Masonic Letter G, What Does It mean?

The Masonic letter G reminds us that our every action is done from the sight of the Great Architect of the Universe. 

“By letters four and science, this “G” aright doth standing due Art and Proportion; you have your answer, friend.”  

What will be the “letters”? It is believed that they endure for “YHWH“, the name of the Great Architect of the Universe from the Hebrew language, from which the Bible was interpreted:

Related: The Meaning Of Masonic Symbols

Masonic Letter G Meaning

What’s your 5th science? 

As we know that our 5th science is, Geometry. The twist G stands for “Geometry”. That is the Mathematical science on which Architecture and Masonry were based. 

When did the correspondence G become part of the square and compass?   

Nobody knows exactly that when did the correspondence “G”, become part of the square and compass, but it is believed to be somewhere between 1730 and 1768, here in the USA. 

The “G” is not utilized at the center of the square and compasses in most jurisdictions around the globe.  

Letter “G” In Hebrew, the language our Bible was originally written in, it’s called Gimel and has a numerical value.   

Throughout history, we see reference to this number 3 when we all speak of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, no matter which language we speak!   

Gimel is the 3rd letter of many Semitic languages including Phoenician, Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Syriac. 

Let me tell you how different language pronounces it differently in different eras:

• Hebrew:  Gimel (3rd century BCE)
• Syriac:  Gomal and Gamal (2nd century BCE)
• Phoenician:  Gimel (11th century BCE)
• Greek:  Gamma (9th century BCE)
• Aramaic:  Gamal (800 BCE to 600 CE) (800 years before frequent Era into 600 years after Common Era)

“G” throughout the Centuries B.C.E. means “Before Common Era”. The Common Era (C.E.), also known as the

Christian age and sometimes as the present Era is the period commencing with the calendar year 1 onwards.   

The term is employed to get a method of reckoning years that is chronologically equivalent to the Anno Domini (A.D.), which is Latin for “From the year of our Lord”.   

Therefore, the 3rd letter of the Phoenician alphabet, “Gimel”, was in use 11 centuries before the Common Era, which will be 8 centuries before the Hebrew speech, give or take a couple of hundred years.   

Why give or take a couple of hundred years?

While scholars who study languages are very comprehensive; we need to remember that they have hardly any from which to research.   

Much of our understanding of ancient languages stems from the analysis of hieroglyphics carved into stone and the subsequent attempt to find out which time frame they had been carved; from mummies and their corresponding sarcophagi (carved wooden coffins), etc.        

Note, however, that while the letter  G is the 7th letter in that the English, Latin, and Romanic alphabets, in Russian, along with some others, it is 4th; from the Arabic that the 5th, and from the Ethiopian language, the 20th.   

These languages tend to be a lot “younger” than the “early” languages and most, hence, are propagations (adjustments that occurred) to the early languages throughout the centuries thanks to a lot of factors.  

The letter G in Freemasonry stands for the Great Architect of the Universe and Geometry or, to become technically correct, it stands out for Geometry under the Great Architect of the Universe.    

As the Supreme Architect of the Universe watches that the revolutions of the planets and stars from the heavens, so does HE, that placed us watch every one of our moves, hears not just our words, but our ideas, as well and it’s to HIM that we’re ultimately responsible. 

The letter “G” would look at first glance for a fairly straightforward topic, but you’d be amazed by the number of papers and research on the topic. We are educated in our fellow craft level there are two meanings, the primary being that it is the first for Geometry, the earliest and noblest of these sciences, and also a second which it alludes to the sacred name of Deity.  

From the mid-1700s, the letter “G” was closely identified with Fellow-crafts which you find them referred to as correspondence “G” guys. But as you trouble yourself to do further study, it is possible to find that the allusion to the deity is a newer relationship.  

Even the use of the letter “G” embedded in the square & compasses symbol is more common to the Masons of North America. Nobody knows precisely when the correspondence G eventually become part of the Square & Compasses, but a lot of Masonic scholars think it happened here in the United States somewhere between 1730 and 1768.  

Some consider that Freemasonry became active in the seventeenth century, as the surgical part of the Craft died out, also had fewer lodges in life, so that Freemasons themselves dropped the old explanation of this letter G. They retained the symbol though since it was part of the system that they inherited. 

Here are some of the existing theories of this letter “G”:

• Gimel function as 3rd letter of many Semitic languages such as Phoenician, Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Syriac. The number 3 is special in Masonry as well as in certain religions.
• English, “younger” than the “ancient” languages, such as others, had shifted in the ancient languages transferring the letter “G” from the 3rd position. 
• The initial letter of the G.A.O.T.U. (Grand Architect of the Universe). In some ancient functions of Masonry, the reference is on the Grand Geometrician of the Universe. 
• In ancient English Masonry, the letter G was taken to denote “glory, grandeur and geometry”, Glory for GOD, Grandeur for the Master of this Lodge, and Geometry for your Brothers.
• In Ireland, the letter “G” signifies a note of importance to people who have served as Master of a lodge.
• By the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century in England, the letter G was more commonly taken to have a symbolic meaning of God compared to Geometry.
• Another proposed hypothesis relies on the truth that three geometrical forms appear in the Greek alphabet, as we have found; Gamma (G) is a square standing in the end, the horizontal arm extended towards the right.
• Omicron (O) is a Circle, Delta (D) is a triangle. Composing one letter on top of another to make a monogram is quite old. 
• The three Greek letters could be combined at a monogram to make a very reasonable representation of the letter “G” within a triangle that appears much like our modern square and compasses!  
• It may initially be based on an old Egyptian snake Emblem; others maintain that it was initially the square made “gallows Shape,” and that this gradually became corrupted into a “G”.