# Ordo Ab Chao – Symbols and Symbolism



## My Freemasonry

In this installment of Symbols and Symbolism, we explore the origins of the Latin phrase _ordo ab chao_ better known as _order out of chaos_. Often taken as an esoteric alliteration of transformation, the source of this oft used Latin phrase has its roots deeply embedded in the origin story of the Scottish Rite in the Americas.

While philosophically esoteric, the phrase holds closer to the literal movement from darkness into light, with the formation of the Scottish Rite at Charleston.

Mackey, in his _Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_, describes the phrase, thus:


A Latin expression, meaning _Order out of Chaos_. A motto of the Thirty-third Degree, and having the same allusion as _lux e tenebrious _(this Latin phrase belongs to the Latin translation of the _Gospel of John_: _“et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt,” _meaning “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”). The invention of this motto is to be attributed to the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite at Charleston, and it is first met with in the Patent of Count Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse, dated February 1, 1802. When De Grasse afterward carried the rite over to France and established a Supreme Council there, he changed the motto, and, according to Lenning in his _Encyclopedia of Freemasonry _1822 or 1828_,_ _Ordo ab hoc_, Order Out of This, was used by him and his Council in all their documents.






The phrase appears on the grand decorations of the Order of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General. The decoration rests on a Teutonic Cross which sits below a nine-pointed star, formed by three triangles of gold, one upon the other, and interlaced. From the lower part of the left side toward the upper part of the right extends a sword, and, in the opposite direction, a hand of Justice. In the middle is the shield of the Order, blue; upon the shield is an eagle like that on the banner; on the dexter side of the shield is a golden balance, and on the sinister a golden compass resting on a golden square. Around the whole shield runs a stripe of blue, lettered in gold with the Latin words ” ORDO AB CHAO;” and this stripe is enclosed by a double circle formed by two serpents of gold, each holding his tail in his mouth. Of the smaller triangles formed by the intersection of the principal ones, those nine that are nearest the blue stripe are coloured red, and on each is one of the letters that constitute the word S. A. P. I. E. N. T. I. A.

You can read more installments of Mackey’s Encyclopedia under Symbols & Symbolism here on this site and video of these segments on YouTube.

Original article: Ordo Ab Chao – Symbols and Symbolism.






 







Continue reading...


----------



## Warrior1256

Very informative and enjoyable article!


----------



## dfreybur

Ordo Ab Chao - Order out of chaos.

I love the overlapping meanings of this term.  Let there be light - Religion.  Logic and wisdom out of random thought - Philosophy.  Ordered experimental data out of seemingly random nature - Science.  Done well they all complement each other.  Teaching me to do them well is one of the goals of the AASR.


----------

