The Square & Compass - Freemasonary

As the Sun was male, so the moon was female; and Isis was both the sister and wife of Osiris. The compass therefore, is the Hermetic symbol of the creative deity, and the square of the productive Earth or Universe'

In explaining the deeper meaning of symbols in the teaching of the 32nd degree Albert Pike hearkens back to the sculpted images of the ancients.   Unpacking the hermetic symbol of Azoth, Pike says:

'Upon it you see a triangle upon a square, both of these contained within a circle, and above this, standing upon a dragon, a human body, with two arms only, but two heads, one male and the other female. By the side of the male head is the Sun, and by that of the female head, the Moon, the crescent within the circle of the full moon. And the hand on the male side holds a compass, and that on the female side, a square..

The hermaphroditic figure is the symbol of the double nature anciently assigned to the deity, as generator and producer, as Brahm and maya among the Aryans, osiris and Isis among the Egyptians. As the Sun was male, so the moon was female; and Isis was both the sister and wife of Osiris. The compass therefore, is the Hermetic symbol of the creative deity, and the square of the productive Earth or Universe.

SOURCE: From 'Morals & Dogma of the Ancient and accepted Rite of Freemasonry' by Albert Pike,1871,1906 - Pages 850, 851.  http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/apikefr.html

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_and_Compasses
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pike