ARTS, SCIENCES, AND THE FELLOW CRAFT

The Second Degree of Freemasonry is the Fellow Craft, or "fellow workman". It is recognized as a step in the development of a Master Mason and after the rigors of the First Degree; the Second Degree appears to offer much less challenge to the initiate. Many of the Craft do not pay due attention and reflect upon to the importance of this step and its important lessons. Moving beyond youth to manhood and gaining knowledge are important steps to becoming a Master of the Craft.

With a revival of Masonry in 1717 several changes were made in the Degrees. As Masonry shifted from operative to speculative forms, Freemasons were desirous to advance the Craft beyond an operative art and drew upon the developments occurring in education at universities. The emergence of science and the Age of Reason with an emphasis on the Seven Liberal Arts were an apt model for the Craft and these liberating arts were incorporated in the Entered Apprentice Degree. There being seven liberal arts and seven officers, it was an apt fit.

At that time most Lodges were made up of Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts, since only the Grand Lodges conferred the Fellow Craft and Masters Degrees. It was not until 1725 that this regulation was repealed and subordinate lodges allowed conferring of all three degrees.

With this change came several changes in the content and presentation. The recognition of the progression in the Second Degree and its role in the development of manhood lead to the winding staircase and its seven steps, namely the seven liberal arts, with their Trivium and Quadrivium. The Trivium consists of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and mastery of these would allow the Freemason to advance to higher levels of understanding and Light. In classical Latin, a "trivium" was place three roads met and hence, through careful study of these basic tools the initiate was to gain knowledge and understanding.

A "quadrivium" was place four roads met, and being more complex, represented the advanced topics of arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. Mastery of these topics was to liberate one and make him his own master, namely free and independent. Of course in those times, this would mean a truly educated man would be a "noble" man, or "nobleman", capable of acting with knowledge to advance himself and those about him.

So it is that when we participate, or observe, the Second Degree, we must carefully reflect upon the lessons shown. The two Globes illustrating our Universe, the five Pillars of Architecture supporting our efforts at erecting a spiritual Temple, the five senses through which we perceive our world, and the seven Liberal Arts are critical elements to becoming a true Master Mason and master of ourselves. Such is the nobility of this Degree and its challenge.