Extract
[...] The compass and the square, symbols of the first builders, are even found in China and refer to geometry which, in its precepts, contains entirely the secrets of Freemasonry. It is she who allows us to measure the earth and all things, she builds, deconstructs, demonstrates and verifies without being able to oppose any argument to her. The revealed rules of geometry show us much more than just an operational technique for the builder, it is from there that he gets his particular status. Today, in this approach to conserving symbols, it is also the art of perfection, collective improvement and fraternity that is claimed. [...]
[...] After all, this achievement is never totally individual because any construction 'cannot be the work of isolated individuals.'21. The work, in its perfection, is in the service of a more general reality that is concerned with the search for beauty, justice or truth and that brings individuals together around this impulse. In our era, the royal art seeks to reconcile the spiritual and the rational in order to give, through the realizations thus created, a call to the necessity of to think. [...]
[...] They therefore acted in a different interest, in the service of something greater, which transcends rational motivations. In short, we can say that it is this type of motivation that allows us to strive for royal art. It requires a will to achieve through intellectual and manual abilities, in search of unity and a certain transcendence that brings us closer to the divine. We perceive in royal art the search for perfection in a non-rational way, it does not have a functional end or an interest other than that of homage to human nature or personal transcendence: 'necessity can produce masterpieces, but masterpieces draw their inspiration from a source other than necessity'.16. [...]
[...] It is the time of Gothic architecture and the wonders of goldsmithing that, in a sense, unify Freemasonry with texts that aim to be unifying12. The beauty and spiritual quest inspired by the royal art make it possible to create myths around which to gather and unify. How to approach the royal art? Art is the symbol of human power because technique allows us to transform nature. Man, who stole fire from the gods, can dominate nature and even recreate it. [...]
[...] The royal art does not support this evolution, perhaps we could even say that it has died since. Yet, the psychic world exists very well and it is the same science that proves it. The spiritual continues to be lost in favor of the only legitimate reality of our time, that palpable and functional one. It seems then to be the end of the royal art which, however, fulfilled a role: that of spreading a thrust of life in the quest for perfection and of valuing man by paying him homage. [...]
