Anima Mundi

Anima Mundi. 2017
Pen and ink
Gregory B. Stewart

Frontispiece from the book, The Master Mason. 

This work, Anima Mundi, is an amalgam of the various traditions at work in a Hermetic understanding at work within Freemasonry.

In its summation, the illustration brings together elements of the first and second degrees by means of an armillary sphere at the bottom (from the Apprentice degree) and the multi-storied tower or ziggurat structure (from the Fellow of the Craft degree) crowned now by the full moon in eclipse by the both living and dead tree of life. These elements bringing the viewer through a visual representation of the first two steps of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life: First through the Sepheriot of Malkuth, the foundation; then up upon the path of Tav — our pathway from the firmament into the heavens.

At last, the observer being made to approach the final leg of the journey on their way to the symbolic lodge. The goal of this journey to become a master and gaze out into the universe for what comes next.

The work is highly symbolic and serves to educate as much as entertain the viewer with its symbolism.

Also see:
A Sad Object of Death
The Tree of Life
Modern Third-Degree Masonic Tracing Board