131, GLOBES ON THE PILLARS Mars, Cousin AND TiRRESTRUAL . Why do we talk of the pila, B. and J, ing crowned with ‘two spheres on which were delineated maps ofthe celestial and trestsal ‘lobe’ witen everybody at that time, Believed the world ta bet? rat Agom 10 ‘A. The Biblical account of she objects which surmounted the pillars is by no means clear. The exiginal Hebrew wort is goolor (plu) tr 4g00iah (singula) and it may mean globes, bowls oe vessels, Various forms of the same word are often used to desribe anything ear Spherical. The Geneve Bible of 1560 was one of the ety illustrated Bibles that contained a picture ofthe pillar surmounted by an orna- mental sphere, not a map; but tere are several lustrations, produced. shout the same time and late, showing the pillars surmounted by Demispheres of bowls, and the Authorized Version of the Bible at ‘(Kings vi, v.41, speaks of “the two bows ofthe chapiter that were ‘on the tp ofthe two pillar... Whether they were really bowls or lobes cannot now be determined, but te quite cetan that they weee oe maps ihe celestial or tees.‘Solomon's Temple was completed, according to Ussher, in 1005 9.c. (Graet, the Jewish historian, says 1007). The ealiest kewown map of the word is believed to have been designed, some 400 yeas late, by ‘Anaximander (c, 611-546 82) who held that it wae flat and shaped like a ylinder of grea thickness, bounded round it creuniference by ‘ater, and suspended in the crular vault of the heavens. ‘Dating the next 1500 years or so, the science of eatography made ver litle progres, although celestial globes were already kxiown in the time of Bede, AD. 637-735. The map-makers were generally ‘agreed that the world was flat, though they differed as to whether it ‘was an ‘oblong square’, or ova, or cular. The fathers ofthe Chis- tian Church didnot encourage selene pursuits and it was not until the peiod c. ab. 1100-1250 thatthe sphericity of the globe began to Find acceptance emong philosophers and scholars, The eatlest known “slobal maps (he Nuremberg globe, by Behaim, a apothe, known 4s the Laon globe) are both dated 1492, the year in which Columbus Degan his frst major voyage. “Masonic interest in these matters seems to have developed ina very radial and somewhat roundabout way. Mot of our ear ital texts Contain question relating tothe "lights ofthe lodge, always three tn ‘number, at frst denoting the Marte, warden; and fellow-era. Late they ar said to represent the ‘Sun, Moon, and Mater, and c, 1727 1750 we find the expansions ‘Sun to rule the Day, Moon, the Night, ‘he fist fain hint of an interest i the celestial bodies. By this time, 1730, Masonry Disseced indicate in its eatechism thatthe Lodge is “as high as the Heavens” and as deep as ‘the Centre ofthe Fath, and 4s covered by ‘A cloudy Canopy of divers colours (or the Clouds)" ‘The next mn linkin the chain of evolution ie inthe French expo sure LOnire des Francs-Magons Trai, 1745, which repeated all the ets summarized from Masonry Dissected, shove, but sed 8 new piece of interpretation tothe dimensions 1. Wy do you ewe ae? ‘4: To nn Pe Minos we ead vel Eat, al ee hy ‘am several oa neg ‘ere isthe rst hint, in any Mason ital, of the Kea which was soon {to be ensrind inthe phrase ‘Masonry universal’. Inthe French txts generally, te canopy is now “studded with golden stare, but the Traht ‘has another embellishment of rather greater interes. At the centre of {he combined E.A-EC. 'loordrawing’ or racing Boar, there is aa “aumilary sphere’ ic, king of skeleton celestial globe consisting of ‘eal strap rings or hoops, used inthe study of astronomy. This was, pparenly, the Fist precanor ofthe handsome globes which became a distinctive feature in the wealthier and well-equipped Lodge inthe late 18th and Ith entries. ‘The final evolutionary stags cannot be detemined precisely, though they seem tobe directly linked with the words "Masonry univers ‘which appeared forthe firs tine in Three Distinct Knocks, 176), and then in JB, 1762 ‘May. Wny ne Suriceot Cene of te art? Both tts describe the Wardens" columns in detail and there sno hin, at this stage, that they were surmounted with globes. Many later tations of these and other English exposures contain en engraved frontispiece showing the furiute ofthe lodges oftheir day n whieh the globes area regular feture, and we cannot be sure which came fine. the handsome globes or te words ‘Masonry univers” which ‘may well have inspired thee introdetion, ‘The evidence of Lodge minutes nd inventories suggest thai not until the last quarter of the 18th century thatthe Lodges began Acquire these coil items of furniture and there isa stzong posiilily thatthe globes with maps were added to the Wardens’ columns a8 a economy measur, in place ofthe far mere expensive globes on omit ‘mental stand, ‘Eventully the term "Masonry univers” made its appearance in the Lectures, and in the ‘Explanation of the Second Tracing Boat” in ‘hich the Masonic deterpson of Solomons pillars rat that they were ‘further adorned with two spherical balls, on which were deli fed maps ofthe clesGal and terest! globes [symbolizing] ‘masonry universal’. The symboliam ofthe globes is wholly acceptable but the statment tht Solomon's pillars were adorned with globes depicting those wo maps is nonsense, «fight of fancy, doubless | introduced by a fanatical ‘improver' who was determined to make the ritual comply with his il-founded theories.