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Freemasonry and the Art of Dying


Dedicated to Bro. William
The Stoics saw death as a natural part of existence, not something to dread.
Accepting the inevitability of death motivated them to live virtuous, purposeful lives.
They contemplated death daily, appreciating life's simple beauties.



The Epicureans saw death as irrelevant, for when one "is" death is not and when death occurs, one is no longer there. 


With the advent of Christianity, the concept of the art of dying was further developed through books consoling or attempted to console people who feared death in a time when life could be short and brutal:


Ars Moriendi was also among the first books printed with movable type and was widely circulated in nearly 100 editions before 1500, in particular in Germany. The long version survives in about 300 manuscript versions, only one illustrated.

Ars moriendi consists of six chapters:

The first chapter explains that dying has a good side, and serves to console the dying man that death is not something to be afraid of.
The second chapter outlines the five temptations that beset a dying man, and how to avoid them. These are lack of faith, despair, impatience, spiritual pride and avarice.
The third chapter lists the seven questions to ask a dying man, along with consolation available to him through the redemptive powers of Christ's love.
The fourth chapter expresses the need to imitate Christ's life.
The fifth chapter addresses the friends and family, outlining the general rules of behavior at the deathbed.
The sixth chapter includes appropriate prayers to be said for a dying man.

Wikipedia 

All religions and philosophical systems that include a metaphysical component deal with the subject of death, but one has to refer to one's own experience and I find the third or Master Mason degree of Freemasonry a very poignant, accessible and helpful understanding of death and the art of dying. The third degree of Freemasonry, for those who aren't acquainted with it or with Freemasonry in general, deals as with all Masonic myths with the Symbolic realm. In this degree, Hiram Abiff, the master builder appointed by Hiram, King of Tyre, to build Solomon's Temple is murdered by three operative masons who demand of him the secrets of the Temple. Abiff, prefers death rather than disclose improperly these secrets to those who aren't yet worthy of them. In the Masonic degree of rising also known as the third degree, the subject of death and dying well are contemplated. The topic of the immortality of the soul and the afterlife are also an integral part of this degree. But this exploration of the immortality of the soul and the afterlife is carried out without any particular religious concession and I would argue that in such a way that even Freemasons who are atheists can find a perfectly valid interpretation. The fragment of the Master Mason that follows is both beautiful and indicative of the Masonic perspective on death:


"I will now beg you to observe that the light of a M.M. is but darkness visible, serving only to express that gloom which rests on the prospect of futurity; it is that mysterious veil which the eye of human reason cannot penetrate unless assisted by that Light W.M. points to V.S.L. which is from above; yet even by this glimmering ray W.M. points to it you may perceive that you stand on the very brink of the grave W.M. points to it into which you have just figuratively descended and which, when this transitory life shall have passed away, will receive you into its cold bosom. Let the emblems of mortality which lie before you W.M. points to skull and cross-bones lead you to contemplate your inevitable destiny and guide your reflections to that most interesting of all human studies, the knowledge of yourself. Be careful to perform your allotted task while it is yet day, continue to listen to the voice of nature which bears witness that even in this perishable frame."

Master Mason degree excerpt, Taylor's Ritual.

In the Masonic Legend, the three ruffians who murder Hiram Abiff- the Master builder-bury his body and flee. When a party of builders go looking for their Master Hiram, they find his corpse buried under a sprig of Acacia, the enduring Masonic symbol of immortality and transformation. 

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