Paintings
Discover the three remarkable tracing boards and the hidden structure they reveal.
Learn more →Beyond allegory. Beyond symbol.
The Masonic Revelation
Toward the spiritual meaning of Freemasonry.
A dedicated home for exploring Bowring's remarkable tracing boards, the hidden philosophy of the Craft, and the symbolic language preserved in Masonic ritual.
The central question
What is Freemasonry really?
A peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
This website exists to explore what that definition may truly mean — not as dry history, but as a spiritual language preserved in image, ritual, and symbol.
Book Extracts
Selected passages on symbols, ritual, wordplay and Masonic philosophy.
Learn more →Talks & Lectures
Book a talk for a Lodge, society, book club or special interest group.
Learn more →The Books
A three-volume series examining the deeper meaning of Freemasonry.
Learn more →About the Author
The journey behind the discovery and the research that followed.
Learn more →Bowring's tracing boards
Three paintings. Three degrees. One spiritual journey.
From the occult history lesson of the First Degree, through the new path of initiation of the Second, to the raising of soul consciousness in the Third.
View the Paintings →Featured book
The Damascus Awakening
The first volume in The Masonic Revelation series, examining Bowring's First-Degree tracing board and the spiritual philosophy upon which Freemasonry is founded.
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Book extracts
Symbols are a language
Explore short extracts on the meaning of the beehive, the square, the frontispiece to Anderson's Constitutions, and other symbolic keys.
Read Extracts →Talks & lectures
For Lodges and special interest groups
- Craft Lodges
- Royal Arch Chapters
- Masonic study groups
- Book clubs and historical societies
- Spiritual and philosophical interest groups
About the author
Neil Tatham
Worshipful Brother Neil Tatham explores Freemasonry through Bowring's paintings, Masonic symbolism and the spiritual philosophy of Rudolf Steiner.
Read More →“Symbols are not decorations. They are a language.”
For centuries Freemasons have preserved a remarkable symbolic tradition. This website asks what those symbols may have been trying to tell us all along.