Corn, Wine and Oil: Its Symbolism to Masonry

King Solomon’s Temple

We are taught in the Fellowcraft Masons Degree that masonic wages of our ancient brethren are corn, wine and oil which have been associated together from the earliest times.  King Solomon paid the craftsmen from Tyre with this important production of his kingdom which constituted the wealth of the people, and were esteemed as the supports of life and the means of refreshment.

 Although corn may referred to wheat or barley or other cereal grain during the early period as corn did not exist not until the discovery of the native American Indian’s  maize, corn, wine, and oil are mentioned comprehensively as such eighteen times in all in the Bible. They represent the fruits of the ground, God's good gifts, and are representative of the fertility of the country. King David enumerates them among the great blessings bestowed by God.  In Psalm " And wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart.   In Deuteronomy 11:14 Moses declared  “That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine”.

In the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece, offering to Demeter the goddess of agriculture was made through the ceremony of corn, wine, and oil as grateful praise for the good harvest.  Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult was being celebrated every year by the Greeks particularly in the town of Eleusis where the secret ceremony was being held by the participants, a link to freemasonry by forefather’s mason to symbolize the corn of Demeter, the wine of Dionysus and the oil of Athena.

In devoting anything to religious purposes, the anointing with oil was considered as a necessary part of the ceremony, a rite which has descended to Christian nations. The tabernacle in the wilderness, and all its holy vessels, were, by God's express command, anointed with oil; Aaron and his two sons were set apart for the priesthood with the same ceremony; and the prophets and kings of Israel were consecrated to their offices by the same rite.

Oil is a vital commodity which is used in cooking, lighting, cleaning, and medicating. In Biblical times olive oil was the oil used primarily for all of these purposes; to lubricate with oil, to rub over or smear with oil. The effect of lubrication was to make smooth, to lessen friction and thus improve the workings of that to which it was applied.  In addition to reducing friction rubbing with oil also had a protecting and healing effect when applied to parts of the body.

Another belief of using oil to decrease friction and thereby increase harmony, oil has come to be regarded as having the ability to soothe as implied in the statement, "to pour oil on troubled waters." Thus,  oil has become associated with efforts to bring about peace.  So, next time that disharmony occurs inside the lodge, follow the ritual of mixing water with oil.

Rite of Constitution in Masonic Lodge

Like in the ancient times,  following the ancient elements of consecration since the days of Aaron and Moses,  corn is used as the symbol of nourishment  and plenty  contained in the golden pitcher and poured into the sacred container covered in white cloth. Next, pouring the wine contained in silver vessel  the symbol of refreshment and gladness  unto the silver container. Then pouring the oil in silver vessel  the symbol of joy and peace completed the masonic wages. The golden pitcher serves as essential staff of life while the silver vessels are for comforts.

In the ceremony of consecrating a Lodge upon its constitution the following words are declared and  accompanied the pouring of the corn, wine, and oil upon the “Lodge", the emblem of the Holy Ark, indicate the symbolism associated with their use,

"I pour this corn, the emblem of nourishment, and consecrate this Lodge to charity."

"I pour this wine, the emblem of refreshment, and consecrate this Lodge to hope."

" I pour this oil, the emblem of joy, and consecrate this Lodge to faith." 

In Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry this statement is made about the consecration of a Lodge, "Thus does this mystic ceremony instruct us to be nourished with the hidden manna of righteousness, to be refreshed with the word of the Lord and rejoice with joy unspeakable in the riches of divine grace."

The most important meaning of  the wages of corn, wine, and oil in the constitution of the Lodge, as  in the Fellowcraft Degree symbolizes the fact that the laborer is worthy and qualified of his hire and should do the work of a man with responsibility as he is entitled to a just reward physically and spiritually. 

 As symbols of obedience corn, wine, and oil are mentioned first in Deuteronomy 7:13, "Listen to these ordinances, be true to them and observe them and in return Yahweh, your God, will be true to the covenant ... He will bless ... the produce of your soil, your corn, your wine, your oil."

The Astrological Significance of July 4th Independence Day of America and the First Independence Day of the Philippines

The Founding Fathers of America started to celebrate the July 4th Declaration of Independence Day in 1776 as established by Freemasons notably George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other astrologers-masons who planned and designed the national capital region area.  From the ancient concept of “as above so below”, they built the structures aligned to heavenly bodies and star maps particularly the heliacal rising of star Sirius at certain time of the year.  Sirius known as sothis among the Egyptian, Al Shaira  as indicated in the Koran, Surya in Sanskrit; T’an Lang or heavenly wolf of the Chinese Purple Star group, is the brightest star in the sky twenty times brighter than our present sun  and is  located in the constellation Canis Major.

Canis Major is the larger of two dogs which follow Orion, the Hunter,  at exact alignment on the belt of its 3 stars ; faces the 5 stars of Taurus, Hyades , the Bull ;  and the 7 stars of the Pleiades. Sirius is more visible on the easterly sky of the winter solstice rising after sunset. By the ancient Egyptians, Sirius was revered as the Nile Star, or Star of Isis. Its annual appearance just before dawn at the June 21 solstice, heralded the coming rise of the Nile, upon which Egyptian agriculture depended. This particular heliacal rising is referred to in many temple inscriptions, wherein the star is known as the Divine Sepat, identified as the soul of Isis.

The Fourth of July Declaration of Independence was linked to the brightest star in the heavens, Sirius. Every year on July 4 after sunrise from our earth’s position, our present sun is in conjunction with Sirius. Esoterically this star is the Mason’s Blazing Star  when conjoin with the sun and align with the stars in Hyades and Pleiades on certain period of the ages caused by the precession of equinox.

This alignment  is associated with liberation, the concept of freedom, spirituality  in human consciousness, enlightenment with God  because of the lights coming  from this star system.

For more esoteric explanation,  Sirius, a fixed star located in 13 degree Cancer is traveling one degree per 72 years and presently on the gateway of the soul journey. From the 25th Degree of the morals and dogma by Albert Pike  “ the constellation Cancer and its counterpart Capricornus held the positions of the Sun at the solstices. When the fixed stars of Cancer marked the position of the Sun at the June solstice, this key station marked the gateway for the descent of souls into incarnation. Cancer was known as the ‘Gate of Men’ through which souls descended from heaven into human bodies.

During the migration of souls, men’s spirits dwelt in the Milky Way, the seed-ground of the soul, between incarnations. It was also believed by the ancients that the souls of men, when released from corporeity, ascended back to heaven through the stars of Capricorn, known as the ‘Gate of the Gods’. These two ‘Gates’ are located where the Zodiac and the Milky Way intersect.”

“The Galaxy, Macrobius says, crosses the Zodiac in two opposite points, Cancer and Capricorn, the tropical points in the sun’s course, ordinarily called the Gates of the Sun. These two tropics, before his time [Aries], corresponded with those constellations, but in his day [Pisces] with Gemini and Sagittarius, in consequence of the precession of the equinoxes; but the signs of the Zodiac remained unchanged; and the Milky Way crossed at the signs Cancer and Capricorn, though not at those constellations. “Through these gates souls were supposed to descend to earth and re-ascend to Heaven. One, Macrobius says, in his dream of Scipio, was styled the Gate of Men; and the other, the Gate of the Gods. Cancer was the former, because souls descended by it to the earth; and Capricorn the latter, because by it they re-ascended to their seats of immortality, and became Gods.

From the Milky Way, according to Pythagoras, diverged the route to the dominions of Pluto. Until they left the Galaxy, they were not deemed to have commenced to descend toward the terrestrial bodies. From that they departed, and to that they returned. Until they reached the sign Cancer, they had not left it, and were still Gods. When they reached Leo, they commenced their apprenticeship for their future condition; and whey they were at Aquarius, the sign opposite Leo, they were furthest removed from human life…the soul falls along the zodiac and the milky way to the lower spheres, and in its descent not only takes, in each sphere, a new envelope of the material composing the luminous bodies of the planets, but receives there the different faculties which it is to exercise while it inhabits the body..”

Astrological Ceremony on the 4th of July

Accdg to Herschel, on the Fourth of July when the Sun has reached the altitude of the tip of the obelisk at exactly 8º 36’, the Sun, the Capitol Building and Jefferson Memorial will align within a precision of less than 1 degree if standing at the foot of the Reflecting Pool.

The obelisk is a Sun token and represented the Sun god Ra in ancient Egypt. Since the Egyptians worshipped the sacred River Nile representing the Milky Way, the water causeway in front of the obelisk is highly symbolic! The water causeway at Washington Memorial is called the Reflecting Pool. It serves as a diffusing body of water that reflect the Lights coming from the alignment of the stars and planets in the east ( the Sun, Sirius, Taurus and Pleiades)  to the capitol building and the surrounding structures. It is also during this day, the head of state and other framers of the government receive the cosmic energy  emitted by these stars and planets.

On July 4, 1946, the Philippines was granted independence by America. The American forefather masons understand the importance of  July 4th astrological symbolism and the effect of its ceremonies but did not impart the meaning to the profane leaving  only to selected few Philippine Freemasons particularly Bros Pres Manuel L Quezon and Manuel A. Roxas.

The American Brothers entrusted the  secret  of the heliacal rising of star Sirius on the summer solstice at 13 degree Cancer,  specifically  that the  Philippines is geographically located within 5 degree to 19.5 degree north latitude (tropic of cancer  23.5 degrees ) of the earth facing the rising sun. Some writers accounted the 120 degrees longitude pointing the Philippines as the stargate of the hexagram tetrahedron of the earth map.

The change of June 12th Independence was made under the proclamation in 1962 by President Diosdado Macapagal, a non-mason who had no idea about the esoteric side of life existence as taught by the ancient Egyptian Paraoh to Moses, and whose program of government was focused on nationalism and sovereignty of the country only  .

June 12th under the Gemini air sign attributes to duality, communications and travels, energetic, clever, witty, adaptable. superficial, impulsive, restless, devious, indecisive.

“Cancer on the other hand  is a water sign:  love home-life, family and domestic settings. They are traditionalists, and enjoy operating on a fundamental level. Bearing the sign of the Crab, Cancerians are legendary for their emotional sensitivity and homely nature. Sometimes though, Cancer’s glyph, or symbol, may represent the breasts as a symbol of the nurturing qualities of the sign.

The Crab signifies many traits which are inherent to most natives of Cancer and the one of the most significant of these is a deep love for home and family. Like Crab, a creature which is happy to lug around its house on its back, natives of this zodiac display a strong attachment to home and homely interests. Thus male Cancerians love presiding over large family dinners and having the whole clan come over for family celebrations like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

In women this trait is manifested in a maternal and caring nature . A Cancer woman is likely to be the happiest at the center of a large family and comfortable home. In fact, they may even have a matriarchal streak which makes them the figure of authority in the extended family. Interestingly, despite their amiable sentimentality, both the Cancer man and woman can become quite ruthless – once again like its Zodiac symbol, the Crab – when they sense danger to her home and hearth.”

MD-NCRG Picture during June 12, 2015  Independence Day Celebration and Raising of the Philippine Flag at Luneta Park

While waiting for VP Binay and Mayor Erap Estrada to arrive for the delayed  8am ceremony  (we assembled at GLP at 5:30am and subsequently  went to Luneta Park  for the 7am schedule of flag raising ), the lag time has kept me contemplate on what will happen to the future of this country.

Observing from media the ongoing political intramurals among the aspirants, with the current propaganda advertisement, demolition strategies and maneuvering, the candidates seem shown no sincere concern for the citizenry. The slogan of helping the people alleviate from poverty and managing the country  to successful prosperity with selfless concern is just a promise of a typical traditional politician- very effective political rhetoric for the last 70 years.  Enriching oneself in public office is a common practice of an unworthy public servant.

Where are the esoteric teachings of the ancient Lemurians? Except for the ancient eight pointed star of Shamash and Sumeria, or the eight rayed sun Surya of the Majapahit Empire where  the 8 rayed sun on our  national flag was unconsciously patterned, the high level of enlightenment which the islanders posses has lost its secret doctrine because of materialism, greed and selfishness, and abuse of power..

Looking at the eastern sky, I have noticed the under construction condominium Torre de Manila, the controversial structure arising from the once famous Jai Alai gaming building - now blocking the Cosmic Rays of the Rising Sun and the Star Sirius during conjunction every July 4th of the year. These Rays of Light  radiate the Obelisk on the  Rizal Monument the same orientation as in  Washington DC Monument of America.

With the structure blocking the cosmic rays and the energy of enlightenment, chaos is imminent to attain order. This is the nature's law of the universe..Ordo ab Chao.

However, there are still upright and enlightened masons  who will run this country in the future as imprinted on their fate of destiny.

Still, Our Hope Is In God!