The Letter “G” is a symbol of geometry and, also, of deity. The letter “G” reminds us that our every act is done in the sight of God, and that Divine Providence is over all of our lives. Man is reminded that God is in all nature and in every man.
Our life and all its blessings come from Him in an orderly fashion. These are disrupted only by the vileness of man when he does something contrary to the Divine Will. The letter “G” is placed in the center of the Masonic emblems worn by many here in the U.S., but not by Masons in England or other nations of the British Commonwealth.
The letter “G” is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Masonic symbols. Where it is used as a symbol of Deity, it is the Anglo-Saxon representative of the Hebrew “Yod” and the Greek “Tau” – the initial letter of the Eternal in those Languages. The letter “G” conveys to the minds of the Brethren, at the same time, the idea of God and of geometry. It bound heaven to earth, and the Divine to the finite. Masons are taught to regard the universe as the grandest of all symbols, revealing to all men the ideas that are eternally revolving in the mind of Deity, and which it is their duty to reproduce in their own lives. Thus God and geometry are constantly united in the speculations of our ancient brethren and they sought not only to build magnificent buildings, but also to erect a “Temple of Divine thoughts” for the soul.
The symbolical letter “G” is a perpetual condemnation of profanity, impiety, and vice. No brother should ever speak the name of the Grand Master of the universe but with respect, reverence, and love. He will learn by studying the mystic plan. Wherever we find this symbol in Masonic rites it has the same signification. The young Fellow Craft is the representative of a student of the sciences, and to him the letter “G” represents the science of geometry. Among the mathematical sciences, geometry is the one that has the most special reference to architecture, and we can therefore understand the whole art of Freemasonry. In Anderson’s Book of Constitutions, Freemasonry is frequently called geometry, and he said the whole being of the Order is comprehended in it. Freemasons, therefore, ought to make themselves intimately acquainted with geometry. It is not necessary that we should be able to delineate geometrical figures, but we should be able to deduce all our actions, work, and resolutions from geometrical principles.
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Compiled by Jack R. Levitt
Past Grand Master of California