The Meaning of the Stewards
An essay by Very Illus ..... Bro. Kristine Wilson-Slack 33°
Recently, I stumbled upon a website for Universal Co-Masonry. This “co-ed” form of our fraternity was a bit of a mystery to me, and I dove into the info to see what this was all about. I came across Bro. Kristine Wilson-Slack and her many excellent Masonic papers and I thought that the one she penned about the Stewarts and their place in our ritual was eye-opening.
We know the movement of the Sun has been an important part of our ritual. We in homage to our ancient ancestors still track the movement of the Sun and place a large amount of representation and symbolism on that central, celestial body. The officers in the East, West, and South mark the time of day. The Worshipful Master in the East and Senior Warden in the West have moving counterparts, the Deacons, with the Senior Deacon in the East wearing the Sun on his jewel, and the Junior in the West, wearing the Moon on his. Bro. Wilson-Slack says that the Deacons represent the Time of Year – specifically the Summer and Winter Solstices.
But the Junior Warden also has moving counterparts – Two of them! The Junior and Senior Stewards sit to the East and West of the Junior Deacon in the South. In her paper, Wilson-Slack writes a compelling argument about the symbolism of their placement in the Lodge. She writes that the Stewarts represent Capricorn and the Tropic of Capricorn. Her paper discusses the position of the sun at mid-day in the South, and the placement of one’s shadow, especially in the Northern Tropical zone. And that the jewel of the Stewards the Horn of Plenty is a direct link to this Zodiac sign.
Check the article out – My synopsis doesn’t do her writing justice. You can read the full-text article here, at the Universal Co-Masonry site.