Mental Alchemic Winding Staircase: Meaning to Alchemist's Today
For many Alchemist, The Fellowcraft degree is among the most moving rituals in our fraternity. It teaches a man the value of an informed mind and helps him assume his role as a good citizen, friend, and family man. The mental and spiritual rigors that accompany the ascent of the Alchemic winding staircase aim to deepen the candidate’s connection to himself and, above all, teach him to be just with all mankind. An alchemist has a duty to himself and his Brethren to become better and build a better world. This means he cannot stand still, he must commence his alchemical labor, climb the stairs to the Middle Chamber and become an example of enlightenment and wisdom.
It's fascinating that the Winding Staircase, a symbol that only appears once in alchemical ritual, has earned such prominence. Even in scripture, it appears in a single verse in the sixth chapter of the First Book of Kings: “The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house, and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third."Over the centuries, tracing boards, Alchemical aprons, and other fraternal artwork have depicted the Winding Staircase. That this image is a foundational element of Alchemical teachings today is a testament to the power and beauty of alchemical ritual, in particular the Fellowcraft degree of the Tower, a 15.000 sq Arts Resource Center is the centrepiece of LUMA Arles. It will house research and archive facilities, workshop and seminar rooms, and exhibition spaces.
The central organising element of the new building is a circular glass drum, the shape of which relates to the Roman Arena in Arles. Like the Arena, the scale and clear geometry of the drum reflects the ancient Roman planning influences that set the foundation of Arles. The Romans used civic buildings to organise the densely situated buildings around it.
The drum is both transparent and porous, with walls that open to the surrounding industrial buildings turning it into the central hub of the campus. The building grows out of the centre of the drum and is oriented towards the historic centre of Arles.
The skyline of Arles is populated with towers built from the ancient times to the Middle Ages up to the present. The new building will help establish LUMA Arles as a significant site among the other landmarks of the city.
The façade of the new building takes its inspiration from the limestone peaks of Les Alpilles—the mountain range that rises from the Rhone Valley northeast of Arles. Upon the horizon of the region, the geological formations are a strong natural feature—the jutting peaks stand in stark contrast to the plain of the valley from which they emerge. The impressive forms and textures of the jagged cliffs helped to establish a formal and contextual ambition for the new building.
Les Alpilles have played a significant role in the cultural memory of the region and abroad. They figure prominently in Van Gogh’s paintings from the time he spent in Arles in which he depicted the mountains with visible, segmented strokes emphasising the dynamism and texture of the terrain. The manner in which Van Gogh rendered Les Alpilles influenced the development of the exterior cladding of the building. The design of the tower seeks to capture the movement of discrete elements across a surface.
This manner of breaking down the surface to visible modules became an important theme in the surface development of the building as it reinforced the idea of a “painterly building”. The building changes in appearance as one moves around it, as each of the panels reflects light dierently. Over the course of the day the building will take on the colors and hues of the surrounding context and sky, adding the impression of movement across the facades.
Further reflection on the local architecture of Arles reinforces this concept; best exemplified in the masonry construction of the Roman and Romanesque architecture in the city, such as the limestone panels of the Amphitheatre, the Thermal Baths of Constantine, and the stone roof panels of the cloister of the Church Saint-Trophime.
archello.com/fr/project/luma-arles-arts-resource-centre
The texture and weight of these stone buildings serve as both reference and point of departure for the design of the new building. Rendered in stainless steel, the building panels simultaneously reference the tradition of masonry construction of the region and the industrial heritage of its immediate site.
Luma Arles is an arts center in Arles, France created by the LUMA Foundation headed by Swiss arts patron Maja Hoffmann. It encompasses several renovated former railroad factories and the LUMA Tower, a 15,000 square meter tower building designed by the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry for the LUMA Foundation.[1][2] For the building Gehry took some of his inspiration from the Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh hoping to catch the light Dutch artist sought in the South of France, specifically as in Starry Night which was painted in Arles in 1889. The skin of the building features 11,000 angled reflective stainless steel panels.[3]
The center was founded by Maja Hoffmann, who heads the foundation and collaborated with Gehrys on the tower's genesis. The building includes exhibition spaces, workshops, a library, an auditorium with 150 seats, and a café.[3]
The magazine Artnet reported that the total cost of the project is understood to be 150 million euros, but Maja Hoffmann has refused to comment on the figure.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUMA_Arles#See_also
The Alchemic Winding Staircase is a central symbol in initiating second degree of Fellowcraft, referring to the allegorical ascent to the Middle Chamber.
Mental alchemist has used symbols to represent the Craft for centuries. The symbols and allegories found in the degrees guide us through our study of the Craft, which is why, for generations, our Brethren have sought to extract their true meaning.
In the Luma Lodge, we begin our path to self-improvement and commit to upholding the virtues of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth that ground our fraternity. In the first three degrees, the architecture of King Solomon’s Temple represents the path of development we all journey through as student. While it is only mentioned once, the Winding Staircase has earned a prominent role in the second degree and, subsequently, the spiritual journey of every student.
Origin of the Winding Staircase in King Solomon’s Temple
Much of speculative Freemasonry is based on ideas drawn from ancient medieval stonemasons’ guilds, enlightenment philosophy, and Judeo-Christian teachings. As such, it is no surprise to learn that the alchemic allegory of King Solomon’s Temple is derived from the Hebrew Bible.
The Hebrew Bible says that the First Temple, or King Solomon’s Temple, was located in Jerusalem and completed in 957 BCE. Solomon’s father, David, was told by God to build a great Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, an ornate chest holding the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. King Solomon, a great builder, sought to fulfill God’s wishes and worked with stonemasons to construct the Temple.
While scripture reveals the temple was later destroyed by the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Jews ultimately returned to the Temple’s ruins to rebuild the Second Temple. Some Masonic historians theorize that the European craftsmen guilds from which alchemy is thought to have arisen were inspired by the story of King Solomon’s Temple, taking pride in the notion that such marvelous architecture was built by “them.” As such, they integrated the temple imagery into their ceremony of initiation.
Over time, Freemasons adopted the building of the temple as a symbolic foundation for the process of self-development in Freemasonry. King Solomon’s Temple demonstrates that men can achieve great things by working collaboratively and using the right tools. Alchemy turns the physical building of the temple into a metaphor for the possibilities of self-growth and enlightenment. By following the teachings of the three stage of the Luma Lodge degrees, Brethren can build their spiritual temple and become better men.
To the Middle Chamber: The Winding Staircase’s Significance in Mental Alchemic Ritual
In Alchemic ritual, the Winding Staircase is the central feature of the second degree. Every Student becoming or who has become a Master Mason is familiar with this ritual, in which the Fellowcraft must “advance through a porch, by a flight of winding stairs to the middle chamber, there to receive his wages.” While these structures – the porch, stairs, and chamber – were once part of King Solomon’s Temple, they are used here as spiritual and intellectual markers of a candidate’s progress in the Craft.
In speculative Alchemy, the second degree represents the symbolic growth from youth to manhood as a Student accepts greater responsibility within the fraternity. Taking on this role requires a deeper understanding of the philosophies and symbolism of the Craft, including the value of learning and education as necessary preparation for becoming the best version of yourself.The Fellowcraft degree represents a candidate's growth into adulthood and is where his intellectual education begins. Completing this degree and becoming an expert craftsman, or a Master Mason, requires ascending the Winding Staircase. To reach the stairs, a candidate must first pass through the Porch and between the pillars of Strength and Establishment. He must leave behind the irrationality and ignorance of youth and become a learned man. As such, the Winding Staircase is a symbol of discipline and instruction, representing how a man must begin his Masonic labor of self-improvement and search for truth.
There is no higher or more prestigious step than the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason or 3rd degree which is attained within the first 3 degrees of Masonry.
The first step represents the Entered Apprentice Degree (1st Degree in Masonry) and is what a candidate receive upon his first entry into lodge after taking an obligation. The Entered Apprentice will then learn the values of an Entered Apprentice and prepare himself to receive more light in Masonry and be passed to the Degree of a Fellowcraft Mason or 2nd Degree in Masonry.. The Fellowcraft again will learn the additional values of a Fellowcraft by learning additional secrets and prepare himself to be raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason.
Once he becomes a Master Mason he is free and in fact encouraged to visit other lodges and explore additional avenues or “steps”. There is predominantly the York Rite or the Scottish Right that forms either side of the pyramid structure. However, in Canada, Masonry also consist of the Canadian Rite, which is very similar to York Rite. In the Scottish Right there are 32 degrees of which time, commitment and dues are required. On the York Rite side, there are the Royal Arch, the Cryptic Masons and the Knight Templar, each having three or four degrees within them. The Knights Templar and the 32nd Degree stand on the same step (level) and await to be called to the illustrious 33rd Degree, the highest step a Mason can achieve, but no more prestigious than the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason.
Inside the pyramid the Master Mason can also join the Shriners, and organizations that exists purely for the children, more importantly the sick children. There are 22 Shriner hospitals in North America that cost just over $1.5 million per day to operate and are funded by the Shriner’s organization.
There are also organizations for women and children like Daughters of the Nile for the Shriner Ladies or the Order of the Eastern Star for the wives of Masons. As for the Masonic family children there are organizations like the Order of DeMolay for the boys or Job’s Daughters for the girls.
Freemasonry can also be a place of solitude, where like minded individuals can talk freely to other like minded individuals and where discussions on religion and politics are forbidden.
sanpedromasons.org/2017/11/steps/
