I remember asking about the beehive back when I was an EA and told that this was part of the MM degree.
Admittedly, much of the ceremony I can't remember because so much is coming at once. But I can't recall any mention of the beehive. Did I just forget about this after it was presented? Now that I think about it, I was told the same thing about the point within a circle.
I've just got through the ceremony and have a vague recollection of mention of the 'lost word'. I can't recall what it was, if indeed it was ever mentioned and have two questions:
What was the lost word supposed to represent? Literally a word, yes, but allegorically? The ruffians were after 'knowledge' and secrets, not a word as I recall.
Is the replacement word the pass phrase for the degree? If not, what is it?
Walton Hannah’s Darkness Visible, first published in 1952, is a sharp and careful examination of Masonic ritual through the eyes of a Christian theologian. Hannah, an Anglican clergyman, wrote not to mock or sensationalise but to show how the moral lessons of Freemasonry might appear to stand in tension with orthodox Christian belief. His method is simple: he quotes passages from the Craft’s three degrees and compares their language and symbolism with biblical teaching.
To Freemasons, the book can seem both fair-minded and uncomfortable. Hannah acknowledges the good done by the Craft, its charity, order, and fraternity, but argues that it borrows religious language without clear theology. He worries that when Masonry speaks of “light,” “resurrection,” or “immortality,” it teaches a moral truth apart from the specific revelation of Christ. In his view, Masonry points men toward virtue but not salvation.
Yet Hannah’s work is more mirror than attack. He…
Starting this thread for us to begin discussing what we are reading and learning in the UGLE Solomon. I have had many questions from brethren who are working their way through the papers and nuggets. Please ask your questions ! We not have over 200 members and there is a wealth of knowledge here - we can all learn.
@Robert Francis - I know you are bursting with questions :)
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Alas dear brother you may have been misled.
The beehive remains part of Masonic symbolism primarily outside English Craft Freemasonry. In the United States, many Craft jurisdictions still reference it in lectures and tracing boards as a moral emblem. It also persists within the , particularly in American jurisdictions that retained Enlightenment-era moral symbolism. A notable civic survival exists in , where the beehive is the state emblem, reinforcing its Masonic association with industry and cooperative labour. In parts of Continental Europe, it appears sporadically in older or more esoteric systems, though it is no longer widespread.
Symbolically, the beehive represents disciplined labour, cooperation, and social harmony. It teaches that individual effort gains value when directed toward the common good, and that order, diligence, and moral responsibility are essential for a stable society.
Its removal from English Craft Masonry likely followed the 1813 Union under , which sought ritual standardisation and public restraint. Symbols linked to Enlightenment moral philosophy and political economy were reduced in favour of a narrower architectural framework, leaving the beehive to other systems and jurisdictions.