From the General Grand Council of Cryptic Masons International Education Committee
The Word?
By Illustrious Companion S. Lane Pierce, Guest Author

S. Lane Pierce

Illustrious Companion S. Lane Pierce is a Past Illustrious Master and the Program Executive for the York Rite Leadership Program. He is also the author of The Art of the Presentation: Making Yourself Memorable.

“1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” – The Holy Bible KJV

In the beginning there was nothing but an instance of God. Astrophysicists refer to this as the point of singularity when all of the universe we know today existed as just a single point of energy ready to burst into existence. Upon doing so, everything known to man today was created with the sound, or perhaps the ‘Word’, which science calls ‘the big bang’.

I note that in the Holy Bible, God said let there be light is not specifically set out in quotations. Certainly, we cannot know what God did actually say however the result was light. I interpret this use of light to mean knowledge or knowing. With this as a simple foundation, we can then equate the sound of creation (made at the big bang), with the instance of creation when everything known was made possible.

Aum

The ancient religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and others use a ‘word’, or sound, that refers simultaneously to the soul of man and the ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divinity, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, and knowledge. That sacred sound is referred to as OM. In some systems it is written and intoned as AUM which is to some the very name of Him, the Great Architect of The Universe. We are taught that AUM as a word is Ineffable, meaning it cannot, or should not, be spoken. This is because it is to be sung, and sung in holy reverence.

Perhaps the sound made at the creation of the Universe wasn’t BANG after all. Perhaps the sound was AUM and from that sound, all of knowing (light) was created.

Further, we are taught that the GAOTU is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. Isn’t it interesting that AUM, when intoned correctly, represents all of the possible sounds made by the human vocal cords? And, the path of that sound begins in the base of the vocal cords (the origin of human speech), follows the throat into the caverns of the mouth and sinuses, then ends upon the lips (the last point where human speech is made).

Indeed, we are created in the likeness of God. Through the creation of a thought, we create an experience. The words we speak, or sounds we emit from our mouth, are a ‘representative copy’ of the energy of our thinking. It is through the expression of sound we attempt to share our thinking with others and hope they will use our words to create for themselves the same or similar experience.

Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961), the founder of Analytical Psychology, spoke of this idea that nothing exists outside of our own mind. He said that one must first perceive through his senses and create in his own mind the meaning of that perception, which is then projected externally to one’s self as an experience. This is the process of meaning-making, or how we understand our world around us. It is the process of personal creation.

The words we speak, the sounds we hear, are translated into some form of a mental image and the knowing of that image (memories, experiences, emotions, etc.) create the reality we experience. In a very real way, each of us personally creates our own reality in the here and now. Here is proof of that: If you were to remember a time from the past in which you were angry – really angry. And remember who was there, what had happened, what was said. You will notice that you begin to feel the feelings of anger. No one else feels it, just you, because you are thinking those thoughts. It is your personal creation, right here, right now.

Yes, you are created in the image of God. You are the co-creator, with Him, of your experience. When Masons remember their spiritual nature and choose to be personally responsible for the life they create for themselves, the world can see their good works, and this honors and glorifies the Father.