2004 – THE LADDER OF JACOB – An illustrated lecture exploring the significance of the ladder in Masonic symbolism and in other traditions and cultures – Frederick Shade.
What do you think of, or visualise, when I say the word ladder?
There are two images that come immediately to my mind, one is the ladder I use to clear out the leaves from the guttering around the house, and the other is the board game I played as a child called ‘snakes and ladders’.
The image of my garden ladder is obviously a utilitarian one, a piece of equipment.
Its application is that of enabling me to ascend and descend safely around the house when doing my chores. As for the ancient game of snakes and ladders, this is obviously a strong image in my memory from childhood.
This game is full of symbols and images, of the ladder which enables you to ascend quickly from one level to another on the board, and of the snake which drops you down just as quickly!
And so, in this game, one of the symbols signifies progress, ascension and success, the other of falling behind or just falling, and of failure. I’m sure e that psychologists could tell us a lot more about these images and symbols!
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2004 - THE LADDER OF JACOB - An illustrated lecture exploring the significance of the ladder in Masonic symbolism and in other traditions and cultures - Frederick Shade.
