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wildflowerwoodsworld · 1 year

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Ooo your AU’s seem so cool Wild 😱💕! I’m curious about the “Everybody Lives” AU and the “Time Travel fix it” with Finral and Vanessa 👀. What has been your favorite part about those two AU’s 🤔?

My favourite part of the Everybody Lives au is tracking just how different the world ends up with all the people that survive.

Everybody Lives au cast list;

General Magic Knights Julius Novachrono (42), Wizard King Fiona Roulacase (42), Finral's mother and Julius' right hand. Tondra Sturm (41), spymaster and chief strategist Zara Ideale (42) Marx Francois (25), the Wizard King's assistant, and the third of Julius' wards.

Silver Eagles: Former Captain Acier Silva (48), Acier stepped down from the post of Captain when she thought Nozel was old enough to deal with it as her battle with Vanica left her with a curse that massively reduces her strength. She's still around the base though and acts as an advisor. Captain Nozel Silva (29), Nozel is currently looking for a Vice-Captain Nebra Silva (25) Vivian Shiply (17) Solid Silva (18) Lana Vaude (17), Langris' younger sister, Lana has Fire magic and a rivalry with Solid. Angela Clarkson (17)

Crimson Lion Kings: Captain Mereoleona Vermillion (32) and Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion (30) Vice-Captain Randall Luftair (31) Leopold Vermillion (17)

Blue Rose Knights Captain Charlotte Roselei (27) Vice-Captain Lerola Roselei (26), Charlotte's half sister, Lerola works more in the shadows leaving her fellow Vice-Captain to be the front-facing one Vice-Captain Yami Ichika (24), Ichika fights primarily using ki, which she learned from scrolls 'borrowed' from Hino when she and her brother left. Puli Angel (26) Sol Marron (18) Aella Clarkson (16)

Green Praying Mantises: Captain Jack Summerfield (28), commonly known as Jack the Ripper Vice-Captain En Ringuard (24) Hannah Gerver (24) Madlyn Fiore (23) Dalila Lister (19) Sekke Bronzazza (15)

Coral Peacocks: Captain Dorothy Unsworth (27) Vice-Captain Kirsch Vermillion (20) Silas Vaude (25) Levi Roe (20) Cornelia Franklin (20) Juniper Kay (18)

Purple Orcas: Former Captain Kaiser Granvorka (49), Kaiser's last act as Captain before retirement is to pick newbies in the entrance exam for Asta's year Captain Gueldre Poizot (28) Vice-Captain Xerx Lugner (32) Revchi Salik (32)

Grey Deer: Captain Morgen Faust (29) Vice-Captain Nacht Faust (29) Apprentice Vice-Captain Rill Bosimortier (19) Fragile Tormenta (20) Sylvia Vaude (19)

Golden Dawn: Captain William Vangeance (26) Vice-Captain Langris Vaude (20) Alecdora Sandler (24) Shiren Tium (23) Letoile Becquerel (21) David Swallow (21) Hamon Caseus (20) Klaus Lunettes (18) Mimosa Vermillion (15) Yuno Grinberryall (15)

Black Bulls: Captain Yami Sukehiro (28) Vice-Captain Finral Roulacase (21) Henry Legolant (26) Gordon Agrippa (26) Zora Ideale (25) Vanessa Enoteca (24) Grey Wechsler (24) Gauche Adlai (19) Magna Swing (18) Luck Voltia (18) Noelle Silva (15) Asta of Hage (15)

(Fiona, Tondra and Lana are mine. Vivian, Angela, Lerola, Aella, Hannah, Madlyn, Dalila, Silas, Levi, Cornelia, Juniper and Sylvia all belong to the lovely @crazedstoryteller.)

The time-travel fix-it au- so, the Dark Triad win and the gates to the underworld are open. All of the Bulls except Vanessa, Finral and Gauche die when the gates are opened.

Gauche figures out that, theoretically, Finral and Vanessa can go back in time and change things. He doesn't go with them.

Finral and Vanessa arrive about a year before Asta and Noelle join the squad and, whilst they don't drag the Bulls out their hole--they don't want to change too mcuh too early--they do stop them from digging the hole any deeper

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solitarywitchinghour · 1 year

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Haven’t done any studies or readings bc life keeps happening, but anyways.

My goal is to at least start reading Agrippa’s book and finish The Black Arts and review some annotations as well. I also need to read Wen’s book (Holistic Tarot) and make annotations. There’s a lot of things I wanna/need to do but have yet to find the time, bc at the moment I studying for somethings else and can’t really prioritize my occultism studies like I wanted.

But at least I’m having a quick to actually start somewhere, which was my problem for a while.

I also have Oberon’s book to read (Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard), tho I must be honest, I am kinda reluctant to read it... It feels like it might have some closed practices in it, but I’ll have to kinda sift through the text and make my own research to make sure I’m not using/doing something I should not (and all of the insufferable Harry Potter refences throughout the book). What I like about the book are the little tables (tables? imma go with that w/e) about herbs and correspondences and astrology. It has some basic spells that I might try and iirc, even some recipes.

The other book I also have is The Green Witch, that it’s okay, I guess, it’s good. But even though the author said she wouldn’t focus on Wicca specificaly, she stills has some wiccan springles here and there in the text, which I overlook, since I’m not interested. ALso has some recipes that I might try someday in the near future (smth simple like and oil or a bread recipe)

I’m still not sure whether or not I want to celebrate any of the sabbats (since I’m not a Wiccan) but I’m still thinking about it. Never felt a calling, but we’ll see how it goes. I know it’s not mandatory to celebrate it, but (again) I’ve seen so many people celebrate and such that I keep coming back and forth about it. I don’t know if I can like... Celebrate only the ones I find interesting or if I shoud celebrate all of them. Again, I go back and forth with the idea.

I’m also hopping for a better place to put my altar, like a little table or smth like that, because the place it is now is not really the best, though it is doing its purpose. Maybe I’m too focused on other’s altars (all aesthetic pleasing tbh), so I think mine NEEDS to look like those to be valid (non sense, ik). My altar is good, it has my candles and my tarot decks and some other stuff, its good for what it is, but if I had a table, it would be better to work with. I have zero work space in there!

Well, that’s all I had for today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to read something, maybe not.

#whispers #occultism #grimoire for the apprentice wizard #occult studies

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victorscribbles · 3 years

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Tiny

#the arcana #apprentice agrippa #fan apprentice #muriel the arcana #portia devorak #julian devorak #asra alnazar #nadia satrivana #pontifex vulgora #procurator volta #quaestor valdemar #consul valerius #praetor vlastomil #count lucio

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madllamamomma · 3 years

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Chibis round 2!!—WIP

for The Visitor~ fanfic

Nadia, Portia, & Agrippa ❤️

(Julian and a few others will also be on the way)

[ Agrippa is a fan apprentice by @victorscribbles . ]

#the arcana #the arcana game #madllamamomma #muriel x apprentice #my hot trash #wip #fan fic #portia devorak #apprentice agrippa #nadia satrivana #current wip

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totentnz · 4 years

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me a month ago: idk having agrippa leave his hometown at an early age would be sad

me now: what if his mother didnt bring him to athras but she finds him abandoned in her woods

#sammy says shit #i kno children being seperated from their parents at an early age is normal in dragon age #and while i have no idea whats going on with magical education after the circles got disbanded #still sad #but only way to make it less sad is to make it more sad #also why tf does nobody talk about this in da:i #like mages are born every day what happens with them now?#like i kno other countries deal with it differently #but ya kno what? you know what im saying i dont have to explain myself #also yes the apprentice is still called agrippa you can fight me over it

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luckyblackcloverrr · 3 years

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The Black Bulls and their bullshit in the modern time: jobs I guess – Part. 2

Many seemed to enjoy the first part of the series, thank you so much for the love! Honestly I don’t think this part is as good or funny as the one about lifeguard Yami and the café buddies, so look out for part 3 (the last part) I guess? Again I didn't mean for these to turn out like headcanons, but does it really matter at this point? Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoy this one, which includes babysitter Asta, and the fashion boutique group! :D

Asta

baby babysitter

has enough muscles to carry 4 children on him with ease.

he probably shocks clients by telling them that he doesn't mind working for free (because he's clueless about stuff like that)

but his clients always pays him because they feel bad when they see him get along so well with their kids

never gets mad at the children, but always disciplines them with his loud ass voice whenever they do something wrong

teaches the kids yoga he learned from Vanessa to calm them down

"inner peace in your mind, and breathe in, breathe out."

the session is interrupted when a kid pulls his hair from behind him, and suddenly they're having a nerf gun battle

likes to break dance in the living room to entertain the kids

dislocated his shoulder once because of it

tries to help them with homework but he himself doesn’t understand what the question is asking for

brings the children out to the park to have fun with the consent of their parents

usually brings Luck with him because he has TONS of energy and the children love playing tag with him

Asta tells him to lose on purpose so the kids don’t cry

absolutely horrible at putting them to sleep because he literally sounds like an alarm clock

so he pretends to sleep with them to get the children to follow him (because they look up to him)

ends up actually falling asleep

immensely fascinated at his rich clients' houses because he has never seen cool things like a water fountain or a built-in theatre before in a house

i totally see him screaming and shouting exactly like the children he's babysitting when playing with them

Vanessa Enoteca

runs a small fashion boutique, and designs all the items in the shop

the only person in the shop that the customers find approachable

she's usually hungover when you see her

but helpful nonetheless when it comes to clothing choices

there's never really a time where the boutique is full with customers

so in the morning she sits behind the counter, either fast asleep or watching cat videos

in the afternoon she becomes more productive though

works with Gordon to finish any ongoing pieces and discusses new designs

lowkey thinks of her customers as dolls

constantly playing dress up with the customers, and her persuasion skills gets them to actually buy her choices

plays bubblegum jpop through the speakers because Zora lowkey enjoys it

5pm to 7pm is the time for her daily yoga sessions

she holds weekly zumba lessons on the space one floor above the boutique for some extra cash

Gordon and Henry always end up being dragged into them, both the yoga and the zumba

has considered becoming a stripper seriously at least 4 times

flirts with male customers only because she wants sales

it works for some reason and she sells a winter coat for $350... in the middle of summer

gives discounts whenever she feels like it

once when she was batshit drunk, she cut 99% off someone's bill

she was dragged to the back to rest while Zora had to take over at the counter and passive aggressively explain why it is impossible and unreasonable for them to offer the discount

Gordon Agrippa

works in Vanessa's boutique pt. 1

was asked by Vanessa to work in her shop because he had a talent for sewing up dolls

now he's Vanessa's apprentice, learning how to properly make clothes and helping her complete outfits

apparently, his fashion taste has significantly improved (according to Vanessa)

she thinks Gordon's appearance is what makes him...Gordon, so she doesn't bother asking him to change it

wants to go out and make friends with the customers

once, he appeared from the back room and everyone in the store fled in fear

Henry gave him pats on the back to console him afterwards

after working together for awhile, all the workers in the boutique can make out his mumbles

likes to stroll around the shop (when there is no one) to appreciate the peace and vibes

has handmade dolls of everyone, and they sit on the table and watch him while he works

also the person who fixes things around the shop

light bulbs, broken shelves, malfunctioning cashier machine, you name it

only because the rest either had no clue how to fix them, or they're too unbothered to care about it

so Gordon learned all these skills from Google

occasionally goes to the café and Charmy's restaurant to fix things too

he just wants more friends, but is also absolutely content with his friendship with the Bulls

Zora Ideale

works in Vanessa's boutique pt. 2

drives a cool motorcycle to work

only working here because Vanessa promised to give him free clothes

you'll never see him without a leather jacket

Vanessa has told him before that he looks too scary for the customers to approach

but he honestly does not give a damn

critiques just about anybody's fashion sense

he'll tell a child that the pink Elsa dress she is wearing looks like shit

or how those blue coloured barbie crocs are NOT it

and the child always ends up crying, but stops when Henry offers her a lolipop

but he does offer actual advice and good choices depending on the customer

just that it comes out very aggressively

and it is up to the customer whether to take his suggestions or leave

he will BULLY anyone that talks shit about the workers in the store

Henry's looks messy and dirty? Zora roasts

Vanessa doesn't take her job seriously? Zora roasts

Gordon looks scary? Zora agrees but still ROASTS

the person who pulls Luck back by the ear before he ransacks the place

also offers relationship advice to couples if necessary

many visit the shop just for his brutal honesty about various topics

at least 5 couples visit monthly for his guidance

REFUSES to join Vanessa's yoga and zumba sessions, he clocks out and immediately heads to the café to chill instead

Henry Legolant

works in Vanessa's boutique pt. 3

wears pajamas to the job

he was invited to work there but Henry thinks of it more as a friendly gathering than work

his job there mostly consists of folding clothes, ironing clothes and keeping the whole store tidy

he's basically in his own world

doesn't get mad whenever the store becomes messy

he doesn't question it and instead he just tidies it up again

also sometimes sits in a corner and draws new outlines for the interior design of the boutique

is the one who recommended potted plants to Nacht for the café

Zora wanted to give him a haircut, but he insists that it's okay

"that's why his hair is so big, because his hair is fULL oF sEcReTs." – Vanessa Enoteca, quoting off the Mean Girls.

as per Gordon's request, he stands outside the shop for 20 minutes daily

to 'get his daily dose of sunshine' is what Gordon said because Henry stays inside too much

makes tea for the rest whenever it hits 4pm

sometimes offers it to the customers, they usually refuse

enjoys Vanessa's yoga and zumba lessons

he thinks it will help him become more productive

and because he has a very pleasant memory of a specific Zumba session with all the Black Bulls

which was Magna, Zora and Luck competing to see who was the better dancer

Finral won in the end by majority vote

Parts - 1 | 2 | 3

#black clover #black clover headcanons #asta #black clover asta #vanessa enoteca #gordon agrippa #zora ideale #henry legolant #im sorry if this isnt as funny as the first part besties ahhhh #obviously i shouldve come up with something better #im seriously enjoying this series but i cant help but FEEL this part is gonna flop #i just know that it will :')#but anyways enjoy?#get ready for charmy's restaurant tho ;)#finral best zumba dancer

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art-of-ket · 4 years

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My pen died from all my love

A huge heartfelt gift to a bunch of great people in the Arcana fandom! (Drawn in a random order)

Misha: @art-misha-voltaire

Amora: @brainfartistart

Hathe: @leatherandsaltybitters

Valerie: @aaliyah-draws

Isha: @bastart13

Illian: @lazyvoyager

Halla: @linaisbluepancake

Briar: @amnesia-moth

Julianne: @timmys-and-scribbles

Agrippa: @victorscribbles

Marín: @marinmuffins

Tari: @mcarcanageek

Prentiss: @arcanaprentiss

Kipling: @asras3rdeye

Anaya: @sugared-sweet-coffee

Misery: @miserytheapprentice

Marin: @punky-peach

Tazim: @lucioscunt

Jay: @bitcxes-n-cream

Miena: @scaredy-apprentice

Alice: @kidgrimm

Sindre: @makidrawzzz

I figured it was high time I stopped admiring your apprentices and art from afar, so have some sketchy signs of my affection 😌

#the arcana #the arcana apprentice #the arcana game #the arcana mc #the arcana apprentice appreciation

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vampiresuns · 4 years

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❤️ for Sabine, 🖤 for Madea, 💖 for Leo, and 💝 for Nana!

❤️- Does your apprentice even have living family? Do they remember them?

They do! There’s her grandmother Alba, her parents Agrippa and Celsus, and the siblings: Flóreal, Faustus, Octavia, Sabine and Amario.

They took care of Sabine while Asra was away, and they don’t remember remember but they come to the conclusion they are their family. Who else would care like that?

🖤- Does their family know of the plague? Do they think they’re still dead from it?

They did know of the plague, because they lived in Vesuvia. They aren’t alive, however.

Still, they know she’s alive from it: when she was brought back, they ushered her to jump, and live again.

💖- Was magic a common practice in the home?

While I assume magic is fairly common in Prakra, in the Kaur household it was fairly common, everyone in his family is a little magic, and uses it for different things. Navneet uses for healing, like their father Devdas, and Sashi uses it to make maps and navigate, also comes mighty handy to make your voice heard when you need an announcement made. Althea uses it for botany, and the triplets, Isha, Vaishnavi and Ashok, use it for both mayhem and organisation.

Rajni, their mother, also uses it for organisation, and she is quite a powerful empath: as a social worker, this tends to come handy to make the people she is helping feel at ease.

💝 - How would their family react to your apprentice’s magical abilities?

They’re mostly proud. They all tend, his grandfather Kuzma the most, to brag about how accomplished Anatole is. They, however, didn’t find it thrilling when Anatole wanted to formally study magic, and made it part of his education. As a bourgeois family, of relatively high social standing, they deemed magic mostly a folk practice — you have a career, and magic is not a career.

They still let him, of course, but this has played a role in Anatole understanding magic as a science, more than something separate from it, and often combines both.

His father and his (maternal) aunt Paris are another story. Dragoslav’s an engineer and an alchemist is the one who understands the most. He also loves magic, and it is often the steady bonding point father and son possess. Paris owned the shop, and made magic her sole source of income.

#puzzlingenigma #apprentice asks #the arcana #arcana apprentice #aelius anatole #leonore #medea #sabine #questions

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didanawisgi · 5 years

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W. Kirk MacNulty, 32°

The symbols used in 18th-century Masonic tracing boards are references to the vast body of literature and philosophy which documents Renaissance thought.

Art: Frontispiece from Stephen Jones, Masonic Miscellanies (London: Vernor & Hood, 1797)

Masonic Tracing Boards are training devices. In the earliest days of speculative Masonry, the Master would sketch designs on the floor of the Lodge using chalk. Then he would talk about the drawing during the meeting. During the course of the 18th century, the drawings were transferred to "Tracing Boards" which are pictures, one per Degree, that encapsulate the symbols of each of the Degrees. The Boards to which we will refer are English.

Speculative Masonry started in the 1600s, and its symbols are references to that vast body of literature and philosophy which documents Renaissance thought. In the Renaissance, the dominant metaphysic was Judeo-Christian monotheism with an admixture of Classical thinking. Renaissance philosophers incorporated many Greek (particularly neo-Platonic) and Jewish mystical ideas into their orthodox Christianity. Some of these influences came from the Hermetica which had, itself, been a substantial influence in the formation of early Christian doctrines. Others came from Kabbalah, the mystical tradition of Judaism. This fusion of classical and Jewish philosophy is called the "Hermetic/Kabbalistic Tradition"; and after it had been interpreted in the context of orthodox Christian doctrine, it became the basis of Renaissance thinking. Speculative Masonry dates from the end of the Renaissance (the mid-17th century), and it is no surprise that Masonic symbolism reflects this tradition.

The First Degree Tracing Board, which looks at first glance like a collection of heterogeneous objects, is, I think, a representation of the entire Universe. It is also a picture of a human being standing in a landscape. Neither of these images is immediately obvious, but I think the ideas will become clear.

The central idea of Renaissance thought was the unity of the Universe and the consequent omnipresence of the Deity. This idea is represented by the "Ornaments of the Lodge." The fact that Masonry has gathered these three objects into a single group suggests that we consider them together. The Ornaments of the Lodge are the Blazing Star or Glory, the Checkered Pavement, and the Indented, Tessellated Border; all refer to the Deity. The Blazing Star or Glory is found in the Heavens at the center of the picture. It is a straightforward heraldic representation of the Deity. Look at the Great Seal of the United States on a dollar bill, and you will see the Deity represented there in the same manner. The Checkered Pavement represents the Deity as perceived in ordinary life. The light and dark squares represent paired opposites, a mixture of mercy and justice, reward and punishment, passion and analysis, vengeance and loving kindness. They also represent the human experience of life, light and dark, good and evil, ease and difficulty. But that is only how it is perceived. The squares are not the symbol; the Pavement is the symbol. The light and dark squares fit together with exact nicety to form the Pavement, a single thing, a unity. The whole is surrounded by the Tessellated Border which binds it into a single symbol. The Border binds not simply the squares, but the entire picture, into a unity.

The idea of duality occurs throughout the Board: from the black and white squares at the bottom to the Sun and Moon at the top. In the central area of the Board, duality is represented by two of the three columns; but here the third column introduces a new idea. The striking thing about these columns is that each is from a different Order of Architecture. In Masonic symbolism, they are assigned names: Wisdom to the Ionic Column in the middle, Strength to the Doric Column on the left, and Beauty to the Corinthian Column on the right. How shall we interpret these Columns and their names?

One of the major components of Renaissance thought was Kabbalah. The principal diagram which is used by Kabbalists to communicate their ideas is the "Tree of Life." The column on the right is called the "Column of Mercy," the active column. That on the left is called the "Column of Severity," the passive column. The central column is called the "Column of Consciousness." It is the column of equilibrium with the role of keeping the other two in balance. The three columns all terminate in (depend on) Divinity at the top of the central column. Referring to the columns on the First Degree Tracing Board , note that the Corinthian Pillar of Beauty is on the right; in the classical world the Corinthian Order was used for buildings dedicated to vigorous, expansive activities. The Doric Pillar of Strength is on the left; the Doric Order was used for buildings housing activities in which discipline, restraint, and stability were important. The Ionic Pillar of Wisdom is in the middle. The Ionic Order is recognized as an intermediate between the other two and was used for Temples to the rulers of the gods who coordinated the activities of the pantheon. The Three Pillars, like the Tree of Life, speak of a universe in which expansive and constraining forces are held in balance by a coordinating agency.

The Universe of the Renaissance philosophers consisted of "four worlds." The Kabbalistic representation of this idea is shown in the figure above by the four large circles denoting four "worlds." They are the "elemental" or physical world, the "celestial" world of the psyche or soul, the "supercelestial" world or spirit, and the Divine world. These same levels are represented on the First Degree tracing board pictured on the front inside cover of this issue. The Pavement represents the "elemental," physical world; the central part of the Board, including the columns and most of the symbols, represents the "celestial" world of the psyche or soul; the Heavens represent the "supercelestial" world of the spirit; and the Glory represents Divinity.

These ideas describe the "landscape." Where is the man?

Another important Renaissance concept was that of a Macrocosm (the universe as a whole) and a corresponding Microcosm (the human individual). The idea is that the universe and human beings are structured using the same principles (both being made "in the image of God"). Consider the Ladder. It extends from the Scripture on the Altar to the Glory which represents the Deity; and in the Masonic symbolism, it is said to be Jacob’s Ladder. We consider the ladder together with another symbol, the Point-within-a-Circle-Bounded-by-Two-Parallel-Lines, which is shown on the face of the Altar.

These symbols are discussed together because in many early Masonic drawings they appear together as if they have some connection. (See the illustration from Masonic Miscellanies, 1797, at the head of this article.) Consider the Two Parallel Lines first. They, like the Doric and Corinthian columns, represent paired opposites, active and passive qualities. In Masonic symbolism, they are associated with the Saints John; the Baptist’s Day is mid-summer, the Evangelist’s is mid-winter.

Now, this Point-within-a-Circle-Bounded-by-Two-Parallel-Lines, together with the Ladder and its three levels, reveals a pattern very similar to the three columns. There are three verticals, two of which, the Lines, relate to active and passive functions while the third, the Ladder between them, reaches to the heavens and provides the means "by which we hope to arrive there." The ladder has "three principal rounds" or levels, represented by Faith, Hope and Charity, which correspond to the three lower levels of the four-level Universe we observed earlier.

Both the Macrocosmic "Landscape" and the Microcosmic "Man" share the fourth level of Divinity, represented by the Blazing Star, or Glory. Taken together the Ladder and the Point-within-a-Circle-Bounded-by-Two- Parallel-Lines represent the human individual made "in the image of God," according to the same principles on which the Universe is based.

A Mason is sometimes called "a traveling man." One of the Masonic catechisms gives us an insight into this term. "Q. - Did you ever Travel? A. - My forefathers did. Q. - Where did they travel? A. - Due East and West. Q. - What was the object of their travels? A. - They traveled East in search of instruction, and West to propagate the knowledge they had gained." Notice the cardinal points of the compass on the Border of this Tracing Board; they define the East–West direction in Masonic terms, and, in doing so, they describe the nature of the journey to which the new Mason apprentices himself. That journey from West to East is represented, symbolically, by the progress through the Masonic Degrees; and it is, in fact, the ascent up Jacob’s Ladder—one of the "Principal Rounds" for each Degree.

The notion of a "mystical ascent" was part and parcel of the Hermetic/Kabbalistic Tradition. It is a devotional exercise during which the individual rises through the worlds of the soul and the spirit and at last finds himself experiencing the presence of Deity. Some of these ascents are deeply Christian in their character. In De Occulta Philosophia, Agrippa "rises through the three worlds, the elemental world, the celestial world, the supercelestial world...where he is in contact with angels, where the Trinity is proved, ... the Hebrew names of God are listed, though the Name of Jesus is now the most powerful of all Names." (Frances A. Yates, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, London, RKP, 1979, p.63)

The Second Degree Tracing Board shows a familiar pattern: two columns which have opposite characteristics, and between them a staircase, a form of ladder. We cannot investigate this symbol here because of space limitations (see Heredom, vol. 5, 1996, for a fuller explication), but we know we are to climb this staircase. The picture summarizes the Renaissance idea of the approach to Deity as an interior journey.

On the Third Degree Tracing Board, the grave probably does not refer to physical death. During the Renaissance there was much discussion about "the Fall of man" and its effect. "The Fall" seems to refer to some event by which human beings, who were at one time conscious of the Divine Presence, lost that consciousness. After "the Fall," ordinary human life, as we live it on a day-to-day basis, is "like death" when compared to human potential and to a life lived in the conscious awareness of Divine presence. The grave suggests such a "death" to be our present state. The acacia growing at the top of the grave suggests that there is a spark of life which can be encouraged to grow and refers to the possibility of regaining our original Divine connection.

The view of the Temple in the center of the Third Degree Board shows "King Solomon’s Porch," the entrance to the "Holy of Holies." The veil is drawn back a little offering a glimpse into that chamber where the Deity was said to reside. This suggests that at the end of the journey from West to East some process analogous to death enables the individual to experience the Divine presence. After this process has occurred, he lives once more at his full potential. Again, I think that this refers neither to a resurrection after physical death nor to a life after physical death; both of which are the domain of religion, not Masonry. Rather, it refers to a psychological/spiritual process which can occur, if it be God’s will, within any devout individual who seeks it earnestly and which I believe it to be the business of Freemasonry to encourage. After all, we claim to be Freemasons, and this is that Truth, the knowing of which "make[s] you free."

This article has been shortened by the author from the original published in Heredom, Vol. 5, 1996.

#herodom #tracing board #lost keys of freemasonry

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