THE LETTER OF THE Master of the Lodge

Fall

Dearest Brother,
And so we have arrived at the Autumn Equinox!
The English language has two terms for autumn: autumn and fall. The first is more formal and
used in British English, the second was established in the seventeenth century by the expression
“fall of the leaves” is widely used today in American English.
Instead, the etymology of autumn is less certain: it certainly derives from the Latin autumnus, the
which perhaps comes from auctus, participle of augere (increase, enrich), for
understand that in this season the abundance of fruits brings wealth to the farmers.
In particular, the expression fall is very evocative for me: a fall not in the sense of
decadence, but of renewal, as it is placed in the cyclical nature of life
of the solar year, an integral part of his Rhythm, to which we all submit.
The fall as a phase of a cycle is evidently temporary in nature, even if
the cycle were infinite: it therefore represents a limited period of transformation but
absolutely necessary in the economy of the whole: the leaf falls, the fruit falls, the seed
comes to earth to start a new life.
It is the Relative as the changing mask of the Absolute!
The Equinox is the most temporally limited phase: it actually lasts a few hours,
during which there is a symmetry between Light and Darkness, and then this balance yes
breaks and we return to an alternation that we could define as imperfect, which
characterizes the rest of the year. However, it is like a glimpse into Balance
underlying, which if it were not really present could never even appear,
therefore it is an illusory imperfection, a superficial asymmetry.
Our Checkered Floor reveals this hidden and hinted symmetry
on the Equinox: in the real world there is alternation (good - evil, light - darkness, joy -
pain, etc.) but it doesn't present itself in such an orderly way. However, since there is an underlying Order
exists, and the Temple exists to represent this Order, it is right that this symmetry
be explicitly present in the Temple. Precisely because such symmetry only appears
exceptionally in our profane experience, it is an opportunity more than ours
Masonic path offers us to elevate ourselves from daily miseries.
They will inevitably remain, but we will be able to look beyond.

See you soon!
W.M. M.B. Master of Lodge