Holy Saints John & Son (Sun)

The sign of the Holy Saints John, in one sense, alludes to tracking the sun and God's
order, reflecting ancient civilizations' mathematical understanding seen in their
architecture and Masonic references (Frank C. Higgins, Ancient Freemasonry, 1923).
The original symbol, a point within a circle (excluding perpendicular lines and a holy
book), has ancient Egyptian astrological origins. It represented the sun and the Egyptian
god Osiris (Steinmetz, 1948). For the sake of this evidence, the Freemasonic symbol of a
point within a circle, two perpendicular lines and the holy book, represents tracking the
sun, a practice discovered by observing the changing noontime shadow of a stick. The
maximum and minimum shadow angles (23.5 degrees) marked the Summer and Winter
Solstices, leading to the understanding of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. These
solstices, significant in ancient cultures, are celebrated in Freemasonry as St. John the
Baptist Day (June 24) and St. John the Evangelist Day (December 27). This solar
observation is the basis of the point within the circle symbol.