Masonic Fire

Fire in Craft Masonry is primarily understood through its equivalence to light, serving as a symbol of Divine Truth and the Grand Architect 1.

In the Craft's second degree lectures, fire appears in connection with the left-hand or northern pillar, Boaz, at the porch of King Solomon's Temple 1. This pillar represents the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites by night through the wilderness, signifying the superintending and protecting power of Deity and serving as a memorial of divine support 1.

The symbolic background of lodge ritual also connects fire to the practice of circumambulation 2. Early religious observances centered on altars bearing sacred fire, and circling the altar from east to west by way of the south was an imitation of the sun's course 2. When an initiate circles the lodge room around the altar, the rite descends from these ancient expressions of reverence toward the Unseen Presence 2.

Mackey notes that while the symbolic concept of fire as light belongs to Craft Masonry, specific rites involving purification by fire are features of advanced degrees rather than the Blue Lodge 1.