Suggestion as to the meaning of the masonic symbolic initiation. It is understood that the actual practises change from lodge to lodge but the essentials remain consistent. I intend to briefly propose a theory of their meaning based upon what I have written already, and by taking what I consider to be an imitative yet opposite view of there origin. I am not suggesting a traditional interpretation.
From the masonic literature I have read the following and it is entirely taken from memory. The freemason is dressed in loose fitting white garments, somewhat like a karate suit. Often accompanying this is at the ceremony is lamb skin clothing. He may be initially be presented with a hangman's noose placed around his neck, hence the source of the previous suggestion of him being suitably prepared for sacrifice. The noose obviously representing imminent death.
The lambs skin is imitative and opposite to the representation of Jesus Christ being known as the Lamb of God and being the last ever Christian sacrifice. It is also imitative and opposite to the foretelling of the coming of the womans seed which will crush the serpents head, Jesus Christ. It is also imitative and opposite in this sense because the entered apprentice has freely given himself to the serpent who is lying in wait for her heel.
The suggestion of death is imitative and opposite of the serpents promise to Eve that she would not die the death if she tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
He bares his left breast. This is imitative yet opposite of the punishment of the serpent which would forever lie upon his breast and eat the earth, the left breast obviously representing the evil nature of the serpent.
He bares his left leg below the knee. This is imitative and opposite of the serpent lying in wait for the womans heel, the foretelling of the coming of Christ.
He bares his right arm. This is imitative yet the opposite of God admonishing Adam incase he should reach with his hand and taste also of the Tree of Life and live forever.
Both the hand and the heel in this sense are bared because they are coming 'under attack' by the deity. The serpent is attacking the heel of the womans seed, the entered apprentice, and at the same time is supposedly removing the chance of eternal life.
Regarding the punishments, the entered apprentices heart is 'measured' by dividers. Yet whether there is any measurement, considering their deity would be highly questionable.
I think this covers the primary aspects of the initiation of the entered apprentice, who subsequently requests advancement onto the next two degrees. After this time he must be invited to explore the 'mysteries of freemasonry'.
Most importantly, all of this is represented in Genesis Chapter 3, only one and a half pages long, which concerns the creation of man and the 'serpents craft' . This is at the very beginning of the Bible and supports the assertion of the religious ignorance of the entered apprentice.
Recommended reading (pdf e-books):
Pansophic Freemasons - Masonic SymbolismArthur Edward Waite - Some Deeper Aspects Of Masonic Symbolism
John Sebastian Marlowe Ward - The Entered Apprentice Handbook
