Kring Nieuw Holland

Circle New Holland

A Masonic study circle with a difference

Newsletter articles
From the Year
2014

Edited for the Kring by Bro. Fred Vandenberg

 KIRKWALL SCROLL
Brethren, I present to you my thoughts on The middle part is dividing in seven
the “Kirkwall Scroll”, a drawing with a departments, with Masonic symbols on it,
measurement of 18 feet 6 inches in length, and refers to different Masonic Orders.
and 5 feet 6 inches in width. The Scroll is of
a strong linen (some suggest sailcloth).
It is very roughly painted in oil: the emblems
down the centre being mainly in pale blue,
but the top panel shows some attempt to
imitate nature, the hills being brown, the sea
green, the trees brown, the ground reddish,
Eve and the animals and fishes pink.
On each side of the centre strip runs a ribbon
of three colours, blue, yellow, and green, the
blue being inside. On the left side the rivers
and cities are green, the trees and hills
brown, and the same may be said of the
other side, the tents and symbols being
however blue.
The margin all round is a dark slate colour.
The border on the spectator's left hand
would seem to represent a map of the
wanderings of the Hebrews until their
settlement in Egypt. The rivers Tigris and
Euphrates run down the centre, through a
pastoral country almost devoid of cities, but
in the lowermost panel is the land of Egypt,
with the "Nillus" running through it, and
many cities and buildings depicted. The
right hand border should be read from the
bottom to the top. It seems to portray the
wanderings of the Israelites in the desert.
The central riband is not a river but
evidently a road and is marked off in years,
beginning at year 1, and ending at year 40.
We start, in the Land of Midian, then Mount
Sinai, and show the first camp, the fall of
Manna, a graveyard, the Waters of the Rock,
the worship of the Golden Calf, Sepulchre of
Sarah, of Aaron, the elevation of the
Serpent, and while at the 46th year the road
branches into numerous smaller paths, one
leading to a
building which probably is intended for the
Temple at Jerusalem.
But what is this Kirkwall Scroll?
Was this painting a Tracing Board hanging
on the wall or was it used as a floorcloth?
As I say before, it has around a hundred
Masonic symbols on it.
Many inscriptions are also written in an old
Masonic code widely used in Scotland on
gravestone inscriptions. It is sometimes
known as the Enochian Alphabet, in certain
degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite.
Enochian Alphabet
Where did it come from, and when was
this Scroll Painted?
The middle part, have a carbon dating of
between; 1400 – 1500, whereas on the
sides they found carbon date from 1780 –
1840. So here we see that the sides are put
on about 380 years later, this is also the
time that the side Orders start to come in
sight, the Rituals are based on the stories of
the Old and New Testament in the bible.
That is maybe the reasons that we see the
side paintings tell a story of the wanderings
of the Hebrews to Egypt, and Moses taking
then back to the promised land and there
settlement in Jerusalem.
The story goes that, and George William
Speth (1847 – 1901) of Quatuor Coronati
Lodge, supports this rather absurd story,
That a group of bored gentlemen in 1717,
toured the local building sites asking the
workmen if they had any interesting rituals
which they could use for moral
improvement – a theory with all the charm
and credibility of a comedy script.
In 1920, another member of the Quatuor
Coronati, Bro William Reginald Day had
this idea that the Kirkwall cloth was a
modern work of art, and an Orcadian
Mason called William Graham who
worked in London as a house painter and
later returned to Orkney, painted this Scroll
himself. Bro Graham presented in 1786 the
Scroll to the Kirkwall Kilwinning Lodge.
But as we see the radiocarbon dating tells a
different story. Maybe he added the outer
strips and painted them to improve it or to
change it in some way, we will never now.
But if this Kirkwall Scroll is an early
Masonic floorcloth showing the steps on a
spiritual path, where was it created, and
how did it became into the ownership of
William Graham?
A geographical study of the earliest
mentions of Masonic Lodges shows them
to have spread out from a centre near the
Firth of Forth, where William St Clair built
the Rosslyn Chapel.
The earliest written reference to a Masonic
Lodge was found in 1483 in Aberdeen. At
this time the choir of the burgh church of
St Nicholas was being rebuilt. The estates
of William St Clair had been broken up
after his death on 3 July 1480, and the
masons who worked on the Rosslyn
Chapel were dispersed from the village of
Roslin. It does not seem impossible that
some of the masons would have sought
work in Aberdeen. At least six masons
were part of a Lodge in Aberdeen at this
time. In the minutes of the Aberdeen Burgh
Council was recorded, that the Burgh
Council was called on to settle a dispute
between ‘six masownys of the Lurge’, and
fines were laid down for the offenders.
In 1599, James VI’s Master of Works,
William Schaw, set up a formal Lodge
system to encourage the Lodges to write
down their governing statutes. Those
drawn up by Aberdeen show that the
Lodge was familiar with the Masons Word,
and this, well over a hundred years before
London Freemasons learned the rituals
from their building sites.
This is evidence that a Lodge of Masons
existed in Aberdeen at the time the middle
section of the Kirkwall Scroll was created.
But I think it is highly unlikely that St Clair
had anything to do with the creating of this
scroll. The way the Chapel is build with the
carvings well done and the way the Scroll,
is crudely and simply painted, it is far more
likely the work of the operative masons,
who formed the early Lodge of Aberdeen,
so they could continue to the practise the
teachings of the rituals that had been taught
during the building at Roslin!
Could the Kirkwall Scroll be an ancient
floorcloth from Aberdeen? The date of the
earliest record of the Lodge in 1483 fits
with the radiocarbon dating of 1400-1500.
But how did this scroll created by early
Masons come into the hands of William
Graham, so that he could pass it on to the
Lodge in Kirkwall?
William Graham could have acquired the
scroll from his father Alexander Graham,
who was a merchant trader in Stromness.
As a royal burgh, of Kirkwall held a royal
monopoly on trade with Orkney, only
Kirkwall burgesses had the right to import
and export. But this was not accepted by
the rising merchant class of Stromness.
Orkney historian Willie Thomson said of
them:
Matters came to a head in 1742, when
Alexander Graham and a number of fellow
Stromness merchants received an
assessment from Kirkwall magistrates:
Graham was required to pay a mere £16
Scots, but Kirkwall was to find him a
stubborn, single minded and litigious
opponent, ultimately willing to ruin himself
and his family for principle, or perhaps
just cheer obstinacy.
The case dragged on for sixteen years
through local courts, to the Court of
Sessions and eventually to the House of
Lords, where Alexander Graham was
ultimately victorious.
Alexander Graham was trading in small
luxuries with ships passing through
Aberdeen. Consequently, he could well
have the opportunity to acquire a Masonic
floorcloth from that long established
Masonic centre, (often Masonic relics pass
into the hands of non Masonic relatives,
who end up selling them).
His son William was living in London,
where he made a living as a house painter.
He joined his local Masonic Lodge, No
128 in the Atholl or Antient Constitution,
which before 1771 met at the Red Horse
Inn in the Old Bond street.
( The Atholl, or Ancient Constitution was a
breakaway group of Masons, unhappy with
the Grand Lodge of London’s Hanoverian
leanings, who felt the Hanoverians had
betrayed the ancient Scottish teachings of
Freemasonry. In 1748 they set up their
own Grand Lodge under the Duke of
Atholl’s patronage and worked a ritual
they claimed was truer to “Ancient
freemasonry”.
They called Masons of the Grand Lodge of
London” the Moderns”, and themselves
“the Ancients”.)
William was described by his friends as
‘Mason-mad’, and followed the Scottish
traditions of Masonry, would certainly
recognise the value of such a floorcloth.
Alexander spent a considerable time in
London while his dispute was heard in the
House of Lords, and at this time he could
have given the Scroll to his son. So here,
there is a feasible way for William to come
on the Scroll.
But how did Lodge Kirkwall Kilwinning
received this Scroll?
William Graham returns to Orkney in
1785, and was invited by the new Master
Robert Baikie to attend his installation and
soon afterwards asked the brethren to
accept Graham as a joining member of the
Lodge. Graham joined the Lodge on the
27 December 1785.
A month later he presented the Master and
the Lodge with a Masonic treasure, the
floorcloth or Scroll. The minutes for 27
January 1786 record:
The Master presented to the Lodge a
floorcloth, gifted to the Brethren by Bro
William Graham of 128 of the Ancient
Constitution of England.
After his death, he left in his will a
ceremonial shroud, known as Mort Cloth,
( Kirkwall Scroll) and various books to the
Lodge.
We do not know who painted the Scroll,
and if William Graham painted the side
parts. This we will never know. But let us
go back to the Scroll and try to ascertain
the reason it was painted?
Wilmshurst explained it thus in a series of
Lodge lectures he gave in 1929.
In early days, when the Craft was not a
popular social institution but a serious
discipline in a philosophic and sacred
science, instruction was not treated
casually. The Board was not, as now, a
product of the Masonic furnisher’s factory;
it was the most revered symbol in the
Lodge; it was a diagram which every
Brother was taught to draw for himself, so
that both his hand and his understanding
might be trained in Masonic work. The
literary records show that at each Lodge
meeting the Board of the degree about to
be worked was actually drawn from
memory with chalk and charcoal on the
floor of the Lodge by the Master; who from
previous practice was able to do this
quickly and accurately. In advancing from
the West to East during the ceremony, the
candidate took the steps of the degree over
the diagram. The diagram was explained to
him as an integral part of the ceremony,
and before being restored to his personal
comforts, he was required to expunge it
with a mop and pail of water; so that
uninitiated eyes might not see it and that he
might learn a first lesson in humility and
secrecy.
In the course of the 18th century the
drawing of the diagram from memory upon
the ground was superseded. First by the
painted floorcloths and afterwards by
wooden boards resting on trestles, on
which the diagram was permanently
painted.
The boards are cryptic prescriptions of a
world-old science; taught and practised in
secret in all ages by the few, spiritually
ripe and courageous enough for following
a higher path of life than is possible as yet
to the popular world. The detailed
interpretation of their symbolism is
necessarily difficult, for symbols always
comprise so much more that can be
verbally explained, and few Masons have
as yet educated themselves in the language
of ancient esoteric symbolism.
When we look to the drawing, we see from
the bottom Masonic pictures what look
like, what we call the blue degrees, and
when going upwards we find other Orders,
but the story does not flow.
When I look long to this Scroll and go back
to the time it was supposed used by the
masons. I came to the conclusion that in
1400 for the most part people con not read
and write. The masons where operative
masons, so this floorcloth was maybe used
for teaching but not the way we do in
modern Freemasonry.
The top part of the scroll starts with the
creation of the world and Adam & Eve in
paradise. At this time most of the people
belong to the Christian faith. As many
could not read or write most of the
teaching was done by symbols. Like the
Bible. When I start from the top, the
beginning, now this Scroll makes some
sense. But this is purely my idea, and I
could be wrong!
So let us look and follow the seven middle
pictures or steps in this painting.
Here we see the Garden of Eden, with Eve
under the tree, animals around her, but
where is Adam? Or is this picture telling
something different? So let us find out.
We forget that in those times until 1468
Orkney remained Norse and they worshipped
a range of Gods and Goddesses. One of their
favourites is the Goddess Freyja, what give
her name to our Friday. She is originally
worshipped as a fertility goddess, but often
portrayed as a goddess of love, beauty, and
attraction. A temple to Freyja was built at
Trondheim by Sir William St Clair’s
ancestors, and it was from them that he
derived his claim to the Norse Earldom of
Orkney.
Here are some further points of Masonic
interest. The temple was build facing
eastward and had
two pillars standing at the entrance (West),
later it became a church for the Virgin
Mary. There is also another link between
Freyja and early Freemasonry. All key
events of Scottish Freemasonry take place
on the feast day of St John the Evangelist
– 27 December, but this is also the feast
day of the Goddess Freyja’s birth. And
close to Xmas and the winter solstice. This
is when the days are getting longer i.e.,
Light or Rebirth. Is this pure coincidence?
To me this is telling me of the beginning
of Earth, and the evolution of all life
forms. The story of creation; so if the
Gods formed the human race by having
intercourse that make us both Divine and
human; than the conclusion could be, we
all are part Gods and can therefore create
our own world.
The next part or step is very difficult; to
explain. Here we see symbols from
different Orders. So let us walk through
this.
When we look at this picture you see first
the middle part, the steps going up to the Above the cross are the letters ISH. The
cross, the rainbow and the letters ISH, and Jesuits Order uses this symbol inside a
then different symbols. There are nine Sun; the letters H and S are reversed as we
steps. In numerology we find that the can see in the picture.
number nine is the completion of the
sequence of numbers. Nine is the number
that holds the space between the world of
today and the world of tomorrow, it is a
point where a change in circumstance
occurs.
At the top of the steps we find the book of
knowledge and the skull and crossbones,
this tell us that we are living in two
different worlds, the same as the two
pillars in our Lodges. Then we see the
The IHS is a symbolic monogram of
cross, an emblem of torture (Death), but
Christ used by the Roman Catholic
also an emblem of men praying on sunrise
Church. This monogram consists of the
to the Sun God in the East (Rebirth). Here
Greek letters Iota, Eta, and Sigma, the first
again we have the two worlds.
three letters of the name Iesous (Greek for
Jesus), the letters of which are also used to
spell out the Latin phrase “Iesous
Hominem Salvator,” “Jesus, savior of
man.” It relates to the story of Constantine,
whose vision of the Chi-Rho was recorded
by Church Father Eusebius. In the vision,
Constantine was reported to have heard a
voice proclaim, “In this symbol, thou shalt
conquer.”
Therefore, the IHS has also stood for “In
Hoc Signo,” in this sign. As depicted in
the Order of Red Cross of Constantine.
In Egypt this letters stand for;
The Egyptian trinity have the Gods, Isis,
Horus and Seb. The Egyptians where also
Sun -Worshippers. Now we going back
to the Church and we find that the form of
a monstrance is like the Sun. The Roman
Catholic Church even admits the
Monstrance to be a sunburst: "During the
baroque period, it took on a rayed form of
a sun-monstrance with a circular window
surrounded by a silver or gold frame with
rays." We see that same symbol in the
right top corner of the painting and on our
tracing boards.
Photo of a Monstrance in the
Vatican Museum
Notice the letters SFS in the small
sunburst blaze on the close up of a
Monstrance above? Each of the letters is a
universal symbol for the number 6 in the
pagan mysteries, so to the pagan it reads
666!
The letter F:
The Hebrew letter Vau (V) has a value of
6. The English letter F is a descendant of
Vau and retains the same value. The letter
F is also the 6th letter of the English
alphabet.
The letter S:
The Greek equivalent of Vau is the letter
Stau, which looks like an S, and it also has
the value of 6. The number 666 is also
associated with what is called the "magic
square of the sun".
The "magic square of the sun," was one of
the most important symbols used to
represent the sun in antiquity because of
all the symbolism it possessed involving
the perfect number "6."
There are six sides to a cube, the numbers
1, 2, and 3, when added or multiplied
together are equal to "6," and the sum of
all the numbers from 1 to 36 arranged in a
6x6 magic square are equal to the number
"666." The square is "magic" because the
sum of any row, column, or diagonal is
equal to the number "111." After the
Church became the state religion of the
Roman Empire, possessing the diagram
below could get you burned at the stake!
How the names Jesus and Christ
are linked to the number "666"
When Jesus whose number is (888) is
superimposed over the 6x6 grid work of
the Magic Square of the Sun some
amazing things happen. The circled
numbers on the magic square form the
Greek letter “X”, which is the “sign” of
Christ. The circumference of each circle by
calculation is 1480 units, the exact
gematria value of the title Christ (
= 1480)!
The sum of all the numbers in the field of
the magic square of the sun (666) added to
the sum of the numbers in the twelve
Christ circles (222) is equal to the number
of Jesus (888)!
Finally, the diagonal of each square that
holds a Christ circle by calculation is
“666” units!!
666 stood also for the triple Goddesses.
It’s used to represent the Babylonian
Goddess Ishtar. And the flaming Sacred
Heart located just below the SFS is
actually symbolic of Baal. 6 was a sacred
number, and today is still a holy number in
Hinduism, Buddhism and by Muslims. In
Chinees it is a lucky number, but in
Christianity it is an evil number.
The rainbow out the two clouds can be the
reminders of the big flood, and the story of
Noah when God made a covenant that he
will never again used the big flood to
destroy the earth.
“I set My bow in the cloud as a sign of the
covenant which I am making between Me
and you and every living creature”
(Genesis 9: 12).
We will look further on the symbols in this
part of the painting, which to me is a
mixture of the Red Cross of Constantine,
Knight Templar’s, and Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite.
When we look on the bottom part, we see
a trowel and chisel, lantern, belt or rope, a
crowbar, a laurel wreath, a cloth, a
hammer, pair of tongs and 3 nails, three
cups and what can be a cloth and a Sacred
Vault.
Now these symbols are used in the Order
of Red Cross of Constantine. When I read
the rituals of this order we find that the
Candidate has to be a Royal Arch Mason,
and when brought in the Tyler report; “A
worthy knight and soldier of the cross
who, having worked at the second Temple
and discovered the ancient word…….”. So
he used these tools.
During the ritual the candidate will enter
the sacred vault. When you read the
lecture it goes over the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ.
What has me wondering is that the
Masonic Order of the Red Cross of
Constantine appears to have been first
organised in the United Kingdom by
Charles Shirreff in about the year 1780,
when this floorcloth is dated 1400 – 1500.
Was there at that time a system in use with
more degrees than the Blue Lodge?
When we look to the middle part and on
the left side, we find an incense burner a
symbol of sacred fire; but in the
ceremonies the vibrations emanating from
the incense where of such a nature that
they produced upon those in the Temple a
physical, mental and finally a spiritual
effect. The cock or rooster is used in the
Knight Templar degree. The step ladder is
symbolically used in the 30 degree
Scottish Rite. The Square & compasses,
you will find it in most rituals.
A hand showing three fingers is a
reminder of the “Holy and indivisible
Three in One, or trinity. The candle is
used as a symbol of light and we find it
always on the altar.
On the right side; a hand with a dagger, is
a symbol of Masonic vengeance or the
punishment of crime, it is symbolically
used in the Knight Templar’s and also in
the 30th degree of Scottish Rite. Euclid’s
47th propositions. Two triangles in the
form of an hourglass or X, the X cross are
called the St Andrew’s cross and there is
an Andrew’s degree in the Scottish Rite.
The figures around it I have no idea what
they are. It can be the three figures are the
same. The bottom one on the right looks
like strapping, the next one unfolded, and
the third one is rising up free. So this
maybe can be that with the X symbol
(Christ) we can free our self.
When you look in the rituals of the
Scottish Rite, their ritual covers the
building of King Solomon’s Temple, and
its destruction. The rebuilding of the 2nd
Temple, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,
and the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
Finding the vault by the Knight Templar’s,
and the forming of the Chivalric Orders.
Therefore this picture is based from Moses
time, to the Crusaders.
So, let we go and have a look on the next
step or picture on this Scroll. (See next
picture)
Andrew Sinclair in his book “The secret
Scroll” writes that symbols on this picture
is from an Ancient Ark Mariners Degree.
It is the biblical story of Noah and the big
flood, but is this story a true story or a
myth? So let we have a look on this.
Traditions of the flood are common
throughout the world, and are found in the
earliest records of ancient times, mingling
with the other legends of all the
mythologies, and with the accounts which
different nations have received of their
origin.
These traditions have been sought out and
compared with great diligence by learned
authors; for they afford an important
argument in favor of the unity of the
human race. We find the ark figured in the
ancient monuments of Egypt; and we find
in many other of the most ancient
sculptures, and on coins or medals of
various countries.
In 1923 an Anglo-American team under
the leadership of Sir Leonard Woolley
started to excavate a mound named Tell-
al-Muqayyar lying just south of the lower
stretches of the River Euphrates. Three
years later the ancient city of UR had been
completely uncovered, but still the dig
went on and in 1929 Woolley was working
at a nearby hill known as the “Graves of
the Kings” and exposing the ancient levels
below the Graves. A time came when his
workmen announced that they had reached
ground level. Upon a closer examination
Woolley was surprised to find that this
surface was pure clay of a type laid down
by water. The dig continued and after ten
feet of clay had been removed there came
layer upon layer of Stone Age implements
and debris. ‘That evening news was
flashed to England and America “We have
found the Flood “.
The flood covered the whole area of what
we now call Mesopotamia reaching almost
to the source of the Euphrates, an area
estimated by Woolley to have been 4,000
square miles.
 Noah and his Ark – Fact of Fable
I have shown that a great flood occurred in
Mesopotamia in 4000 B.C. Is there any
corresponding proof that the story of Noah
or Ut-Napishtin is also historically true?
The answer is NO. It is difficult, if not
impossible, to accept Genesis as a true
record.
There are observations which suggest that
the story of Noah and his Ark is a myth,
for which the Flood formed an obvious
inspiration.
1st. In the Babylonian account and in
Genesis the instructions are given as to the
construction of the Ark, from which
competent surveyors have estimated that
the displacement of such a vessel would
have been 36,000 tons. How could Noah
have obtained so great a quantity of timber
or assembled a large enough corps of
workmen to build so vast a ship? 2nd.
How could Noah and his family (with no
other assistance) feed, water and “muck
out” that number of living creatures for the
sixty-nine days duration of the Flood (the
shortest estimate some told about 365
days).
3rd. Although we know how quickly
vegetation re-appears after drought or
flooding, the large number of animals,
when released, must have been hard put to
it to find enough to keep them selves alive.
So this story has to be untrue.
Mackey’s write in his encyclopaedia of
Freemasonry; Noah and the flood play an
important part in the legend of the Craft.
Hence, as the Masonic system became
developed, the Patriarch was looked upon
as what was called a Patron of
Freemasonry. This connection of
Noahwith the mythic history of the Order
was rendered still closer by the influence
of many symbols borrowed from the Arkite
Worship, one of the most predominant of
the ancient faiths.
So intimately were incorporated the
legends of Noah with the legends of
freemasonry that Freemasonry began, at
length, to be called, and are still called,
Noachidae, or the descendants of Noah, a
term first applied by Doctor Anderson.
The Royal Ark Mariners or RAM Degree
where conferred in separate Royal Ark
Mariner Lodges which were “moored” to a
Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees.
There are still a few surviving RAM
Lodges moored to Councils, but warrants
are no longer issued for new RAM
Lodges. Other than those remaining
Lodges, the Degree, if worked today, is
worked directly by the Council upon their
own AMD members.
Let we talk about the symbols on the
picture.
As I say before let we see what Andrew
Sinclair in his book “The secret Scroll”
writes about the symbols.
A. The Royal Arches.
B. The Temple Lamb and Flag.
C. The two Cherubim above the Ark.
D. The Serpent on the Cross.
E. The Ten Commandments.
F. The Triple Tau Cross.
G. The Tabernacle of the Holy of Holy’s.
H. King and Priest, Melchizedek.
I. The St Clair and mariners ship seal.
J. Two sea dragons worshipping the
Serpent on the cross in the disc of
the Sun.
K. The Ark of Noah and Moses.
Now when I look to this and I read the
Rituals of The Royal Ark Mariners degree.
The only symbols what can be from this
Ritual are;
A. The Royal Arches.
G. The Tabernacle of the Holy of Holy’s.
K. The Ark of Noah and Moses.
L the hands.
The Lodge is layout in a Triangular form,
there is porphyry stone as an altar, a small
V.S.L. but not open. The working tools
are, axe, saw and auger, there is no lighted
candle. The Wardens names are; S.W. Son
Japheth, J.W. is Son Shem and the Wor.
Master is Noah. The hands can be the grip.
But let we go to the symbols and see what
they are; ( A ). the three Royal Arches, all
three are different, this can be as we see in
the Bible there are three Arks: Noah's Ark,
the Ark of Moses, and the Ark of the
Covenant.
( B ). the Temple Lamb and Flag is a
symbol from the Knight Templar’s.
In the middle we find two persons form a
arch with their hands ( C ), and on the
other side the Ten Commandments ( E ).
This is to me part of the York Rite, the
Royal Arch seventh degree.
( D ) Is the Serpent on the Cross. The
gruesome symbol of a crucified serpent is
an old alchemical drawing representing the
“fixing of the volatile,” or, making the
elixir of mercury, a legendary curative, by
removing the ‘volatile’ or poisonous
element. The picture is derived from the
biblical story of Moses, who erected a
brazen snake as a charm against plague.
The most popular explanation however, is
from the story of the Israelites who, whilst
crossing the desert, began complaining
against God and the prophet Moses. God
punished the people by sending serpents
among them and many were bitten and
died before Moses interceded by praying
to God to forgive them. God instructed
Moses to raise a venomous snake on a
staff and all the wounded Israelites who
looked on it were immediately healed.
( F ) The Triple Tau Cross symbol is in
this form and is used in the Holy
Royal Arch Chapter. Esoterically, the Tau
represents a gate or opening, symbolic
death. Here we see together seven Tau
symbols, are they the seven gates where
we have to go though? It can also be an
Triple Cross, this is a symbol used in the
Knight Templar’s ( KT’s) and the Holy
Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest ( KTP),
and the Royal Order of the red branch of
Eri. Sometimes this Cross is referring to
the Tree of Live.
( H ) King and Priest, Melchizedek. We
only hear of this person in the Masonic
Orders, such as Knight Templar’s, Knight
Templar Priest, Allied Masonic Degrees
(AMD), and Scottish Rite. Melchizedek
has no part in the Ritual or legends of the
Craft Masonry. The Orders of the
Priesthood of Melchizedek were know
around 1770 – 1780 in Central Europe.
( J ) Two sea dragons worshipping the
Serpent on the cross in the disc of the Sun.
I don’t find anything in the Rituals about
this symbol. But when we look to the ( I )
picture, the St Clair and mariners ship seal,
and that St Clair was the builder of
Rosslyn Chapel, and that operative masons
who worked on the Rosslyn Chapel were
dispersed from the village of Roslin and
So let we go to the next picture on the Scroll.
In this picture we see the plan of the
Temple of Solomon. The Tabernacle was
in two parts; The Outer Courtyard and the
where later found in Lodge of Aberdeen.
We find on a pillar in that Chapel eight
dragons, called the Neifillim by the
Scandinavians also the boats of the Norse
has a figurehead of a dragon.
They can has used this for the connecting
between St Clair and the Masons Lodge, in
( L ) we see two hands together, this is
symbolic of friendship or brotherhood
( K ). The Ark of Noah and Moses.
The Ark is the symbol of Hope or
eternal life, and an emblem of the
concealed, tiled, guarded and safe place
where the bonds which united the brethren
were secretly and sacredly preserved.
We see here again that the symbols
pictured here are found back in many
different Orders what where founded after
1717.
Holy Place which also contained the Holy
of Hollies.
In the Holy Place was the table of
Shewbread the Seven arm candlestick and
the Golden Altar. In the Holy of Hollies’,
the Ark of Covenant. Remarkable is that
when we look to the ground plan of the
Rosslyn chapel, we find the same pattern
back.
So is there a resemblance between the
two?
When we look around, we see in the
corners flags or the principal banners of
the tribes: Judah – lion, Reuben – man,
Ephraim – ox, and Dan – eagle.
We see those banners again displayed in
the Holy Royal Arch Chapter in the east,
and with the banners of the other the tribes
of Israel in the north and south of the
tessellated pavement..
When the Tabernacle was completed
Moses was instructed by God on how the
external perimeter of the tabernacle’s outer
court was to be guarded by the twelve
tribes of Israel. The first army to break
camp and guard the Tabernacle on the East
side from North to South was under the
banner of Judah. The second army to break
camp and guard the Tabernacle on the
South side from East to West was under
the banner of Reuben. The third army to
break camp and guard the Tabernacle on
the West side from South to North was
under the banner of Ephraim. The last
army to break camp and guard the
Tabernacle on the North side from West to
East was under the banner of Dan.
The Holy of Holies will be guarded by the
Tribe of Levi, The priesthood Tribe of
Israel.
So this explained the tent camp on the
picture, but let we look to the bottom part
of this picture
Here we see Jerusalem with in the middle
the Temple and the Holy of Hollies. On
the Left side, two seven pointed stars,
what are those stars?
Seven-pointed stars are also known as
heptagrams or septagrams and is important
in Western kabbalah, where it symbolizes
the sphere of Netzach, the seven planets,
the seven alchemical metals, and the seven
days of the week.
The ancient world recognized only seven
planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter
and Saturn, plus the Moon and Sun.
(Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not visible
to the naked eye and thus were unknown.)
The heptagram often reflects these seven
planets. Because the planets are all
represented equally in the heptagram, the
symbol can also be one of balance, equally
representing the seven great powers of
planetary magic. Furthermore, the pairing
of the numbers three (spirituality, in
reference to the Christian trinity) and four
(physicality, in reference to the four
elements and the four cardinal directions)
can also represent universal balance.
Now let us have a look at the seven-
pointed star of the Knight Templar’s in
France.
An old map of the Knight Templar’s
shows the position of the seven main
Commanderies which are arranged in the
form of a star. Also here the rays of the
star are in the same order as the planets.
But there is a difference: they are arranged
in a contrary order. Close to the centre of
the star the name of Bourges, a town,
stands out. Interestingly enough the
famous alchemist Fulcanelli described
Bourges as the”Keystone of the Great
Work of the Alchemists in Europe”,
without however giving any further
explanation.
Only in 1998 this riddle was revealed,
partly at least. Geomantist Peter Dawkins
had found an extensive energy line, a so-
called ley-line, that passes through France
starting from Saintes Maries de-la-Mer
(the most important place of pilgrimage of
the Sinti and Roma), and running through
Bourges and Chartres, and even through
England. As many places of the legend of
the Grail are located on this line, Dawkins
called it the”line of the Grail”. Exactly this
line of the Grail passes through the centre
of the seven-pointed star of the Knight
Templar’s. In the North of France it
divides the ray of the Sun precisely, and in
the South it runs between the rays of
Saturn and Moon into the Mediterranean.
Mind you that this line of the Grail is not
depicted in the old map of the Knight
Templar’s. Could this coincidence be mere
chance? Hardly: Sun, Moon and Saturn,
the three planetary rays placed on the line
of the Grail represent the trinity of body,
spirit and soul.
The Knight Templar’s associated their
seven-pointed star in France very
purposefully with the flow of life energy
on our earth. The Knight Templar’s placed
the main Commanderies of their seven-
pointed star close to strong natural sites of
power, for example the point of the Moon
at Rennes-le-Chateau (a legendary place of
the Cathars) and the point of the planet
Mars at Verdun (actually this point of
Mars, the god of war, attained sad fame
during the First World War). The Knight
Templar’s connected the flow of energy
between the seven sites of power or
”chakras of the earth” in France in a
particular way.
The anchor, because of the great
importance in navigation, was regarded in
We are moving to the next picture on the Scroll.
ancient times as a symbol of safety. The
Christians, adopt the anchor as a symbol of
hope. The anchor also serves as a symbol
for seamanship. This can be that it leads to
the seamanship of St Clair and the Knight
Templar’s. The last symbol with the
triangle in it, I have no idea what this
symbol is.

Here again we see symbols from different So let we walk through them.
Orders. Two cherubim’s guard the Ark of
the Covenant, and two pillars of the When we look to the picture of the two
temple, Jachin & Boaz. In the top of the cherubim’s on the Ark of the Covenant,
Arch we see the Key Stone, and working they are in the character of two angels.
tools and symbols of officers of the Lodge.
The Breastplate of the High Priest,
showing the twelve tribes of Israel with
the sacred serpent. On the altar, a circle
with a cross with there in the four principal
banners of the tribes:
Judah – lion, Reuben – man, Ephraim –
ox, and Dan – eagle.
A symbol of the five pointed star in
clouds, and on the other side also in the
clouds the all-Seeing Eye, or third eye
pointing towards the Altar.
So here it looks like that we are having But when we look to the picture of the
symbols from: Chapter, Mark, and Knight Scroll, we see that the body is of a female
Templar’s in a body of a birth.
 In the Encyclopaedia of Traditional
Symbols, we find that Harpy has a head
and breast of a woman and claws of a
vulture: associated with sudden death;
whirlwinds and storms; the feminine
principle in its destructive aspect.
We see between them the black and white
tessellated floor on which stands an Altar
with a book standing on it.

What are they, and why painted in this

form?
Now among the mythological creatures of
the Mysteries were the harpies. They were
described by the Greeks as being
So here in this picture we see all symbols
composite, with the heads of maidens and
of opposites: The two pillars, Jachin &
the bodies of birds. The wings of the
Boaz; Male and female.
harpies were composed of metal and their
flight was, accompanied by a terrible
clanging noise. During his wanderings,
Æneas, the Trojan hero, landed on the
island of the harpies, where he and his
followers vainly battled with these
monsters.
In earlier versions of Greek myth, Harpies
were described as beautiful, winged
maidens (angels). Later they became
winged monsters (devils) with the face of The black & white floor; good & evil.
an ugly old woman and equipped with The two harpies around the altar with the
crooked, sharp talons. They were book on it, again it can be good and evil in
represented carrying off persons to the balance with the book of wisdom on the
underworld and inflicting punishment or altar (Holiness).
tormenting them. Here we see that everything in life is dual,
and can only be known by contrasting it to
its opposite. The two in combination
produce a third, which is a synthesis of
perfect balance. Positive and negative can
never be complete without the other.

The Breastplate of the High Priest,

showing the twelve tribes of Israel with
the sacred serpent, and the headgear were
a regular part of the pre-1856 Royal Arch
Masonry, but has now been lost in that
Order. It is still retained in the Allied
Masonic Degree of “Grand High Priest”.
We see a grapevine growing on one of the
pillars.
When we look to the Apprentice Pillar in
the Rosslyn Chapel we see also a vine
winding around this pillar. The grapevine
is a symbol of abundance and life. In
The Rev. Bro. J.B.Craven. P.M. wrote in
the transitions of the Quatuor Coronati
Lodge about this part of the Scroll:
The next panel ( picture) shows a
cryptogram on the face of the altar, which
I have partially solved, the chief difficulty
consisting in the fact that many of the
characters are incorrectly depicted. But
making the needful it reads;
I am hath sent me
unto you. I am that
I am; I am the Rose
of Sharon and the Lilly
of the vally. Hegee
as her hejah, I am
that I am or I will
bee that I will bee.
Jaldadaiah.
I have italicised 4 words in the body of the
inscription, because I can make no sense
of them, or even suggest any corrections in
the writing which would make sense. I
have merely transliterated them as they
Ancient Greece it was devoted to
Dionysus; but it was a symbol of rebirth as
well, related to the Dionysian mysteries,
which celebrated the god of Ecstasy as the
lord of both death and the rebirth of
every life form, this is what the degrees are
teaching us; death and rebirth.
So let us go to the next picture on the
Scroll.
stand. The last word of all is in exactly the
same case, but I am inclined to think that it
was intended for Halleluiah.
To the left of this is a something which
might be a Highlander's feather bonnet, or
a fountain, or even a tree, with a scroll
beneath. On the ribbon is a word thrice
repeated, which if written in the same
cypher would read. Jugee Jugee Jugee! If
not the same cypher, then it is almost
impossible to guess what it means, as there
is not enough of it to furnish a clue. The
words Three Three Three would obviously
be possible1 and it may be an allusion to
the 3 X 3 so well known in Masonry.
So here we can see that everything on this
Scroll is a question mark as we don’t know
the actual fact of the meaning what the
artist has in mind when he painted this.
But here again we see symbols from the
Royal Arch Chapter. On the tessellated
floor of black and white, half looks like to
be digging up.

on the left we also find wand what is used
to form an arch in the R.A.C., The rod
what become a serpent, a flaming sword, a
tau cross, in the top the burning bush,
under three names this can be the three
principals or the three lodges in
Freemasonry; 1st the Holy Lodge, 2nd the
Sacred Lodge and 3rd the Grand and Royal
Lodge.
When we look to the other side we see on
We are now landed on the bottom picture, here we see like our tracing board symbols of the
first three degrees.
the bottom what looks like a fault, and
some jewels; the triple cross and Senior
and Junior Warden jewels. The hands out
the clouds; in early medieval art, the
Supreme Being was always represented by
a hand extended from a cloud.
Hands signify power, strength, providence,
blessing, and the hands of God is divine
power and transmission of spirit it also
pushes away evil and trouble.
On top of the altar, can be a symbol of the
Most Excellent Master degree, see below
picture.
But again we don’t know for sure as the
pictures are not so sharp on this Kirkwall
Scroll and we look on the symbols what
we are having now in Freemasonry.
We have the altar standing on the black &
whit pavement, the three lesser lights
(Candles), the square and compasses in the
form of the three degrees. On the
pavement the M.M’s, on the altar the E.A.
& F.C., and with the lesser lights they
form the David star. The candlesticks are
placed on the position of the Master and
Wardens in the Scottish Lodge.
The two pillars with on top what looks like
the two St Johns, jewels of the Officers of
the Lodge, sun and moon beside the All-
Seeing Eye. On the bottom, right the
perfect cube, and left the beehive and
Broached Thurnel. The cups with the F.C.
sign can be what are in some orders, the
chain of brotherhood and drinking out a
cup as a bond of friendship.
Was this Scroll like our Tracing Boards
used for teaching in the Lodges? I think,
yes, in spite of that there are different
degrees showed on the pictures. But that
you find also today on tracing boards.
Here we having a tracing board where the
symbols of the first and second are
together.
And also in the Dutch we find the same
Tracing board for all de degrees, only
different objects are placed on it in
working the degrees. Like in the 2nd degree
we find the working tools on the black &
white pavement, and the letter G is placed
between the square & compasses. In the
3rd degree we find the lost word on a
triangle as see on the Tracing board.
I’ am still wondering of in that time (1400
– 1500) a system was working what was
based on more different Orders as I have
found in the pictures, ( as what we have
today) or that it was based on going up the
degrees, like the York Rite and Swedish
Rite?
And let us not forget that between 1717
and 1813 we had two Grand lodges
working in England, the Ancients and the
Moderns. So to wish one belong this Floor
Cloth?
In part two we read that William Graham
lived in London, and joined a local Lodge no
128 of the Atholl or Ancient Constitution of
England.
Now when we look up “Atholl or Ancient
Constitution” in Mackey’s encyclopaedia, we
find;
The Ancient Freemasons are sometimes
called” Atholl Freemasons, because they
were presided over by the Third Duke of
Atholl.
Now when we look to the “Ancients”, we
find;
In 1751 some Irish freemasons in London
established a body which they called the
“Grand Lodge of England according to the
Old Institutions”, and they styled themselves
Antients, and the members of the Regular
Grand lodge, Moderns.
The ceremonies between the two Grand
lodges differ exceedingly in the makings,
knowledge, Masonic language, and
installations, they where two distinct
societies, totally independent of each other.
The Grand Lodge of the Antients were using
a book of constitutions under the title of
“Ahiman Rezon”, this became their code of
Masonic law. When the Moderns were
governed by the regulations contained in
“Anderson’s Constitutions” first published in
1723.
Dr. Dalcho, who was acquainted with both
systems, says;
That the Antient Freemasons were in
possession of marks of recognition, know
only to themselves.
His language on this subject is positive. “
The Ancient York Masons” he says, were
certainly in possession of the original,
universal Marks, as they were know and
given in the Lodges they had left, and which
had descended through the Lodge of York,
and that of England, down to their day.
Besides these, we find they had peculiar
marks of their own, which were unknown to
the body from which they had separated, and
were unknown to the rest of the Masonic
world.
We have then, the evidence that they had
two sets of marks: those which they had
brought with them from the original body,
and those which they had, we must suppose
themselves devised.
Dermott, in his Ahiman Rezon, confirms this
statement of Dalcho, if, indeed, it needs
confirmation. He says that “a Modern Mason
may with safety communicate all his secrets
to an Ancient Mason, but that an Ancient
Mason can’t, communicate all his secrets to a
Modern Mason without further ceremony.
Now, what were these” other things”
known by the Ancients, and not known by
the Moderns?
What were these distinctive marks, which
precluded the latter from visiting the Lodges
of the former?
Written history is of course silent as to these
esoteric matters. But tradition, confirmed by,
and at the same time explaining, the hints and
casual intimations by writers that leads us to,
that they were to be found in the different
constructions of the Third, or Masters
Degree, and the introduction into the Royal
Arch element.
We can see this in the Dutch 3rd Degree were
the Candidate finds the lost word on the
Tracing Board, when a English Mason finds
this in the Royal Arch degree. Another is the
1st & 2nd degree Words, and the names on the
pillars, which are transposed to those used on
the continent.
But the differences in the Rituals of the
Ancients and the Moderns, is now perhaps
impossible to discover, as from their esoteric
nature they were only orally communicated.
What can be the conclusion?
In my personal view, I think it is impossible
to find out what the real intent was from the
symbols painted on the Kirkwall Scroll and
how they were used in the ceremonies. We
can only, suppose as I have done, and use the
modern symbols in Freemasonry to help us
walk through these seven steps. Surely it
doesn’t belong to the “Moderns”, but is it
from the “Ancients”, or the Scottish
Masonry, in the time of St Clair and the
Rosslyn Chapel? Maybe there was some
influence, from there as it was painted in that
era.
It could also be influence by the York Rite,
The legend that connects the origin of
English Masonry at York in 926 which is
sometimes called the “York Legend”, and
sometimes the “Athelstan Legend” or also the
“Edwin Legend”. Prince Edwin was
supposed to be the head of the Craft, and
have convoked them together to form a
Constitution.
The earliest extant of the old manuscript of
the Constitutions is the ancient poem
knowing as the Halliwell MS, and the date
was about the year 1390.
So this is also close to the painting of the
Scroll!
The York Rite has seven degrees, and in the
beginning the Knights Templar was part of
their work.
This could be the reasons that William
Graham, when he got the painting from his
father knew that it was something special and
saw many images of the Ancients in it.
We can safety say that it was like our Tracing
Boards, an aid to telling the stories and the
lessons of Freemasonry.
I like to finish with some photo’s from the
sides what was put on later ( 1780 – 1840),
and of the original painting of the Scroll.
The Crusaders besiege Damietta on the Nile.
The prophets worship the Sacred Serpent on
the Tau Cross above the Tomb of Aaron.
The Temple at Jerusalem with the river of
live flowing into it.
Two priests carry the Ark on its poles by the
Tomb of Sarah, while below, two other
priests worship the Golden Calf, set on an
inverted Tau Cross.
Fred
References:
Robert Lomas; The Hiram books
Andrew Sinclair; The secret scroll.
Mackey’s Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry.
J.C.Cooper; Encyclopaedia of Traditional
Symbols
Symbol Dictionary.NE.
Quatuor Coronati Lodge: The Lodge
Kirkwall Kilwinning.
Rituals of different side Orders.
And many internet resources.