|
|
 1. Grand Staircase
As is true of life itself, a man's Masonic career is a continuing search for more and more light. In recognition of this, the architect uses light to lead us through the building toward the Temple Room itself. Following the light up the great staircase in the apse, we come to one of the most famous quotations from Albert Pike, who served as Grand Commander from 1859 to 1891 and gave the Scottish Rite its present form.
The marble staircase leads in a great sweep from the Atrium to the Temple Room itself. On the middle landing is a bronze bust of Albert Pike. Carved into the stone above it are perhaps his most famous words: "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us: What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."
Back to top
|
 2. Tyler's Chair
The Tyler’s or guardian’s seat is located across from the doors to the Temple Room. An inscription on the back of the chair reads “Know Thyself.” These words adorned ancient temples. The bronze doors on either side of the room open to elevators.
Back to top
|
 3. Temple Room
As we enter the Temple Room, the exultant sound of the great organ blends with the light to lead us onward until we enter the Temple Room itself. Walls, soaring upward, seem to expand rather than to enclose the room. The furniture is made of Russian Walnut, with brown pigskin upholstery—enriched by a tooled laurel leaf pattern in black and gold. The floor is polished marble mosaic—tens of thousands of tiny cubes, each laid by hand. The floor is accented with a white marble border and with inlaid lines of bronze. In the wall openings on each side of the room are pairs of green granite columns, with bronze bases and capitals. The glass in the windows shades up from a deep orange at the bottom (where the light comes through the coils of bronze serpentine grilles) to a pale yellow at the top, allowing the light to stream in at full force.
The windows serve as another symbol of the progressive search for more light. The hangings in each opening are of purple Italian velvet, edged with gold. Crowning the center of the window is the Double Eagle, the symbol of the Rite. The seats opposite the entrance designate the East. Here is the Sovereign Grand Commander's chair, under a canopy of Italian velvet. The canopy is lined with cream silk, and embroidered with the emblem of the Grand Commander.
Around the walls is a black marble frieze inscribed in bronze letters
“FROM THE OUTER DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE THROUGH THE SHADOWS OF OUR EARTH LIFE, WINDS THE BEAUTIFUL PATH OF INITIATION UNTO THE DIVINE LIGHT OF THE HOLY ALTAR.”
Back to top
|
 4. Altar
In the center of the room, as it is in the center of the Scottish Rite, is the altar. Made of Black and gold marble, and resting on a black marble plinth, it dominates the Temple Room with quiet dignity. On the front of the altar, in Hebrew characters, is the inscription,
"GOD SAID, 'LET THERE BE LIGHT' AND THERE WAS LIGHT."
Back to top
|
 5. Grand Commander's Station
"It is interesting to know that not only the architectural motives but everything in the building was especially designed and made under the architect's direction. The fixtures, the furniture, the rags, were elaborately studied and carefully developed in this way."
The Architectural Review, January 1916.
|
 6. Skylight
Rising above the altar is the vast polygonal dome, symbol of the vault of heaven. The dome soars nearly 100 feet above the Altar, flooding the Temple Room with light. We have said that Light is of importance to the Scottish Rite. The light of learning, of insight, of education is shared among Masons all over the world.
Back to top
|
All photographs of the House of the Temple unless otherwise noted are © Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C., and may not be used without written permission. Click here for more information.
|
|
|
