The three great, though emblematical, lights of masonry are revealed immediately after an initiate has been ‘restored to the blessing of material light’. Blinking, and for the first time conscious of his curious situation, the newcomer has a moment to glimpse the objects before him as each is briefly explained. A moment later, now standing, he is turned round. He sees for the first time the room in which he is situated, and the Brethren all observing him, for they are interested to see his reactions. And then he has pointed out to him, by a sweep of the Master’s arm, the three lesser lights in masonry, oddly said to represent the Sun, Moon and Master of the Lodge.
     There is then, or thereafter, no further explanation. He has arrived in the masonic universe and is left, if and when he is so inclined, to explore it for himself. No wonder that new Brethren feel the need for masonic education. No wonder there is a groundswell for lodges of instruction and research to come to the rescue, to change their habits of a lifetime grinding out their own brand of instruction, and to impart instead ‘genuine knowledge’, directed towards helpful and immediate understanding of their environment, to all masonic journeymen.
     There is no better place to start than with the lights of masonry. After all, Freemasonry prides itself on affording light of a special sort to its Brethren. What is the nature of this light? How do we know when we have it? Can others see it? What evidence is there for its existence? If we start in the dark, how do we hope to find it? These are questions to ponder, for the ritual answers are Delphic.
     Unfortunately repetition and familiarity dull the sharpness of our senses. Ideally we ought to enter each moment with the freshness of a threeyear old, or do I mean the heightened sensations of one who has returned from a near-death experience? Surprise and delight ought to be bubbling near the surface. Freemasonry can offer, despite all appearances, the stimulus to renew this.

THE THREE GREAT LIGHTS

Let us approach the three great lights. They are a stroke of genius. They are little short of revolutionary. They declare. We are their children. To remind ourselves, they consist of the Volume of the Sacred Law, the Square, and the Compasses. The Sacred Writings are to govern our faith; the Square to regulate our actions; and the Compasses to keep us in due bounds with all mankind, particularly our Brethren in Freemasonry.
     You will recall that the first action after the opening of the Lodge is an assembling of the three great lights in front of the Master. Separately they each have their significances; together they gather a collective meaning and authority. At the very conclusion of the Lodge meeting these fissile elements are dispersed, closed and put away, and Brethren return to the material world, their masonic secrets locked away in a certain safe repository.
     The fact is that in the natural world, both by biblical authority and by our unvarnished senses, there are only two great lights. In previous centuries, when the ritual was created, every educated person would have known this; indeed, every uneducated person would have known this. Before the introduction of gas and electric light the rising of the sun in a very real way meant the start of the day. It meant natural warmth, and growth. And when that great light eventually sank down towards the brink of the horizon, only the well-off could light their private domestic candles. The poor, unless enjoying the warmth and light of a tavern fire, would settle down to sleep. The moon, as it silently waxed great and waned small, truly governed the night. Its effluxions ruled men’s possibilities for travel and for harvesting. It was the mysterious power which drew up, and then released, the mighty sea. And, by the mere motion of its rhythms, who knows what else?
     These are the works of the fourth day in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis:

    And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
     And let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
     And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.
     And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Mas. What were the next Things that were shewn to you?
     Ans. Three Candles, which I was told were the three lesser Lights in Masonry.
Mas. What do they represent?
     Ans. The Sun, Moon and Master- Mason.
Mas. Why so, Brother?
     Ans. There is the Sun to rule the Day, the Moon to rule the Night and the Master-Mason his Lodge, or at least ought so to do.