Masonic symbology has come down to us from the cuneiform scripts of the Ancient Sumerians, circa 3000 B.C.. as well as the ancient Mesopotamians and Persians.
Justitia, a Roman goddess of justice symbolizes the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice, or favor; goddess of divine justice. Sculptors often portray her as evenly balancing both scales and a sword and wearing a blindfold (but often times without one). She sometimes holds the fasces (a bundle of rods around an ax) symbolizing judicial authority in one hand, and a flame in the other hand, symbolizing truth. The Fasces is also where the term Fascism is derived.
The ancient Greeks referred to her as Themis, a Greek mythological goddess originally the organizer of the “communal affairs of humans, particularly assemblies.” One of the Titans, pre-Hellenic nature deities born to Uranus and Ge, she remained and advised Zeus after his purge of the old pantheon. A daughter of Themis and Zeus, Dike, known as a goddess of justice but not divine justice, presided over the apportionment of things among mortals, the protection of individuals and the keeping of social and political order. She carried a sword without a scale of justice. At times Dike is said to be the same (or is she confused with?) Astraea. Astraea is also said to be a daughter of Themis and Zeus and is known as a goddess of justice. Also known as daughter of Eos and Astraeus 1, her head was crowned with ears of grain and for its measure carried a balance or scale. Astraea was the last of the immortals to leave earth after the Golden Age. She has also been called a goddess of purity and innocence. She became the constellation Virgo. Dike left earth when the Race of Bronze was born. Her ability to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the oracles at Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice. Classical representations of Themis did not show her blindfolded (because of her talent for prophecy, she had no need of a blindfold) nor did she hold a sword (because she represented common consent, not coercion).
click on to go deeper ...
