Where should the senior warden be placed?

The Senior Warden is placed in the West of the lodge room 1 2 3. His station features a pedestal set upon a dais elevated by two steps 3.

As an emblem of authority, a replica of a column stands at his station; this column remains erect while the lodge is at labor and is laid prostrate when the lodge is called to refreshment 1.

In the symbolic scheme of the lodge, Wilmshurst interprets the West as representing the rational understanding, material-mindedness, and the common sense employed in daily affairs, placing it opposite the East, which signifies the spiritual principle 2.

Works cited

From the library. Each claim above is numbered to the work and page it came from.

Carl Claudy Introduction to Freemasonry: Fellowcraft p. 11 Claudy describes the location of the Wardens in the South and West along with the positional symbolism of their columns during labor and refreshment.

Walter Leslie Wilmshurst The Meaning of Masonry 1920 · p. 1 Wilmshurst outlines the symbolic meaning of the West, attributing to it the rational understanding in contrast to the East and South.; Wilmshurst repeats the dimensional and directional layout of the lodge room and its psychological interpretation.

Albert C. Mackey Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences pp. 878-879 Mackey specifies the layout of a lodge room, detailing that the Senior Warden's pedestal in the West is elevated on two steps.

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