What are the symbolic meanings of light in Freemasonry?

Light represents intellectual enlightenment, truth, and moral rebirth, standing in contrast to the darkness of chaos and ignorance 1. The transition into light symbolizes the disruption of worldly ties, a passage into a new life, and the awakening of intellectual faculties 1. Upon receiving this illumination, Masons are designated "sons of light," reflecting their release from ignorance into the effulgence of knowledge 1.

Wilmshurst takes light to signify the inner Divine Principle or Logos, holding that the candidate's quest for light is impelled by the Divine Word itself seeking self-consciousness within human nature 2. He further interprets the symbolic lights governing the lodge in terms of spiritual faculties: the Master-light in the East personifies the Divine Principle, the moon in the West represents natural human intelligence reflecting that higher illumination, and the sun in the South denotes balanced, spiritually illuminated understanding 2.

In relation to mortality, the movement from darkness to light signifies the passage through physical death to the light and knowledge of eternal life 1.