WHITE.  A symbol of innocence and purity.

Among the Pythagoreans it was a symbol of the good principle in nature, equivalent to light.

WIDOW’S SON.  An epithet bestowed upon the chief architect of the temple, because he was “a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphthali.” 1 Kings vii. 14.

WINDING STAIRS, LEGEND OF.  A legend in the Fellow Craft’s degree having no historical truth, but being simply a philosophical myth or legendary symbol intended to communicate a masonic dogma.

It is the symbol of an ascent from a lower to a higher sphere.

It commences at the porch of the temple, which is a symbol of the entrance into life.

The number of steps are always odd, because odd numbers are a symbol of perfection.

But the fifteen steps in the American system are a symbol of the name of God, Jah.

WINE.  An element of masonic consecration, and, as a symbol of the inward refreshment of a good conscience, is intended under the name of the “wine of refreshment,” to remind us of the eternal refreshments which the good are to receive in the future life for the faithful performance of duty in the present.

WORD.  In Freemasonry this is a technical and symbolic term, and signifies divine truth.  The search after this word constitutes the whole system of speculative masonry.

WORD, LOST. See Lost Word.

WORD, SUBSTITUTE.  See Substitute Word.

WORK.  In Freemasonry the initiation of a candidate is called work.  It is suggestive of the doctrine that labor is a masonic duty.

Y

YGGDRASIL.  The sacred ash tree in the Scandinavian Mysteries.  Dr. Oliver propounds the theory that it is the analogue of the theological ladder in the Masonic Mysteries.  But it is doubtful whether this theory is tenable.

YOD.  A Hebrew letter and about equivalent to the English I or Y. It is the initial letter of the tetragrammaton, and is often used, especially enclosed within a triangle, as a substitute for, or an abridgement of, that sacred word.

It is a symbol of the life-giving and sustaining power of God.

YONI.  Among the nations and religions of India the yoni was the representation of the female organ of generation, and was the symbol of the prolific power of nature.  It is the same as the cteis among the Occidental nations.

Z

ZENNAAR.  The sacred girdle of the Hindoos.  It is supposed to be the analogue of the masonic apron.

ZOROASTER.  A distinguished philosopher and reformer, whose doctrines were professed by the ancient Persians.  The religion of Zoroaster was a dualism, in which the two antagonizing principles were Ormuzd and Abriman, symbols of Light and Darkness.  It was a modification and purification of the old fire-worship, in which the fire became a symbol of the sun, so that it was really a species of sun-worship.  Mithras, representing the sun, becomes the mediator between Ormuzd, or the principle of Darkness, and the world.