CLC - ENTERED APPRENTICE - 05.22.17

Circumspection . Looking around; carefulness in considering all circumstances and possible consequences. Clad . Covered or clothed. Colors. In symbolic Masonry, they are white, black and blue. White in all ages and among all peoples has always stood for purity, innocence, sinlessness, and black in the same places and times has been the color of death and sorrow. No symbolism beyond what has been universal is to be found in the Masonic use of black and white. One theory as to blue is that it is the color of the blue vault of heaven. The starry-decked canopy was adopted in Freemasonry as an emblem of its universality and limitlessness. Another theory is that blue was adopted by the first Grand Lodge (after having first adopted white) as the especial color for its principal officers. Some believe that blue, the color of the ribbon in the Most Noble Order of the Garter, was adopted by early Masons in order to add to Freemasonry some of the dignity which surrounded that decoration. The garter is one of the honors referred to when the apron was presented as being “more honorable than the Star or Garter.” Whatever the reason for the adoption of the color, its use is now universal and “Blue Lodge” and “Blue Lodge Masonry” are terms understood throughout Freemasonry. Compass. Symbol of restraint; of the principle tenets of the Order; of skill and knowledge, since without

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