The symbol of Entered Apprentice Pictures is an interpretation of the “Apprentice Pillar” found within Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (15^th Century).

The Apprentice Pillar, or Prentice Pillar as it is sometimes known, is named for the apprentice carver who gave his life to create the pillar.  It is is an ornate and equisitely carved representation of the Norse Tree of Knowledge, Yggdrasil, which held up the heavens from the earth.  According to legend, the master mason who was carving it was unable to complete his work, so he journeyed to Rome to receive further guidance on its completion. However, on his return he found that the pillar had already been completed in his absence by his apprentice, and completed with awesome beauty that the master mason himself could never have accomplished.  In his fury the master mason killed the young apprentice, and so the pillar was named.  The pillar in the EAP logo pays homage to the bold ambition, courage, and craftsmanship of that legendary apprentice.  May his work and sacrifice inspire ours.

No.  EAP is named for the ancient tradition of entering a craft or profession by first becoming an apprentice to learn and ultimately master the craft.  The company is NOT named for the First Degree of modern Freemasonry.  Although in modern times, the phrase “Entered Apprentice” has become synonymous with the First Degree of modern Freemasonry, Freemasons themselves borrowed the term from common use among guilds and professions and operative masons during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment periods.  In operative masonry and among guilds and professions in pre-industrial times, the entered apprentice was one who had entered into a profession and was learning the trade and the apprentice’s name was entered into the records of the accepted guild members.  Seventeenth Century church records from Scotland frequently listed individuals as having “entered prentice” into various professions.  An example from the Presbytery of Langholm (17^th Century) reads: “Margaret Drysdaill relict. He had two sons and a daugh., Robert, min. of Stapel-Corton, Thomas, entered prentice to John Jossie, chirurgeonapothecary in Edinburgh 18th July 1666, and Elizabeth.-[Act. Rect. Univ. St. And., Edin. Guild., and Test. Reg. (Dumf.), Macfarlane MSS., Pollock Pap. i., Wodrow's Hist.]”  It is this usage of the term “entered apprentice” among operative guilds and trades that inspires the name of Entered Apprentice Pictures.