The Blazing Star or Comet in the Centre

[Tamrin]

The Blazing Star or Comet in the Centre

by Philip Carter, Newcastle Masonic Study Circle, July 2013

2013 promises to be memorable for even the most casual of comet watchers, with two Great Comets (ones visible to the naked eye). From February into April we saw Comet Wainscoat (C/2011 L4) and, from November into January 2014 we are expecting Comet Nevski-Novichonok (C/2012 S1). The second being heralded as likely to be one of the brightest comets in history, perhaps even being visible during the day.

However, astronomers are being very cautious in their predictions because of past disappointments. As comet specialist David Levy says, "Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want".

Thus, the following address may be appropriate for this great cometary year. You be the judge…

The Ancient of Days, by William Blake, 1794
(compare the star on the Bayeux Tapestry, below)

[Tamrin]

In our Explanation of the First Tracing Board we are specifically told that, “The Blazing Star, or glory in the centre, refers us to that grand luminary, the Sun…” However, on most tracing boards, it would appear that, if that identity is correct, the Sun is depicted twice (as in this illustration). While there are many inconsistencies in Freemasonry, I suggest this duplication is unlikely.

Tracing Board c. mid to late 18th Century
(note the Broached Thurnel and the absence of Jacob’s Ladder)

Possibly some confusion has crept in over time. If so, what else might the Blazing Star represent? According to the on-line Masonic Lodge of Education, the Masonic Blazing Star is a symbol of Divine Providence and has variously been said to depict — the Sun; Sirius (the brightest of the “fixed stars”); the Star of Bethlehem; and Halley’s Comet.

Halley’s Comet depicted in the French Bayeux Tapestry
(“isti merant stella” means “They admire the star”: Meanwhile
the English regarded it with dread — as a sign changes were afoot)

[Tamrin]

We might also consider the possibility of the Blazing Star’s representing the planet Venus, once described as one of the “wandering stars.” Venus is the brightest celestial body other than the Sun, the Moon and occasional Great Comets and is fifteen times brighter than Sirius. This planet is proverbial as both the “morning star” and the “evening star,” and figures significantly in our ceremony of raising, as the Bright and Morning Star, or Star in the East, with which Jesus is said to have identified himself (Revelation 22:16).

Of these, it should be noted that:

• The name Sirius is from the Greek for “burning,” nearly but not quite synonymous with “blazing” (the former signifying “consumption,” the latter “light”).
• Speculation has it that the Star of Bethlehem was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, a comet, a supernova, or simply a pious fiction.
• The identity of Halley’s Comet was first mooted in 1705, though not confirmed until 1758 (after the incorporation of the Blazing Star into masonic symbology).
• Every eight years the orbit of Venus describes a pentagram, typically the central figure of the Blazing Star.

Bearing in mind the Blazing Star symbolising Divine Providence, and discounting the specific identity of it, if a comet, having to have been Halley’s, I propose, for no better reason than convenience and my own sense of likelihood, that we leave for now an exploration of the other contenders and for now just consider the possibility of the Blazing Star having been an unspecific comet.*

Stars and Stripes proposal for the first US flag

*Indeed, we cannot be certain that the plurality of comets was widely understood. Perhaps each was thought to be the same erratic entity.

[Tamrin]

My reason for this focus is rooted in the superstitious awe which comets once evoked, having been being regarded as signs of divine displeasure and as harbingers of doom. While according to orthodox theology, God is said to be omnipresent, there is also a sense in which God is said to be especially present in a Church or Temple or in an object such as the Ark of the Covenant. In this sense, a comet might be said to be an example of God’s more immediate presence, demonstrating what Ken Blanchard calls “seagull management”, where the boss is only seen when there is a problem, in which case they, “fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out.”

With this ominous superstition in mind, please consider how, “The Prestonian Lecture credited to Dunckerley connects the Masonic Blazing Star with the Star of Bethlehem and also, more curiously with Moses on Mount Sinai.”

The Masonic Blazing Star or glory in the center, reminds us of that awful period when the Almighty, delivered the two tablets of stone, containing the 10 commandments to his faithful servant. Moses on Mount Sinai when the rays of His divine glory shone so bright that none could behold it without fear and trembling.

Thus, the Blazing Star is associated with the brightness of an “awful period” inducing “fear and trembling,” terms which remind us that “Divine providence” refers to God’s intervention in the world which, according to the biblical account was not always unambiguously beneficent. Instead, we get the impression of a wrathful God. For example, the Second Book of Samuel, Chapter 24, describes God as having both brought and ended a pestilence which raged among the Israelites.

The account in II Samuel 24 is referred to in our Explanation of the First Tracing Board and will soon be seen to have a significant parallel with the years leading to the inclusion of the Blazing Star among our masonic symbol. Of this inclusion, we are told.

Part of the Furniture of the Lodge: In the earliest monitors, immediately after the revival of 1717, the Masonic Blazing Star is not mentioned, but it was not long before it was introduced. In the instructions of 1735, it is detailed as a part of the furniture of a Lodge, with the explanation that the “Mosaic Pavement is the Ground Floor of the Lodge, the Blazing Star, the Centre, and the Indented Tarsel [sic], the Border round about it!”

In “La Reception Mysterieuse” (The Mysterious Reception), the 1738 French translation of “Masonry Dissected,” Samuel Pritchard’s 1730 exposure, “blazing star” is explicitly taken to mean “comet.” Translated back into English, we read:

The pavement of the Room is decorated with Mosaic work, the comet is in the centre, & the Room is carpeted all round with a brocade of gold.”

Why might “Blazing Star” be translated as “comet”? Simply because that is what “blazing star” explicitly meant at the time. For example, the 17th C. poet John Milton tells us of events in 1066:

In the mean while a blazing star, seven mornings together, about the end of April was seen to stream terribly, not only over England, but other parts of the world; foretelling here, as was thought, the great changes approaching…

[Tamrin]

Later we find:

Comet fever reached new heights in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when a total of 21 comets was seen. Ever alert, prophets of doom began to churn out lurid pamphlets predicting all manner of associated evils ... But this was also the time when cometary science began to take tentative steps forward.

In the same account, we are told:

In 1664 and 1665 two bright comets appeared, and between them occurred an eclipse of the Moon. Such a triple omen was unique. One can almost hear the collective intake of breath in anticipation of the unparalleled disasters that surely must follow. Lest anyone be uncertain about the meaning of these omens, John Gadbury, an English astrologer, thoughtfully interpreted them in his book of 1665, De Cometis. ‘These Blazeing Starrs! Threaten the World with Famine, Plague, & Warrs,’ he trumpeted. ‘To Princes, Death: to Kingdoms, many Crises: to all Estates, inevitable Losses!’ He can hardly have believed his luck when London was hit by the Black Death in 1665 followed by the Great Fire the year after. Unwittingly, he had demonstrated a fact that modern-day astrologers know well: the laws of chance ensure you can’t be wrong all the time.

The Great Comet of 1665
Excerpts from Samuel Pepys' Diary

This period marked the height of the Black Death in London and the Great Fire of London soon followed in 1666. The latter disaster cleansed the city of the plague, reminiscent of II Samuel 24. Not only did the fire end the plague, it resulted in the reconstruction of London.*

Of particular interest to us was the 1667 Rebuilding Act, which acknowledged that the work was beyond the capacity of the local guilds and permitted “foreign” artisans to contract for work in the city for a period of seven years or until the work was finished. Hence we can explain if not prove the existence of lodges of stonemasons not under control of the London Company of Masons, who at the turn of the century were no longer active in the trade, lending weight to the operative transition theory.

*Earlier outbreak of plague had profound effects on feudal society. Disproportionately effecting the working
classes they led to agitation for higher wages and better conditions, combined with efforts to restrict their
demands and to a degeneration of guild practices, allowing exploitation of apprentices and journeymen.

[Tamrin]

Still entertaining the existence of such lodges, the formerly operative members were likely to have had superstitious regard for comets, as the visible signs of divine intervention. By the time of the inclusion of the Blazing Star among our masonic symbols there was a disproportionately high cross-membership with the Royal Society. These Free and Accepted or Speculative Masons who were also Members, Fellows (FRS) and Presidents of the Society (PRS) were likely to have had a more scientific interest in comets. For example, we know comets were of particular interest to Sir Isaac Newton, PRS, and to his contemporaries, most notably Edmond Halley, FRS. The early cross-membership was most apparent among higher-ranking members of the Premier Grand Lodge, with thirteen Fellows of the Royal Society becoming Grand Masters of the Craft).

Newton's Sketch of the Orbit for the Great Comet of 1680

Comet visible with the naked eyed are called Great Comets. Some, such as that of 1680 (Kirch’s Comet), which Newton studied in detail and was central to the development of his theory of universal gravitation, were visible by day as well as by night, a veritable pillar of light in the sky.

The Great Comet of 1680
Rotterdam, Painting by Atlas van Stolk

[Tamrin]

Against this identification, it may be argued that comets are characterised by a tail and such depictions, while not unknown, are, at first sight, rare in masonic iconography.

From Robert Moray’s, Masonic Manual, 1867, p.80
In which he writes of the All-seeing Eye saying, “Whom the SUN, MOON, and STARS obey, and
under whose watchful care, even COMETS perform their stupendous revolutions, pervades
the inmost recesses of the human HEART, and will reward us according to our merits.”

Addressing this argument, and in conclusion, it may be observed that symmetry is an artistic convention, especially with regard to illustrations pertaining to deity. A way of ensuring symmetry with regard to depictions of the Blazing Star as a comet may have been to show it head-on. Please also consider that the words “comet” comes from the Greek for “hair.” The Greeks called them “aster kometes” meaning “hairy stars.” Turning to early masonic depictions, we find that where the Sun is shown with the Blazing Star, the Sun is depicted with flames, while the Blazing Star simply features thin, straight “hairy” lines (some pavements in this region still feature such lines).

Other Tracing Board depictions even appear to transform Jacob’s Ladder into a cometary tail.

[Tamrin]

Jul 15, 2013 8:56:01 GMT 10 Tamrin said:

2013 promises to be memorable for even the most casual of comet watchers, with two Great Comets (ones visible to the naked eye). From February into April we saw Comet Wainscoat (C/2011 L4) and, from November into January 2014 we are expecting Comet Nevski-Novichonok (C/2012 S1). The second being heralded as likely to be one of the brightest comets in history, perhaps even being visible during the day.

However, astronomers are being very cautious in their predictions because of past disappointments. As comet specialist David Levy says, "Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want".

Comet Nevski-Novichonok (C/2012 S1) aka Comet ISON:

Comet ISON is confirmed dead

A comet that grabbed attention worldwide for being likened to a massive snowball in space didn't survive its brush with the Sun last week, NASA has confirmed.