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St. John the Evangelist, Involution, and Freemasonry

JULY 6, 2019 By  Kristine Wilson-Slack in  HISTORY,  THEOLOGY Tags:  CHRISTIANITY,  CO-FREEMASONRY,  CO-
MASONRY,  CO-MASONS,  EVOLUTION,  FREEMASON,  FREEMASONRY,  FREEMASONS,  HOLY
BIBLE,  INVOLUTION,  LIGHT,  PATMOS,  PATRON SAINTS OF FREEMASONRY,  PISCEAN
AGE,  REFLECTION,  SOLSTICE,  ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST ,  ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST ,  THE BOOK OF REVELATION 2
COMMENTS

There’s been much written about the patron saint of Freemasonry, Saint John the Baptist. His feast
day, celebrated by Freemasons over the world, is in June – the time of greatest light in the northern
hemisphere. This feast day, June 24, is typically the time of Summer Solstice celebrations.
There is another patron saint of Freemasonry, Saint John the Evangelist, of which less is spoken or
discussed. St. John the Evangelist has as his feast day December 27, roughly the time of Winter
Solstice. There is an excellent paper on the Saints John in a popular Masonic site called Pietre-
Stones. In it, the author discusses the possibilities of how the Saints John became the patrons of
Freemasonry. In the end, he concludes that we really don’t know the actual reason that they are
Freemason’s patrons.
One thing, though, that Freemasons are wonderful with is speculation. After all, it’s what we are
– speculative Masons. So, let us speculate.
Freemasonry itself has a lot of analogies related to light and with Light. There’s an archetypal idea,
mostly associated with Plato and the allegory of the cave and the analogy of the sun, which associate
Light (in the form of the Sun) with Truth. These archetypical forms are what Plato (via Socrates)
considers to be that for which the philosopher-king is ever searching. These ideas have been
incorporated into Freemasonry in myriad passages and ritual elements. Many Freemasons consider
Freemasonry to be a “solar” ritual, as opposed to a lunar ritual. In this aspect, they see “solar” as an
active, outgoing, and Western in nature, whereas a “lunar” type of ritual is receptive, inward, and
Eastern. Where some initiatory schools are inward

looking,  Freemasonry is outward viewing. Like the

symbol of Yin and Yang, this does not mean it is devoid of lunar aspects; however, the primary focus
of Freemasonry is the improvement of mankind.
It makes sense, then, that Freemasonry would concern itself with solstices. The word solstice is
derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands
still in declination; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun’s path (as seen from Earth) comes to a
stop before reversing direction. These are trajectories of the sun’s path and in understanding these
movements, we understand more about how our world, how nature, works. In understanding nature,
we are able to move through it with easy and achieve greater good. However, Freemasonry goes far
deeper than the simple knowledge of nature. These movements become metaphors and analogies for
the “a-ha” moments which make up a Freemasonic life.
For thousands of years, mystery schools and myths taught humanity about the cycle of life. When we
moved away from superstition into speculation, we realized that special gods did not bring back the
sun to continue life – it was simply the way that Nature worked. Humanity learned that while there
might or might not be a Divine hand behind the creation of the world and the Nature it housed, we
could learn to understand how it worked to our advantage. We learned to move away from fear and
into exploration. The myths and mystery schools became a way to explore not only what happened in
this world but perhaps what happened after we die, and help us contemplate the reasons for our
existence, humanity’s existence. The greatest time of philosophical and physical exploration within
these schools of thought came during the Age of Aries. The Age of Aries was a time of identifying
humanity into civilizations, when there was the fire of invention, innovation, and inspiration.
With the onset of our current Piscine-age, mystery schools and myths faded in the bright light of
more dogmatic and directive religions. With the rise of Abrahamic religions, our concepts of Light
have morphed. In the Western Hemisphere, we began to associate people which archetypes. Jesus,
the “Light of the World.” Muhammad, who said “I am the light of Allaah and everything is from my
light.” Gods of all locales had and have been associated with the Sun or Light, but this Piscine age
was the beginning of a time when living human beings began to be associated with light, and Light
from divine sources. As Christianity spread, it sought to incorporate many cultures into its fold, thus
continuing the influences of the Roman Empire – conquering with assimilation rather
than  domination. In this assimilation, many “feast days” and
“saint’s days” were integrated with, and overtook, colloquial celebrations. It is not a coincidence that
the Feast day of Christ (the Light of the World) is also the celebrated feast day of Mithras, a Sun God
worshiped in Ancient Rome.
Two of the most important figures of the Christian Bible, and specifically the Christian religion, are
Saint John the Evangelist (John of the gospels) and Saint John the Baptist. An extremely
good overview of St. John the Evangelist is located at this link. According to this, since the fifth
century, December 27 has been the acknowledged feast or celebratory day of St. John the Evangelist.
Every Christian knows, at the very least in passing, about John the Baptist. They might say different
things, but the core of the story is essentially that John the Baptist was born to a woman named
Elizabeth, six months earlier than Jesus’ birth. There is some speculation that Elizabeth and Jesus’
mother Mary were related in some way. John was a bit of a wild man, calling on the nation of Israel
to repent because “their savior was nearly upon them.” John began baptizing people by way of water,
to “wash away their sins” and be ready for the Christ. Thus, John the Baptist was the herald of the
coming of the Christian savior, even before knowing who he was. John the Baptist is known as the
one who recognized the “son of God” and identified him to the world. (John 1:31-34)
John the Evangelist was a different story. John The Evangelist, brother of St. James, was one of the
first disciples of Jesus and was the only disciple not to be martyred for his faith. This John wrote his
gospel, letters to leaders of the early church and later, in Patmos, his Revelation. He apparently died
in Ephesus, a priest and scholar. He was known in the Byzantine Church as “John the Theologian.”
What we know of this John is only what he himself has, ostensibly, written.
This does little to explain why these two disparate personalities are linked to Freemasonry. My
speculation goes on here. I believe these two Johns are archetypes in which Freemasonry has housed
certain ideals and, perhaps, more esoteric teachings. John the Baptist is a fiery personality, who used
water to cleanse the people for the coming of “the True Light.” He was vocal, verbal, an expression of
the element of air and yet, he was a man of the wilderness, whose earthiness lead people to belief and
faith. In other words, he was an elemental man, full of life of this material world. He shone during
the highest point of the year, the time of most Light in the material world. He is the archetype of
material expression in its highest form. It could not be clearer why he is the Patron Saint of
Freemasonry at the brightest time of the year.
John the Evangelist, however, was none of these things. He is a reflection of the teaching of the
Christ, someone who took the Light and transmuted it into thought. He was a scholar, someone for
whom thought created life. He represents the mental aspects of humanity, the time when
contemplation and reflection are necessary to achieve progress. He was the energy of the Light
transferred to thought and in its purest form, the Mind. Where John the Baptist
represents Evolution, John the Evangelist represents Involution. These two Johns are the
boundaries of the circle of human attainment – maximum involution and maximum evolution – the
spirit turned to word and the word turned to spirit again. We see this as a icon of Freemasonry

 when we see the two Johns displayed beside a circle with a point
in the exact center. This center is the point of pure Light within the human form, from which perfect
 balance of humanity is attained. These two Johns are the archetypes of the best of two facets of
mankind, icons of the Piscean age.
This current age, in the procession of the equinoxes, is coming to a close and we find ourselves
beginning a new age – an Aquarian age. While there is a technological overtone to the age, this is also
the age of consciousness. The influences of nature continues to push us toward new ways of thinking,
new influences. They push us away, perhaps, from the avatars and archetypes of an earlier age. The
pictures that humans need vary and perhaps these two will become even further abstract in their
meaning as we progress. Humans will continue to look to nature, and need to look to nature, to
understand their own progress. Perhaps these archetypes of Involution and Evolution will change in
the new age, and Freemasonry’s symbols will change with it. For now, these two Saints’ John stand
guard and the highest and lowest moments of Light, reminding us that both edges of the spectrum
are necessary for progress to be achieved and nature to be understood.
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2 responses

1. ADAM JOHNSON says:
December 29, 2017 at 11:23 am
I enjoyed the article very much, thank you, and I would like to say that with evolution most certainly
comes the strain and identifiable processes of involution. As so represented in nature by examples such as
niche, specie trait; scaled to predation, environ, etcetera; and in turn by this involution, we are presented
the evidence of evolution, both in terms of physical and psychological determinants, by which the
psychological involutionary factors are then reflected along evolutionary terms of both the psyche and
physical makeup of any living thing.

Now to say something has evolved to any point requires an almost predisposed, quite certain
understanding of Earths entire biome in relation to itself and the structure in which it has represented its
diversity via evolutionary trait at any given time throughout history. Having a copy of Darwin’s work
could help one base theory on fact as well, helping identify the driving force of such evolution.

Through ways of delicate, biologic interpretation, lets consider the order, family, and genus
differentiations of the avian classes eagle. We can note that as for the period in which we now exist, we
can identify biologic traits as being physical;(ex. Size); and psychological; (ex. predatory) developmentally
evolved in the representation of the eagle as we know it today. Questioning if these given characteristics
and traits were brought on by means of necessity, structured via means of competition, competency, (or
any other plausible environmental variable we could prose), we can imply that this family of bird and the
species therein have evolved, and quite possibly may still be evolving at a rate unnoticeable or at least not
accelerated by current environmental factors. What we can also determine by ways of categorization down
to the species, is that the biologic structure of the varying types of specie diversity represented on this
planet signifies that evolution has been a constant in natures equation.

Nature has such a fine way of making things add up so to say. I believe involution, in natures minds eye,
draws out the expression before the equation balances itself in some way by forms of evolution, with
nature itself, in almost all ways imaginable, being the catalyst driving the involution to evolution cycle.

Were the simplest of being to “evolve”, would it ask itself after the fact why it chose to, was it a choice, and
of what natural forces brought about such life altering monumental change, as to amend, reprogram, force
upon or give choice, in respect to natures equatable understanding of its own accepted, predetermined,
seemingly necessary constants in use to provide explanation where it may not currently exist?

Perhaps 

Constants in place to support fact, as well as test the seemingly immovable perception and understanding
of scientific law in regards to grand concepts like genetic assembly, and other universally definitive, mind
bending, seemingly cyclical, hierarchically altering, matter equivalent to anti matter, type of suggestive
notions, that in relativity to time are, epic and ever changing, to say the very least.

I would venture the guess to be no. As the chameleon, while predating doesn’t wonder why it changes
color to avoid predation while simultaneously aiding in its hunt; or the flying fish pause to wonder about
the use of evolutionarily developed gills processing oxygen in molecules of air rather than water, while it
tries not to become lunch; or a lonely polar bears camouflaging, white fur working in conjunction with
dermal and fatty layers to survive elemental extremes, while a black bear facing drastically different
involutionary factors in the jungle would have a tough go under similar metabolic processes; or its distant
cold weather friend, the flightless penguin, with wings evolved to flippers. (Now I have to make some time
for humor, but if the fellow wants to fly, then a change of diet perhaps?? ;p

In all cases we find that they simply do, and live, and through this, all life shows signs of embracing,
adjusting to, or just simply coping with environmental factors. Through which involution, driven by
current and ongoing environmental factors, strains and stresses, bounty and barren, leads to evolutionary
niche trait development, that in the moment they are most certainly unaware of relying upon, and very
well may still be evolving towards as to meet the always changing possibilities of a demanding natural
environment.

A natural environment outside their control, that can drive change by external factors like climate and
environment, as well as internal factors, though most seemingly to relate directly to predation. To those
that can observe, measure, rationalize, or speculate based upon this data, we find physical determinants
resulting in physical evolutionary traits. What can be gained by the interpretation of its psychological
affects, ex. what the bear thinks of himself… or metabolic structures of differing species based on any
given environmental factors. In turn leading to behavioral expressions gained via an evolution based on
preset environmental factors outside the control of the life form being interpreted.

As part of this equation, and a major factor in it, is it time itself, in these instances, that affords nature the
capacity and ability to evolve, both physically and psychologically? What can be gained from interpreting
times relation to these factors and their effect, especially in relation to psychological evolutionary traits.
How much time×?
How strong the impetus to begin affecting the psychological, both pre and post involution, and does this
always lead to physical evolutionary development?

Evolution is a massive reality, by which the most minute concept deliberated by means of involution can
express change that nature is still in the process of equating today. The examples seem endless, with all of
it pointing at or leading itself to the light and life it sustains. The byproduct of condensing gasses on a
planet near a sun propelling those gasses through what seems a void, structured by charge, proportion
 and distance of those gasses in relation to each other, would indicate to a creature entirely devoid of the
light itself, but swimming in its optimal watery wake, that life somehow finds a way to put on its show, no
matter the circumstance or drastic change upon its situation or environment.

Identifying these forces, understanding their origin, and equating for nature as represented in the
physical and metaphysical, is all part of an ongoing scientific evolution inspired and brought about by the
need for perhaps a psychological and even spiritual involution, one might say to zero.

As evolved beings ourselves, capable of asking(involution) and answering (evolution) almost all of our
own questions; whether representative of our own true jurisprudential apothesis and presumable nature,
or not; we must at some points stand in question of even natures own understanding of itself and remind
it yet again that existence and its proliferous tendencies will make sense of even the most perilous,
precarious, unimaginably inequitable situations if only to attain a righteous sense of equilibrium and
homeostasis, if even for a brief, fleeting moment in time. Perhaps that moment lasts just long enough, and
in that moment we can realize the answers to our own questions and enjoy the lesson that nature is
teaching us.

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REPLY

2. SAÏDOU BOKOTA says:
July 22, 2019 at 6:07 am
Bonjour, vivement intéressé par la FM, et ne voudrai avoir plus d’information

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