The New Zealand Craftsman Wellington, New Zealand, April 1, 1946

SYMBOLISM OF CABLE TOW TEACHES LESSON.

The cable tow goes back to antiquity. The candidate in a number of the Ancient Mysteries was led into the
place of initiation at the end of a rope; Brahmins and Dervishes continue to make use of it at the present
time. In every such case the noose, rope or cable tow has been used to signify control, obedience and
direction.

Mackey defines a cable tow as "a rope or line for drawing or leading" and suggests that it may have been
derived from the German "Kabeltau," which has that significance. Albert Pike traced the word back to the
Hebrew "Khabel," which meant variously "a rope attached to an anchor," and "to bind as a pledge." J. T.
Lawrence finds its origin in two languages: "Cabel," a Dutch word meaning ''a great rope, which, being
fastened to the anchor, holds the ship fast when she rides"; "tow" he believes to be a Saxon word which
means "to hale or draw."

The cable tow carries an undeniably symbolical meaning. It is seen as the emblem of the natural, untaught
man's bondage to ignorance and lust, which bondage it is the mission of Masonry to remove. Lawrence
defines it as "the Mystic Tie binding the initiate to God, to the Order and to Righteousness; a tie which holds
a man fast, lest he drift like a ship at sea."
—"S.A. Freemason."