anotheramethyst

Books on the geometrical underpinnings of ancient and medieval architecture are very common, and most of them are drivel. There are plenty of reasons for this, but the most important is the fact that most of their authors know very little about how buildings are put up, and so come up with schemes that couldn't have been used by builders before modern times. It's too often forgotten, for example, that building from paper blueprints is a very modern habit; until not that many centuries ago, nobody did that. Instead, the ground plan was marked out on the cleared building site using strings and stakes, following a geometrical pattern, and everything above the ground was placed according to folk tradition, the habits of the building tradesmen, or some equally straightforward geometrical pattern that could be measured out with strings or drawn out life size on a wooden tracing board using chalk, charcoal, and red clay for the lines. 

John James's Chartres: The Masons who built a Legend is the exception to this dismal rule. James is an Australian architect-builder, and he brought extensive experience in the building trades to a close study of the stonework of Chartres Cathedral, one of the supreme achievements of medieval Gothic architecture. He was able to work out readily how the different parts of the structure were set out and constructed, and in the process he laid bare an extraordinary wealth of detail about the individual master masons and their work crews of journeymen and apprentices who labored on Chartres. 

Nothing I've been able to find online mentions whether James is a Freemason. If he's not, that's even more remarkable, as this book explains more about the roots of modern Freemasonry than anything else I've read in the last decade at least. A remarkably large number of details in modern Masonic practice echo habits that, as James shows, were part of ordinary building practice in the age of the great cathedrals, from the crucial role of the master's square through the other working tools of the Mason's craft to certain geometrical constructions any Mason will recognize. 

This is a fine intelligent piece of work. Every Freemason who has the least interest in the history of the Craft should own a copy, and anyone interested in sacred geometry, medieval architecture, or how vast constructions can be built using low-tech methods will want to read it. 

I'm glad to report that once again I was a guest again on Hermitix with host James Ellis, and we had a great conversation.  This time the theme was The Great Arcanum, my commentary on Eliphas Lévi's The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, and we covered the ground pretty thoroughly, with no more than the usual number of interesting digressions. You can listen to it on YouTube here, and also on all the usual podcast venues. 

James also asks me to mention that he's starting an online magical community. The details can be found here: https://the-hermitage.mn.co/ .  He comments:  "The long-short is that it's intended to be a place where one can construct their own magical practice and feel comfortable talking openly about any and all strangeness that happens in their magical lives. With an emphasis on the fact that magic is never 'complete', there's no end, and no separate spiritual life that one just 'does for an hour on Sunday'. It's really meant to help people imbue their lives with mystery and magic; that's the aim, at least. Launching with 12 courses and over 180 talks."

I haven't had time to check it out myself but it sounds promising. At any rate, enjoy.