The Charge given in the First Degree cannot be said to be laden with symbolism because it is not intended to be.  It is an explanation of the principles by which a Mason should live and an exhortation to the candidate to do so.  If properly done, this address will remain with a brother for the rest of his life.  I often think that there is more emphasis on the brother delivering the Charge than on the candidate, because it is seen as ‘if you can do this, you can do anything’ ritual test-piece.  We do really need to appreciate that it is not the fact that Fred Bloggs got to the end of the Charge with only one or two prompts that counts!  It is the fact that Fred understood it, the way in which he delivered it, and the impression it made on the candidate.

One interesting aspect of the Charge is that it exhorts us to adhere to ‘the ancient landmarks of the Order’.  It is difficult to adhere to anything, when you’re not sure what it is.  The landmarks are basically those tenets of Masonry without which whatever was going on would not be Masonry.  Examples are the need for a belief in a Supreme Being, and having the Volume of the Sacred Law open at meetings.  I am not going to attempt a list because Grand Lodge never has and any foreign Grand Lodge that has done so has met with criticism from all quarters for including things which have not been applied since Time Immemorial, which, of course, in Masonic terms is the year of the establishment of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1717.

A Guide to Masonic Symbolism, Duncan Moore