November 2025
-
Few symbols in the Third Degree speak with such austere eloquence as the Hour-Glass and the Scythe. Though familiar to generations of American Freemasons, these emblems are—perhaps unexpectedly—comparatively modern additions, shaped by the ritual innovations of Thomas Smith Webb and visually disseminated through the Doolittle engravings in Jeremy Cross’s True Masonic Chart. Yet their deeper…
-
Good evening Quarrymen This weekend learn why two of the most familiar symbols in the American Third Degree aren’t as ancient as you think—and their true story is far stranger, darker, and far more revealing. From Webb’s ritual innovations to Egyptian reaping knives, from the Fates’ shears to the apocalyptic sickle in Revelation, these emblems…
-
Long before Solomon’s Temple, before the tools of the builder became moral symbols, there was another origin story—one almost forgotten. In 1723, the Reverend James Anderson claimed that Noah and his sons were the first Freemasons, keepers of geometry and divine order who rebuilt civilisation after the Flood. This episode explores Anderson’s extraordinary idea that…
-
Good evening Quarrymen Was Freemasonry founded by King Solomon—or by Noah himself? In 1723, the Reverend James Anderson published The Constitutions of the Free-Masons and made a startling claim: that the Craft began long before Abraham, when Noah and his sons built the Ark “according to the Rules of Masonry.” In Anderson’s vision, all humanity…
-
What is the true difference between the Trestle-Board and the Tracing-Board—two terms often spoken together but rarely understood? This 1932 Short Talk Bulletin unravels the fascinating history of these symbolic tools of the Craft, tracing their evolution from the chalk-drawn plans of operative builders to the moral designs of speculative Freemasonry. Discover how the trestle-board…
-
What is the true origin of the Craft? Beyond its moral allegories and social history lies a stream of teaching as old as civilisation itself — the Ancient Wisdom. This lecture traces that lineage from the Golden Age of myth through the Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, and Jerusalem, revealing how their sacred science survives within…
-
A timeless exploration of one of Masonry’s most enduring symbols — the Ashlar. In this classic lecture by J. Fairbairn Smith, Editor Emeritus of the Detroit Masonic World, the transformation from Rough Ashlar to Perfect Ashlar becomes a powerful allegory of moral refinement and spiritual craftsmanship. Join us From the Quarries as we uncover the…
From the Quarries 