How does Freemasonry incorporate symbols from nature?

The principal natural symbol in the Craft is the sprig of acacia, an evergreen tree historically identified with the shittim wood of the Old Testament 24. Because the evergreen retains its life through cold weather when other plants wither, it serves as an emblem of resurrection, faith, and the immortality of the soul 24. Mackey explains that the symbol carries a threefold meaning, representing immortality, innocence, and initiation, depicting how innocence may briefly lie in the grave before being called to a higher existence 3. Waite similarly emphasizes its extraordinary physical persistence as a sign of continued life beyond mortality, taking the plant as a figurative representation of man's inward nature 4. A related botanical metaphor appears in the scythe gathering man, who comes forth as a flower before being cut down 2.

Astronomy and celestial nature also furnish symbolic lessons. The cornucopia borne by the Stewards derives from classical mythology and the constellation Capricorn 1. Claudy points to this link between the movements of the heavens, geometry, and the lights of the lodge, arguing that the ordering of the physical firmament reflects divine architecture and design 1.