crest', which seems rather to designate the periphery of a canopy. Now, it is clear that the canopy is a symbol of heaven (for example, the chariot canopy in the Far Eastern tradition); but there is no contradiction here, as will be seen.

[3]See 'The Zodiac and the Cardinal Points' [15 above].

[4]This is why the assimilation to the periphery of a canopy is also justified, which it obviously would not be for the terrestrial projection of this celestial frame.

[5]These knots are called 'lakes of love'. This name, as well as the particular form of the knots, in a certain sense perhaps bears the mark of the eighteenth century; but nevertheless, it may also be that there is here a vestige of something that goes back much further and which may even be quite directly related to the symbolism of the _Fedeli d'Amore_.

[6]The 'Board of the Lodge', in fact no longer in use, which is represented at the head of Ragon's _Maçonnerie occulte_, is clearly incorrect, not only for the number of knots in the 'chain of union' but also for the strange and even inexplicable position which is attributed to the zodiacal signs.

[7]Some people think that these twelve knots imply, 'ideally' at least, the existence of an equal number of columns—ten in addition to the two columns of the West which correspond to the extremities of the 'chain of union'. It is to be noted in this connection that a similar arrangement, though in a circular form, is to be found in certain megalithic monuments that are also clearly related to the Zodiac.

[8]See also, as regards the zodiacal division of cities, the already referred to chapter 15. As to what remains to be said here, it is to be noted that it is this very division which assigns their respective places to the different elements whose union constitutes the city. Another example of the zodiacal 'envelope' is to be found in the Far Eastern symbolism of the _Ming-tang_ with its twelve openings which we have explained elsewhere (_The Great Triad_, ch. 16).

[9]It can be said that our world is 'ordered' by the combined temporal and spatial determinations that are linked to the Zodiac through its direct relationship with the annual cycle on the one hand, and on the other through its correspondence with the directions of space (it goes without saying that this last point of view is closely related to the question of the traditional orientation of buildings).

67 § The Chain of Union

Footnotes