128 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
128 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IV March, 1926 No.3
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THE CABLE-TOW
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by: Unknown
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The Cable-Tow, we are told, is purely Masonic in its meaning and use.
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It is so defined in the dictionary, but not always accurately, which
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shows that we ought not depend upon the ordinary dictionary for the
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truth about Masonic terms. Masonry has its own vocabulary and uses
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it in its own ways. Nor can our words always be defined for the
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benefit of the profane.
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Even in Masonic lore the word cable-tow varies in form and use. In
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an early pamphlet by Pritard, issued in 1730, and meant to be an
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exposure of Masonry, the cable-tow is a called a "Cable-Rope," and in
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another edition a "Tow-Line." The same word "Tow-Line" is used in a
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pamphlet called "A Defense of Masonry," written, it is believed, by
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Anderson as a reply to Pritchard about the same time. In neither
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pamphlet is the word used in exactly the form and sense in which it
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is used today; and in a note Pritchard, wishing to make everything
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Masonic absurd, explains it as meaning "The Roof of the Mouth!"
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In English lodges, the Cable-Tow, like the hoodwink, is used only in
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the first degree, and has no symbolical meaning at all, apparently.
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In American lodges it is used in all three degrees, and has almost
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too many meanings. Some of our American teachers - Pike among them -
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see no meaning in the cable-tow beyond its obvious use in leading an
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initiate into the lodge, and the possible use of withdrawing him from
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it should he be unwilling or unworthy to advance.
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To some of us this non-symbolical idea and use of the cable-tow is
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very strange, in view of what Masonry is in general, and particularly
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in its ceremonies of initiation. For Masonry is a chamber of
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imagery. The whole Lodge is a symbol. Every object, every act is
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symbolical. The whole fits together into a system of symbolism by
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which Masonry veils, and yet reveals, the truth it seeks to teach to
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such as have eyes to see and are ready to receive it.
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As far back as we can go in the history of initiation, we find the
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cable-two, or something like it, used very much as it is used in a
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Masonic Lodge today. No matter what the origin and form of the word
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as we employ it may be - whether from the Hebrew "Khabel," or the
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Dutch "cabel," both meaning a rope - the fact is the same. In India,
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in Egypt and in most of the ancient Mysteries, a cord or cable was
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used in the same way and for the same purpose.
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In the meaning, so far as we can make it out, seems to have been some
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kind of pledge - a vow in which a man pledged his life. Even outside
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initiatory rites we find it employed, as, for example, in a striking
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scene recorded in the Bible (I Kings 20:31,32), the description of
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which is almost Masonic. The King of Syria, Ben-hada, had been
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defeated in battle by the King of Israel and his servants are making
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a plea for his life. They approach the King of Israel "with ropes
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upon their heads," and speak of his "Brother, Ben-hadad."
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Why did they wear ropes, or nouses, on their heads?
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Evidently to symbolize a pledge of some sort, given in a Lodge or
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otherwise, between the two Kings, of which they wished to remind the
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King of Israel. The King of Israel asked: "Is he yet alive? He is
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my brother." Then we read that the servants of the Syrian King
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watched to see if the King of Israel made any sign, and, catching his
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sign, they brought the captive King of Syria before him. Not only
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was the life of the King of Syria spared, but a new pledge was made
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between the two men.
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The cable-tow, then, is the outward and visible symbol of a vow in
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which a man has pledged his life, or has pledged himself to save
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another life at the risk of his own. Its length and strength are
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measured by the ability of the man to fulfill his obligation and his
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sense of the moral sanctity of his obligation - a test, that is, both
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of his capacity and of his character.
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If a lodge is a symbol of the world, and initiation is our birth into
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the world of Masonry, the cable-tow is not unlike the cord which
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unites a child to its mother at birth; and so it is usually
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interpreted. Just as the physical cord, when cut, is replaced by a
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tie of love and obligation between mother and child, so, in one of
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the most impressive moments of initiation, the cable-tow is removed,
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because the brother, by his oath at the Altar of Obligation, is bound
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by a tie stronger than any physical cable. What before was an
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outward physical restraint has become a inward moral constraint.
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That is to say, force is replaced by love - outer authority by inner
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obligation - and that is the secret of security and the only basis of
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brotherhood.
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The cable-tow is the sign of the pledge of the life of a man. As in
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his oath he agrees to forfeit his life if his vow is violated, so,
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positively, he pledges his life to the service of the Craft. He
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agrees to go to the aid of a Brother, using all his power in his
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behalf, "if within the length of his cable-tow," which means, if
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within the reach of his power. How strange that any one should fail
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to see symbolical meaning in the cable-tow. It is, indeed, the great
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symbol of the mystic tie which Masonry spins and weaves between men,
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making them Brothers and helpers one of another.
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But, let us remember that a cable-tow has two ends. If it binds a
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Mason to the Fraternity, by the same fact it binds the Fraternity to
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each man in it. The one obligation needs to be emphasized as much as
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the other. Happily, in our day we are beginning to see the other
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side of the obligation - that the Fraternity is under vows to its
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members to guide, instruct and train them for the effective service
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of the Craft and of humanity. Control, obedience, direction or
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guidance - these are the three meanings of the cable-tow, as it is
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interpreted by the best insight of the Craft.
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Of course, by Control we do not mean that Masonry commands us in the
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same sense that it uses force. Not at all. Masonry rules men as
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beauty rules an artist, as love rules a lover. It does not drive; it
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draws. It controls us, shapes us through its human touch and its
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moral nobility. By the same method, by the same power it wins
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obedience and gives guidance and direction to our lives. At the
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Altar we take vows to follow and obey its high principles and ideals;
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and Masonic vows are not empty obligations - they are vows in which a
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man pledges his life and his sacred honor.
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The old writers define the length of a cable-tow, which they
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sometimes call a "cables length," variously. Some say it is seven
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hundred and twenty feet, or twice the measure of a circle. Others
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say that the length of the cable-tow is three miles. But such
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figures are merely symbolical, since in one man it may be three miles
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and in another it may easily be three thousand miles - or to the end
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of the earth. For each Mason the cable-tow reaches as far as his
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moral principles go and his material conditions will allow. Of that
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distance each must be his own judge, and indeed each does pass
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judgment upon himself accordingly, by his own acts in aid of others.
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