As the earth is experiencing some of its hottest temperatures I am thinking about the sun and the moon and our symbolic, archetypal relationship with them. Symbolism refers to the universal, cultural and personal meaning of something. It speaks to our conscious and unconscious mind. The Sun and Moon rise in the East and set in the West. The Sun is always full, the Moon changes during the lunar period having times of waxing, being full, waning or dark. We all experience this in our daily lives. It is a natural occurrence which is embedded in our psyche and we all have our own archetypal experience of these phenomena. Many women notice their monthly cycle follows a lunar pattern. There is a general understanding the moon has feminine qualities and the sun masculine, however these are not universal beliefs. In more ancient times of matriarchal societies the sun was seen as feminine and the moon masculine. Some don’t differentiate.
So why do cultures come up with these differences? A common thought is that with the growth of Christianity in the west and the shift towards a patriarchal society it was convenient to see the masculine as the holder of the light, the shining, the radiance and for the feminine to hold the dark and mysterious and hidden. It was a way of power being shifted through cultural influence.
The Chinese symbol of Yin and Yang represents the sun and moon. The Yin energy is governed by the moon and hold the qualities of receptivity and restorative energy. It moves downwards as in exhaling breath. It is the black aspect and linked to intuition and an ability to comprehend the complexities of our lives. As this yin energy moves inwards it converts to yang which is governed by the sun, it rises and moves outwards. It is characterised by the white side, upward energy and the inhaling of the breath.
The sun brings light through day and night, directly during daylight hours and as a reflection of the sun onto the moon at night. We also know of the moons strong association with water and impact upon the tides. So we can associate the moon with water and sun with fire. The moon is associated with qualities of the soul and the sun of spirit.
The sun and moon feature strongly in alchemy. For the alchemists the sun represents perfection in all matters including the spirit, mind and soul. The sun is about consciousness, enlightenment and creative energy. The Greater Work It has a masculine quality to it. Most cultures understand the sun to have cosmic powers. It is the ultimate yang. Gold is the suns material in alchemical practices. The moon represents mercury and silver – the Lesser Work. It has a greater potential when it joins with the Gold or the Greater Work. The moon has qualities of resurrection, fertility, immortality, occult power, intuition associated with it.
The sun and the moon work together and when both are integrated there is balance. Each needs the other and in that way there is no separation. When we are looking at sandtrays or art we can think about the quality of balance of the sun and moon qualities. The moon as having a Yin, feminine and maternal influence and the sun as Yang , masculine , fraternal influence.
THE SUN AND MOON IN FREEMASONRY : A UNIVERSAL SYMBOLISM ?
Among the Masonic symbols that are not taken directly from the symbolism of the builders, the Sun and Moon occupy a special place in Freemasonry. They can of course be related to the Starry Vault that covers the Lodge, but although they are celestial bodies, they nevertheless have their own significance. In Freemasonry, the Sun and Moon most often adorn the eastern wall of the Lodge and are thus immediately visible to those entering, and according to many rituals, they are the first to be seen by the new Entered Apprentice when the blindfold falls, along with the Worshipful Master. What is the significance of the Sun and Moon in Freemasonry ? Is this double symbol universal ? Are the Sun and Moon interpreted in the same way as in Freemasonry in other cultures and civilisations ?
MASONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUN IN THE ANCIENT CATECHISMS
The Sun first appeared alone in ancient Masonic rituals. It is mentioned as early as the oldest known Masonic manuscript (the “Edinburgh Register House” MS, 1696), where it is presented, along with the firmament, as the witness to the oath that the future Mason will take. It thus represents the eye of God that brings all things to light.
The Sun is found again in “Sloane” MS no. 3329 (circa 1700), where we read that it is one of the three Lights of the Lodge, along with the Master and the Square. There is no mention yet of the Moon. And “Dumfries” MS no. 4, circa 1710, provides a further clarification, as it is the first to link the rising Sun with the opening of the Works, and the setting Sun with the closing. For this manuscript, the Lodge has only these two Lights. The idea of the Master standing in the East to observe the rising Sun and set the workers to work then became widespread, as can be seen, for example, in “Trinity College” MS of 1711. And the model was later completed by the mention of the Sun at its meridian, i.e. at the Zenith, and by its association with the place of the Master and the two Wardens used in the rituals of the “Ancient” type Rites (Anglo-Saxon Rites, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, etc.) : the Worshipful Master in the East to set the Masons to work, the Junior 2nd Warden in the South to mark the time of rest, and the Senior Warden in the West to close the work.
Until the 1725s, the Sun seems to have been given two meanings in Masonic rituals : linked to the oath, it became an image of divine Justice observing the world ; and linked to the Lodge and its Work, it represented the Power that governs nature between its rising and its setting, which punctuate the Masonic labour. And this is quite logical : the ancient rituals were probably still close to the operative rituals and, from this perspective, only the Sun mattered, as there was no work to be done at night.
ARRIVAL OF THE MOON IN THE MASONIC SYMBOLISM
The Moon’s arrival in rituals probably had to wait until the operative dimension gradually gave way to a more spiritual and esoteric interpretation. And the first mention of the Moon can be found in 1726, in a Masonic manuscript with a very pronounced Christian imprint, the “Graham”. This manuscript states that the Lodge has twelve Lights, or Jewels : “father son holy ghost—sun moon master Mason square Rule plum Lyne Mell and cheisall”. The Sun retains a certain primacy, as we read that it “renders light day and night”. But at night, who diffuses this light over the Earth ? That’s where the Moon comes in, the mysterious nocturnal star symbolically linked to water : “as for the moon she is a dark body off water and doth receive her Light from the sun and is also queen of waters which is the best of Leavells”.
The Moon will henceforth be associated with the Sun in the Lodge, and the three Lights that the new Entered Apprentice discovers are no longer the Sun, the Master and the Square, but rather the Sun, the Moon and the Master. The rituals will thus tend more towards introspection, inner work and the discovery of the unconscious dimension of being. The appearance of the Moon is undeniably a sign of an increase in the esoteric and psychological dimension of Freemasonry.
With the arrival of the Moon other symbols would come to the fore, turning the Lodge into a vast binary system whose duality would be sublimated and reconciled by the ternary principle : the B and J pillars, the black and white squares of the Mosaic Pavement. The Sun thus becomes an active, expansive, masculine symbol, while the Moon is understood as passive, receptive and feminine. And we can easily add an alchemical symbolism, with the Sun representing Gold or Sulphur, and the Moon Silver or Mercury.
Masonic initiation therefore clearly becomes an inner adventure, leading the person who embarks on this path to achieve what, in the 20th century, the analytical psychologist Carl Gustav Jung would call individuation, the reconciliation of opposites, the sign of psychological maturity.
IS THE MASON SYMBOLISM OF SUN AND MOON UNIVERSAL ?
When we study symbolism, there is perhaps too much of a tendency to “concordism”, i.e. to look for what unites and links the different symbolic systems from different cultures. Symbolism is sometimes too hastily considered to be the universal spiritual language. Yes, symbolism is universal ; it is clearly the expression of human intra-psychic life. It is comparable to a language, and in this sense it is universal. But just as there are different languages, which have developed within very different cultures, symbolism is always part of a distinct cultural and therefore linguistic context.
Everything that can be said about the Sun and Moon in Freemasonry on a symbolic level is sometimes universal and sometimes culturally specific. The fact that the Sun and Moon rise in the East and set in the West is universal ; that the Sun is always full, while the Moon is sometimes waxing, full, waning or dark is universal.
But the fact that the Sun is masculine and the Moon feminine, as is the case in Masonic symbolism, is far from universal. Let’s not forget that there is no thought without language. Our concepts, no matter how lofty, are necessarily determined by the words we use and, more generally, by the language we speak.
The obvious ‘masculinity’ of the Sun and the no less obvious ‘femininity’ of the Moon only apply to those peoples who have gendered these two celestial bodies in this way. This is the case for most European languages, following on from Latin and Greek. Only German reverses the attributions (Die Sonne, der Mond), and Irish Gaelic seems to give them both the feminine gender. Hebrew, on the other hand, uses the masculine gender for both, but what can we say about the many languages that grammatically ignore genders or apply them only to personal pronouns, such as Chinese, Thai or Malagasy?
Although apparently universal, because they are cosmic and available for all to observe, the Sun and Moon take on a symbolic connotation in Freemasonry that is deeply rooted in European culture and its various languages. This is perhaps the clearest indication that Freemasonry can only be transplanted and accepted in other cultures through symbolic reinterpretation and appropriation. Otherwise, it will be condemned to remain a foreign body, incapable of offering people a relevant path to inner evolution.
Sun and Moon in Alchemy
Alchemists believed that the codes and puzzles contained in these texts mapped out a way to transform base metals like tin and lead into gold.
According to alchemical legend, the secret of the Philosophers’ Stone was divinely revealed to Adam and then taken from Eden into the world. Adam and Eve imagery was used to represent prima materia, the substance from which the universe was created and vital for producing the Philosophers’ Stone.
The sixth key of Basil Valentine shows the ‘Chemical Wedding’ of the King/Sun and the Queen/Moon. The Sun and Moon are major symbols in alchemy. They represent the two most precious metals, gold (Sun) and silver (Moon). They also represent sulphur and mercury and are often depicted as a couple bound together in marriage or as the Mother and Father of the Philosophers’ Stone.
Rebis, who was intersex, is a product of the ‘Chemical Wedding’. This is a union of opposites: hot and dry sulphur and cold and moist mercury. The colour red represents the male and the colour white represents the female part of Rebis.
The Twelfth and final key of Basil Valentine contains flowers signifying the completion and ‘fermentation’ (mixing with real gold) of the Philosophers’ Stone. The ever-present Sun and the Moon can be seen outside the window.
Glauber’s alchemical apparatus called ‘The Iron Man’ or ‘Fiery Man’. Glauber describes it first in alchemical (allegorical) terms and then follows this with a description in plain language, because, as he says ‘this enigma is a little too obscure for the unskilful’: ‘First, a Man is to be made of iron, having two noses on his head, and on his crown a mouth…’