Chamber of Reflection

This chamber serves as a dedicated space where a critical component of the initiation ritual unfolds, prompting the candidate to undergo a period of isolation designed to foster introspection and self-examination.

The experience within the Chamber of Reflection is enriched by the presence of symbolic objects and thought-provoking phrases, which may exhibit minor variations across different Masonic rites and traditions.

This secluded environment serves as a platform for individuals entering Freemasonry to engage in a deeply contemplative process, setting the stage for their spiritual and intellectual development within the Masonic fraternity.

[1][2] The precise origins of the Chamber of Reflection within Freemasonry remain shrouded in obscurity, primarily owing to the secretive character of the order.

Consequently, discerning the exact inception of this ritualistic practice poses a formidable challenge to historians and scholars specializing in Masonic studies.

Nonetheless, an array of corroborative evidence suggests a strong and ancient lineage, traceable to first written exposés that described the actual ceremony, and not just the catechism.

This perspective is rooted in the belief that the removal of all metal, a known alchemical practice, holds symbolic significance within the early Masonic context.

Moreover, the three degrees of Freemasonry contain penalties that can be interpreted as making allusions to the elements of Water, Wind, and Fire, thus leaving out Earth.

It is, therefore, logical to infer that the Chamber of Reflection may have been employed from the very outset of speculative Masonry to symbolically represent the missing element of Earth.

[22][23] The mysterious disappearance and presumed murder of former Mason William Morgan in 1826 fueled widespread anti-Masonic sentiment in the United States.

[21][24] Subsequent to the Morgan Affair, Robert Benjamin Folger undertook the compilation of a volume containing encoded rituals pertaining to another Masonic Rite.

A grassroot, country wide movement, has seen many North American Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges revive or implement the old tradition of the Chamber of Reflection, seeing it for some as a way to restore historic practices, make more sense of the actual ritual, give candidates a more profound initiatory experience as well as more uniform initiatory process with the rest of the world.

Proper protocols, meanings and intent behind the Chamber of Reflection are not widely understood and it has been observed that its restoration requires education to be implemented effectively.

The walls are painted black with funerary emblems in order to bring to meditation the recipient who will have to go through the four elements of the ancients and undergo his first ordeal, that of the EARTH in which he is supposed to be to remind him of his last resting place.

The furnishings of this room consist of a chair and a table covered with a white carpet on which are paper, ink, powder, pen and lamp.

"[44] Famous American Freemason, Albert Pike also described the Chamber of Reflection at length, in his Scottish Rite, Secret Work for the first and third degree.

Before the ceremony of Masonic initiation, the candidate is placed for a time in the Chamber of Reflection, in order to meditate and consider how Freemasonry is about to change his life.

[45] Nowadays, the Chamber of reflection is used in various ways in most masonic rites, all across the world with the exception of North America where its usage is sporadic but gaining popularity.

[49] In terms of symbolic origins, the French writer and philosopher Daniel Béresniak draws a parallel between the mythological Cretan labyrinth of the Minotaur built by Daedalus and the meditation room.

The writer Oswald Wirth played a significant role in the understanding of Masonic symbolism and perpetuated, through several works, the idea of an alchemical origin.

The Chamber of Reflection should ideally be situated beneath the Lodge room, featuring a natural dirt floor and walls adorned in either black paint or constructed with rock surfaces to emulate a cave-like ambiance.

[54][52] In some rites a mirror may be placed on the table of the reflection cabinet; it is meant to signify the search for self-knowledge as well as introspection but also acts as a reminder to the candidate that he is his own judge.

Agricultural instrument and symbol of Death, sometimes drawn behind the hourglass in the chamber of reflection, the scythe intersects with the parable of the harvest and evokes the grain that dies to give life.

Bread also includes the four basic elements of alchemy: earth (flour and oven), water (liquid), air (fermentation of leaven) and fire (cooking).

Its presence in Greek-Roman mythology is well known: the Styx, a river whose icy waters symbolize the passage from life to death with its disturbing ferryman Caron.

(also present in the chamber) means "Visita Interiora Terrae, Rectificando, Invenies Occultum Lapidem" which translates to "Visit the Center of the Earth, Rectifying yourself, you will find the Hidden Stone."