From the book
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe parallel lines belong to the point-and-circle emblem and receive personal, astronomical, and mythic explanations in the compilation.
- In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryThe monitors connect them with John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
- In this editionCancer and Capricorn name zodiacal signs in this discussion.
- A place to readS.123: … “certain point within a circle, em-bordered by two perpendicular parallel lines, representing St. John the Baptist” …
Meaning
The parallel lines belong to the point-and-circle emblem and receive personal, astronomical, and mythic explanations in the compilation.
Use in the book
The monitors connect them with John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. A solar interpretation assigns them the two limits of the sun's annual course, while another passage derives them from serpents. The work thus preserves more than one explanation even while favoring a particular one.
Places to read
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 123… “certain point within a circle, em-bordered by two perpendicular parallel lines, representing St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, and upon the top rests the Holy Scripture. " '*”
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 124“327. "The two parallel lines which in the modern lectures are said to represent St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, really allude to particular periods in the sun” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 125… “and that is the origin of the two parallel lines (into which time has changed the two serpents) that support the circle in our lodges.”
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 138“340. "But the two perpendicular parallel lines remain to be explained. Every one is familiar with the very recent interpretation, that they represent the two Saints John, the Baptist and the” …
In this edition
Cancer and Capricorn name zodiacal signs in this discussion. Their presence in an interpretation does not itself date a ritual.
Reading the argument
Compare the kind of relationship claimed in each account. A later symbol may accumulate meanings; that possibility differs from a demonstrated sequence in which one specific form replaced another.
parallel lines
“parallel lines” — 5 occurrences in 4 text blocks: S.123–125, 138.
perpendicular
“perpendicular” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: S.123, 138.
solstices
“solstices” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: S.124.
Cancer
“Cancer” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: S.124.
Capricorn
“Capricorn” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: S.124.