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SUGGESTED NAMES
"TEKTON" as the name for 2002 AW197: a proposal - 1
On the basis of the data posted up to now (Centaurs Group archive), related to a metaphor building process for the delineation of 2002 AW197, it seems that the “Plate Tectonics” geological paradigm
may be in tune with theTNO (KBO class) orbital paradigm:
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“Tectonics” has a derivation from Greek:
tectonic - 1656, "of or relating to building," from L.L. tectonicus, from Gk. tektonikos "pertaining to building," from tekton (gen. tektonos) "builder, carpenter," related to tekhne "art, craft." The geological sense is from 1894, probably from tectonics (1850) "building or constructive arts in general."
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Also, for “Architect”:
architect 1563, from M.Fr. architecte, from L. architectus, from Gk. arkhitekton "master builder," from arkhi- "chief" + tekton "builder, carpenter." Architecture also is from 1563.
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Up to now, the suggested keywords for AW197 are mainly focused on the “architecture”, “structure”, "building" concepts, related to geology and metaphoric extensions:
Consequently, for a geologist, “Tekton” is a name that rises to the mind spontaneously.
Consequently, "Tekton" is my suggested name for 2002 AW197.
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Searching about references to this name, I have some results.
At:
we read:
Tecton 1. Son of Harmon 1 and father of Phereclus 1, one of the TROJANS [Hom.Il.5.59ff.].
Tecton 2. Father of Polyneus, father of Amphialus 3 (they are Phaeacians) [Hom.Od.8.111].
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About Tecton 1, father of Phereclus 1, we have:
Phereclus 1. This is the man who built the ships for Paris, when he wished to sail to Lacedaemon to fetch Helen. Phereclus 1, son of Tecton 1, son of Harmon 1, was killed by Meriones [Col.197; Hom.Il.5.59ff.].
Also:
Phereclus : “A Greek ship-builder. He constructed the ship with which Paris abducted Helen”.
This Paris' action started the Trojan war:
The movement of the ships from Greece towards the trojan coast and the consequent war seem to have a metaphoric relation with: 1) a plate tectonic movement, 2) a geological "subduction" (the "trojan horse") with the related destructive/burning processes (the destruction of the town/trojan social system).
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About Tecton 2, at:
>>>
Homer (fl. 850 B.C.). The Odyssey.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
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Book VIII
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The next day’s entertainment of Odysseus, where he sees them contend in wrestling and other exercises, and upon provocation took up a greater stone than that which they were throwing, and overthrew them all. Alcinous and the lords give him presents. And how the king asked his name, his country, and his adventures.
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Peter Paul Rubens. Ulysses on the Island of the Phaeacians. 1630-1635. Oil on panel. Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy.
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He spoke and led the way, and the sceptred kings accompanied him, while the henchmen went for the divine minstrel. And chosen youths, fifty and two, departed at his command, to the shore of the unharvested sea. But after they had gone down to the ship and to the sea, first of all they drew the ship down to the deep water, and placed the mast and sails in the black ship, and fixed the oars in leathern loops, all orderly, and spread forth the white sails. And they moored her high out in the shore water, and thereafter went on their way to the great palace of the wise Alcinous. Now the galleries and the courts and the rooms were thronged with men that came to the gathering, for there were many, young and old. Then Alcinous sacrificed twelve sheep among them, and eight boars with flashing tusks, and two oxen with trailing feet. These they flayed and made ready, and dressed a goodly feast.
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5
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Then the henchman drew near, leading with him the beloved minstrel, whom the muse loved dearly, and she gave him both good and evil; of his sight she reft him, but granted him sweet song. Then Pontonous, the henchman, set for him a high chair inlaid with silver, in the midst of the guests, leaning it against the tall pillar, and he hung the loud lyre on a pin, close above his head, and showed him how to lay his hands on it. And close by him he placed a basket, and a fair table, and a goblet of wine by his side, to drink when his spirit bade him. So they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer spread before them. But after they had put from them the desire of meat and drink, the Muse stirred the minstrel to sing the songs of famous men, even that lay whereof the fame had then reached the wide heaven, namely, the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles, son of Peleus; how once on a time they contended in fierce words at a rich festival of the gods, but Agamemnon, king of men, was inly glad when the noblest of the Achaeans fell at variance. For so Phoebus Apollo in his soothsaying had told him that it must be, in goodly Pytho, what time he crossed the threshold of stone, to seek to the oracle. For in those days the first wave of woe was rolling on Trojans and Danaans through the counsel of great Zeus.
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And presently he spoke among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar:
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7
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‘Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, now have our souls been satisfied with the good feast, and with the lyre, which is the mate of the rich banquet. Let us go forth anon, and make trial of divers games, that the stranger may tell his friends, when home he returneth, how greatly we excel all men in boxing, and wrestling, and leaping, and speed of foot.’
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8
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He spoke, and led the way, and they went with him. And the henchman hung the loud lyre on the pin, and took the hand of Demodocus, and let him forth from the hall, and guided him by the same way, whereby those others, the chiefs of the Phaeacians, had gone to gaze upon the games. So they went on their way to the place of assembly, and with them a great company innumerable; and many a noble youth stood up to play. There rose Acroneus, and Ocyalus, and Elatreus, and Nauteus, and Prymneus, and Anchialus, and Eretmeus, and Ponteus, and Proreus, Thoon, and Anabesineus, and Amphialus, son of Polyneus, son of Tekton, and likewise Euryalus, the peer of murderous Ares, the son of Naubolus, who in face and form was goodliest of all the Phaeacians next to noble Laodamas. And there stood up the three sons of noble Alcinous, Laodamas, and Halius, and god-like Clytoneus. And behold, these all first tried the issue in the foot race. From the very start they strained at utmost speed: and all together they flew forward swiftly, raising the dust along the plain. And noble Clytoneus was far the swiftest of them all in running, and by the length of the furrow that mules cleave in a fallow field, 1 so far did he shoot to the front, and came to the crowd by the lists, while those others were left behind. Then they made trial of strong wrestling, and here in turn Euryalus excelled all the best. And in leaping Amphialus was far the foremost, and Elatreus in weight-throwing, and in boxing Laodamas, the good son of Alcinous. Now when they had all taken their pleasure in the games, Laodamas, son of Alcinous, spake among them:
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9
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‘Come, my friends, let us ask the stranger whether he is skilled or practised in any sport. Ill fashioned, at least, he is not in his thighs and sinewy legs and hands withal, and his stalwart neck and mighty strength: yea and he lacks not youth, but is crushed by many troubles. For I tell thee there is nought else worse than the sea to confound a man, how hardy soever he may be.’
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And Euryalus in turn made answer, and said: ‘Laodamas, verily thou hast spoken this word in season. Go now thyself and challenge him, and declare thy saying.’
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Now when the good son of Alcinous heard this, he went and stood in the midst, and spoke unto Odysseus: ‘Come, do thou too, father and stranger, try thy skill in the sports, if haply thou art practised in any; and thou art like to have knowledge of games, for there is no greater glory for a man while yet he lives, than that which he achieves by hand and foot. Come, then, make essay, and cast away care from thy soul: thy journey shall not now be long delayed; lo, thy ship is even now drawn down to the sea, and the men of thy company are ready.’<<<
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So, Amphialus is very strong in “leaping”, that it is similar to “jumping”. Perhaps, this seems an interesting character:
1) we have Tekton as the ancestor of a dynamic lineage (evolutionary trend), in a dynamic people such as the Phaeacians;
2) the Amphialus’s leaps/jumps seem to have a metaphoric relation with geological movements such as faults, that have vertical and horizontal movements:
Perhaps, Tekton appears as the ancestor of dynamism/energy (Amphialus).
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About Phaeacians:
we have a highly developed/evolved people, with a structured social system. Also, Phaeacians are a dynamic people very inclined to widespread movements. In ancient times, these movements may be considered as a "worldwide action".
Also, Tekton and Phaeacians may be related to a developed technology:
"This blessed realm, where the gods used to show themselves without disguise when attending the Phaeacian banquets, was the last foreign land Odysseus visited before returning to Ithaca. It was here that he found assistance, and King Alcinous, after bestowing gifts on him, sent him home in a Phaeacian ship, constructed with superior knowledge; for the vessel had neither steersmen nor steering-oars, and knew by itself what the crew was thinking and proposed to do".
Claude Lorrain, "Départ d'Ulysse du pays des Phéaciens", 1646
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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This is the way that I am following. This is not exhaustive, because "Tekton" is not the name of a god. However, "tekton" may be related to the proper activity of a primordial mythological deity or a "creator" god.
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"TEKTON" as the name for AW197: a proposal - 2
"Tekton" may be associated to the concept of "Demiurge".
Demiurge,
"Greek DEMIOURGOS ("public worker"), plural DEMIOURGOI, in philosophy, a subordinate god who fashions and arranges the physical world to make it conform to a rational and eternal ideal. Plato adapted the term, which in ancient Greece had originally been the ordinary word for "craftsman," or "artisan" (broadly interpreted to include not only manual workers but also heralds, soothsayers, and physicians), and which in the 5th century BC had come to designate certain magistrates or elected officials.
Plato used the term in the dialog Timaeus, an exposition of cosmology in which the Demiurge is the agent who takes the preexisting materials of chaos, arranges them according to the models of eternal forms, and produces all the physical things of the world, including human bodies. The Demiurge is sometimes thought of as the Platonic personification of active reason. The term was later adopted by some of the Gnostics, who, in their dualistic worldview, saw the Demiurge as one of the forces of evil, who was responsible for the creation of the despised material world and was wholly alien to the supreme God of goodness".
(Copyright (c) 1996 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
Also, at:
Demiurge,
"The word means literally a public worker, demioergós, demiourgós, and was originally used to designate any craftsman plying his craft or trade for the use of the public. Soon, however, technítes and other words began to be used to designate the common artisan while demiurge was set aside for the Great Artificer or Fabricator, the Architect of the universe. At first the words toû kósmou were added to distinguish the great Workman from others, but gradually demiourgós became the technical term for the Maker of heaven and earth. In this sense it is used frequently by Plato in his "Timæus". Although often loosely employed by the Fathers and others to indicate the Creator, the word never strictly meant "one who produces out of nothing" (for this the Greeks used ktístes), but only "one who fashions, shapes, and models". A creator in the sense of Christian theology has no place in heathen philosophy, which always presupposes the existence of matter. Moreover, according to Greek philosophy the world-maker is not necessarily identical with God, as first and supreme source of all things; he may be distinct from and inferior to the supreme spirit, though he may also be the practical expression of the reason of God, the Logos as operative in the harmony of the universe. In this sense, i.e. that of a world-maker distinct from the Supreme God, Demiurge became a common term in Gnosticism".
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According to Max Heindel (1865 - 1919)
Quote from:
--THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION, p. 504
"It is stated in the Bible that Joseph was a carpenter, but the Greek word is tekton, which means "builder." In Mystic Masonry God is called the Grand Architect. ARCHE is the Greek word signifying primordial substance, and a tekton is a builder. Thus God is the great Master Builder, who out of primordial substance fashioned the world as an evolutionary field for various grades of beings..."
These considerations are repeated in Heindel's writings. More complete reading at:
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In some websites, such as:
we have the following quote:
"In Plato's Timaeus, there appears the earliest known equation of the Creator with the 'Architect of the Universe'. The Creator, in the Timaeus, is called 'tekton', meaning 'craftsman' or 'builder'. 'Arche-tekton' thus denoted 'master craftsman' or 'master builder'. For Plato, the 'arche-tekton' crafted the cosmos by means of geometry."
- Baigent & Leigh, The Temple and the Lodge
The English and Greek texts of Plato's "Timaeus" are at:
Other sites with the English translation of Timaeus:
Some thoughts about Plato's Cosmology:
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We have a reference to the point of Plato's Timaeus in which "tekton" is used.
At (in German only):
we read a reference to Timaeus [69a]:
8.3.3. Demiourgos und Tekton
Eine weitere Frage drängt sich auf, warum Platon für seinen Werkmeister das recht seltsame Wort demiourgos verwendet hat, und nicht tekton. Leider kann ich das nur als Frage formulieren, weil mein Wörterbuch zu dem etymologischen Bedeutungsfeld von demiourgos nichts aussagt. Das kann darauf hinweisen, daß es kein besonders gebräuchliches griechisches Wort gewesen ist. tekton ist dagegen ein sehr gebräuchliches Wort. Um nicht zu sagen: Es ist eines der Schlüsselworte des gesamten Abendlandes. Nicht zu vergessen daß der Titel unserer Schrift "Die Archae-Tektonik" lautet, also eine direkte Verbindung zu diesem Begriff herstellt.
Plato spricht in Timaios von dem tekton einmal, in 69a. Dort kommt auch der von Aristoteles so bekannte Begriff der hyle vor. Immerhin ist der tekton derjenige, der der hyle die morphe gibt. Und das sind offenbar die Kernbegriffe der aristotelischen Philosophie. Plato scheint damit noch nichts anfangen zu wollen, denn für ihn ist die hyle noch genau das, was es für die Griechen schon immer war: Bauholz.
Da nun vor uns wie vor Zimmerleuten als Baumaterial die Arten der Ursachen gesondert bereitliegen, aus denen die noch verbleibende Untersuchung zusammengewebt wer- den muß, so wollen wir in aller Kürze wieder zum Aus- gangspunkt zurückkehren und uns rasch an die gleiche Stelle begeben, von woher wir hierher gekommen sind...
Wir können, wenn wir wollen, einmal zurückblättern, und eine auffallende Parallele in der Architektonik Kants mit der Wortwahl im Timaios feststellen. Anscheinend hatte er mit seiner Architektonik das Programm des Timaios weitergeführt.
Es ist schlimm, daß nur allererst (erst dann), nachdem wir lange Zeit, nach Anweisung einer in uns versteckt liegenden Idee... viele dahin sich beziehenden (darauf hinzielende) Erkenntnisse, als Bauzeug (Rohmaterial) gesammelt (und)... zusammengesetzt haben, es uns dann allererst (letztendlich) möglich ist, die Idee in hellerem Lichte zu erblicken, und ein Ganzes nach den Zwecken der Vernunft architektonisch zu entwerfen.
A835/B863
Suchen wir uns die entsprechenden Begriffe zu tekton aus dem Wörterbuch, die reichlich vorhanden sind. Wir müssen beachten, daß es drei verschiedene Schreibweisen gibt. Mit kappa, chi, und xi:
tekton: Zimmermann, Baumeister, Schöpfer, Erzeuger
tektaino: zimmern, schmieden
tektonike: Die Kunst, Holz zu bearbeiten (hyle und morphe)
tekmar: Ein Ziel setzen, ein Zeichen bestimmen, schließen, vermuten, beurteilen
schließen aus Kennzeichen
tekno: Kinder zeugen
techne: Kunst, Gewerbe, Geschick, List, Betrug
Von Hugo Kükelhaus habe ich einmal gehört, daß techne auch die Segelkunst, also das "gegen den Wind kreuzen" bedeutet. Das habe ich aber in keinem Wörterbuch wiedergefunden.
texis: Schmelzen, Zerfließen
etaxen: durch Auflösung in etwas übergehen.
taxis Ordnung
Schauen wir uns diese Liste an, so sehen wir ein eindrucksvolles Bedeutungsfeld, das uns das Wesen der modernen europäischen Kultur spiegelt. Wir sind eine Kultur der technetes, der Techniker. Die Bedeutung der texis ist für uns insofern von speziellem Interesse, weil hier ein Umwandlungs- und Transformationsprozess angesprochen ist, der oben in der metanoia erwähnt wurde.
Consequently, in
Timaeus [69a]:
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[69a] and to seek the necessary for the sake of the divine, reckoning that without the former it is impossible to discern by themselves alone the divine objects after which we strive, or to apprehend them or in any way partake thereof.
Seeing, then, that we have now lying before us and thoroughly sifted--like wood ready for the joiner, --the various kinds of causes, out of which the rest of our account must be woven together, let us once more for a moment revert to our starting-point, 1 and thence proceed rapidly to the point
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Greek text:
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[69a] ktêseôs heneka eudaimonos biou, kath' hoson hêmôn hê phusis endechetai, to de anankaion ekeinôn charin, logizomenon hôs aneu toutôn ou dunata auta ekeina eph' hois spoudazomen mona katanoein oud' au labein oud' allôs pôs metaschein.
hot' oun dê ta nun hoia tektosin hêmin hulê parakeitai ta tôn aitiôn genê diulismena, ex hôn ton epiloipon logon dei sunuphanthênai, palin ep' archên epanelthômen dia bracheôn, tachu te eis tauton poreuthômen hothen deuro aphikometha,
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Clicking on "tektosin" we have a Word Study Tool, with a first translation:
tektôn
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any worker in wood
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Entry in LSJ or Middle Liddell
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tektosin
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masc dat pl nu_movable
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In the same window, clicking on "LSJ" or "Middle Liddell", we have other possible meanings, such as "joiner" (metaphorically, joining the plates?) and "mason" (a "worker in stones", perhaps very good in geology).
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TEKTON" as the name for AW197: a proposal - 3
A very useful introduction in message 22734, by Chrys Alexzander:
We can read something other about this matter at:
"Growing up in nearby Nazareth, Jesus was trained as a tekton, a craftsman who often worked with stone".
A Tekton of Nazareth
"When Jesus’ parents returned from Egypt, they abandoned their plans to settle in Bethlehem because it was located in Herod Archelaus’ region. Instead, they settled in Nazareth, a Galilean town just one or two miles from Sepphoris.
Nazareth was a rural Jewish community of about three hundred people, probably all from the same extended family. But it was not a sheltered retreat. As he grew up, Jesus could see the construction of nearby Sepphoris. And a bustling trade route—the Via Maris—passed nearby.
Jesus likely attended the synagogue school during his childhood. But as he grew older, he also learned a trade from his father, who was a tekton (Mark 6:3). The Greek word tekton has been translated as “carpenter” in many English Bibles, but the word actually means “a craftsman who builds.”
Given that Israel’s buildings were constructed of stones and rocks, Jesus likely worked as a stonemason rather than a carpenter. He probably spent hours helping his father shape and cut stones.
Jesus may have even helped with the construction in Sepphoris, which occurred at the very same time he was living in Nazareth".
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A remark:
This reference to a "building with stones/rocks seems to have a significant relation with geological metaphoric delineations for AW197: always, "stones" are = rocks, in geology. We have to evitate a confusion with "brick", that it is not a natural rock.
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Also, at:
"At first glance, all we know about Joseph from the New Testament is that he is a "carpenter" who lived in "Nazareth" and was the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. Oddly enough, what little we know is mostly misleading, but the hidden story of Saint Joseph in the Bible is much more extensive, if we would pay closer attention to little details.
For example, the word translated "carpenter" is "tecton" and refers not to a wood-worker, but a stone mason. But the fact Joseph traveled so often, so widely, and could pick up and move during the night shows that Saint Joseph was an itinerant worker who finished his jobs in one day most of the time. So he rarely built houses or worked with massive stones. That leaves mosaic work: Small, portable stones, often needing repair when some worked loose. There was a lot of mosaic work required at Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, a short walk from a small worker's encampment on the hill now called Nazareth. This town's name was almost certainly "blotted-out" after the revolt in 1BC that followed Herod the Great's death.[1] Sepphoris was destroyed by Rome as a punishment. Joseph would have returned to the region when the city was being rebuilt under Herod Antipas, starting at the end of 1BC. [1: See THE STAR THAT ASTONISHED THE WORLD by Ernest L. Martin] "
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This reference to mosaics seems to be very suggestive as a metaphoric extension. In fact, "Plate Tectonics" is a continuous working at a mosaic:
Plates may be considered as stone "tesserae" of a mosaic covering the whole Earth:
tessera (singular), tesserae (plural):
1. From Latin, a square piece, a die; an abbreviation of the Greek word tessaragonos, meaning four-cornered, square.
2. In ancient history, a small quadrilateral tablet of wood, bone, ivory, or the like, used for various purposes, as a token, tally, ticket, label, etc.
3. A token or password; from a quest and host sharing a broken die.
4. A small piece of marble, glass, or the like, having a square, or nearly square, face, used in mosaic work, as for making pavements, the ornamenting of walls, etc.
5. In Roman antiquity, a small cube of ivory, bone, wood, etc. Used as a die in gambling or in the composition of mosaic.
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At:
we read:
"A practical reason for addressing the Deity in non-sectarian terms is that the true mystery and wonder of Creation cannot be told. So, how and why did today's Masons arrive at a concept of God as an architect and choose, with reverence, to respect the ultimate mystery in the way they do so?
To understand this, we must look back in time to the Near East and Asia where the great thinkers and prophets were coming to two crucial understandings: First, that the name of God is unknowable; and secondly, that the nature of the one God whose name cannot be told, is multi-faceted.
Our ancient learned brothers in Asia and the Near East understood that there were many conceptions of the Supreme Being. They knew that the name and nature of the Deity transcends cultures, languages and frankly, all human understanding. If we go back about five millennia and place ourselves in the Near East among the tribes of Israel, we find a culture that had adopted the concept of one God. This idea did not originate with ancients of that time.
However, we are left, in the Old Testament, a vivid account of man's confrontation with the unknown. In the Shemot, the first portion of the Book of Exodus, Moses asked God for His name. "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" was the answer Moses received. "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" transcends all knowing; literally translated, it could mean "I am who I am." However, since this name connotes great mystery and ambiguity, it creates infinite space for interpretation. In terms of a Jewish pun, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" is understood as: "I will be whatever I wish to be and who are you to ask?" Indeed.
"Ehyeh" is most commonly translated as "I will be." "Asher" is a remarkable Hebrew word, for in English, it can be rendered as "that who, or where."
This being the case, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" could be transliterated as: "I will be that I will be. I will be who I will be. I will be which I will be. I will be where I will be. There are many other possible translations, but whichever translation appeals to the individual, one cannot know, with certainty, precisely what the name of the Deity is; This is as it should be.
The exact name and nature of God cannot be told. Given, "Ehyeh" could - and it's a weak could - evolve into JHVH and then to Jehovah over the centuries, Jehovah being deemed an acceptable substitute for the "true name" of God, or "the lost word."
About 2,800 years ago in Asia, the wordsmiths and sages began composing the Upanishads. The spirit of the Upanishads can be compared with that of the New Testament summed up in the words "I and my Father are one" and "The kingdom of God is within you," the seed of which is found in the words of the Psalms "I have said: Ye are gods; and all of you are the children of the most High."
The Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, one of the greatest and oldest spiritual treatises composed in Sanskrit, is one source which yields the following story, illustrative of the multi-faceted nature of that which transcends all knowing: King Janaka was a generous learned man, capable judging the pretensions of the Brah-min-ical scholars who frequented his court to make a profitable display of their knowledge.
One day, this question was asked of the god Yaj-na-val-kya: "How many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?" "Three hundred and thirty-three thousand and three," he replied. "It is indeed so," he said. "How many gods are there really, Yajnavalkya?" "Thirty-three? "It is indeed so," he said. "How many gods are there really, Yajnavalkya?" "Three.It is indeed so," he said. "How many gods are there really, Yajnavalkya" "Two. It is indeed so," he said. "How many gods are there really, Yajnavalkya?" "One-and-a-half. It is indeed so, "he said. How many gods are there really, Yajnavalkya?" "One. It is indeed so," he said. "What of the other thirty-three?" he asked. "They are but various aspects of the one god," replied Yajnavalkya.
One God. One Supreme Being, called by many names. This idea was not lost on other cultures, as evidenced by the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato. In his composition "Timaeus," written about 2,400 years ago, Plato not only reiterated the existence of one God, but also laid foundations in geometric science as it was then understood, for the conceptualization of the one God as a great architect. In "The Timaeus," Plato posited the idea of the one God and the multiplicity of things as being bound together as a single reality, the suffusion of harmony and proportion throughout creation.
Thus, to be concerned with harmonious creation, be it architectural, artistic, musical, or even agricultural, came to be seen as a natural consequence of the awareness of our harmonious relationship with the one God who, Plato wrote, created not only man with a three-fold, or triangular nature, but also posited that man's bond with creation and the Creator " . . .is best done by a continued geometrical proportion."
While Plato made no attempt to name God, he did create a foundation of speculation regarding the nature of God; that is, God as the great geometrician. Like the Vedic and Hebraic sages before him, Plato knew there was but one God. And he was convinced that the harmonious superstructure of creation put forth by the Universal Spirit, while unknowable, was perfect, and was definitely based in geometry. This should be of interests to Masons and scholars of Medieval thinking in the West, for it was in countless monasteries that the first depiction of the Deity were penned by anonymous monks who imagined God - and drew God - as a literal architect, standing amid the heavens and the earth wielding a magnificent compass above the darkness upon the face of the deep. And to this day, we are all drawn to that ineffable mystery suggested by that darkness before the light.
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A note:
This "architect, standing amid the heavens and the earth wielding a magnificent compass above the darkness upon the face of the deep" seems like the anthropomorphic representation in the figure that it is included into Revilla's RIYAL package:
(William Blake’s “Urizen creating the Universe”)
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Again, quoting from:
"This idea has remained strongly ingrained in Western thought, and was perhaps most dramatically manifested when a celebrated group of men we call the Founding Fathers lifted their light in an effort to bring forth a new country on the North American continent. Most of the Founding Fathers of America were products of the philosophical world-view of The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason. It may surprise some of you to learn that these men were predominantly Deists rather than Christians. Strictly defined, Deism is a belief in God based solely upon the evidence of reason. The Deist position asserts that God created the universe and after setting it in motion, abandoned it, assumed no control over life, exerted no influence on natural phenomena, and gave no supernatural revelation.
Those Founding Fathers who were Masons had knowledge of the Platonic concept of The Creator as Divine Architect of the Universe, and had access to and knowledge of such works as the mid-thirteenth-century Bible moralisee (which Benjamin Franklin is said to have seen while in France), and were familiar with other works such as the early fourteenth-century Holkham Bible, both of which depict the Supreme Being, compass in hand, walking through the heavens.
Their Deist beliefs had clearly evolved, in part, from the aforementioned wisdom and traditions of more ancient men living in other times in other places, which in turn had evolved further during the Age of Reason.
Men like Brothers Franklin and Washington, both reasonable men to be sure, made reference to God, but also understood, as the great men of wisdom who had gone before understood, that the sublime mystery of The Creator was something that could not and should not be named.
Nowhere is there any mention of God in America's Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution. Only reference to man's Creator is made. And that is how it should have been. In a new country with a mixed population that would continue to diversify, these visionary Brothers stood by the concept of a Great Architect.
To this day, Freemasons use "The Great Architect of the Universe" and other non-sectarian titles to address the Deity. In using non-sectarian references to that which transcends all knowing, persons of different faiths may join together in prayer, concentrating on the Universal Spirit rather than on differences of culture and religion. Masonry has always championed religious freedom, and the idea that the relationship between the individual and one God is a personal, private and sacred matter.
No one owns God, just as surely as no one owns "truth." Not one among us can be truly certain about the nature of God, so "Great Architect of the Universe" is a particularly apt reference to the Deity, as the reference acknowledges both the design and the designer without staking a claim on some exclusive jurisdiction. Deists, Christians - both Catholic and Protestant - Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and men of many other faiths have been welcomed into our Fraternity. One point of commonality is their belief in the one God. Masons believe there is one God and one God only. Masons also know that since time immemorial, people have employed many different ways of seeking and expressing what they know of God, of their experiences and relationship with that which transcends all knowing.
Though the Deity has been called by many sectarian names through the ages, perhaps Lao-Tzu's description of the "Tao" or "the Way" best clears away the robes, trappings, trumpery, and shadows surrounding the mystery to which we bow with reverence.
In the first chapter of the "Te-Tao Ching," it is written: The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things. Ever without desire, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name. This appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.
Masonic use of the title "Great Architect of the Universe" is our reverential denotation of the Deity, of that eternal name which cannot be named. It connotes our desires to enter the darkness and stand before the gates to all mystery where, in the absence of desire, we are somehow able to shed our pretentious robes and thereby enrich ourselves with whatever lies within".
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I submit all of the above as supporting my suggestion for the name of "Tekton" for 2002 AW197.
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