SEMIOTICS FOR THE FREEMASON

By Iván HERRERA MICHEL

Past President of CLIPSAS

When a person is initiated into a Masonic Lodge, they generally discover during their first instruction that everything they will learn from that point forward will be symbolic and allegorical. They understand that this is how the Order conveys knowledge and inspiration, but they do not find an institutional conceptual framework or an invitation to personal training that would prepare them to interpret and correctly understand what a symbol, an allegory, or a ritual truly is.

Semiotics is the discipline that studies systems of signs (among these are symbols, which do not have an intrinsic but rather a conventional relationship with what they represent), their processes of signification and communication, and the way meanings are created and transmitted. In Freemasonry, this constitutes the backbone of the entire edifice. Therefore, for a Freemason, it is not an optional subject but a fundamental and essential discipline for the proper construction of their Masonic life. It is essential when it addresses the semantic dimension, which studies meaning; the syntactic dimension, which deals with the relationships between signs; and the pragmatic dimension, which concerns how they are interpreted.

Since ancient Greece, Plato had already reflected on the concepts implicit in signs, Aristotle studied the representation of words in his work "On Interpretation," and the Stoics classified them as “natural” and “conventional.” Later, John Locke in England analyzed their nature in the "Essay Concerning Human Understanding," and the Swiss Ferdinand de Saussure, father of modern semiotics, concluded that a sign is composed of its form (signifier) and the ideas or concepts it represents (signified). The correspondence between the form and what a symbol represents depends on conventions, which in our case are those of Masonic tradition.

Through the interpretive function of semiotics, a Freemason has the opportunity to find underlying meanings with greater rigor, depth, understanding, and assimilation. For example, they can discover in the symbolism of the Gavel, the Chisel, and the Rough Ashlar ethical and philosophical principles to guide their own life and influence society, while also uncovering meanings in the way Freemasonry invites the instrumentalization of this symbolism. Similarly, semiotics will provide them with valuable tools for understanding the various forms in which Masonic content is communicated: words, marches, charts, postures, objects, garments, contacts, etc.

Semiotics is not an optional subject for a Freemason but an essential one that offers the necessary theoretical framework for the correct interpretation of symbols and, through this path, for the proper preservation and transmission of Masonic Tradition when confronting the symbolic corpus with someone prepared for it.

This matter is not trivial. By encouraging the study of semiotics in the Lodges, the preservation of Masonic traditions, usages, and customs is facilitated. Freemasons can not only grasp the essential teachings of Freemasonry more deeply and effectively from the beginning, but also later transmit them, thus reducing their vulnerability to the interference of foreign conceptions that distort their practice.

Moreover, an educated and appropriate perspective on symbolism strengthens the capacity for analysis, reflection, and the broader search for meanings in Masonic life, and through it, in social life.

This is not a matter of little importance in an increasingly pluralistic era.

Iván HERRERA MICHEL

Past President of CLIPSAS