The Three Great Lights
The Volume of the Sacred Law, the square and the compasses: one to guide faith, one to square actions, one to keep desires within due bounds.
Also called: great lights of Masonry
What it means
They lie together on the altar of every regular Lodge, and no Lodge may work without them. The Holy Writings are to rule and guide faith, the square to square actions, and the compasses to circumscribe desires and keep the Mason within due bounds with all mankind.
In most American Lodges the volume is the Bible. The principle is the volume sacred to the members, and Lodges with men of several faiths may have several books open; how that is handled is a matter for each Grand Lodge.
The monitors also name three lesser lights, the sun, the moon and the Master of the Lodge, represented by three candles placed about the altar.
In context: The Three Degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry
Related Lodge offices: Lodge Chaplain
Frequently asked questions
What does the Three Great Lights mean in Freemasonry?
The Volume of the Sacred Law, the square and the compasses: one to guide faith, one to square actions, one to keep desires within due bounds.
Who can wear the Three Great Lights?
This is a lesson rather than a badge. It turns up on Lodge charts, prints and gifts, and owning or displaying one says nothing about rank. On a lapel most people will read it as Masonic.
Sources
Drawn from the published monitors and from what the bodies concerned publish about themselves. Nothing here comes from, or goes beyond, any obligated material.
- Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason's Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry (1797)
- William Preston, Illustrations of Masonry (1772)