Glimpses of
Masonic History
BY
C. W. Leadbeater
Theosophical
Publishing House, Adyar
1926
CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
CHAPTER I
SCHOOLS OF MASONIC THOUGHT
The Origins of Masonry. The Authentic School.
The Anthropological School. The Mystical
School. The Occult School. The Knowledge of the Occultist.
The Occult Records. The Sacramental Power. The Form and the Life.
Orthodoxy and Heresy.
CHAPTER II
THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES
The Message of the World Teacher. The Gods of
Egypt.
Isis and Osiris. Animal Deities. The Practice of Embalming. Other Deities. The
Brothers of Horus. Consecration. The Purpose of the Mysteries. The Degrees of
the Mysteries. The Mysteries of Isis. The
Preliminary Trials. The Mystery Language. The Duality of each Degree. The
Inner Mysteries of Isis. The Mysteries of
Serapis. The Inner Degree of Serapis. The Mysteries of Osiris. The Legend of
Osiris. The Meaning of the Story. The Inner Mysteries of Osiris. The Office of
Master. The Higher Black Masonry in the Mysteries. White Masonry in the
Mysteries. The Stages of the Occult Path. The First Three Initiations. The
Fourth Initiation. The Fifth Initiation and Beyond.
CHAPTER III
THE CRETAN MYSTERIES
The Unity of the Mysteries. Life in Ancient Crete. The Cretan Race. Recent Discoveries in Crete. Worship in Crete.
The Throne Room. The Three Columns. Models of Shrines. The
Altar Objects. Various Symbols. The
Statuettes.
CHAPTER IV
THE JEWISH MYSTERIES
The Jewish Line of Descent. The Jewish
Migrations. The Prophets. The Builders of K.S.T. The Recasting of the Rituals.
The Mingling of Traditions. The Transmission of the New Rites. The Essenes and
the Christ. Kabbalism. The Spiritualization of the Temple. The Loss of the Divine Name.
CHAPTER V
THE GREEK MYSTERIES
The Eleusinian Mysteries. The Origin of the
Greek Mysteries. The Gods of Greece.
The Officials. The Lesser Mysteries. The Greater Mysteries. The Myths of the
Greater Mysteries. The Magic of the Greater Mysteries. The Hidden Mysteries.
The School of Pythagoras. The
Three Degrees. Other Greek Mysteries.
CHAPTER VI
THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES
Zarathustra and Mithraism. Mithraism among
the Romans. The Mithraic Rites. The Roman Collegia. The Work of King Numa. The
Colleges and the Legions. The Introduction of the Jewish Form. The Transition
to the Operatives.
CHAPTER VII
CRAFT MASONRY IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES
Evolutionary Methods. The Withdrawal of the
Mysteries. The Christian Mysteries. The Repression of the Mysteries. The
Crossing of Traditions. The Two Lines of Descent. The Culdees. Celtic
Christianity in Britain.
The Druidic Mysteries. The Holy Grail. Heredom.
CHAPTER VIII
OPERATIVE MASONRY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
The Temporary Custodians. Decline of the
Collegia. The Comacini. The Comacine Lodges. Other Survivals of the Collegia.
The Compagnonnage. The Stonemasons of Germany. The English Guilds. The
Rise of Gothic Architecture. The Old Charges.
CHAPTER IX
THE TRANSITION FROM OPERATIVE TO SPECULATIVE
The Reformation. The Reappearance of
Speculative Masonry. The First Minutes. Scottish Minutes. English Minutes.
Irish Minutes. The Grand Lodge of England. The Recomposition of the
Rituals. Two and Three Degrees. Opposition. The Succession of L.M.s. The Grand
Lodges of York, Ireland
and Scotland.
The “Ancients”. The Holy Royal Arch. The United Grand Lodge. Craft
Masonry in Other Countries
CHAPTER X
OTHER LINES OF MASONIC
TRADITION
The Stream of Secret Societies. The Knights
Templars. The Suppression of the Templars. The Preservation of the
Templars’ Tradition. The Royal Order of Scotland. The Brothers of the Rosy
Cross. The Literature of Rosicrucianism. The Traditional History of the
Rosicrucians. The History of the Order.
CHAPTER XI
THE SCOTTISH
RITE
Origin of the Rite. The Jacobite Movement.
The Oration of Ramsay. The Chapter of Clermont. The Council of
Emperors. Stephen Morin. Frederick
the Great. The Charleston
Transformation. The Spread of the Scottish Rite.
CHAPTER XII
THE CO-MASONIC ORDER
The Restoration of an Ancient Landmark. The
Succession of Co-Masonry. The Co-Masonic Rituals. The Future of Masonry
APPENDIX I.
Degrees of the Rite of Perfection
II. Principal Masonic Events from 1717
Author’s Preface
WHEN I wrote The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry, it was at first my intention to devote my second chapter to a
brief outline of Masonic history. I soon found that that plan was impractical.
The most compressed account that would be of any use would occupy far more
space than I could spare, and would entirely overweight the book with what is
after all only one department of its subject. The obvious alternative is to
publish the historical sketch separately; hence this book, which is really but
a second volume of the other.
The keynote of both volumes, and indeed the
only reason for their publication, is to explain precisely what the title
indicates - the hidden life in Freemasonry - the mighty force in the
background, always at work yet always out of sight, which has guided the
transmission of the Masonic tradition through all the vicissitudes of its
stormy history, and still inspires the utmost enthusiasm and devotion among the
Brn. of the Craft to-day.
The existence and the work of the Head of all
true Freemasons is the one and sufficient reason for the virility and power of
this most wonderful Organization. If we understand His relation to it and what
He wishes to make of it, we shall also understand that it embodies one of the
finest schemes ever invented for the helping of the world and for the
outpouring of spiritual force.
Many of our Brn. have been for many years
unconsciously taking part in this magnificent altruistic work; if they can be
brought to comprehend what it is that they are doing and why, they will
continue the great work more happily and more intelligently, throwing into it
the whole strength of their nature both bodily and spiritual, and enjoying the
fruit of their labours far more definitely than ever before.
CHAPTER I
1. Schools of Masonic Thought
1.
A HISTORY of Freemasonry
would be a colossal undertaking, needing encyclopaedic knowledge and many years
of research. I have no pretension to the possession of the qualities and the
erudition required for the production of such a work; all I can hope to do is
to throw a little light upon some of the dark spots in that history, and to
bridge over to some extent some of the more obvious gaps between the sections
of it which are already well known.
2.
THE ORIGINS OF MASONRY
3.
The actual origins of Freemasonry,
as I have said in a previous book, are lost in the mists of antiquity. Masonic
writers of the eighteenth century speculated uncritically upon its history,
basing their views upon a literal belief in the history and chronology of the
Old Testament, and upon the curious legends of the Craft handed down from
operative times in the Old Charges. Thus it was put forward in all seriousness
by Dr. Anderson in his first Book of Constitutions that “Adam, our first
parent, created after the Image of God, the great Architect of the Universe,
must have had the Liberal Sciences, particularly Geometry, written on
his Heart,” while others, less fanciful, have attributed its origin to Abraham,
Moses, or Solomon. Dr. Oliver, writing as late as the first part of the
nineteenth century, held that Masonry, as we
4.
have it to-day, is the
only true relic of the faith of the patriarchs before the flood, while the
ancient Mysteries of Egypt and other countries, which so closely resembled it,
were but human corruptions of the one primitive and pure tradition.
5.
As scientific and
historical knowledge progressed in other fields of research, and especially in
the criticism of the Scriptures, scientific methods were gradually applied to
the study of Masonry, so that today there exists a vast body of fairly
accurate and most interesting information upon the history of the Craft. In
consequence of this and other lines of investigation there are four main
schools or tendencies of Masonic thought, not in any way necessarily defined or
organized as schools, but grouped according to their relation to four important
departments of knowledge lying primarily outside the Masonic field. Each has
its own characteristic approach towards Freemasonry; each has its own canons of
interpretation of Masonic symbols and ceremonies, although it is clear that
many modern writers are influenced by more than one school.
6.
THE AUTHENTIC SCHOOL
7.
We may consider first
what is sometimes called the Authentic
School, which arose in
the latter half of the nineteenth century in response to the growth of critical
knowledge in other fields. The old traditions of the Craft were minutely
examined in the light of authentic records within reach of the historian. An
enormous amount of research was undertaken into Lodge minutes, documents of all
kinds bearing upon Masonry past and present, records of municipalities and
boroughs, legal and judicial enactments; in fact, whatever written records were
available were consulted and classified. In this field all Masons are greatly
indebted to R. F. Gould, the great Masonic historian; W. J. Hughan; G. W.
Speth; David Murray-Lyon, the historian of Scottish Masonry; Dr. Chetwode
Crawley, whose work upon the early Irish Craft is in its way a classic; and
others of the Inner Circle of the famous Lodge Quattuor Coronati, No.
2076, the fascinating Transactions of which are a precious mine of historical
and archaeological lore. Two great names in Germany are J. F. Findel, the
historian, and Dr. Wilhelm Begemann, who made the most minute and painstaking
researches into the Old Charges of the operative Craft. A vast amount of
material which will be of permanent value to students of our Craft has become
available through the labours of the scholars of the Authentic School.
8.
This school, however,
has limitations which are the outcome of its very method of approach. In a
society as secret as Masonry there must be much that has never been written
down, but only transmitted orally in the Lodges, so that documents and records
are but of partial value. The written records of speculative Masonry
hardly antedate the revival in 1717, while the earliest extant minutes of any
operative Lodge belong to the year 1598.* (*History of the Lodge of
Edinburgh, by D. Murray-Lyon, p. 9.) The tendency of this school,
therefore, is quite naturally to derive Masonry from the operative Lodges and
Guilds of the Middle Ages, and to suppose that speculative elements were later
grafted upon the operative stock - this hypothesis being in no way contradicted
by existing records. Bro. R. F. Gould affirms that if we can assume the
symbolism (or ceremonial) of Masonry to be older than 1717, there is
practically no limit whatever to the age that can be assigned to it* (*Concise
History of Freemasonry, by R. R Gould, p. 55.); but many other writers look
for the origin of our Mysteries no further back than the mediaeval builders.
9.
Amongst this school
there is a tendency, also very natural when such a theory of origin is held, to
deny the validity of the higher degrees, and to declare, in accordance with the
Solemn Act of Union between the two Grand Lodges of the Freemasons of England,
in December, 1813, that “pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no
more, viz., those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master
Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch.”* (*Book of
Constitutions, 1884, p. 16.) All other degrees and rites are, among the
more rigid followers of this school, looked upon as Continental innovations and
are accordingly rejected as “spurious” Masonry.
10.
As far as interpretation
goes, the authentics have ventured but little further than a moralization upon
the symbols and ceremonies of Masonry as an adjunct to Anglican Christianity.
11.
THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL
SCHOOL
12.
A second school, still
only in process of development, is applying the discoveries of anthropology to
a study of Masonic history, with remarkable results. A vast amount of
information upon the religious and initiatory customs of many peoples, both
ancient and modern, has been gathered by anthropologists; and Masonic students
in this field have found many of our signs and symbols, both of the Craft and
higher degrees, in the wall-paintings, carvings, sculpture and buildings of the
principal races of the world. The Anthropological
School, therefore, allows
a far greater degree of antiquity to Masonry than the Authentics have ever
ventured to do, and traces striking analogies with the ancient Mysteries of
many nations, which clearly possessed our symbols and signs, and in all probability
ceremonies analogous to those worked in Masonic Lodges to-day.
13.
The Anthropologists do
not confine their studies to the past alone, but have investigated the
initiatory rites of many existing tribes, both in Africa and Australia, and
have found them to possess signs and gestures still in use among Masons.
Striking analogies to our Masonic rites have also been found among the
inhabitants of India and Syria,
interwoven with their religious philosophy in a way which renders entirely
impossible the idea that they were copied from European sources. Masonic
scholars have by no means exhausted the facts which may be discovered in this
most interesting field of research, but even with our present knowledge it is
clear that rites analogous to those we call Masonic are among the most ancient
on earth, and may be found in some form or other in almost all parts of the
world. Our signs exist in Egypt and Mexico, in China and India, in Greece and
Rome, upon the temples of Burma and the cathedrals of mediaeval Europe; and
there are said to be shrines in Southern India where the same secrets are
taught under binding pledges as are communicated to us in the Craft and high
grades in modern Europe and America.
14.
Among pioneers in this
field we should mention Bro. Albert Churchward, the author of several
interesting books on the Egyptian origin of Masonry, although it may be that he
is not always quite sufficiently critical; Bro. J. S. M. Ward, the author of Freemasonry
and the Ancient Gods, Who was Hiram Abiff? and a number of other
works, who looks to Syria as the source of Masonry, though he has compiled a
mass of valuable information from many other lands; and Mr. Bernard H.
Springett, author of Secret Sects of Syria and Lebanon, who has collected
much material bearing upon Masonic rites among the Arabs.
15.
To the work of the Anthropological School is due a clear revelation of the
immense antiquity and diffusion of what we now call Masonic symbolism. It
tends, however, to find the origin of the ancient Mysteries in the initiatory
customs of savage tribes which, although admittedly of incalculable antiquity,
are often neither dignified nor spiritual.
16.
Another important work
which has been accomplished by its efforts is the justification of many of the
higher degrees to be considered “pure Antient Masonry”; for in spite of the
pronouncement of the Grand Lodge of England quoted above, there is just as much
evidence for the extreme antiquity of Rose-Croix as of Craft and Arch signs and
symbols, and the same may be said of the signs of many other degrees as well.
It is quite clear from the researches of anthropologists that, whatever may be
the precise links in the chain of descent, we in Masonry are the inheritors of
a very ancient tradition, which has for countless ages been associated with the
most sacred mysteries of religious worship.
17.
THE MYSTICAL SCHOOL
18.
A third school of
Masonic thought, which we may call the Mystical, approaches the mysteries of
the Craft from another standpoint altogether, seeing in them a plan of man’s spiritual
awakening and inner development. Thinkers of this school, on the record of
their own spiritual experiences, declare that the degrees of the Order are
symbolical of certain states of consciousness which must be awakened in the
individual initiate if he aspires to win the treasures of the spirit. They give
testimony of another and far higher nature upon the validity of our Masonic
rites - a testimony that belongs to religion rather than to science. The goal
of the mystic is conscious union with God, and to a Mason of this school the
Craft is intended to portray the path to that goal, to offer a map, as it were,
to guide the feet of the seeker after God.
19.
Such students are often
more interested in interpretation than in historical research. They are not
primarily concerned in tracing an exact line of descent from the past, but
rather in so living the life indicated by the symbols of the Order that they
may attain to the spiritual reality of which those symbols are the shadows.
They hold, however, that Masonry is at least akin to the ancient Mysteries,
which were intended for precisely the same purpose - that of offering to man a
path by which he might find God; and they deplore the fact that the majority of
our modern Brn. have so far forgotten the glory of their Masonic heritage that
they have allowed the ancient rites to become little more than empty forms. One
well-known representative of this school is Bro. A. E. Waite, one of the finest
Masonic scholars of the day, and an authority upon the history of the higher
degrees. Another is Bro. W. L. Wilmshurst, who has given some beautiful and
deeply spiritual interpretations of Masonic symbolism. This school is doing
much to spiritualize masculine Masonry, and the deeper reverence for our
mysteries that is becoming more and more apparent is without doubt one of the
marks of its influence.
20.
THE OCCULT SCHOOL
21.
The fourth school of
thought is represented by an evergrowing body of students in the Co-Masonic
Order, and is gradually attracting adherents in masculine Masonry also. Since
one of its chief and distinctive tenets is the sacramental efficacy of Masonic
ceremonial when duly and lawfully performed, we may perhaps not improperly term
it the sacramental or occult school. The term occultism has been much
misunderstood; it may be defined as the study and knowledge of the hidden side
of nature by means of powers which exist in all men, but are still unawakened
in the majority - powers which may be aroused and trained in the occult student
by means of long and careful discipline and meditation.
22.
The goal of the
occultist, no less than that of the mystic, is conscious union with God; but
the methods of approach are different. The aim of the occultist is to attain
that union by means of knowledge and of will, to train the whole nature,
physical, emotional and mental, until it becomes a perfect expression of the
divine spirit within, and can be employed as an efficient instrument in the
great plan which God has made for the evolution of mankind, which is typified
in Masonry by the building of the holy temple. The mystic, on the other hand,
rather aspires to ecstatic union with that level of the divine consciousness
which his stage of evolution permits him to touch.
23.
The way of the occultist
lies through a graded series of steps, a pathway of Initiations conferring
successive expansions of consciousness and degrees of sacramental power; that
of the mystic is often more individual in character, a “flight of the alone to
the Alone,” as Plotinus so beautifully expressed it. To the occultist the exact
observance of a form is of great importance, and through the use of ceremonial
magic he creates a vehicle through which the divine light may be drawn down and
spread abroad for the helping of the world, calling to his aid the assistance
of Angels, nature-spirits and other inhabitants of the invisible worlds. The
method of the mystic, on the other hand, is through prayer and orison; he cares
nothing for forms and, though by his union therewith he too is a channel of the
divine Life, he seems to me to lose the enormous advantage of the collective
effort made by the occultist, which is so greatly strengthened by the help of
the higher Beings whose presence he invokes. Both these paths lead to God; to
some of us the first will appeal irresistibly, to others the second; it is
largely a matter of the Ray to which we belong. The one is more outward-turned
in service and sacrifice; the other more inward-turned in contemplation and
love.
24.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
OCCULTIST
25.
The student of
occultism, therefore, learns to awaken and train for scientific use the powers
latent within him, and by their means he is able to see far more of the real
meaning of life than the man whose vision is limited by the physical senses. He
learns that each man is in essence divine, a veritable spark of God’s fire,
gradually evolving towards a future of glory and splendour culminating in union
with God; that the method of his progress is by successive descents into earthly
bodies for the sake of experience, and withdrawals into worlds or planes which
are invisible to physical eyes. He finds that this progress is governed by a
law of eternal justice, which renders to each man the fruit of that which he
sows, joy for good and suffering for evil.
26.
He learns, too, that the
world is ruled, under the will of T.M.H., by a Brotherhood of Adepts, who have
Themselves attained divine union, but remain on earth to guide humanity; that
all the great religions of the world were founded by Them, according to the
needs of the races for which they were intended, and that within these
religions there have been schools of the Mysteries to offer to those who are
ready a swifter path of unfoldment, with greater knowledge and opportunities for
service; that this Path is divided into steps and degrees: the probationary
Path, or the Lower Mysteries, wherein the candidates are prepared for
discipleship, and the Path proper, or the Greater Mysteries, in which are
conferred within the Great White Lodge itself five great Initiations, which
lead the disciple from the life of earth to the life of adeptship in God, to
become “a living flame,” as it is said, “for the lighting of the world.” He is
taught that God, both in the universe and in man, shows Himself as a Trinity of
Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, and that these Three Aspects are represented in
the Great White Lodge in the Persons of its three chief Officers, through whom
the mighty power of God descends to men.
27.
THE OCCULT RECORDS
28.
It will be seen that
this occult knowledge depends no more upon the study of books and records than
do the experiences of the mystics; both belong to a higher order of
consciousness, the existence of which cannot be satisfactorily demonstrated on
the physical plane. Nevertheless, the study of the physical-plane records of
the past is of value in confirming the historical researches of the trained
occultist, who is able to read what are sometimes called the akashic records,
and so to acquire an accurate knowledge of the past. This subject is so little
understood that it may perhaps be useful if at this point I quote somewhat at
length from a book entitled Clairvoyance which I wrote many years ago:
29.
On the mental plane (the
records) have two widely different aspects. When the visitor to that plane is
not thinking specially of them in any way, these records simply form a
background to whatever is going on, just as the reflections in a pier-glass at
the end of a room might form a background to the life of the people in it. It
must always be borne in mind that under these conditions they are really
merely reflections from the ceaseless activity of a great Consciousness upon a
far higher plane. …
30.
But if the trained
investigator turns his attention especially to any one scene, or wishes to call
it up before him, an extraordinary change at once takes place, for this is the
plane of thought, and to think of anything is to bring it instantaneously
before you. For example, if a man wills to see the record of the landing of
Julius Caesar in England, he finds himself in a moment … standing on the shore
among the legionaries, with the whole scene being enacted around him, precisely
in every respect as he would have seen it if he had stood there in the flesh on
that autumn morning in the year 55 B.C. Since what he sees is but a reflection,
the actors are of course entirely unconscious of him, nor can any effort of his
change the course of their action in the smallest degree, except only that he
can control the rate at which the drama shall pass before him - can have the
events of a whole year rehearsed before his eyes in a single hour, or can at
any moment stop the movement altogether, and hold any particular scene in view
as a picture as long as he chooses.
31.
In truth he observes not
only what he would have seen if he had been there at the time in the flesh, but
much more. He hears and understands all that the people say, and he is
conscious of all their thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of
the many possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the
records is the study of the thought of ages long past - the thought of the
cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the mighty
civilizations of Atlantis, of Egypt or Chaldaea. What splendid possibilities
open up before the man who is in full possession of this power may easily be
imagined. He has before him a field of historical research of most entrancing
interest. Not only can he review at his leisure all history with which we are
acquainted, correcting as he examines it the many errors and misconceptions
which have crept into the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will
over the whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow
development of intellect in man, the descent of the Lords of the Flame, and the
growth of the mighty civilizations which They founded.
32.
Nor is his study
confined to the progress of humanity alone; he has before him, as in a museum,
all the strange animal and vegetable forms which occupied the stage in days
when the world was young; he can follow all the wonderful geological changes
which have taken place, and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have
altered the whole face of the earth again and again.
33.
In one especial case an
even closer sympathy with the past is possible to the reader of the records. If
in the course of his inquiries he has to look upon some scene in which he
himself has in a former birth taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he
can either regard it in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it
remembered, as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect), or he may
once more identify himself with that long-dead personality of his - may throw
himself back for the time into that life of long ago, and absolutely experience
over again the thoughts and the emotions, the pleasures and the pains of a
prehistoric past.
34.
In the light of this
occult knowledge (which is within the reach of the inner sight) Masonry is seen
to be far greater and holier than its initiates appear generally to realize. As
tradition has always indicated, it is found to be a direct descendant of the
Mysteries of Egypt (once the heart of that splendid faith whose wisdom and
power were the glory of the ancient world - those Mysteries which were the
parent and prototype of the secret schools of other neighbouring lands), and
its purpose is still to serve as a gateway to the true Mysteries of the Great
White Lodge. It offers to its initiates far more than a mere moralization upon
building tools, and yet it is “founded upon the purest principles of piety and
virtue,” for without the practice of morality and the living of the ethical
life no true spiritual progress is possible.
35.
The ceremonies of
Freemasonry (those at least of its higher degrees) are dramatizations, as it
were, of sections of the invisible worlds, through which the candidate must
pass after death in the ordinary course of nature - which also he must enter in
full consciousness during the rites of initiation into those true Mysteries of
which Masonry is a reflection. Each degree relates to a different plane of
nature, or to an aspect of a plane, and possesses layer after layer of meaning
applicable to the consciousness of T.G.A.O.T.U., the constitution of the
universe, and the principles in man, according to the occult law formulated by
Hermes Trismegistus and adopted by Rosicrucians, alchemists and students of the
Kabbala in later ages: “As above, so below.” The Masonic rites are thus rites
of the probationary Path, intended to be a preparation for true Initiation, to
be a school for training the Brn. for the far greater knowledge of the Path
proper.
36.
THE SACRAMENTAL POWER
37.
To the occult student
Masonry has also another aspect, of the greatest importance, concerning which I
have written in The Hidden Life in Freemasonry It is not only a
wonderful and intricate system of occult symbols enshrining the secrets of the
invisible worlds; it has also a sacramental aspect which is of the utmost
beauty and value not only to its initiates but to the world at large. The
performance of the ritual of each degree is intended to call down spiritual
power, first to assist the Bro. upon whom the degree is conferred to awaken
within himself that aspect of consciousness which corresponds to the symbolism
of the degree, as far as it can be awakened; secondly to aid in the evolution
of the members present; and thirdly and most important of all, to pour out a
flood of spiritual power intended to uplift, strengthen and encourage all
members of the Craft.
38.
Some years ago I
undertook an investigation into the hidden side of the sacraments of the
Catholic Church, and published the results of that investigation in a book
called The Science of the Sacraments. Those who have read that book will
remember that the shedding abroad of spiritual power is one great object of the
celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and of other services of the Church, and
that it is attained by the invocation of an Angel to build a spiritual temple
in the inner worlds with the aid of the forces generated by the love and
devotion of the people, and the charging of that temple with the enormous power
called down at the consecration of the Sacred Elements. A somewhat similar
result is achieved during the ceremonies performed by the Masonic Lodge,
although the plan is not exactly the same, being indeed far older; and each of
our rituals, when properly carried out, likewise builds a temple in the inner
worlds, through which the spiritual power called down at the initiation of the
candidate is stored and radiated. Thus Masonry is seen, in the sacramental
sense as well as the mystical, to be “an art of building spiritualized,” and
every Masonic Lodge ought to be a channel of no mean order for the shedding of
spiritual blessing over the district in which it labours.
39.
Sometimes orders and
rites which were once channels of great force have admitted, as the years
passed by, Brn. less worthy than their predecessors - Brn. who thought more of
their own gain than of service to the world. In such cases the spiritual
powers associated with those grades were either entirely withdrawn by the
H.O.A.T.F.,* (*See The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, pp. 15, 185.) to be
introduced later into some other and more suitable group, or allowed to remain
dormant until more fitting candidates should be found to hold them worthily -
the bare succession passing down and transmitting, as it were, the seeds of
the power, although the power itself was largely in abeyance.
40.
On the other hand, there
have been cases in which a rite or grade has been manufactured by a student who
wished to throw some great truth into ceremonial form, but knew little of all
this inner side of Masonry; if such a degree or rite were doing useful work and
attracting suitable candidates, sacramental powers fitted for that rite or
grade were sometimes introduced into it, either by some Bro. on the physical
plane who possessed one of the lines of succession mentioned above, which was
then adapted by the H.O.A.T.F. for the work, or by a direct and non-physical
interference from behind.
41.
Furthermore, the inner
effect of a given degree, even in a rite that may be fully valid, may vary
greatly with the degree of advancement and general attitude of the Bro. upon
whom it is conferred; so that in one case, let us say, the 33 ° would confer
stupendous spiritual power, and in another, less worthy, the powers given would
be much smaller, because of the candidate’s incapacity to respond fully to them.
In such cases a fuller degree of power will manifest itself as greater advancement
is made in the development of character. It also appears to be possible for
power to be temporarily withdrawn in cases of evil-doing by one of the Brn.,
and to be restored later when the evil-doing has ceased.
42.
All this may seem a
little bewildering to the student of the form side of Masonry; and indeed it is
a fact that there is but little means on the physical plane of judging the
inner effect of a given degree without reference to those who may be working
it. It may however be generally stated that the chief lines of Masonic
tradition - those which are of the greatest inner or spiritual value - are the
Craft degrees, upon which all other grades are superimposed, the Mark and the
Arch degrees, and the chief degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite, the 18 °, 30 ° and 33 °. Other degrees that are worked have their own
peculiar powers, and these are often valuable; but the grades which I have
mentioned are those which are considered by the H.O.A.T.F. to be of the
greatest value to our present generation, and they are therefore those which
are worked at present in the Co-Masonic Order. Another line of great interest,
though very different from any other degrees existing among us, is that of the
rites of Memphis and Mizraim, which are relics in their occult power, although
not in their form, of perhaps the very oldest Mysteries existing upon earth.
These too have their part to play in the future, as in the past, and they have
therefore been preserved and transmitted to us in the present day.
43.
THE FORM AND THE LIFE
44.
In all cases we must
realize that the form of the degrees of Masonry and their life are two very
different things, although of course in a perfect system, as in that of the
ancient Mysteries at the height of their glory, they would correspond
perfectly. Masonry is yet in a transitional stage, and is but emerging from
the ignorance of the Dark Ages. The rites of Memphis and Mizraim are an example
of this discrepancy. These colossal systems of 96 ° and 90 ° respectively are a
mass of artificially-manufactured ceremonies, of but little value to a Masonic
student except as a record of high-grade Masonic invention in France at the
end of the eighteenth century. Most of the degrees have little occult power,
and have simply been inserted into the rites by Brn. who could have known
nothing of their real purpose; but behind the rites and quite independent of
the form side of the tradition a line of succession has been handed down from
a past even more ancient than that of the Scottish Rite itself. Even in the
Scottish Rite many of the intermediate degrees are of but little occult value.
45.
The whole position will
be best understood if it can be realized that the plan of Masonry is in the
hands of the H.O.A.T.F., who rules His mighty Order with perfect justice and
the most marvellous skill, so that all that can be done is done for the
greatest good of all. The powers that stand behind Freemasonry are great and
holy, and it is but right that they should be conferred in their fullness only
upon those who are likely to use them as they should be used and to treat them
with the reverence they deserve. There is a great and glorious reality in the
background all the time, ever pressing towards realization, and employing
whatever channels are available for its manifestation. Whatever can be used is
always used to the very fullest extent, and none need fear that he is
overlooked. It is obvious, however, that where the Brn. think more of
gratifying their own vanity than of the Hidden Work, where they spend their
time in banqueting and revelry and curtail the sacred ritual in order that they
may adjourn as quickly as possible to the South, they are less worthy channels
of the Divine Glory than those more spiritual Brn. who are willing to study and
to understand. All the time the H.O.A.T.F. is watching; He sees the slightest
endeavor of the Craftsmen to serve, and He will pour forth His wondrous power
just in so far as the Brn. become worthy of it.
46.
ORTHODOXY AND HERESY
47.
Another point which
arises in connection with the transmission of Masonic degrees will be developed
more fully as we proceed. We must realize that in Masonic ritual it is not a
case of one orthodoxy, and a number of heresies and schisms; it is rather that
there are as many lines of tradition in form as there are types of succession
in inner power. The Mysteries worked in the different countries of the ancient
world varied considerably in the details of their form and legend, and vestiges
of these differences remain in the various workings now in use among us. Many
equally valid streams of tradition have crossed and recrossed one another
throughout the ages, and have influenced each other to a greater or less degree.
The seating of the principal officers in a Craft Lodge, for instance, differs
in English and Continental Masonry. English Masonry follows the old Egyptian
method of arranging them, while Continental Masonry follows the Chaldaean plan
and seats them in an isosceles triangle.
48.
The powers of the
succession of I.M.s in these two systems are in essence the same, but since in
the Continental Lodges the ceremony of Installation is reduced to the merest
vestige, only the minimum of power necessary for the actual transmission of the
degrees is conferred, and very much less is done for the R.W.M. than under the
English plan. But this is a question of imperfection of form rather than of
absence of power. The spiritual powers behind Masonry work through the
different forms according to the value of the form and the will of the
H.O.A.T.F. behind, who is the only judge of the much-argued difference between
genuine and spurious Masonry. In the light of this view of the Masonic
succession, it will be seen that genuine rites are those which possess and
transmit spiritual power, whereas spurious Masonry is the working of a
form from which for one reason or another the life has been withdrawn, or to
which it has never been linked.
49.
In the following
chapters I shall endeavour to trace the descent of the Masonic tradition from
the Egyptian Mysteries to the present day, not in any way attempting to
delineate each separate link in the chain of succession, for that would be the
work of a life-time and would not be of any fuller value to the student, but
touching rather upon important periods of Masonic history, as revealed by the
inner sight, and confirmed in the writings of Masonic scholars.
2
The Egyptian Mysteries
50.
THE MESSAGE OF THE
WORLD-TEACHER
51.
In The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry I have described to some extent the form and meaning of
Freemasonry as I knew it in Egypt about six thousand years ago. That form was
largely due to the birth of the World Teacher among the Egyptian people about
40,000 B.C. when He taught them the doctrine of the Hidden Light. It may be
well to sketch briefly the history of the nation from that period up to 13,500
B.C., where I took it up in the previous book.
52.
The authentic history of
Egypt, as determined by modern scholars, begins with the First Dynasty, which
was founded by Mena or Manu about 5,000 B.C. - the dates are variously given.
It is considered that the pyramids of Gizeh, which played so great a part in
the hidden side of Egyptian worship, were built by the Kings of the Fourth
Dynasty, Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerinus), during
the fourth millennium B.C. But the inner history of Egypt and its pyramids
extends back further than this, into ages upon which even tradition is almost
silent, although some echoes of the reigns of the Divine Kings of the Atlantean
Dynasties, who ruled Egypt for many thousands of years, appear in the Egyptian
and Greek myths of the gods and demigods who are said to have reigned before
the coming of Manu.
53.
According to Manetho,
the Egyptian historian of the Ptolemaic period, whose works are now lost
(except for certain fragments preserved in quotations), the gods and demigods
reigned for 12,843 years. After these came the Nekyes or Manes,
who are said to have reigned for 5,813 years; and some of these may perhaps be
identified with the Shemsu Heru, or Followers of Horus, who are
frequently mentioned in Egyptian texts.* (*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The Nile,
p. 26.) Diodorus Siculus, who visited Egypt about 57 B.C. , tells us that it
was traditionally believed that the gods and heroes had reigned over Egypt for
a little less than eighteen thousand years before the time of Mena.* (*Diod.
Sic., Hist., Bk. I., xliv.) The book Man: Whence, How and Whither
carries us much further into the past, and gives us the following facts.
54.
The Atlantean conquest
of Egypt took place over one hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and the
first great Egyptian empire lasted until the catastrophe of 75,025 B.C., when
the two great islands Ruta and Daitya were whelmed beneath the ocean, and only
the island of Poseidonis remained.* (*Op. cit., pp. 119 and 132, and The
Story of Atlantis, by Scott Elliott.) It was during the dominance of that
empire that the three pyramids were built in accordance with the astronomical
and mathematical lore of the Atlantean priests;* (*See The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry, p. 229.) and it is to this age also that we look for the
origin of those Mysteries which have been handed down to us in the ceremonies
of Freemasonry. Even then the ceremonies were ancient, and we must search a
still more remote past for their ultimate source. In the great catastrophe of
75,025 B.C. the whole land of Egypt was flooded, and nothing remained of all
its glory save the three pyramids rising above the waters.* (*Man: Whence,
How and Whither, pp. 242 and 283.) After this, when the swamps had become
habitable, there came a negroid domination; and then the land was again
colonized by the Atlanteans, who restored the splendour of the Egyptian temples
and established once more the hidden Mysteries which had been celebrated in
the great pyramid. This empire lasted up to the time of the Aryanization of
Egypt in 13,500 B.C.; it was ruled by a great dynasty of divine kings, among
whom were many of the heroes whom Greece later regarded as demigods, such as
Herakles of the twelve labours, whose tradition was handed on to
classical times.
55.
It was to this people
about 40,000 B.C. that the World Teacher came forth from the White Lodge,
bearing the name of Tehuti or Thoth, called later by the Greeks Hermes; He
founded the outer cult of the Egyptian Gods and restored the Mysteries to the
splendour of byegone days.
56.
He came to teach the
great doctrine of the ‘Inner Light’ to the priests of the Temples,
to the powerful sacerdotal hierarchy of Egypt, headed by its Pharaoh. In
the inner court of the chief Temple He taught them of ‘the Light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world’ - phrase of His that was handed down
through the ages, and was echoed in the fourth Gospel in its early
Egyptian-coloured words. He taught them that the Light was universal, and that
that Light, which was God, dwelt in the heart of every man: “I am that Light,”
He bade them repeat, “That Light am I”. “That Light,” He said, “is the true
man, although men may not recognize it, although they neglect it. Osiris is
Light; He came forth from the Light; He dwells in the Light; He is the Light.
The Light is hidden everywhere; it is in every rock and in every stone. When a
man becomes one with Osiris the Light, then he becomes one with the whole of
which he was part, and then he can see the Light in everyone, however thickly
veiled, pressed down, and shut away. All the rest is not; but the Light is. The
Light is the life of men. To every man - though there are glorious ceremonies,
though there are many duties for the priest to do, and many ways in which he
should help men - that Light is nearer than aught else, within his very heart.
For every man the Reality is nearer than any ceremony, for he has only to turn
inwards, and then will he see the Light. That is the object of every ceremony,
and ceremonies should not be done away with, for I come not to destroy but to
fulfil. When a man knows, he goes beyond the ceremony, he goes to Osiris, he
goes to the Light, the Light Amen-Ra, from which all came forth, to which all
shall return.
57.
“Osiris is in the
heavens, but Osiris is also in the very heart of men. When Osiris in the heart
knows Osiris in the heavens, then man becomes God, and Osiris, once rent into
fragments, again becomes one. But see! Osiris the Divine Spirit, Isis, the
Eternal Mother, give life to Horus, who is Man, Man born of both, yet one with
Osiris. Horus is merged in Osiris, and Isis, who had been Matter, becomes through
him the Queen of Life and Wisdom. And Osiris, Isis, and Horus are all born of
the Light.
58.
“Two are the births of
Horus. He is born of Isis, the God born into
humanity, taking flesh of the Mother Eternal, Matter, the Ever-Virgin. He is
born again into Osiris, redeeming his Mother from her long search for the
fragments of her husband scattered over the earth. He is born into Osiris when
Osiris in the heart sees Osiris in the heavens, and knows that the twain are
one.”
59.
So taught He, and the
wise among the priests were glad.
60.
To Pharaoh, the Monarch,
He gave the motto: “Look for the Light”; He said that only as a King saw the
Light in the heart of each could he rule well. And to the people He gave as a
motto: “Thou art the Light. Let that Light shine.” And He set that motto round
the pylon in a great Temple,
running up one pillar, and across the bar, and down the other pillar. And this
was inscribed over the doors of houses, and little models were made of the
pylon on which He had inscribed it, models in precious metals, and also in
baked clay, so that the poorest could buy little blue clay models, with brown
veins running through them, and glazed. Another favourite motto was: “Follow
the Light,” and this became later: “Follow the King,” and this spread westward
and became the motto of the Round Table. And the people learned to say of their
dead: “He has gone to the Light.”
61.
And the joyous
civilization of Egypt grew yet more joyous, because He had dwelt among them,
the embodied Light. The priests whom He had taught handed on His teachings and
His secret instructions, which they enshrined in their Mysteries, and students
came from all nations to learn the Wisdom of the Egyptians, and the fame of the
Schools of Egypt went abroad to all lands.* (*Man: Whence, How and Whither,
pp. 284-7.)
62.
THE GODS OF EGYPT
63.
It will be seen from the
above that the deities, or rather forms of Deity, Osiris, Isis and Horus
were already familiar to the people, and the World Teacher made it part of His
work to draw their attention to the true meaning of the three Persons. At what
time knowledge of these three Aspects of God was introduced into the land we do
not know, but at the date of our experience they had their places in the
symbology of the Mysteries.
64.
ISIS AND OSIRIS
65.
Isis, to whom the Lesser
Mysteries were ascribed, was not only the universal feminine principle
expressed in nature, but also a real and very lofty Being, just as the Christ
is the universal Life, the Second Logos, and also a high Official of the Occult
Hierarchy. She by virtue of her high development and office was able to
represent the Feminine Aspect of the Deity to man. Isis was the Mother of all
that lives, and wisdom and truth and power; upon her temple at Sais the
inscription was written: “I am that which is, which hath been, and which shall
be; and no man has ever lifted the veil that hides my Divinity from mortal
eyes.”* (*Plutarch. Moralia; De Iside et Osiride.) The moon was her
symbol; and the influence which she outpoured upon her worshippers to the music
of the shaken sistrum was of brilliant blue light veined with delicate silver,
as of shimmering moonbeams, the very touch of which brought upliftment and
ecstasy.
66.
Osiris was the
embodiment of God the Father in a mighty Planetary Spirit. His symbol was the
sun, and the influence which He outpoured was a dazzling glory of light shot
through with gold, like the rays of the sun caught upon the surface of a lake.
The influence of Horus, who represented the divine Child, was the glowing rose
and gold of the eternal love which is perfect wisdom.
67.
ANIMAL DEITIES
68.
The Egyptians also
followed the ancient practice of regarding certain animals as mirroring
various aspects of the divine, because of their outstanding qualities. Thus
they took the intelligence of the ape, the clear-sightedness of the hawk, the
strength of the bull, and so on, and attributed the quality to some particular
aspect of the Deity. They carefully bred certain animals as perfect
representatives of their species, and kept them apart as symbols of those
divine qualities. Such were the Apis bulls, and the cats of Bast or Pasht.
These animals were regarded not exactly as sacred, but as objectified examples
of the qualities. In the beginning the creature was a mere symbol, but in later
days the Egyptians had the idea that those which had been especially set apart
came to be linked with the godhead, and so were to some extent a manifestation
of the deity. They then embalmed the animals and laid up the mummies in their
temples, with the intention of preserving the divine influence.
69.
THE PRACTICE OF
EMBALMING
70.
In the same way the
Pharaoh was embalmed with the idea that his power, his connection with the
deity (which was a very close one as Pharaoh), would be preserved and would
continue to radiate so long as the body remained. This resembled the later
custom of preserving the relics of a saint. The strong love of the Egyptians
for their country provided another reason for embalming their dead; they hoped
to preserve a definite link on the physical plane which would operate to draw
them back to rebirth among their own people. That it did so operate in many
cases seems to have been a fact, although the will of the re-incarnating ego
would doubtless have been sufficient to achieve the same result. The custom was
not altogether a good one, because if the body of a man of evil life is
embalmed, a good deal of additional power is thereby left to him after death;
he may more easily materialize and operate on the physical plane in undesirable
ways. It is on the whole fortunate that the practice has not persisted.
71.
OTHER DEITIES
72.
Many other deities were
reverenced in ancient Egypt, in much the same way as numerous gods are adored to-day
in India; and in every case the devotion addressed to the Supreme obtained its
response through the particular channel chosen by the worshipper. Great
Angels of different Orders and Rays were appointed to represent these various
qualities of the Deity, and these were worshipped as gods in the older faiths.
But so close is the union in these cases that devotion rendered to one of these
was at the same time given to God Himself. Shri Krishna, speaking as the
Supreme in the Bhagavad Gita says: “Even those who worship other Gods
with devotion, full of faith - they also worship Me.”* (*Op. cit., ix,
23.)
73.
Wherever devotion is
offered through a particular form, we may be sure that there is an Intelligence
behind that form who acts as a mediator or channel between the suppliant and
the Deity behind. Hathor, for instance, was the goddess of love and beauty,
while as we have seen, Isis was the Queen of Truth and the Mother of all
things; yet both were representatives of the feminine aspect of the Deity, as
also was Nephthys. Ptah was the Master Architect of the Universe, the Holy
Spirit who is the Creative Fire of God; He was the celestial worker in metals,
and the chief smelter, caster and sculptor of the Gods, the skilful Craftsman
by whom the design for every part of the framework of the world was made.*
(*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, The Papyrus of Ani, p. 170.)
74.
THE BROTHERS OF HORUS
75.
Among the other deities
who were especially connected with the Mysteries, who still play a most
important part in the inner working of our Masonic ceremonies to-day, are to be
found the four children or brothers of Horus, who are depicted in the
well-known judgment scene as standing on a lotus before the throne of Osiris.
These represent the Gods of the four quarters, or of the cardinal points, who
support the canopy of heaven at its four corners. The God of the north was
Hapi, who bore the head of an ape; the God of the east was Tuamutef, who bore
the head of a jackal; Amset or Kestha ruled the south, and had the head of a
man; while the west was governed by Qebsennuf, whose head was that of a hawk.*
(*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, The Nile, p. 267, Egyptian Ideas of the
Future Life, p. 107.)
76.
The truth underlying
these strange deities is of the deepest interest when examined by the inner
sight, for these four are the same as the four Devarajas of India - the Kings
of the elements, earth, air, fire and water, who likewise preside over the
cardinal points. They correspond also with the cherubim described by Ezekiel,
and with the four beasts of the Revelation. S. John says of them:
77.
And in the midst of the
throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and
behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf,
and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were
full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come.* (*Rev., iv, 6-8.)
78.
Ezekiel describes them a
little differently:
79.
Their wings were joined
one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight
forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man,
and the face of a lion on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox
on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. As for the likeness
of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and
like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures;
and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Now as I
beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living
creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was
like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their
appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When
they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings
were full of eyes round about them four.* (*Ezekiel, I, 9, 10, 13, 15-18.)
80.
This symbolism is
strange; but it has its meaning, and any investigator who has ever had the
privilege of seeing the mighty Four will at once recognize that S. John and the
prophet Ezekiel had seen them too, however inadequate are their descriptions.
The beast with the face of a man stands for the physical body (earth); the ox
or the bull (as in the case of the bull of Mithra and the Apis bull) typifies
the emotional or astral body (water); the lion symbolizes the will or the
mental aspect (air); and the soaring eagle is taken to indicate the spiritual
side of man’s nature (fire). The Egyptian forms were a little different; but
the same four elements and their Rulers are depicted in that ancient symbolism,
which indeed we find in all religions. There is a four-faced Brahma; there is
the fourfold Jupiter, who is aerial, fulgurant, marine and terrestrial. And
that leads us back to the reality behind all these symbols, the four great
Angel-Rulers of the elements, the administrators of the great law, who are the
gods or leaders of the hierarchies of Angels of earth, water, air and fire.
Those are the mystical four; and they are full of eyes within, because they are
the scribes, the recorders, the agents of the Lipika: they watch all that
happens, all that is done, all that is written or spoken or thought in all the
worlds.
81.
In The Light of Asia
they are described as the Rulers of the four points of the compass:
82.
… the four Regents of
the Earth, come down
83.
From Mount Sumeru
- they who write men’s deeds
84.
On brazen plates - the
Angel of the East,
85.
Whose hosts are clad in
silver robes, and bear
86.
Targets of pearl: the
Angel of the South,
87.
Whose horsemen, the
Kumbhandas, ride blue steeds,
88.
With sapphire shields:
the Angel of the West,
89.
By Nagas followed,
riding steeds blood-red,
90.
With coral shields: the
Angel of the North,
91.
Environed by his
Yakshas, all in gold,
92.
On yellow horses,
bearing shields of gold.
93.
This is a poetical
Oriental description; yet it has a definite foundation. The form in which it
is cast is obviously merely traditional; but always there is a fact behind.
Those Great Ones are surrounded by, and in constant communication with, vast
hosts of Angels and assistants, but these do not take the form of a guard of
horsemen; yet the colours of the respective hosts are correctly given. These
four most strange and wondrous beings are not exactly Angels, in the ordinary
sense of the word, though they are often called so; under them are hierarchies
of Angels who carry out their will in accordance with the Law, for they direct
the whole tremendous machinery of divine justice and in their hands is the
working of the law of karma. They are sometimes spoken of as the overseers who
guard the gates and test the material for the building of the holy temple.
94.
CONSECRATION
95.
These beings are very
closely connected with the inner working of the Mysteries, and therefore of
Masonry which is derived therefrom. They represent the great building forces of
the universe, the constructive powers of nature; and since in our Lodges we
are engaged in building a universe in miniature, it is these who are invoked to
assist us in our work. This invocation is performed at the consecration of
every Lodge, however little the modern consecrating officer may know what he is
really doing when he pours forth the traditional offerings of corn, wine, oil
and salt, symbols which they themselves have chosen from time immemorial to
represent their especial powers. This ancient piece of ritual, when performed
by an I.M. duly commissioned to consecrate a Lodge, produces stupendous results
in the inner worlds; for it amounts to a call made to the planetary spirits at
the head of the four lines to recognize the new Lodge and to dedicate it to the
service of T.G.A.O.T.U.
96.
The call is answered. As
the corn is scattered in the north, a great golden Angel of earth descends in majesty,
followed by his Angel-train, some of whom are left behind to be the channels of
the power of his hierarchy whenever the Lodge is opened in due and ancient
form. The pouring of wine in the south invokes a great blue Angel of water,
also attended by other Angels less great than he; similarly the offering of
oil in the west calls upon a mighty crimson Angel of fire, who pours down into
the Lodge the splendid rhythmic Power of that ‘most terrible and lovely’ of the
elements. As the salt is strewn in the east, an Angel of the air flashes down
from on high, he and his attendants being of a wonderful silver hue shot
through with mother-of-pearl. These four Great Ones, representing the four gods
of the elements, the four children or brothers of Horus, solemnly consecrate
the Lodge, binding the Brn. into a close unity in the inner worlds and linking
with them Angels of their orders, who will act as their representatives at each
Lodge meeting. The tradition of these four passed down to the mediaeval operative
Craftsmen and became mingled with that of the four Crowned Martyrs who are the
patron-saints of the Craft.
97.
Let me warn my Brn. who
may be called upon to act as consecrating officers to see that it is corn which
is supplied to them for the ceremony - wheat, and not maize. Once, through an
oversight, maize (which in America is called “Indian corn”) was given to me on
such an occasion, and as there was no time to send for wheat I used what was
offered. The result was unanticipated, for there came a cloud of nature-spirits
of a totally different type, who knew nothing whatever of the work expected of
them, and were entirely unsuited for it. I had to repeat that part of the
consecration afterwards with the proper material.
98.
THE PURPOSE OF THE
MYSTERIES
99.
In The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry I have already written briefly of the purpose of the
Mysteries.* (*Op. cit., p. 34.) I said there:
100.
The Mysteries were great
public institutions, supported by the State, centres of national and religious
life to which people of the better classes flocked in thousands; and they did
their work exceedingly well, for one who had passed through their degrees - a
process of many years - thereby became what we should now call a
highly-educated and cultured man or woman, with, in addition to his knowledge
of this world, a vivid realization of the future after death, of man’s
place in the scheme of things, and therefore of what was really worth doing and
living for.
101.
It should not be thought
therefore that the Mysteries were secret societies, with all their affairs
deliberately concealed from the ordinary public. It will be seen presently that
thousands of people entered the ordinary degrees of Isis.
The teaching and the training of the inner and higher degrees (as we may call
them) certainly were concealed from those whom they did not concern, that is to
say from those who were not sufficiently evolved to be fit to take part in
them, but only as in a modern University the classes in which, let us say,
conic sections are taught are closed to children who are as yet learning
simple arithmetic.
102.
Everyone in Egypt knew that
there were Mysteries, and practically everyone knew that they were largely
concerned with the life after death and the preparation for it. This teaching
was, however, given to the initiates of the Mysteries under solemn and binding
pledges of secrecy; and the results of certain lines of action in the world
after death were shown in elaborate detail. The essential outline of this
secret instruction was embodied in the rituals of Initiation, Passing, and
Raising, and it is these rituals which have in part descended to us in the
ceremonies of Freemasonry, which are still protected by oaths of secrecy as in
the old days.
103.
Every great nation has
had its Mysteries, through which the great Teachers of mankind sought to
instruct the people in matters of importance, inspired by the Great White
Lodge which stands behind all religions alike. Among these the Egyptian
Mysteries were preeminent among the western peoples of the ancient world, not
only because of their immemorial age, but because of the fact that Egypt was
one of the auxiliary centres of the White Lodge. The Great White Brotherhood
has its headquarters in Central Asia, but it has at various times and for
various purposes maintained subsidiary Lodges in different parts of the world.
104.
The presence of this
secret centre belonging to the White Brotherhood had much to do with Egypt’s
greatness throughout the ages; although the fact of its existence was not known
to the outer world, that Lodge of the true Mysteries supervised the whole
scheme of Egyptian initiation, and made it the prototype of the Mysteries of
all the nations around. Egypt was thus the centre of spiritual illumination
for the entire western world, and all those who sought the Great Initiations
were attracted to it; and it is this fact which explains the reverence paid to
the Egyptian Mysteries by learned Greeks in later times.
105.
The principal centre for
the public work of these Mysteries was the great pyramid, called in ancient
Egypt Khut, “The Light”. It was built on the most exact astronomical and
mathematical calculations, and provided a veritable key in stone to the enigmas
of the universe.* (*See The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, pp. 228-30.)
106.
The initiates of the Egyptian
Mysteries were symbolically engaged in the building of the pyramid, just as in
our modern Masonry we are engaged in erecting the temple of King Solomon, both
structures being intended to be emblematical of the building processes of
nature. In the halls below the pyramid - those underground chambers which
were mentioned by Herodotus as being contained in an island, fed by a channel
from the Nile,* (*Her. Book ii, 124.) - certain of the ceremonies of the
Mysteries were held. These and other halls in and near the great pyramid are
still unknown to the explorer, though they may yet be opened “by the proper
steps” - the secret doors turning upon pivots according to an elaborate
system of counterpoises, and being set in motion by treading upon certain spots
in the floor in a certain order.
107.
The ceremonies of the
Mysteries were also intended to portray the higher evolution of man, his return
to the divine source whence he came, through the development of the higher part
of his nature, which is not merely consequent upon practices of meditation and
ceremonial, but even more upon the living out of the ethical precepts which
were taught. Many people of our day imagine that we know ethical truths without
being taught them, but that is not so; they seem to us quite natural now, but
long ago they were discoveries or revelations somewhat analogous to the steps
of advancement in material science and invention.
108.
Each degree of the
Mysteries was designed to reflect one or other of the great Initiations of the
White Lodge, so that the initiates of this lower level might prepare themselves
ultimately to enter the Path of Holiness and so strive after the fullness of
union with Osiris, the Hidden Light. When we come to consider these degrees we
shall see how this teaching was graded, and how those initiates who were
properly prepared were enabled to reach the true knowledge which they were
seeking. The whole scheme of initiation provided a complete chart of man’s
spiritual evolution, and it was for the individual candidate to endeavour to
put the teachings into practice and to make real in his own consciousness that
which was symbolized in the ritual.
109.
THE DEGREES OF THE
MYSTERIES
110.
The Mysteries of Egypt
were, as ever, divided into two main sections, the Lesser and the Greater. The
Lesser Mysteries are typified to some extent by what we now know as the First
Degree of Craft Masonry, while the Greater Mysteries were analogous to what we
now call the Second and Third Degrees. Beyond these there was a ceremony
corresponding to the degree of I.M., in which the succession of powers was
guarded and transmitted from age to age; and still further in reserve there
were the yet greater spiritual powers that are indicated, and even given to
some extent, in the higher degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Behind the whole system of Masonic initiation was (and is) the White Lodge
itself, conferring the five great Initiations which lead to human perfection
and full union with God.
111.
THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS
112.
In the Lesser Mysteries
the initiate was taught what lies on the other side of death, and the ceremony
of initiation was a symbolical map of that intermediate world which is
sometimes called the astral plane. Probably Apuleius refers to this degree when
he describes the Mysteries of Isis as celebrated in Greece during the second
century A. D., although he wrote at a time when they had fallen into considerable
decay. After mentioning various purifications through which he passed, he goes
on to relate something of what took place at his initiation:
113.
Then, behold, the day
approached when as the sacrifice of dedication should be done; and when the sun
declined and evening came, there arrived on every coast a great multitude of
priests, who according to their ancient order offered me many presents and
gifts. Then was all the laity and profane people commanded to depart, and when
they had put on my back a new linen robe, the priest took my hand and brought
me to the most secret and sacred place of the temple. Thou wouldest
peradventure demand, thou studious reader, what was said and done there: verily
I would tell thee if it were lawful for me to tell, thou wouldst know if it
were convenient for thee to hear; but both thy ears and my tongue should incur
the like pain of rash curiosity. Howbeit I will not long torment thy mind,
which peradventure is somewhat religious and given to some devotion; listen
therefore, and believe it to be true. Thou shalt understand that I approached
near unto hell, even to the gates of Proserpine, and after that I was ravished
throughout all the elements, I returned to my proper place: about midnight I
saw the sun brightly shine, I saw likewise the gods celestial and the gods
infernal, before whom I presented myself and worshipped them. Behold now have I
told thee, which although thou hast heard, yet it is necessary that thou
conceal it; wherefore this only will I tell, which may be declared without
offence for the understanding of the profane.
114.
When morning came and
that the solemnities were finished, I came forth sanctified with twelve stoles
and in a religious habit, whereof I am not forbidden to speak, considering that
many persons saw me at that time. There I was commanded to stand upon a pulpit
of wood which stood in the middle of the temple, before the figure and
remembrance of the goddess; my vestment was of fine linen, covered and
embroidered with flowers; I had a precious cope upon my shoulders,
hanging down behind me to the ground, whereon were beasts wrought of divers
colours, as Indian dragons, and Hyperborean griffins, whom in form of birds the
other part of the world doth engender: the priests commonly call such a habit
an Olympian stole. In my right hand I carried a lighted torch, and a garland of
flowers was upon my head, with white palm-leaves sprouting out on every side
like rays; thus I was adorned like unto the sun, and made in fashion of an
image, when the curtains were drawn aside and all the people compassed about to
behold me. Then they began to solemnize the feast, the nativity of my holy
order, with sumptuous banquets and pleasant meats: the third day was likewise
celebrate with like ceremonies, with a religious dinner, and with all the
consummation of the adept order.* (*Apul. Met, xi, 23, 24. tr. William
Adlington A.D. 1566.)
115.
It is also reported that
during the ceremony Isis said:
116.
I am Nature - the parent
of all things, the sovereign of the elements, the primary progeny of time.
117.
THE PRELIMINARY TRIALS
118.
The secrets communicated
in the Mysteries have been well and loyally kept, and no details about them are
available, though we occasionally find guarded hints which give us a slight
idea of their character. There is a picturesque account of the preparation for
them given in Mackey’s Lexicon of Freemasonry which, although it
does not appear to be substantiated by the records preserved in Greek and Latin
authors, nevertheless contains some fragments of truth. I take the liberty to
epitomize it as follows:
119.
For some days before his
initiation the candidate was expected to preserve perfect chastity, to confine
himself to a light diet from which all animal food was excluded, and to purify
himself by repeated ceremonial ablutions. When the time came he was conducted
at midnight to the mouth of a low gallery along which he had to crawl on his
hands and knees. Presently he came to the opening of a well which the guide
directed him to descend. If he showed the slightest hesitation he was
reconducted to the outer world, never again to become a candidate for
initiation; if however he attempted to descend, the conductor pointed out to
him a concealed ladder which enabled him to climb down safely. They then
entered a narrow and winding gallery at the entrance of which was this inscription:
“The mortal who shall travel over this road without hesitating or looking
behind shall be purified by fire, by water, and by air, and if he can surmount
the fear of death he shall emerge from the bosom of the earth; he shall revisit
the light and claim the right of preparing his soul for the reception of the
Mysteries of the great Goddess Isis.”
120.
The conductor now left
the aspirant, warning him that many dangers surrounded and awaited him, and
exhorting him to continue unshaken. Heavy doors closed behind him, rendering
his return impossible. Presently he entered a spacious hall filled with flames
through which he had to rush with the greatest speed. Even when he had passed
through this fiery furnace he came to another hall the floor of which was covered
with a huge network of red-hot iron bars with very narrow interspaces between
them. Having surmounted this difficulty he reached a wide and rapid channel
across which he had to swim. On the other side he found a narrow landing place
bounded by two high walls of brass, in each of which was an immense wheel of
the same metal, and beyond them was an ivory door. He found no means of opening
this door, but presently discovered two large rings, which he seized; but the
only result was to set the brazen wheels revolving with a stunning noise and to
cause the platform upon which he stood to sink from beneath him, so that he
remained suspended by the rings over an apparently fathomless abyss, from which
issued a cold wind which blew out the tiny flame of his lamp and left him in
profound darkness. He was left hanging there for a short time, but soon the
noise ceased, the platform returned to its former position and the ivory door
opened itself. Through it he then entered a brilliantly lighted apartment in
which he found a number of the priests of Isis dressed in the mystic insignia
of their offices, who welcomed and congratulated him. On the walls he saw the
various symbols of the Egyptian Mysteries, the signification of which was by
degrees explained to him.
121.
One cannot guarantee all
the details of such an account, but it is true that severe tests more or less
of the nature described were applied to candidates for the inner Mysteries.
None of these trials were imposed on the man who wished to take merely the ordinary
course of intensive culture; he might pass through the Lesser and the Greater
without encountering anything more formidable than hard and long-continued
study; and he would never even know that there was another stage (or rather a
number of stages) lying altogether beyond those, in which he would have to face
astral dangers of so serious a nature that it was considered necessary first to
submit the candidate to severe trials of his courage and self-command.
122.
In the early days of the
Mysteries, living pictures were materialized by the priests before the eyes of
the candidate, so that he was enabled to see for himself what lay on the other
side of death. In later days, when there was less knowledge among the
hierophants, elaborate mechanical devices were shown to him, representing the
realities of the astral world as far as such resources would allow. Still
later, the characteristic points of these pictures were reproduced in a system
of symbolic ceremonies, the main outline of which has come down to us
today in the initiation ceremony of Masonry, although in some Obediences only
a mere vestige of the original procedure remains.
123.
THE MYSTERY LANGUAGE
124.
Besides the teaching
upon the life after death - which was elaborated by countless stories of
imaginary individuals, showing the results in the astral plane after death of
certain courses of action during life - a fine course of education was also
given to the initiates of the First degree, embracing what Masons term the
seven liberal arts and sciences - grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic,
geometry, music and astronomy. By grammar the Egyptians meant the sacred
hieroglyphic writing of the priests, which was taught to all the initiates of
the Mysteries, but it also signified a kind of secret language, a way of
speaking peculiar to the priesthood. In the secret language of the Mysteries it
was not so much that different words were used, as that the familiar words had
a different meaning. Those who have studied the translations of Egyptian texts
will have noticed how widely these vary in the versions of the different
scholars; I have sometimes wondered whether this is in any way due to that
system of double meanings.
125.
In ancient Egypt we were
able to talk about the secrets of the inner life before crowds of people
without letting them know what we meant; and we had quite a large vocabulary of
such significant words, so that an entire conversation could be conducted
seemingly about ordinary every-day affairs, but in reality upon the secrets of
the Mysteries. Much instruction was given in this way; a lecture or address
might be delivered publicly by one of the priests, bearing two entirely
distinct meanings - the one ethical and intended for the helping of people who
were not initiated, and the other esoteric, for the students of the Mysteries.
The legend that Masonry possesses a universal language known only to the Brn.
may be an echo of tradition about this ancient and secret tongue.
126.
This secret tongue of
the Initiates was also used in inscriptions, and in the hieroglyphic
wall-paintings and papyri. Many of the inscriptions, telling of the victories
of some great Pharaoh, could be read in a hidden sense, and they then conveyed
spiritual instruction to those who had learnt the real meaning. This is
certainly true of The Book of the Dead, which when translated into
English by modern scholars seems often unintelligible and even grotesque. Yet
in the interpretation of it taught in the Mysteries those same texts were full
of inner illumination and gave much information about the realities of life and
death.
127.
It is perhaps necessary
to repeat that in all this there was no desire on the part of the priests to
mislead the people; their idea was simply to give instruction graded to suit
the needs of the hearer and to guard important secrets from those who were not
prepared to receive them. It was for the same reason that the interior
arrangements of the great pyramid were confused. Some of the passages were not
used at all in the scheme of initiation, the real passage having been
obtainable in quite another way. This policy was dictated by wisdom. Would it
not be well if in these present days we could devise some means by which new
discoveries in science (which are now used for injury and destruction) could be
preserved solely for the use of people who would be certain to employ them for
the public good?
128.
THE DUALITY OF EACH
DEGREE
129.
The ordinary Lesser
Mysteries (which may be called the First Degree) were open to practically all
who sought admission, provided that they were of good life and reasonably
intelligent, that they were free, and that the t … o … g … r … had been
heard in their favour. In due course they would pass on to the Greater
Mysteries (the Second and Third Degrees). But in each of these degrees there
were also inner Mysteries, as I have mentioned in connection with the
preliminary trials.
130.
THE INNER MYSTERIES OF
ISIS
131.
Within and behind the
outer Mysteries of Isis there were inner circles of students carefully chosen
by the priests, the very existence of which was kept utterly secret, even from
most of the initiates themselves. In these circles the practical occult
teaching was given that enabled the student to awaken and train his inner
faculties, so that he could study at first hand the conditions of the astral
plane, and thus know for himself what was but theoretical for the majority of
the Brn. It was in these circles only that the severe tests which have been partially
described were imposed upon the candidate, and he was definitely prepared by
individual and personal instruction for the greater and holier Mysteries which
lay behind the whole scheme of Egyptian initiation.
132.
The candidate for these
inner tests was required, after a preliminary bath (from which was derived the
idea of Christian baptism), to attire himself in a white robe, emblematic of
the purity which was expected of him, before being brought before a conclave of
priest-initiates in a kind of vault or cavern. He was first formally tested as
to his development of the clairvoyant faculty which he had been previously
instructed how to awaken; for this purpose he had to read an inscription upon a
brazen shield, of which the blank side was presented to his physical vision. Later
he was left alone to keep a kind of vigil; certain mantras, or words of power,
had been taught to him, which were supposed to be appropriate to control
certain classes of entities; and during his vigil various appearances were
projected before him, some of them of a terrifying and some of a seductive
nature, so that it might be seen whether his courage and coolness remained
perfect. He drove away all these appearances in turn, each by its own special
sign and word; but at the end, all these combined bore down upon him at once,
and in this final effort he was instructed to use the mightiest word of power,
by which all possible evil could be vanquished. A course of instruction along
these lines was given to those candidates whom the priests deemed suitable, so
that at the end of their training they were thoroughly versed in the knowledge
of the astral world, and able to wield its powers freely in waking
consciousness.
133.
THE MYSTERIES OF SERAPIS
134.
The Second Degree of the
Egyptian Mysteries corresponded somewhat closely with our degree of F.C.;
these were termed the Greater Mysteries or in later days the Mysteries of
Serapis. Apuleius gives us practically nothing in the way of description beyond
the bare fact that he had passed the degree. The instruction in the Greater
Mysteries was carried further and deeper as regards science and philosophy; a
more advanced course of intellectual training was set before the students,
which one might well call a research into “the more hidden paths of Nature and
Science”. At the same time the study of the life after death was extended to
include the heaven-world, the m … c … into which all must go to receive their
wages for the good deeds done on earth; much of this deeper knowledge of the
mental plane was taught in the Greater Mysteries, in the same manner as the
facts of the astral life had been taught in the First Degree - namely, by
representation and drama. The purpose of the Mysteries of Serapis in the life
of the individual initiate was the control of the mind* (*See The Hidden
Life in Freemasonry, Ch. vii.) and the training of the mental body; and the
sacramental powers invoked by the ceremonial had as their object the quickening
of this mental development.
135.
THE INNER DEGREE OF
SERAPIS
136.
Behind the outer
mysteries in this degree there were also secret circles, quite unknown to those
who had not been through the inner work of the First Degree; in these practical
instruction was given on the development of the mental body, and the method of
awakening accurate sight on the mental plane, so that the student was enabled
to verify the teaching of the priests for himself.
137.
In connection with this
degree it may be of interest to mention that in the temple of Philae
the body of Osiris is represented with stalks of corn springing from it which a
priest waters from a vessel which he holds in his hand. An inscription sets
forth that “this is the form of Him whom we may not name, Osiris of the
Mysteries, who sprang from the returning waters”* (*Cheetham, The Mysteries,
Pagan and Christian, p. 53.) - this symbolism referring among other things
to the quickening of the inner life in response to the power poured down from
on high. The s … n of the degree is often found in Egyptian paintings, and is
exactly the same as is in use among Craftsmen to-day. As in the First Degree,
an average of seven years was also spent in the Mysteries of Serapis, at the
end of which candidates who had passed a far more searching examination, and
had satisfied the Hierophants that they were ready for further teaching, were
eligible for the Third Degree.
138.
THE MYSTERIES OF OSIRIS
139.
The Third Degree was
called in Egypt
the Mysteries of Osiris; it corresponds to the Degree of M.M. in our modern
Craft system. Apuleius describes Osiris as: “The more powerful God of the great
Gods, the highest of the greater, the greatest of the highest, and the ruler of
the greatest.”* (*Apul. Met. Bk. xi, 30.) In the Egyptian ritual, which
was much more complete and impressive than the traditional history preserved in
modern Masonry, the candidate had to pass through a symbolical representation
of the suffering, death and rising again of Osiris, which included his
experiences between death and resurrection, when he entered the world of
Amenta, and became the judge of the dead, who should decide for each soul what
measure of felicity was due to him, and turn back to earthly incarnation those
who needed further human development. The legend of the death and
resurrection of Osiris was well known to all the people of Egypt, both initiates
and profane, and there were great public ceremonies, corresponding to those of
our Good Friday and Easter Day in Catholic countries, when these mystic events
were celebrated with the utmost splendour and with the heartfelt devotion of
the people.
140.
The story of Osiris is
nowhere found in a connected form in Egyptian literature, but in texts of all
periods his life, sufferings, death and resurrection are accepted as facts
universally admitted.* (*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, The Papyrus of Ani, p.
53.) It would appear, however, that in ancient times it was not lawful to speak
of the tradition in any detail, at least to strangers, for Herodotus says:
141.
Also at Sais there is
the burial place of Him whom I account it not pious to name in connection with
such a matter, which is in the temple of Athene (Isis) behind the house of the
goddess, stretching along the whole wall of it; and in the sacred enclosure
stand great obelisks of stone, and near them is a lake adorned with an edging
of stone, and fairly made in a circle, being in size, as it seemed to me, equal
to that which is called the “Round Pool” in Delos. On this lake they perform by
night the show of His sufferings, and this the Egyptians call Mysteries. Of
these things I know more fully in detail how they take place, but I shall leave
this unspoken.* (*Her. Bk. ii, 170, 171.)
142.
Diodorus writes to the
same effect:
143.
In olden days according
to received tradition the priests kept the manner of the death of Osiris as a
secret; but in after times it came about through the indiscretion of some that
that which had been hidden in silence among the few, was noised abroad among
the many.* (*Diod, Sic. Hist. Bk. i, xxi.)
144.
THE LEGEND OF OSIRIS
145.
The best exoteric
account of the legend is preserved for us by Plutarch in his treatise De
Iside et Osiride, written in Greek about the middle of the first century of
our era, a large portion of which is substantiated by the Egyptian hieroglyphic
texts which have been deciphered by scholars. It may be briefly summarized as
follows:
146.
Osiris was a wise king
in Egypt
who set himself to civilize the people and redeem them from their former states
of barbarism. He taught them the cultivation of the earth, gave them a body of
laws, and instructed them in the worship of the Gods. Having made his own land
prosperous, he set out in like manner to teach the other nations of the world.
During his absence the land of Egypt was so well ruled by his wife, Isis, that
his jealous brother Typhon (Set), the personification of evil, as Osiris
was the personification of good, could do no harm to his kingdom; but on the
return of Osiris to Egypt Typhon made a conspiracy against him, persuading
seventy-two other persons to join him, together with a certain Queen of
Ethiopia named Aso, who chanced to be in Egypt at that time. He secretly
measured the body of Osiris, and caused a beautiful chest to be made of exactly
the same size. This he brought into his banqueting hall when Osiris was present
as a guest, and promised, as it were in pleasantry, to give it to anyone whose
body it might be found to fit.
147.
All those present at the
feast tried it, but since the box fitted none of them, Osiris at the last laid
himself down in it, whereupon the conspirators at once fastened down the lid,
securely sealing it with lead, and cast it into the Nile. The murder of Osiris
is said to have taken place on the seventeenth day of the month Athyr (Hathor),
when the sun was in Scorpio, Osiris being in the twenty-eighth year either of
his reign or his age. (It will be noted that this date marks the beginning of
winter, when the sun is mystically slain by the forces of darkness; and it was
on this date, corresponding to the festival of All Souls in the Christian Church,
that the land of Egypt mourned the death of Osiris, as we mourn the death of
the body of Jesus on Good Friday.)
148.
News was brought to Isis at Coptos of the tragedy which had occurred, whereupon
she cut off a lock of her hair, arrayed herself in mourning apparel, and went
forth in search of the body of Osiris. She learnt that the chest had been
carried by the sea to Byblos - not the Byblos of Syria, but the papyrus swamps
of the delta* (*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life,
p. 48 - footnote.) - and that it had been caught in a tamarisk tree,
which had so grown around the chest that nothing of it was to be seen; and
furthermore that the King of the country, amazed at its unusual size, had cut
the tree down and made of it a pillar to support the roof of his palace. Isis
went to Byblos
and became nurse to one of the king’s sons. Each night she put the child in the
fire to consume his mortal parts, changing herself into a swallow, and
bemoaning the loss of her husband. But the Queen happened to see her child in
flames and cried out in fear, thereby depriving him of the immortality which
would otherwise have been conferred upon him. The goddess revealed herself and
begged for the pillar which supported the roof. This was granted to her, and
she took the chest containing the body of Osiris back to Egypt, hiding it in a
secret place while she sought her son, Horus. But Typhon, by an unlucky chance,
found the chest while hunting in the light of the moon, and recognizing the
body as that of Osiris, tore it into fourteen pieces, which he scattered up and
down throughout the land. When Isis heard of this she made a boat of papyrus,
and set out to collect the fragments of the body. Osiris returned from the
other world and appeared to his son, Horus, instructing him to do battle with
Typhon; this battle lasted many days, and at length Horus was victorious.
Ultimately Osiris became the king of the underworld and the judge of the dead.
149.
This story, like our own
traditional history, has suffered from the materializing tendencies of those
who did not understand; for there is no clear mention of a resurrection in the
account given by Plutarch, but merely a vague return from the dead. This
represents, however, a very late version of the tradition, one which is
materialized and distorted almost beyond recognition; and in the Mysteries of
Osiris the legend was much more in accordance with the real facts of the
spiritual world. Even in the Egyptian inscriptions which have been deciphered
there are clear indications of a resurrection. The main outline of the true
legend was the death of Osiris at the hands of Set; the division of His body
into twice seven parts, representing the coming forth of the seven rays, or
types of manifestation, consequent upon the descent of the Logos into matter;
the search of Isis and the finding of the various portions of the body; their
reunion and the final raising of Osiris by the third of three successive
attempts to triumphant immortality and eternal resurrection.
150.
It was at this stage
also that the function of Osiris as the judge of the dead was studied; and the
vignette in the papyrus of Ani of the judgment of Osiris and the weighing of
the heart of Ani against the feather of truth represents the judgment of the
soul by the Lords of Karma. If the soul was utterly pure it was allowed to pass
onwards into immortality; if it was not “true of voice” it was delivered over
to the monster Amemit, “the devourer,” and was swallowed up again in the cycle
of generation, to be reborn on earth in another body. Although these symbols
and legends were known in the outer world, their true inner meaning was
explained only to initiates of the Third Degree.
151.
THE MEANING OF THE STORY
152.
It is often thought that
the story of Osiris, like that of Mithra and the other sun-gods (among whom
some writers include even Christ Himself), is simply an apotheosis of the
processes of nature familiar to an agricultural people. Thus Plutarch says that
Osiris was also regarded as Nilus, the river Nile, and Isis as the land of
Egypt, periodically fertilized by his overflow.* (*Plutarch. Moralia; De
Iside et Osiride.) Astronomically, Osiris was the sun, Isis the moon, and
Typhon darkness and winter, who in his triumph destroyed the fertilizing powers
of the sun, preventing him from giving his life to the world. It is the
universal story of the sun-god
153.
who, after a struggle
for existence and the development of his power in the early part of the year,
at last rises in triumph into the midheaven of his glory, and bestows his life
upon all creatures, ripening the corn and the grape, only to yield once more
to the advance of winter.
154.
The sun in the heavens,
as the great life of the world, pursues this cycle of death and resurrection;
and the smaller life in the seed follows a similar process - it sprouts and
comes to fruit, which is garnered and sacrificed for the nourishment of man and
other creatures; but just as Typhon did not utterly destroy Osiris, but
left the fragments of His body through which His life was afterwards renewed,
so does man not eat all the corn, but keeps some portion to be sown in the
ground so that the processes of life may recur. Man in his turn grows through
the same cycle of changes, through childhood, manhood and old age; and for him
also there is no escape from the sacrifice that characterizes all life, but he
is reborn again and again in his cycle of reincarnations.
155.
The story of the seed is
thus that of the ordinary man, but the story of the sun is that of the man who
is becoming divine. In the Egyptian Mysteries they called him the Osirified,
and the Christian mystics spoke of him as becoming one with Christ, as when S.
Paul spoke to his followers as: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth
again until Christ be formed in you.”* (*Gal., iv, 19.) It is the
voluntary nature of the divine sacrifice that distinguishes it from the earthly
sacrifices. Therefore the method of man’s reaching divinity was always
proclaimed to be unselfishness and self-sacrifice for the sake of others; and
the entire story of Christ and of Osiris is but an epitome and example of how
that sacrifice may be expressed on earth in human life, as it is in the
heavens.
156.
The researches of the
initiate in the Mysteries of Osiris were still further extended to include
man’s true home, that higher section of the mental or heaven-world in which the
ego functions in his causal body; and at the same time the great ceremony of
raising was explained in many layers of interpretation as the descent of the
Logos into matter, His mystic death and burial, and His rising again to a
kingdom without end; and also as the personal descent of the soul into bodies,
his resurrection from the death-in-life of the lower worlds of form, and his
reincarnation upon earth once more.
157.
The s … s of the
Mysteries of Osiris were much the same as we have to-day, though the s … of g …
and d … was that used in Scottish and American workings; but the words were
different, being much more positive in character. The f … p … o … f … were
identical with those we use now, and the g … or t … is likewise unchanged.
158.
THE INNER MYSTERIES OF
OSIRIS
159.
Within this degree there
was also an inner circle. The practical instruction was therein carried into
the higher part of the mental plane, so that the fully trained initiate in the
Mysteries of Osiris acquired full consciousness as an ego beyond the
limitations of the one personal life which is all that most people know.
160.
THE OFFICE OF MASTER
161.
Beyond the Third Degree
there opened out several lines of progress in the Mysteries. There was the work
of holding office in the Lodges; that extended over many years, and gave
splendid training to those who undertook it. Each officer in a Lodge has his
own special work to do, his own aspect of the Deity to manifest, his own
sacramental power to transmit to the Lodge of which he is a part; the course of
training through successive offices was and is therefore of inestimable value
in acquiring an all-round development of character. At the apex of the ancient
Craft system, the degree of I.M. existed, which gave a far fuller power than
had been conferred even in the Mysteries of Osiris, and enabled the Master to
become a hierophant of the Mysteries in his turn, able to instruct and advance
his Brn. in the secret wisdom of Egypt. In ordinary cases this splendid
position was gained only late in life, and by the time the Master had ruled his
Lodge he had had a most valuable training, that well might advance the course
of his evolution more than several ordinary lives.
162.
The same succession has
been transmitted to us in Masonry to-day, and every I.M. is in possession of
the power of the Egyptian priests of old; though it is certainly true that if
he possessed also the knowledge of the Egyptian priests he could make far
better use of the power.
163.
THE HIGHER GRADES OF THE
MYSTERIES
164.
Beyond the teaching and
training which were given in the Mysteries, classified in the three degrees
which we have considered, the hierophants also made it their work to instruct
and guide aspirants who had proved themselves fit for still further progress.
We cannot say that there were in Egypt any organized degrees beyond the third,
that of Osiris; but there was individual teaching, which led to the acquisition
of still greater powers, and to the formation of links with beings at still
higher levels.
165.
The higher degrees of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of our modern days (which were
established perhaps as late as the eighteenth century, when the Rite of
Perfection or of Heredom was formed) reflect to some extent these more advanced
lines of progress which existed in Egypt. We may therefore in the
following brief account of them classify them as they are expressed in our Red,
Black and White Freemasonry.
166.
RED MASONRY IN THE
MYSTERIES
167.
For such M.M.s as were
thought promising by the priests in charge (who were for the most part members
of the three Grand Lodges), what we now call Red Masonry existed, as well as
the teaching which is now included in our Royal Arch and kindred degrees,
culminating in the splendid quest of the Knights of the Rose-Croix for the lost
word, man’s true divinity.
168.
In the symbolic teaching
corresponding to our degree of the Holy Royal Arch the aspirant was taught to
clear away from the various levels of his consciousness all the veils which yet
obstructed his vision of reality, and then in the power of that vision to
recognize for himself the Hidden Light in every form, however deeply it might
be buried and concealed from the eyes of the flesh. This was typified as a journey
upwards, during which four veils were passed, and then by a search downwards
for a hidden vault, deeply buried in the earth, in which the Name of God was
concealed.
169.
The central purpose of
this stage was an actual realization in consciousness that the many are One.
It was known to some extent among the uninitiated of the outer world that all
the strange deities of Egypt were in reality only manifestations of One, but
they did not in all probability realize the fact of unity with any degree of
clearness. In what corresponded to the Royal Arch in Egypt we found for
ourselves that God was immanent in all things and had descended into the very
lowest that the lowest might come into being. The powers conferred at this
stage enabled the candidate to realize this great truth to some extent; and a
certain expansion of consciousness was given to him which quickened the growth
of the intuitional principle within him, and so helped him to recognize the
divinity in others.
170.
There was a considerable
interval between this stage and the next, during which the candidate was
receiving instruction from the priests, and practising meditation upon what he
had learnt. Gradually he came to realize that, although he had indeed found the
divine Name, and had contacted for himself the Hidden Light of God, there was a
further search still before him, in which he would penetrate deeper into the
consciousness and being of the Deity. It was then that he began his second
great quest, which led up through a number of stages, during which different
attributes of the Deity were studied and to some extent realized, until it
culminated in the magnificent illumination given in what we now call the
Eighteenth Degree, that of the Sovereign Prince of the Rose-Croix of Heredom.
The candidate then found the divine Love reigning in his own heart and in those
of his Brn. He also learnt that God had descended and shared our lower nature
with us in order that we might ascend to share His true nature with Him.
171.
That link is still made
for the Brn. of the Rose-Croix, and each should become a radiant centre of that
love wherever he goes, forgetting himself utterly in the service of others.
The splendid crimson Angels of the Rosy Cross, who now attend our Sovereign
Chapters and pour out through them the fullness of their love for the helping
of the world, were also known in ancient Egypt, and these were linked with the
Sovereign Princes in their higher principles, so that their seraphic love also
was at hand to be outpoured in blessing. To their guardianship the candidate
was entrusted, and he had to realize his unity with the Angels as well as with
his Brn.
172.
At this stage the
intuition or buddhi in the candidate, that hidden wisdom which is Horus or the
Christ dwelling in man, was enormously quickened and aroused, so that the
candidate became to some extent a manifestation of that eternal love who in
later ages was called the Christ, and he was thereby enabled to work upon the
emotional nature, which is a partial reflection of it in the matter of the
astral world, so as to raise his power to love to greater heights than he could
reach before. He now became a veritable priest, able to call down and pour
forth the divine love for the helping of the world. A higher degree of this
same most wonderful power enabled the Bro. to confer this expansion of
consciousness and transmit these splendid links to others; and it is this power
which is reserved in our modern Sovereign Chapters to the M.WS. and those who
have passed the Chair in the Rose-Croix degree.
173.
BLACK MASONRY IN THE
MYSTERIES
174.
Few indeed of our
Egyptian Brn. appear to have passed beyond the Rose-Croix, for only the few
needed anything further than the splendid revelation of the indwelling Love of
God which they received in what we call the Eighteenth Degree. But for those
few who felt that there was yet more to learn of the nature of God, and who
eagerly wished to understand the meaning of evil and suffering and its relation
to the divine plan, the prototype of our Black Masonry existed, the teaching
and progress comprised in our degrees from the nineteenth to the
thirtieth. This section of the Mysteries was especially concerned with the
working out of karma in its different aspects, studied as a law of retribution,
from one point of view dark and terrible. This is the inner kernel of truth
lying behind the vengeance-elements in the degree of Knight K.H. The darker
aspects of karma are largely connected with man’s ignorance of the nature of
God and confusion with regard to the many forms in which He reveals Himself,
and thus the s … s of the 30° contain the heart of its philosophy. That degree
would not be fully and validly conferred unless these s … s were duly
communicated, since they express its inner meaning and purpose.
175.
In the ancient
instruction corresponding to this group of degrees it was taught that
whatsoever a man sowed, that also must he reap, and that if he sowed evil the
result would be suffering to himself. The karma of nations and races was also
studied, and the inner working of the law upon the different planes was
investigated by the inner sight, and shown to the student. The whole of what we
now call Black Masonry led up to an explanation of karma as divine justice,
this having been preserved for us in shadow in what is now the 31°, that of
the Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander, whose symbol is a pair of scales. In
Egypt this pair of scales was taken as an emblem of the perfect balance of
divine justice; the aspirant learnt that all the evil and horror associated
with the working out of karma was indeed based on perfect justice, although it
had appeared as evil to the lesser vision of the profane.
176.
Thus the first stage of
the higher instruction, that of the Rose-Croix or Red Masonry, was devoted to
the knowledge of good, while the second stage, that of K.H. or Black Masonry,
was devoted to the knowledge of evil. Next, in the first steps of what we call
White Masonry, the crown of the whole glorious structure, the candidate learnt
to see the underlying justice of that eternal God, Amen-Ra, who stands behind
good and evil alike. In older days, before the kali yuga, in which evil
predominates over good, the Knights K.H. wore regalia of yellow instead of
black.
177.
Our 30° links the Knight
K.H. to the ruling rather than the teaching branch of the Great Hierarchy; he
should become a radiant centre of perennial energy, which is intended to give
him strength to overcome evil and to make him a real power on the side of good.
The prevailing colour of the influence is an electric blue (that of the First
Ray, quite different from the blue of the symbolic or Blue Lodges) edged with
gold, including and yet not drowning the rose of the 18°. Associated with the
degree there are also great blue Angels of the First Ray who lend their
strength to the knight, somewhat as the crimson Angels assist the Excellent and
Perfect Brn. of the Rose-Croix. A higher level of the same energy is
transmitted in what to-day we should call the Chair of the Sovereign Commander,
who has the ability to pass on the sacramental grace of the degree to others.
178.
WHITE MASONRY IN THE
MYSTERIES
179.
The highest and last of
the great sacramental powers of the Mysteries which have been transmitted to us
is that which is now conferred in the 33°, that of the Sovereign Grand
Inspector-General. In ancient Egypt, at the time when I knew it, there were
only three who held the equivalent of that supreme degree, the Pharaoh and two
others, who formed with him an inner triangle which was the heart of the whole
system of the Mysteries, and the channel to them of the Hidden Light from the
White Lodge behind. These three were all high Initiates of the Great White
Brotherhood, and the Pharaoh possessed an even higher level of power than is
usually given in the 33°, it being that of a Crowned and Anointed Sovereign.
180.
The Brn. of this high
Order may be said to have passed on from a conception of the divine justice to
the certainty of knowledge and the fullness of the divine glory in the Hidden
Light. The 33° links the Sovereign Grand Inspector-General with the Spiritual
King of the World Himself - that Mighty Adept who stands at the head of the
Great White Lodge, and in whose strong hands lie the destinies of earth and
awakens the powers of the triple spirit as far as these can as yet be awakened.
The actual conferring of the degree was and is a very splendid experience when
seen with the inner sight; for the Hierophant of the Mysteries (who in these
modern days is the H.O.A.T.F.), stands above or beside the Initiator in that
extension of His consciousness which is called the Angel of the Presence. If
the recipient of the degree happens to be already an Initiate the Star (called
in Egypt the Star of Horus) which marks the approval of the One Initiator once
more flames out above him in all its glory; while in any case the two great
white Angels of the rite flash down in splendour from the heavenly places,
showing themselves as low as the etheric level that they may give their
blessing to the candidate.
181.
The Hierophant makes the
actual links both with himself and with the reservoir of power set apart for
the work of the Masonic Brotherhood, and through himself with that Mighty King
whose representative He is, while the great white Angels of the Order remain as
the guardians of the Bro. throughout life. He on the right hand has an aura of
brilliant white light shot with gold, and represents Osiris, the sun and life,
the positive aspect of the Deity; she on the left has an aura of similar light,
veined with silver, and represents Isis, the moon and truth, the negative or
feminine aspect of the divine glory. Their power is stern and splendid; and
they give strength to act with decision, accuracy, courage and perseverance on
the physical plane. They belong to the cosmic orders of Angels, those who
are common to other solar systems besides our own, and their permanent centres
of consciousness are on the intuitional plane, although their forms may always
be seen hovering over the head of the initiate of this degree at the
higher mental level. It is to be remembered that there is in reality no sex
among these great Angels, yet one of them is preponderatingly masculine in
appearance, and the other preponderatingly feminine.
182.
When they think fit,
they materialize themselves mentally and astrally - as at the greater
ceremonies in Lodge - and they are always ready to give their blessing whenever
it is invoked. They are inseparably one with the Sovereign Grand
Inspector-General, linked to his higher self, never to desert him unless by
unworthiness he first deserts them and casts them off. The symbols of the sun
and moon are seen to-day on the gauntlets of the Sovereign Grand
Inspector-General, and they are intended to refer to these great Angelic powers
in the inner worlds.
183.
The powers associated
with the 33° appear to have been slightly modified since those ancient Egyptian
times. The great white Angels seemed to be sterner and more rhadamanthine in
ancient Egypt; today those who belong to the degree are in some ways gentler,
though their power is no less splendid. This stage combined the wonderful love
of Horus the Son with the ineffable life and strength of Osiris the divine
Father, and Isis, the eternal Mother of the world; and this union of love with
strength is still its most prominent characteristic.
184.
It confers upon those
who open themselves to its influence power similar to and only a little way
below that of the first great Initiation, and those who enter the 33° should
assuredly qualify themselves for that step before very long. Indeed, in the
great days of the Mysteries this stage was accessible only to Initiates, and
one feels that it ought only to be given to such now, just as it would seem
appropriate that the marvellous gift of the episcopate should be conferred only
upon members of the Great White Brotherhood. The power of the
degree when in operation shows itself in an aura of dazzling white
and gold, enfolding within it the rose and blue of Rose-Croix and K.H.; and in
it also is manifested that peculiar shade of electric blue which is the
especial sign of the presence of the King. The Sovereign Grand
Inspector-General is the “Bishop” of Masonry, and if the life of the degree is
really lived he should be an ever-radiating centre of power, a veritable sun of
light and life and glory wherever he goes.
185.
Such was the highest and
holiest of the sacramental powers conferred in the Mysteries of ancient Egypt,
such the highest degree known to us in Masonry to-day, bestowed in its fullness
upon but very few. The opportunity to draw down its sublime glory is offered to
all who receive the degree; how far it is taken and what use is made of the
power is in the hands of the Bro. alone, for to use the power as it should be
used needs high spiritual development and a life of constant humility,
watchfulness and service. If he calls upon it for the service of others, it
will flow through him mightily and sweetly for the helping of the world. If he
neglects the power, it will remain dormant and the links unused - and Those
behind will turn Their glance away from him to others more worthy. The power of
the 33° is a veritable ocean of glory and strength and sweetness, for it is the
power of the King Himself, the Lord who reigns on earth as Vice-Regent of the
Logos from eternity unto eternity.
186.
THE STAGES OF THE OCCULT
PATH
187.
Behind the whole
splendid scheme of the Egyptian Mysteries the Lodge of the Great White
Brotherhood in that country ever stood in silence and secrecy, guarding them
and using them as a channel of the Hidden Light - its very existence being
unknown to all who remained outside the inner circles. The Brotherhood selected
for initiation into its ranks only those who had fulfilled the ancient conditions
imposed upon all candidates for that high degree, the qualifications for which
were laid down in Part I of the manual of occult instruction now called Light
on the Path, which represents the teaching of the Egyptian Lodge.
Candidates were therefore generally chosen from among the Brn. who had received
the higher instruction, and had prepared themselves by many years of
meditation, study and service. Still, it sometimes happened that one might be
chosen for Initiation who had not passed through the outer steps of the
Mysteries, but in previous lives had prepared himself for it - for it is the
ego who is initiated, not the mere personality of the lower planes.
188.
There have always been
five great Initiations, which in Christian teaching have been illustrated by
stages in the life of the Christ as related in the Gospels, which contain
elements derived from the teachings of the Egyptian Mysteries. The disciple
Jesus was an initiate of the Egyptian Lodge, and therefore much of the Egyptian
symbolism was adopted by His followers, and was later woven into the Gospel
story. In The Masters and the Path I have given an account of certain of
the ceremonies of Initiation used in the Great White Brotherhood at the present
day. The Egyptian rituals were in some respects slightly different from these
in form, although their essence was identically the same; for the Egyptian
Lodge possessed the tradition handed down from the initiates of Atlantis, which
was somewhat modified in later days, to suit the needs of the slowly-evolving
humanity of the Aryan race.
189.
THE FIRST THREE
INITIATIONS
190.
The first of the true
inner Initiations was called the Birth of Horus, and corresponded in that great
religion to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem in the Christian presentation.
Horus was born of Isis, the Virgin-Mother; at his birth the Star shone forth,
and the Angelic hosts sang their song of triumph; he was adored by shepherds
and wise men, and saved from danger which threatened him from without. In The
Book of the Dead it is said: “I know the power of the East, Horus of the
Solar Mount, the Star of Dawn.” The story of the Initiate is the story of the
Sun-God, the universal Christ who is born into the heart of man, and His mystic
birth is the purpose of the First Great Initiation.
191.
If the candidate had not
already passed through them, as most students in the Mysteries would have done,
he had at this stage to undergo the trials by earth, water, air and fire,
learning with absolute certainty that none of these elements could in any way
harm him in the astral body. All this was preparatory to the taking up of
service on the astral plane, for the Initiate had to fit himself to become a
trained and useful servant of humanity both in this and in the other world.
192.
The Second Great
Initiation corresponds to that stage of the Christ-life which is typified by
the Baptism, in which an expansion of the intellectual faculties takes place,
just as a wonderful opening out of the emotional nature is the result of the
First Initiation. It is at this stage that the inner trial typified by the
temptation in the wilderness takes place in the life of the candidate. Then
comes the splendour of the Transfiguration, when the Monad descends and
transforms the ego into the likeness of His own glory.
193.
THE FOURTH INITIATION
194.
The Fourth Great Initiation
corresponds to the Passion and Resurrection of the Christ; the candidate must
pass through the valley of the shadow of death, enduring the utmost suffering
and loneliness that he may rise forever to the fullness of immortality. This
awful and wonderful experience is the reality which is reflected at an almost
infinite distance in the degree of M.M.; through the portal of death he is
raised to the everlasting glory of the Resurrection.
195.
Certain portions of the
ritual of this Fourth Initiation according to the Egyptian rite were curiously
entangled with the Christian teachings, and became utterly materialized and
distorted in somewhat the same way as the legend of Osiris became distorted in
Egypt itself. The rubric of this part of the Initiation was as follows:
196.
Then shall the candidate
be bound upon the wooden cross, he shall die, he shall be buried, and shall
descend into the underworld; after the third day he shall be brought back from
the dead, and shall be carried up into heaven to be the right hand of Him from
whom he came, having learnt to guide (or rule) the living and the dead.* (*The
Christian Creed, by the Rt. Rev. C. W. Leadbeater, p. 98.)
197.
During the ceremony the
candidate laid himself down upon a wooden cross, made hollow to receive and
support his body. His arms were lightly bound with cords, the ends of which
were left loose to typify the voluntary nature of the sacrifice. The candidate
then passed into trance, left the physical body and passed in full consciousness
on to the astral plane. His body was carried down into a vault below the temple
and was placed in an immense sarcophagus, where it lay for three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth.
198.
During the mystical
death of the body the candidate passed through many strange experiences in the
astral world, and preached to ‘the spirits in prison’, to those who had
recently left the body in death and were still fettered by their passions and
desires.
199.
On the morning of the
fourth day of his burial, the body of the candidate was raised from its
sepulchre, and borne into the outer air at the eastern side of the great
pyramid, so that the first rays of the rising sun might awaken him from his
long sleep.
200.
It was at this
Initiation that the candidate was carried up into ‘heaven,’ to receive an
expansion of consciousness on the spiritual plane, often called the atmic or
nirvanic. That is the plane of absolute union, and that consciousness knows all
from within, is one with all and in all. The Initiate thus was made “the right
hand of Him from whom he came,” being now pledged for ever to the service of
God and man, and it was to be his work henceforward to guide the living and the
dead towards the Hidden Light in which alone is peace. The great truth that all
power which is gained is but held in trust, to be used as a means of helping
others, has rarely been more clearly or more grandly set forth.
201.
In The Hidden Light
in Freemasonry I have drawn certain correspondences between the three
degrees in Blue Masonry and the Great Initiations, showing that the E.A.
initiation reflects the great step of entry on the probationary path, that the
Passing may be compared to the First Great Initiation, and that the Raising
resembles the Fourth.* (*Op. cit., pp. 75 and 185.) We may now add the
Mysteries of Egypt, and make the following table of correspondences, always
remembering, of course, that there are vast differences of level between these
Orders and the stages on the Path:
MASONIC DEGREES
|
MYSTERIES
|
THE PATH
|
E.A.
F.C.
M.M.
|
Isis
Serapis
Osiris
|
Probationer
Initiate
Arhat
|
202.
THE FIFTH INITIATION AND
BEYOND
203.
Only one more stage
remains before human perfection is reached - that which is typified by the
Ascension into heaven. At this Fifth Initiation the Adept ascends above all
earthly life and becomes One with that aspect of the Deity which in
Christianity we call God the Holy Ghost.* (*See The Masters and the Path.)
204.
And still there are
higher stages, greater steps upon the Path, though belonging no longer to human
evolution but to the development of the Superman. Even here our Masonic
ceremonies reflect in symbol something of those higher glories, giving the key
to the whole vast plan. Far above the grade of Adept, He who is the Christ
stands as the Lord of Love, the Teacher of Angels and men, and along this line
of interpretation His high stage of evolution is reflected in the 18°,
which is essentially a degree of Christhood. Equal with Him, but on the
Ray of Rule, stands the Manu, whose rank is mirrored at an almost infinite
distance in the 30°; and as the crown of the whole Hierarchy there reigns the
One Initiator,* (*Ibid., Ch. xiv.) whose life and light and glory are
adumbrated in the splendour of the 33°. Thus the whole wondrous plan of Masonic
initiation is a shadow of things seen above “in the Mount”; and herein lies the
greatness of our mighty brotherhood and its value to mankind.
205.
Much lower down there
are still correspondences. The 18° means glowing love and beauty, but that is
mirrored in the position of the W.J.W; the 30° gives a wonderful outpouring of
strength, which is typified by the column of the W.S.W., while the wisdom and
all-embracing sympathy of the 33° should be reflected in the attitude of the
R.W.M. of the Lodge.
206.
The
Cretan Mysteries
207.
THE UNITY OF THE
MYSTERIES
208.
THE group of beliefs and
practices to which we give the name of the Mysteries has existed in many
countries and in different forms, most of which have influenced Freemasonry to
a greater or a lesser extent. Widely spread as they were, their unity of origin
is to be seen in the fact that they had a certain framework which was always
the same, although they showed divergences in minor matters. In those days,
just as at the present time, a Bro. from a foreign Jurisdiction who wished to
visit had to prove himself at the door of the Lodge; for whatever differences
there may have been in the outer forms of the ritual, the s … s were always the
same, for these are the keys to the sacramental powers lying behind all the
systems of the Mysteries alike.
209.
LIFE IN ANCIENT CRETE
210.
One of the most striking
instances of this unity is to be found in Crete, where the comparatively recent
discoveries of Sir Arthur Evans have disclosed many Masonic symbols and forms,
resembling very closely those of Egypt. Like Gaul in the days of
Caesar, ancient Crete was divided into three parts or states - Knossos, Goulas and Polurheni. The King of
Knossos was Overlord of the whole island, for the rulers, of the other states
acknowledged him as their leader, although they were perfectly free to manage
their own internal affairs. There was also, in the south of the island, an
independent city with a few miles of territory attached to it.
211.
All these Kings were
also ex-officio high priests, as in Egypt, and the King’s palace was
always the principal temple of his State. The people worshipped a dual deity -
Father-Mother - and these two were regarded as one, though some men offered
their devotion more to the Father-aspect, and some to the Mother. The Father,
when spoken of separately, was called Brito, and the Mother Diktynna. No
statues were made of these deities, but great reverence was paid to their
symbol, which was a double-headed axe. (See Plate I, 1, following p. 50.) This
was carved in stone and made in metal, and set up in the temples where one
would naturally expect a statue, and a conventional drawing of it represented
the deity in the writing of the period. This double axe was called labrys,
and it was for it originally that the celebrated labyrinth was built, to
symbolize to the people the difficulty of finding the Path to God.
212.
Much of their religious
service and worship was carried on out of doors. Various remarkable isolated
peaks of rock were regarded as sacred to the Great Mother, and the King and his
people went out to one or other of these on certain days in each month, and
chanted prayers and praises. A fire was lit, and each person wove a sort of
crown of leaves for himself, wore it for awhile, and then threw it into the
fire as an offering to the Mother-God. Each of these peaks had also a special
yearly festival, much like a Pardon in Brittany - a kind of semi-religious
village fair, to which people came from all parts of the island to picnic in
the open air for two or three days, and enjoyed themselves hugely. In one case
a great old tree of enormous size and unusually perfect shape was regarded as
sacred to Diktynna, and offerings were made under its branches. A vast amount
of incense was burnt under it, and it was supposed that the leaves somehow
absorbed and retained the scent, so when they fell in autumn they were
carefully collected and distributed to the people, who regarded them as
talismans which protected them from evil. That these dried leaves had a strong
fragrance is undeniable, but how far it was due to the incense seems
problematical.
213.
The people were a
fine-looking race, obviously Greek in type; their dress was simple, for the men
in ordinary life usually wore nothing but a loincloth, except when they put on
gorgeous official costumes for religious or other festivals. The women wore a
cloth which covered the whole body, but was arranged something like an Indian
dhoti in the lower part, giving rather the effect of a divided skirt.
214.
The interior of the
island was mountainous, not unlike Sicily,
and there was much beautiful scenery. The architecture was massive, but the
houses were curiously arranged. On entering, one came directly into a large
hall like a church, in which the entire family and the servants lived all day,
the cooking being done in one corner. At the back was a covered passage (as in
the houses in Java at the present day) leading to what was in effect a separate
building, in which were the sleeping rooms. These were quite small and dark -
mere cubicles - but open all round for about two feet under the roof, so that
there was ample ventilation. Round the wall of this hall under the roof usually
ran a frieze of painted bas-relief - generally a procession, executed in the
most spirited style.
215.
The buildings were of
granite, and there were many statues of granite, though also some made of a
softer stone, and some of copper and wood. Iron was used by this race, but not
much; the principal metal was copper. The pottery was distinctly peculiar; all
the commonest articles were made of bright yellow earthenware, painted with all
sorts of figures. These figures were generally on a broad white band round the
middle of the pot, and the colours used were nearly always red, brown or yellow
- very rarely blue or green. These were the common household pots; but for the
table they had porcelain and glass - both very well made. Most of the glass was
of a bluish-green tint, like some of the old Venetian glass - not colourless
like ours. The richer people used many vessels of gold, wonderfully chased and
sometimes set with jewels. These people were especially clever at jewellers’
work of all sorts, and made elaborate ornaments. One sees among them no diamonds
or rubies - chiefly amethysts, jasper and agate. But many ornaments were
evidently imported, for they had statuettes and models in carved ivory.
216.
These people had two
kinds of writing, evidently corresponding to the hieroglyphic and the demotic
in Egypt,
but they were quite different from the Egyptian. A decimal system was used in
calculating, and arithmetic generally seems to have been well understood. These
Cretans were good sailors, and had a powerful fleet of galleys, some with as
many as sixty oars. They used sails also - sails which were wonderfully
painted; but apparently they employed them only when the wind was almost
directly astern.
217.
THE CRETAN RACE
218.
These people were an arm
or family of the fourth or Keltic sub-race of the fifth or Aryan race. In
Chapter XIX of Man: Whence, How and Whither a brief history of that
sub-race is given; it includes the following remarks on the subject of the
origin of the Cretans:
219.
The first section [of
the fourth sub-race] to cross into Europe from Asia Minor
were the ancient Greeks - not the Greeks of our ‘Ancient History’, but their
far-away ancestors, those who are sometimes called Pelasgians. It will be
remembered that the Egyptian priests are mentioned in Plato’s Timaeus
and Critias as having spoken to a later Greek of the splendid race which
had preceded his own people in his land; how they had turned back an invasion
from the mighty nation from the West, the conquering nation that had subdued
all before it, until it shivered itself against the heroic valour of these
Greeks. In comparison with these, it was said, the modern Greeks - the Greeks
of our history who seem to us so great - were as pigmies. From these sprang the
Trojans who fought with the modern Greeks, and the city of Agade
in Asia Minor was peopled by their
descendants.
220.
These, then, had held
for a long time the sea-board of Asia Minor and the islands of Cyprus and Crete,
and all the trade of that part of the world was carried in their vessels. A
fine civilization was gradually built up in Crete,
which endured for thousands of years. The name of Minos will ever be remembered
as its founder or chief builder, and he was of these elder Greeks, even before
10,000. B.C.* (*Op. cit., pp. 309-10.)
221.
RECENT DISCOVERIES IN CRETE
222.
It is only since the
year 1900 that, largely owing to the work of Sir Arthur Evans, the modern world
has come to know something about the Cretan civilization, and to realize that
in age and splendour it compared even with the grandeur of ancient Egypt. But even
now, though there is abundant appreciation of the archaeological value of the
Cretan discoveries, not much attention has yet been given by Freemasons to the
highly interesting fact that the Minoan civilization shows us the existence,
five thousand years ago at least, of a Mystery-religion which in its symbols
and general arrangements closely resembles our modern ritual. One feature of
those Cretan Mysteries especially attractive to Co-Masons is that in them women
were admitted as well as men. The admission of women was the practice of almost
all the Mysteries of the ancient world, but clearer traces of the fact remain
to-day in Crete than in any other country.
These Mysteries do not lie in the direct line of Masonic descent; but the
archaeological remains of initiatory rites are so plentiful and so strikingly
similar to our present system as to be exceptionally interesting.
223.
For those who are not
conversant with the results of the excavations in Crete,
it may be well to give a brief survey of the historical knowledge gained by
their aid. Until recently most text-books of history taught that the Greek
civilization began in the eighth century B.C. There were traditions of an
older civilization, with a centre in Crete, where King Minos reigned in his
palace in Knossos, and another on the mainland of Greece, where in the
Mycenaean cities Agamemnon and his heroes had prepared for the expedition
against Troy, but these accounts were taken to be of purely legendary
character until the bold perseverance of Schliemann actually laid bare the
walls of ancient Troy and discovered the tombs of the Mycenaean kings, and so
compelled the historians to realize that in this case as in others legend had
been truer than history.
224.
The discoveries in Crete were even more striking. When Sir Arthur Evans
began his excavations on the site of ancient Knossos he not only laid bare the
palace of King Minos, but also a series of successive strata indicative of a
continuous civilization of a very high character stretching over a period of
several thousand years. It was shown that the old legends of the labyrinth of Crete and the terrible Minotaur, supposed to dwell in its
innermost depths, were based on fact, not on fancy. It is now known also that
at the time of the first dynasty in Egypt
there flourished in the island
of Crete a civilization
as powerful as the Egyptian. With regard to it Sir Arthur Evans says:
225.
The proto-Egyptian
element in Early Minoan Crete is, in fact, so clearly defined and is so intensive
in its nature as almost to suggest something more than such a connection as
might have been brought about by primitive commerce. It may well, indeed, be
asked whether, in the time of stress and change that marked the triumph of the
dynastic element in the Nile Valley, some part of the older population then
driven out may not have made an actual settlement on the soil of Crete.* (*The
Palace of Minos at Knossos, vol. I, p. 17.)
226.
Though the civilizations
of ancient Egypt and Crete have much in common, yet each had distinctly a
genius of its own, and much of the similarity between them can be explained by
the fact that for long ages not only the Delta, but Middle and Upper Egypt
stood in continuous relation with Minoan Crete.
227.
It is not our object to
enter into a further description of this Minoan civilization, which in many
respects was equal if not superior to that of our own times. We are here
concerned chiefly with the religion and the ritual usages of the ancient
Minoans, which in their details show such a remarkable likeness to modern
Freemasonry. Since the Minoan script cannot yet be deciphered, we are but very
partially informed about the thoughts and the beliefs of the Minoan race,
but from the objects found and the monuments discovered some conclusions
may be drawn which are sufficient for our present purpose.
228.
WORSHIP IN CRETE
229.
The main worship appears
to have centred round the feminine aspect of the deity already mentioned who,
like Isis amongst the Egyptians and Demeter amongst the later Greeks,
symbolized the creative power and fostering care of mother-nature. Connected
with her worship was the sacred tree, depicted in so many presentations of
Minoan shrines, while the deity herself was associated with the dove, the lion,
the fish and the snake, typifying her dominion over air, earth, water and the
fire within the earth.
230.
As I have written above,
the most sacred symbol in Minoan worship was the double axe or labrys. This,
mounted on a stone column, is found in the shrines of ancient Crete, and when
depicted on any object or building invariably denotes its sacred character.
(See Plate I, 1 and Plate IV, 1, following p. 50.)
231.
It was always an emblem
of the most High God, and is in reality the ancestor of the Master’s gavel,
which he bears because in his humble way he represents the All-Commander,
ruling his Lodge in the name of the Spiritual King. In Crete we often find it
associated with what is called the sacral knot (Plate I, 2, following p. 50).
When thus combined it closely resembles the Egyptian ankh, the token of
immortality. (Plate I, 3. following p. 50.)
232.
The Mother-Goddess
Dictynna denoted the productivity and creative power of nature; this double
axe, especially when surmounted by the sacral knot, signified the eternal truth
of death and resurrection, which was the central mystery of the religion of
Crete as it was of that of Egypt; and so it was often laid before her to typify
the ever-recurring miracle of the rebirth of tree and grain from the death of
winter. The very form of the labyrinth in the recesses of which this sacred
emblem was concealed was in itself symbolical and full of meaning; it was based
upon the cross, and the representations of it on seals and coins sometimes take
the shape of the swastika (Plate I, 4, following p. 50).
233.
Connected with this
outer religious worship in ancient Crete there were Mysteries of initiation for
the few, and it is in these that we find the main elements of similarity to
Freemasonry. In the palace of Minos at Knossos, as also in the palace of
Phaestos - another Cretan site - we find pillared crypts and chambers which
were indubitably of a sacred and initiatory character. The most important of
these rooms is the so-called throne-room in the palace of Minos, which derives
its name from the magnificent sculptured throne which was found intact when
excavated (see Plate II, 1, following p. 50).
234.
THE THRONE ROOM
235.
With regard to this
room, Sir Arthur Evans says:
236.
It is now clear that a
large part of the West Wing of the Palace was little more than a conglomeration
of small shrines, of pillared crypts designed for ritual use, and corresponding
halls above. The best preserved existing chamber of this Quarter, the ‘Room of
the Throne’, teems with religious suggestion. With its elaborately carved
cathedral seat in the centre and stone benches round, the sacral griffins
guarding on one side the entrance to an inner shrine, on the other the throne
itself, and, opposite, approached by steps, its mysterious basin, it might well
evoke the idea of a kind of consistory or chapter-house. A singularly dramatic
touch, from the moment of final catastrophe, was here, indeed, supplied by the
alabastra standing on the floor, beside the overturned oil jar for their
filling, with a view, we may infer, to some ceremony of anointing. It is
impossible to withhold the conclusion that the ‘Room of the Throne’ at Knossos
was designed for religious functions.
237.
The salient features in
its arrangement (Plate II, 2, following p. 50), in fact, suggest an interesting
comparison with a ritual chamber recently discovered in one of the kindred
Anatolian sanctuaries. This is the ‘Hall of Initiation’ excavated by the
British explorers in the sanctuary of Men Askaenos and a Mother Goddess,
described as Demeter, near the Pisidian Antioch. The throne itself, the stone
benches round, and the ‘tank’ on the opposite side to the throne, find all
their close analogies, and are arranged in the same relative positions. In the
Galatian Sanctuary we see, on a larger scale it is true, a chamber with a
throne - in this case near, not actually against the back wall - to the right
of the entrance, while opposite it on the left side on entering the chamber is
an oblong tank. Here, too, along the back wall runs a rock-cut bench or divan,
and the chamber was approached by an ante-room or pronaos.
238.
Cult arrangements are
often handed down almost unaltered through long periods of years, and the
striking analogies here presented afford a real presumption for believing that
the much earlier Room of the Throne at Knossos and its adjoining tank were
devised for similar rites of initiation and purification. Like him who presided
over these Anatolian rites, a Minoan priest-king may have sat upon the throne
at Knossos, the adopted Son on earth of the Great Mother of its island
mysteries. Such a personage, indeed, we may actually recognize in the Palace
relief of a figure wearing a plumed lily crown and leading, we may believe, the
sacral Griffin. It is probable, indeed, that in Crete the kingly aspect was
more to the fore than in the religious centres of Asia Minor. But both the
actual evidence from the palace site and the divine associations attributed to
Minos lead to the conclusion that here, too, each successive dynast was ‘a
priest for ever after the order of Melchizedech’ and ‘made like unto the Son of
God’.
239.
There is little doubt
that in the room thus described we find one of the Minoan temples of the
Mysteries. Most probably, as Sir Arthur Evans suggests, the throne which is
shown in the chamber was the seat of the Hierophant, and on the stone benches
round the walls were ranged the Brn. who took part in the ritual. The
candidates for initiation had to undergo a preliminary purification in the
lustral basin before they could be admitted to the ceremonies.
240.
THE THREE COLUMNS
241.
A plan of this Minoan Temple
is shown in Plate II, 2 (following p. 50). Facing the throne of the Hierophant
were three columns, which are frequently found in the mystery religion of Crete and were closely connected with its rites. The evidence
that the three columns bore a sacred meaning is to be found in one of the
terra-cotta models belonging to a votive shrine, which often supply us with
additional information about the Cretan Mysteries. (See Plate II, 3, following
p. 50.) We will quote Sir Arthur Evans’ description of the three columns
surmounted by doves (which repeatedly occur in various models of Minoan
shrines), and his explanation of their religious meaning:
242.
But of all these
remains, the highest religious interest attaches to a terra-cotta group
belonging to some religious structure on a larger scale than the others. It
consists of three columns on a common base, supporting in each case, above
their square ‘capital’, the round ends of a pair of beams on which a dove is
perched (Plate II, 3, following p. 50). The square ‘capital’ itself and the
beam ends above it must here be regarded as the equivalent, in an epitomized
shape, of the roof beams and entablature of a building. In other words, they
are the Pillars of the House, and the doves settled above them are the
outward and visible sign of the divine presence and protection. A clay seal
with a similar device of a dove perched above roof-beams resting on a column,
itself set on an altar base as in the Lion’s Gate scheme, has now come to light
at Mycenae - a singular illustration of the Minoan source of its cult.
243.
Of the columns
themselves, each one may be regarded as a separate religious entity, since in
place of a common entablature the superstructure is in each case separately
rendered by a kind of architectural shorthand. This Trinity of baetylic pillars
(which has many parallels in Semitic cult) itself recalls the triple
arrangement seen in the case of the Temple Fresco at Knossos and of several
late Minoan and Mycenaean shrines. The triple gold shrines of Mycenae are also
coupled with seated doves.
244.
The seated birds, as
already observed, symbolize in this and other cases the descent of the divinity
into the possessed object. At times, as in the above instances, it is the
baetylic pillar or the cell that enshrines it. The celebrated scene on the
sarcophagus of Hagia Triada shows raven-like birds brought down by ritual
strains and libations on to the sacred Double Axes, which are thus ‘charged’ as
it were with the divinity. The doves on the gold chalice from Mycenae and of
‘Nestor’s Cup’ repeat the same idea.
245.
But it was not only the
cult object itself that could be thus sanctified by the descending emblem of
spiritual indwelling. In the case of the gold plates from the Third Shaft Grave
at Mycenae the doves are seen not only perched on the Shrine but on the head
and fluttering from the shoulders of a nude female personage (Plate III, 2,
following p. 50). So too the central clay image from the late ‘Shrine of the
Double Axes’ at Knossos shows the dove settled on her head. In these cases we
have either images of the Dove Goddess herself, reinforced by what may have
been her older zoomorphic form, or of a priestess deified by the descent of the
dove-spirit.
246.
The extent to which
primitive Minoan religious conceptions were familiar to the Semitic mind is
here again illustrated by the striking parallel of the baptism in Jordan and
the picture drawn by the evangelists of the Holy Spirit ‘descending in bodily
shape like a dove’ and ‘lighting on’ Jesus. What has to be borne in mind in all
these connexions is that it is not only the inanimate or aniconic object, such
as the pillar or the sacred weapon, that may become, through due ritual, the
temporary dwelling-place of the divinity, but that the spiritual Being may
enter into the actual worshipper or votary in human form, who for the time
becomes a God, just as the baptized Christian becomes alter Christos.
This ‘possession’ is often marked by soothsaying and ecstatic dances, and an
orgiastic dance on a Late Minoan signet, to be described below, finds its
pictorial explanation in the descent of the goddess. Musical strains such as
those of the lyre or the conch-shell or the sistrum of Egyptian cult were a
means of invocation.
247.
These highly interesting
terra-cotta models illustrating the religious structures and ideas of the M.M.
II Period are supplemented by an object - the scale of which answers to the
same series as the group of columns - in the form of a portable seat (Plate II,
3, following p. 50). Within it are some remains of the lower part and
attachments of a figure. It is evident that we have here a palanquin either for
a divinity or for his earthly representative, the Priest-King, recalling the sedia-gestatoria
still used by the Papa-Re at Rome.* (*Op. cit., pp. 222, 223, 224.)
248.
In its general
arrangements the ritual chamber of the palace of Phaestos was similar to the
Masonic temple in the palace of Minos, but it contained no throne - an omission
which is explained by the portable seat found in the shrine. Evidently in some
cases the initiator in the Mysteries was carried in procession and retained the
seat in which he had been borne.
249.
MODELS OF SHRINES
250.
The accompanying figures
(Plate III, 1; Plate IV, 1, 2, 3, following p. 50) show models of fresco
paintings of Minoan shrines. In Plate III, 1, a gold plaque from Mycenae, we
see again the three columns surmounted by the horns of consecration which, like
the double axe, denote the sacred character of the object, and the ritual
significance is further emphasized by the doves perched on the ends of the
sacred horns. In looking at these illustrations of Minoan sanctuaries we must
remember that the side walls of the chamber are flattened out in the picture
and not drawn in perspective, so that we must in imagination fold the two side
panels of the picture of the shrine forward so as to form three walls of a
shrine room. Underneath the pillars in the different illustrations the floors
are paved, as shown in Plate IV, 2 and 3 (following p. 50), in black and white
squares similar to the mosaic pavement of the Masonic Lodge.
251.
In the Minoan
sanctuaries we have so far seen the seat of the Hierophant or Master on one
side, the benches for the brethren round the walls, three sacred columns as the
principal furniture of the temple and a mosaic pavement of alternating dark and
light squares in the centre. In addition, in some of the model shrines we find
on one side of the room two pillars side by side; this arrangement was also
discovered with the two pillars standing in the excavation of the crypt in the
Palace of Minos (see Plate V, 1, following p. 50). Of these crypts Sir Arthur
Evans says:
252.
There is clear evidence,
as shown below, that such pillared crypts fulfilled a religious function and
stood in relation to a columnar shrine above. There can be little doubt that we
have here the remains of an important sanctuary facing the inner sea gate of
the Palace.* (*Op. cit., p. 404.)
253.
THE ALTAR OBJECTS
254.
Still further evidence
of the Masonic character of the Minoan rites is shown by the remarkable objects
found in the temple repositories in which were kept the different altar-objects
connected with the ritual worship in the chamber of initiation. Sir Arthur
Evans has rearranged these objects on the altar ledge for which they were no
doubt intended, and we show a reproduction of his arrangement in Plate V, 2
(following p. 50). Perhaps the most arresting feature is the marble cross in
the centre of the altar. The cross with equal arms, or Greek cross, as well as
the Latin cross and the swastika, are found repeatedly in connection with the
Minoan cult, and since in all ages the cross has symbolized either the mystery
of creation and the descent of the divine life into manifestation, or else the
mystic death and resurrection of the soul, we have here striking evidence that
these conceptions were also at the base of the Cretan Mysteries.
255.
On either side of the
cross on the altar ledge the figures wear aprons, which were clearly of a ritual
character, for they are not to be met with in ordinary Cretan dress (see Plate
V, 3, following p. 50). The apron was evidently double, extending both in front
and at the back, and differed in details in the case of the goddess and her
priestess. It is possible, and in some respects even probable, that both female
figures found on the altar are worshippers of the cross and the triple snake,
in which case the different character of the two aprons may well denote a
difference in the rank or degree of the wearers. Evans expresses his opinion
that the double aprons are of a ritual character.* (*Op. cit., p. 503.)
256.
VARIOUS SYMBOLS
257.
There were also some
lesser religious symbols and objects which are of such decidedly Masonic
character that they are worth mentioning. In Plate VI, 1 (following p. 50), we
see a relic of bone found in the temple repository which, as Evans says “is in
the shape alternately of flowers and buds, suggested by those of a
pomegranate”. Further symbols familiar to Freemasons are the frequently
recurring sun and moon, shown in our illustration (Plate VI, 2 and 3, following
p. 50) on a bronze votive tablet from the Psychro cave, and a gold ring from
Mycenae. With regard to the former Evans says:
258.
The tree, dove and fish,
which here appear as the vehicles of divine possession, aptly symbolize her
dominion of earth, air and sea. The triple group of sacral horns further
emphasize the threefold aspect of the cult, which also explains the triple
basin of the Libation Table. So, too, we see the pillar shrines of the goddess,
like that of the Knossian wall-painting, regularly divided into three
compartments.
259.
Both the votive tablet
and the ring are full of religious meaning and Masonic symbolism, and well
repay close study. They incidentally show how far the Minoan worship spread
from Crete to the mainland. Similarly the
introduction of the Masonic square as a decorative pattern on a vase found in
Aphidna on the mainland of Greece is of interest as showing that with the
spread of Minoan culture to the Mycenaean settlements the symbols of the Minoan
mystery religion too were carried abroad. (See Plate VII, 1, following p. 50.)
260.
THE STATUETTES
261.
But these evidences of
Masonic symbolism, decisive as they are, are surpassed by the testimony
presented by a number of statuettes and votive figures found in Crete or in the
outposts of Minoan civilization, which are represented in such indubitably
Masonic attitudes (some of which now belong to the higher degrees) that even
the most sceptical student must acknowledge that no chance can explain this
similarity. (See Plates VII and VIII following p. 50.) It would not be in
accordance with Masonic secrecy to mention the degrees to which the different
attitudes belong, but all Masons will readily recognize them. Ridiculous as
these statuettes are, if they were the only evidence found in Crete they would
be sufficient to indicate the existence of Mysteries of a Masonic Character in
that ancient civilization. But where that evidence is supported by the various
proofs discussed above no doubt can remain that four thousand years ago and
more there existed in Crete Mysteries in which Masonic signs and symbols were
used, which admitted both men and women, and performed their rites in
temples very similar to those of modern Freemasonry.
262.
The
Jewish Mysteries
263.
THE JEWISH LINE OF
DESCENT
264.
ALTHOUGH our modern
Freemasonic rites and symbols are derived from Egypt, as has been shown in The
Hidden Life in Freemasonry, they have reached us for the most part through
the Jews. The tradition which has most influenced our modern Masonry is that of
the Jewish Mysteries, so the greater part of our ceremonies and s … s are now
cast in a Jewish form.
265.
In The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry it has been explained that many of the traditions preserved in
the Old Testament have a basis in fact, although the actual events of Jewish
history were magnified and distorted through the lens of an almost fanatical
patriotism by the later compilers of the records. The Jewish scriptures as we
have them today were almost entirely rewritten after the return from the
captivity; and the priestly writers who did this work transfigured in a glow of
enthusiastic romance the poetic traditions of their nation.
266.
THE JEWISH MIGRATIONS
267.
The Jewish race is an
offshoot of that Semitic people who formed the fifth sub-race of the Atlantean
root-race. Some four thousand years before the great cataclysm of 75,025 B.C.,
which overwhelmed the first Atlantean empire of Egypt, the Manu had led His
especial followers into the uplands of Arabia in order that they might be
separated from the bulk of the Atlanteans, and that a new type might be evolved
from them which would later be developed into the Aryan root-race. Strict
injunctions were given by the Manu that there was to be no intermarriage with
neighbouring races, so that the purity of the new stock might be maintained;
and the idea of these men that they were a “chosen people” was fostered to that
end. Shortly before the cataclysm some seven hundred of the best and most
promising of these people were led into Central Asia by the Manu, and they grew
there after many thousands of years into a great nation, the nucleus of the
Aryan race that was later to rule the world.
268.
About 40,000 B.C. the
Manu led out the second sub-race of the new root-race to colonize Arabia once more, since the Semites who had been left
behind were the closest of the Atlantean peoples to the new stock. Arabia became a great Aryan kingdom, excepting only a
certain section of those inhabiting the southern part of the peninsula, who
declined to recognize the Manu or to intermarry with His people, quoting His
own regulation against Him in defence of their refusal. Later this tract of
country was conquered by the Aryans, and a fanatical section of its inhabitants
forsook their homes, and settled on the opposite coast of the Red Sea in what
we now call Somaliland. Here they lived for several centuries, but in
consequence of an attempt on the part of the majority to intermarry with the
negroes of the interior, a fairly large minority of them withdrew from the
community, and, after many wanderings, found themselves in Egyptian territory.
The Pharaoh of the period, interested in their story, offered them an outlying
district of his kingdom if they chose to settle there. Eventually some Pharaoh
made a demand upon them for additional taxation and forced work which they
considered an infringement of their privileges; and they once more undertook a
wholesale migration under the leadership of him whom we now call Moses, and
after further wanderings settled in Palestine, where they were known as the
Jews, still strongly maintaining that they were a chosen people.* (*See Man:
Whence, How and Whither, Ch. xiv and xvi, passim.)
269.
During their sojourn in Egypt certain
of them had been initiated into some of the degrees of the Egyptian Mysteries.
Moses, as was said much later, “was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians”,* (*Acts, vii, 22.) and he seems to have been the real founder of
the Jewish Mysteries, much as tradition suggests, introducing into them the
succession of I.M.s which he had received from the Egyptian priests. Our
investigations have not confirmed the events related in the early chapters of
the book of Exodus with regard to the ten plagues and the smiting of the
Egyptians; the Jews departed without much opposition, and after many years of
wandering in the wilderness conquered various tribes and took possession of
Palestine. Indeed their migration seems to have been inspired to some extent by
the Manu. During their wanderings they used a tent for the celebration of their
Mysteries, preserved in Hebrew tradition as the tabernacle; in this they worked
in essence the Egyptian rituals, though the whole celebration was under such
conditions on a much smaller and less splendid scale. These are the facts
lying behind the Masonic tradition of the First or Holy Lodge.
270.
THE PROPHETS
271.
It appears that Moses
was also acquainted with the great ritual of Amen as worked in the Mysteries of
Egypt, and some portion at least of this tradition was transmitted to his
successors. There arose in later times a school in connection with the
Mysteries, the members of which had the idea of personifying the children of
Israel as one Being who might shed blessing over all nations; and they
attempted to arouse among them the sense of unity necessary for this purpose
partly by means of ritual. There were also the schools of the prophets, who
were trained in the Mysteries and studied the deeper teaching enshrined in the
ancient rites. One such school is mentioned in the Old Testament as existing
at Naioth under the direction of the prophet Samuel,* (*Sam., xix, 20.) and
there were others later at Bethel and Jericho.* (*II Kings, ii, 2, 5.)
272.
These schools were not
so much concerned with prophecy in our modern sense of foretelling the future,
as with endeavouring to instruct the people by preaching; they seem to have
resembled in many ways the preaching friars sent out by the Roman Church during
the middle ages, the Franciscans and other Orders. These preachers were chosen
from among the Levites, and were sent forth to proclaim the deeper teaching in
a popular form. It is probable that many of the greater Jewish prophets belonged
to a later development of these schools - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others
- but they were always somewhat pessimistic in their outlook, even though
several of them unquestionably touched high levels of consciousness in their
visions. Their method was apparently to throw themselves into a state of
tremendous exaltation, and then to look up into a higher plane through a kind
of shaft which they had opened. It was in this way that Ezekiel saw the vision
of the four Kings of the elements. These Great Ones can be seen clearly only
with the sight of the spiritual or nirvanic plane; it does not appear that
Ezekiel had touched that exalted level directly, but he became aware of it in
his ecstasy as though looking up to it from below.
273.
THE BUILDERS OF K. S. T.
274.
Something both of the
inner powers and of the Egyptian rituals had been faithfully handed down from
generation to generation from the days of Moses until King Solomon came to the
throne of his father David. There is some truth in the tradition preserved in
the Bible, although there are exaggerations and mistakes in the accounts which
have come down to us, and much of the inner meaning of the symbols had been
forgotten. King Solomon seems to have been a man of considerable force of
character and some occult knowledge, and the great ambition of his life was to
weld his people into a strong and respected kingdom, able to take an
influential place among the nations around. To that end he built the temple in
Jerusalem to be the centre of the religious worship of his people and a symbol
of their national unity; it was perhaps not quite so magnificent as tradition
relates, but the King was nevertheless extremely proud of it and considered it
to be one of the great achievements of the age.
275.
In this work he was
assisted by his ally, Hiram King of Tyre, who supplied a quantity of material
for the building, and lent many clever craftsmen to aid in the work; for the
Phoenicians were more skilled in building than the Jews, who were chiefly a
pastoral people. Also about fifty years before some of the wandering bands of
Masons who called themselves the Dionysian Artificers had settled in Phoenicia,
so King Hiram was able to supply many expert workmen. This alliance is a matter
of secular history, for Josephus tells us that even in his day copies of the
letters which passed between the two Kings existed in the Tyrian archives and
might be consulted by students.* (*Josephus. Ant., viii.) Hiram Abiff
was also a real personage, though he did not meet his death in the manner
recorded in Masonic tradition. He was a decorator rather than the actual
Architect of the Temple, as the biblical records clearly tell us. “He was
filled with wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass.”*
(*I Kings, vii, 14.) He was “skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass,
in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in
crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device
which shall be put to him”.* (*II Chron., ii, 14.)
276.
Josephus confirms the
tradition that he was an artist and a craftsman rather than an architect: “This
man was skilful in all sorts of work, but his chief skill lay in working in
gold and silver and brass, and he did all the curious work about the temple as
the King wished.”* (*Josephus, Ant., viii.) He was the son of a widow of
Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass before him. Since
so much responsibility rested in his hands, and he was so skilful an artist, he
appears to have been in the close confidence of King Solomon, and a member of
his council. He was evidently treated as an equal by the two Kings, and that is
one of the reasons which influenced Bro. Ward to translate Hiram Abiff as
“Hiram his father”, and to represent the King of Tyre as sending his abdicated
father to superintend the decoration of the temple.
277.
THE RECASTING OF THE
RITUALS
278.
But King Solomon’s plans
for the consolidation of his people were not yet complete; by the building of
his temple he had formed an outer centre of national worship, and he now
desired that the Mysteries, the heart of his people's religion and the centre
of their spiritual consciousness, should also be purely Jewish in their form.
The ceremonial handed down from the days of Moses was still Egyptian, and the
initiates of the mysteries were yet symbolically engaged in building the great
pyramid, the House of Light, and in celebrating the death and resurrection of
Osiris. Even though it had no corresponding halls of initiation, King Solomon
desired that for the future his temple should take the place of the House of
Light, and become the spiritual centre of the Jewish Mysteries. King Hiram of
Tyre warmly supported this idea; he himself had inherited initiatory rites which
had been derived from the Mysteries of Chaldaea, a very ancient line of
tradition running parallel with the Mysteries of Egypt from Atlantean days, and
having its own chief halls of initiation in Babylon. He, too, felt that a
centre nearer home and in friendly hands was eminently desirable, and he
therefore co-operated in the plan of Judaizing the ancient rites and focusing
them upon the temple in Jerusalem.
279.
At first, it appears,
the two Kings sent an embassy to Egypt to consult the Pharaoh in the
matter, telling him of the temple which they had built, and asking for some
recognition of the Jewish branch of the Mysteries. The Pharaoh did not accept
their proposals with any degree of enthusiasm, but rather implied that no
foreigner could possibly understand the Mysteries of Egypt. The Egyptians of
the period seem to have regarded their Jewish brethren with something of the
same feeling that the Grand Lodge of England might have towards the Grand
Orient of Hayti if it should propose alterations in the ritual, and their
interest in the new venture was decidedly cold. We find no confirmation of the
story of the marriage of King Solomon to Pharaoh’s daughter, as is related in
the Bible; indeed, this union is now generally rejected by the critics as
impossible, for according to the Tell el-Amarna tablets, an Egyptian princess
might not marry a foreigner.* (*Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, p.
296.)
280.
THE MINGLING OF
TRADITIONS
281.
On the return of their
embassy from Egypt King Solomon and King Hiram called together the council at
Jerusalem, and it was decided that they should proceed immediately with the
work of recasting the rituals into the Jewish form. It is an interesting fact
that three distinct lines of tradition were represented in the persons of the
three chief members of the council, and of each of these we can find traces in
our modern workings. King Solomon himself had inherited the Egyptian line of
succession derived from Moses; King Hiram of Tyre preserved the Chaldaean
descent; while Hiram Abiff brought with him another line of tradition, not
derived from either of these sources.
282.
This last line was
strange and terrible - a line probably perpetuated through savage and primitive
tribes who had bloodthirsty customs of mutilation and human sacrifice. I think
it must be to this line that Bro. Ward refers in his remarkable work Who was
Hiram Abiff? in which he adduces a vast amount of evidence to show that our
traditional history is based upon the myth of the death and resurrection of
Tammuz, and is in reality an account of the ritual murder of one of the
Priest-Kings of that religion. He points out that most primitive races enact a
drama in which some one, usually a priest or king, represents a god who is
slain and comes to life again; that in earlier times at any rate such a
representative was really killed and offered up as a sacrifice to ensure
fertility; that we first hear of this myth of Tammuz in connection with
Babylon, and that the tribes in the neighbourhood of Judaea were all addicted
to the worship of that deity. In fact, among the Jews themselves we find the
prophets blaming the Hebrew ladies for taking part in the ritual mourning for
him.* (*Ezekiel, viii, 14.)
283.
Solomon himself was by
no means definitely monotheistic, and his people betrayed a distinct tendency
to run after strange gods. There seems much evidence to prove that the
love-song attributed to him in the Bible is really a ritual hymn to Astarte,
for whom he built a temple quite near to that of Jehovah. There is considerable
uncertainty as to whether Balkis, Queen of Sheba, was a real person, or only a
personification of Astarte. Bro. Ward explains that the festivals of the two
patron saints of Freemasonry, S. John the Baptist in summer and S. John the
Evangelist in winter, are only a perpetuation of the feasts of the old
fertility cult at the summer and winter solstices; that similar cultural rites
are found in other lands, Teutonic, Celtic and Greek, that they also survived
among the Essenes, and that the Knights Templars brought back from Syria a
story very similar to that of the 3°. The tale of Jonah, he remarks, has always
been understood as a myth of death and resurrection, and he also was sacrificed
to appease a deity, and obtain salvation for others, just as was the
Priest-King of old. He quotes many instances of foundation and consecration
sacrifices; and, holding as he does that Hiram Abiff was the father of that
other Hiram who was King of Tyre, he writes:
284.
The Phoenician and
Jewish followers of the old Tammuz cult no doubt felt that the Great Goddess
had been cheated of her just dues when Hiram Abiff was not slain, according to
ancient custom, on the accession of his son, and were confident that if he were
not sacrificed when the temple was completed, its future and stability would be
endangered. … So I consider that the Phoenician workmen, with or without the
consent of Solomon, killed the old King of Tyre, Abibaal or Hiram Abiff, as a
Consecration Sacrifice.* (*Who was Hiram Abiff? by J.S.M. Ward, p. 191.)
285.
While we can hardly accept
the suggestion that the ancestry of our modern rite is wholly Syrian, we cannot
doubt that the influence of the third line of tradition especially contributed
by Hiram Abiff was very considerable. We note also that it seems to have been
especially concerned with the working of metals.
286.
All that is found in our
modern rituals about Lamech and his sons, about Jubal, the founder of the art
of music, and Tubal Cain, the first artificer in metals, appears to belong to
the line of tradition which Hiram Abiff introduced.
287.
This council was the
originator of the greater part of our modern Masonic working; the main outline
of the Egyptian ritual was carefully preserved (although King Solomon on more
than one occasion referred to his brother of Tyre on points of detail) together
with the s … s, and although the w … s were given in Hebrew, for the most part
their meaning remained the same. King Solomon himself seems to have been
largely responsible for our ceremony of raising; he it was who, at the instance
of Hiram Abiff, changed the legend of Osiris into that of the master builder
who attempted to escape by the S., N., and E. g … s and was s … n because he
would not divulge the s … s of a M.M. The name of the original master builder
was not of course given as now, for he himself assisted in the construction of
the legend; neither was there any fatality connected with the actual building
of the holy temple. The insertion of the present name was the work of Rehoboam,
when he succeeded to the throne of Solomon his father, as I have said in The
Hidden Life in Freemasonry; so the story came to be applied to the person
of Hiram, the widow’s son.
288.
A very curious tradition
still exists in the 3° of the rite of Mizraim. In that rite the central figure
of the legend is not H.A., who is said to have returned to his family after the
completion of the temple; but the story is carried back to the days of Lamech,
whose son Jubal, under the name of Harrio-Jubal-Abi, is reported to have been
slain by three traitors, Hagava, Hakina, and Heremda. (Mackey’s Encyclopaedia,
art. Mizraim.) The rite of Mizraim, as we shall see later, is extremely
old, and may well have incorporated another tradition than that handed down in Europe;
for it appears to have been introduced from the East towards the end of the
eighteenth century. It may be that we have here another echo of that line of
tradition which Hiram Abiff represented on the council of King Solomon.
289.
Such was the important work
undertaken by the second or Sacred Lodge. The succession of I.M.s was handed
down into the new dispensation, and thenceforward Masters of Lodges deriving
their succession from the Mysteries of the Hebrews have always sat in the
Chair of King Solomon, while the two Wardens occupy those of Hiram King of Tyre
and Hiram Abiff. Thus there is a very real truth behind our Masonic tradition.
290.
The original traditional
history as adapted by King Solomon contained much more of the legend of
Osiris, and was altogether more coherent and reasonable than it is to-day; for
there was a resurrection of the master-builder as well as a death, and the
search of Isis for the body of Osiris was reflected in the search of certain
craftsmen for the body of the Master. But this was rather in the nature of a
verbal charge than apiece of ritual working, and it was therefore more likely
to become distorted in the course of ages. This is exactly what took place. The
ceremonies were handed down from age to age with very few changes, but they
were at several epochs clothed in a new set of words, which reflected the
spirit of the times; while the legend associated with the ritual of the 3°
became sadly marred in its passage throughout the centuries, until in its
present form it is a mere shadow of the glorious teaching of the Mysteries of
Egypt from which it was derived.
291.
THE TRANSMISSION OF THE
NEW RITES
292.
The Mysteries were
transmitted from generation to generation for the next three hundred and fifty
years, during the survival of the kingdom
of Judah. In 586 B.C. the
city of Jerusalem was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, and the people were led captive into Babylon. During the captivity the Mysteries
were interrupted, and it does not seem probable that they were seriously worked
during the fifty years of exile. Nevertheless, the succession of I.M.s remained
unbroken, and when the people returned from Babylon to rebuild the temple, they
also tried to reconstruct their rites of initiation.
293.
Herein we find the facts
underlying the tradition of the third or Grand and Royal Lodge; for Zerubbabel,
the prince of Judah,
and Jeshua, the high priest, were largely instrumental in this work of
restoration and renewal. The same difficulty recurred again, for it was never
allowed to write down the rituals; once more it was necessary to rely upon
memory for the major part of the tradition, and only a very few could have
recollected the actual workings in the days before the captivity. Nevertheless
they succeeded in reconstructing the rites with tolerable accuracy, although
once more the traditional history suffered distortion through being imperfectly
remembered. Such is the story of that line of succession which eventually found
its way into the Roman Collegia, in the first place by direct descent from the
teaching of King Numa, then by the migration of the rites of Attis and Cybele
to Rome about 200 B.C., and again through the medium of the returning soldiers
of the armies of Vespasian and Titus. From these Collegia it has been handed
down with singularly little change in essentials to our modern Lodges.
294.
Besides the three Craft
degrees which formed the main structure of the Jewish Mysteries, there were
also other Masonic traditions handed down from Egypt. That which is now the Holy
Royal Arch had its place in the working, while the ideas contained in what we
now call the Mark degree were associated with the 2° as the Arch was with the
3°. Although in English working the period of the Arch is represented to be
that of Zerubbabel and the Second Temple, the Irish Chapters refer the whole
legend to the days of King Josiah, while the Royal Arch of Enoch, which differs
considerably in detail, though the symbology has the same significance and
purpose, is described as belonging to the time of King Solomon himself. The
absence of a fixed period is noteworthy as indicating that the historical
setting is only of secondary importance, and that the main purpose of the
degree is to convey symbolical instruction.
295.
THE ESSENES AND THE
CHRIST
296.
The tradition of the
Mysteries was transmitted from century to century, until we find it among the
Essenes, who also appear to have inherited Chaldaean rites. It was in this
school that the disciple Jesus lived in preparation for His ministry, after
receiving a high initiation into the true Mysteries of Egypt. The Essenes had
among other Chaldaean rites inherited what was afterwards known as the Mithraic
eucharist, the ceremony of bread and wine and salt, which, as we shall see
later, was transmitted through the ages until it was incorporated in the modern
degree of the Rose-Croix of Heredom. The consecration of those elements was and
is wonderful, though there is not so full a descent of the Divine Presence as
in the corresponding ritual of Amen used in ancient Egypt. It seems probable,
however, that the Lord Christ took the Mithraic supper as the basis of
His holy eucharist, and while preserving the ancient symbolism of the elements
changed them into His own special vehicle, symbolized as His Body and Blood -
the very closest and most intimate of all the sacraments known to man.
297.
The Mithraic eucharist
brought the worshipper into close touch with the divine Life; the mystic supper
of the Rose-Croix lifts the Sovereign Prince into a wonderful union with
Christ, the Lord of love; in the ritual of Amen the Brn. bowed to each who had
partaken of the sacrament saying, “Thou art Osiris.” The holy eucharist of the
Christian Church is the last and most wonderful of all, for in it we receive
Him, the Lord of Love, and the sacred Host is just as fully and perfectly His
vehicle as was the body of Jesus in Palestine two thousand years ago. It seems
probable that He took the existing sacrament which was regularly celebrated in
the Essene community, and transfigured it into another and holier eucharist,
which has become the glory of His Church from generation to generation.
298.
KABBALISM
299.
With the tremendous
impetus given by the coming of the Lord the mysteries received a greater
inspiration than had been theirs since the days of Moses. Part of the mystic
teaching belonging to them later passed into writing, and in the Kabbala we
find fragments of the symbolic knowledge which was once the exclusive property
of the initiates. So close are the analogies between certain of the doctrines
of the Kabbala and those of the earlier degrees of Masonry that it has been
supposed that Kabbalistic students were responsible for the introduction of
speculative Masonry into our modern Craft. The student of occultism does not
hold this view, for he knows that our speculative rituals belong in substance
to a far older past than the eighteenth century, and that they perpetuate the
tradition of the Jews, who derived it from the Mysteries of Egypt. He sees in
the literature of the Kabbala a written and exoteric portion of certain
teachings belonging to the Jews, though handed down along an independent line,
which may nevertheless have crossed that of our own Craft and influenced it to
some extent in later days. There is much in the Kabbala which throws light upon
our ceremonies and symbols, and a study of Kabbalistic Theosophy may be of both
profit and interest to the Mason.
300.
The briefest summary is
all that we can attempt here.* (*See The Secret Tradition in Israel, The
Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, A New Encyclopaedia, all by Bro. A.
E. Waite.) The literature of the Kabbala represents a growth of many centuries
under the influence of many types of thought - Jewish, Gnostic, Neo-Platonic,
Greek, Arabic and even Persian - and it has never been fully translated into
any European language. It consists of certain great texts written in Hebrew and
Aramaic, and a mass of commentaries upon them compiled by Jews of many lands
and many ages. The most important texts are the Sepher Yetzirah, which
explains the mystic meanings underlying the Hebrew alphabet, and erects a vast
system of mystical and occult speculation upon the combinations and
permutations of the various letters; and the Sepher ha Zohar, or Book
of Splendour, which is a medley of history and legend, of fable and of
fact, of mysticism and fantastic speculation which, like all such literature,
contains priceless gems of occult wisdom hidden in a mass of rubbish. Both
these texts claim to date from the second century A.D., but in reality they
were not written down until a later period, the former being completed about
the tenth century, and the latter before the thirteenth. They became known to
the educated people of Europe about the time when speculative Masonry was
beginning to emerge into the light of day (that is during the seventeenth
century) through various Latin works, the chief of which are Baron Knorr von
Rosenroth’s Kabbala Denudata, the OEdipus AEgyptiacus of
Athanasius Kircher, the De Arte Cabalistica of Reuchlin and a Latin
translation of the Yetzirah. As Bro. A. E. Waite, our chief authority in
this field, has pointed out:
301.
The written Jewish
tradition presupposes throughout a tradition which did not pass into writing.
The Zohar, for example, which is its chief memorial, refers everywhere to a
great body of doctrine as something perfectly well-known by the circle of
initiation for which the work was alone intended.* (*Secret Tradition in
Freemasonry, I, 64.)
302.
The skeleton of this
body of doctrine has reached us in the symbolism of Masonry, although along so
different a line; and in the Kabbala we may find a clue to much that is obscure
in our modern rituals.
303.
THE SPIRITUALIZATION OF
THE TEMPLE
304.
Two mystical concepts
found in the Zohar relate directly to our subject - the spiritualization
of the temple of King Solomon, and the doctrine of the lost word, both of which
have their roots in the Egyptian Mysteries, as we have already seen. King
Solomon’s temple formed the physical basis for a vast structure of mystical
speculation and inquiry; for its measurements and proportions were held to have
a relation to those of the universe, and all the sacred objects which it contained
had their macrocosmic and microcosmic interpretations. The Shekinah or divine
glory which irradiated the innermost sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, was
interpreted not only as the divine Presence which hallowed the visible temple,
but as God immanent in His universe and indwelling in the heart of man.
305.
Furthermore, the idea of
the Jews that some day the temple should be rebuilt is itself spiritualized and
transformed, and it was taken as an allegory of the attainment of divine
perfection both in man and the universe. The Jews, whose rich Oriental minds
delighted in exuberant and complex allegory, conceived a veritable city of
temples, of which King Solomon’s was but the symbol - temples and palaces each
relating to a different aspect or plane of nature and forming an intricate
system of reflections and correspondences. The prototype of all this wealth of
symbolism is found in the Mysteries of Egypt, wherein the measurements of the
great pyramid were studied as emblematical of the proportions of the universe,
and contained vast stores of occult and astronomical lore. The Jews applied
what they knew of the Egyptian system to the temple of King Solomon, reflecting
the wisdom of Egypt through the lens of their own fiery and poetical temperament,
whence some portion of it gradually passed on the one hand into written and
exoteric literature, and on the other was handed down in the secret Lodges of
Masonry.
306.
THE LOSS OF THE DIVINE
NAME
307.
The second great
doctrine of Kabbalism which concerns us here is the loss of the divine Name, or
rather of the correct method of pronouncing that Name. The Jews thought of
this Name as a word of four letters, J.H.V.H., which we generally read as
Jehovah. The tradition relates that the Omnific Word which, being the Name of
God, commanded all the creative forces of Nature, was pronounced by the high
priest once a year on the day of atonement, but that after the exile the true
pronunciation was lost. The consonants remained, but the vowel points essential
to correct articulation had been forgotten. (The present Masoretic system of
vowel points was introduced only in the tenth century A.D.) This was woven into
a beautiful allegory of the descent into matter and of the fall of man; for
immersed in matter as we are at our present stage of evolution, we cannot utter
the word or know the divine Nature in its fullness, but can perceive only the
outer shell of things, represented by the remaining consonants. And even this
we do not understand, and therefore for even that much of the Divine Name a
substituted secret is necessary. And so in the tradition whenever the word
Yahweh occurred in the reading of the Law, the name Adonai (meaning “my Lord”)
was substituted for it. (The modern word Jehovah is made by using the
consonants JHVH, and intercalating the vowels from the word Adonai.) The
tradition looks forward to a future when time or circumstances shall have restored
the genuine method of pronunciation, and man will return to the God from whom
he came forth, able to utter the word in all its mighty power, to command the
forces latent in his own divinity.
308.
All this was interwoven
with the doctrine of the Logos, the Word of God, expounded so admirably by
Philo, and known to all Christians from the opening words of the Gospel of S.
John; for the whole tradition of the divine Word is derived from the Mysteries
of Egypt. The true Tetragrammaton was not the Name of God in Hebrew, but
another and far more ancient word, which has ever been known to initiates of
high degree. A Christian development of this symbolism forms the device of a
jewel worn by a certain high official in the Scottish Rite. Under the old
covenant the word was lost, and even when restored through the discovery of a
certain secret vault, its true pronunciation was unknown; the end of the quest
was not yet reached, though it was in sight. The new covenant added in the
centre yet one letter more, the mystic Shin, emblematical of fire and of
the Spirit; and so the Word Jehovah became Jeheshua, the Name of the Christ.
Which things are an allegory, for it is only by the finding of the Christ in
the heart that the lost word can be rediscovered, and that very finding brings
the knowledge of the true Tetragrammaton - that secret of man’s eternal being,
which from the beginning has been written upon the cross of sacrifice and
always kept hidden in the heart of the world among the secret things of God.
309.
Such is a brief outline
of those Jewish Mysteries, the tradition of which was carried to Rome, and
thence passed down through the Collegia into the mediaeval guilds, finally
emerging in the eighteenth century in the speculative rituals of the Craft
degrees, in the Holy Royal Arch and the degree of Mark Master Mason, and in
those other emblems and ceremonies which have been incorporated into certain of
the subsidiary grades belonging in their symbolic time to the old covenant. The
Jewish Mysteries are the source of our present tradition, for the three Craft
degrees are, and always have been, the basis of the whole system of Masonic
initiation, since they enshrine the relics of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries
of Egypt, which alone can be termed degrees in their original form. But before
we pass on to our next link in the Masonic chain of descent - that of Rome and
its Colleges - it may be well to touch upon certain of the other great
Mystery-systems which were famous in the ancient world.
310.
The
Greek Mysteries
311.
THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
312.
WE come now to the
Mysteries of Greece, of which the best-known and most important in classical
times were the Eleusinian. There seems to be a widely-spread delusion, the
origin of which we can trace to the writings of the Christian Fathers, that the
Mysteries of antiquity were kept secret because they contained much that was
improper, and that would not bear the light of day. That is not so in the
least, and I am in a position to bear direct testimony, having been myself an initiate
of the Mysteries, that there was nothing whatever in them of an objectionable
character. The teachings were all of the highest and purest nature, and they
could not but benefit very greatly all who had the privilege of being initiated
into them. In classical and post-classical times many of the greatest men have
borne witness to their worth. A few quotations - samples of many - will
be sufficient to show this. Sophocles, the great tragic poet, says of them:
313.
Thrice-happy are those
mortals who after the contemplation of the Mysteries go down into the realms of
Hades; for there they alone will possess true life: for the rest there is
naught but suffering.* (*Sophocles fr. 348, quoted Foucart: Les Mysteres
d’Eleusis, p. 362.)
314.
Plato says through the
mouth of Socrates in that wonderful death-scene in the Phaedo:
315.
I fancy that those men
who established the Mysteries were not unenlightened, but in reality had a
hidden meaning when they said long ago, that whoever goes uninitiated and
unsanctified to the other world will lie in the mire, but he who arrives there
initiated and purified will dwell with the Gods.* (*Plato. Phaedo. Loeb.
Edition, p. 241.)
316.
Cicero was initiated
into them and held them in the highest reverence,* (*Cic. De. Leg., II,
14.) while Proclus tells us in the last days of the pagan faith:
317.
The most holy Rites of
Eleusis vouchsafe to the Initiates enjoyment of the good offices of Kore when
they shall be delivered from their bodies.* (*Proclus. Comment. in Plat. rem
pub. quoted Foucart, loc. cit., p. 364.)
318.
It is true that in the
time of the decadence of Rome there were degenerate ceremonies connected with
the Mysteries of Bacchus, which involved orgies of a very unpleasant character,
but they were in no way connected with the original Eleusinian Mysteries, which
by that time had faded almost entirely into the background.
319.
The modern world knows
little of the truth about the Greek Mysteries, for their activities and
doctrines were really kept secret. Apart from the strong pressure of public
opinion, which treated the slightest violation of secrecy as an act of terrible
impiety, we hear of the death-penalty being inflicted in a case of the
accidental intrusion of two non-initiates into the sacred enclosure at Eleusis
during the celebration of the Mysteries.* (*Livy, xxxi, 14.) Very little,
therefore of direct fact has reached us from pagan sources; the greater part of
our information comes from the Christian writers, Hippolytus, Clement of
Alexandria, Origen, Arnobius and others, who were engaged upon destroying as
much as possible of the pagan religion, and therefore always spoke of the
Mysteries in the worst possible light. Something is known of a few of the
exterior tests that were applied to candidates, and of the teaching that was
given through the various myths. When people outside pressed for information,
and would not be put off, the officials permitted so much to be revealed.
320.
THE ORIGIN OF THE GREEK
MYSTERIES
321.
The original founder of
the Greek Mysteries was Orpheus, who was an incarnation of the same great World
Teacher who had come to Egypt
in 40,000 B.C. as Thoth or Hermes, to preach the doctrine of the Hidden Light.
But now the method of His message was different; for it was spoken to a
different race.
322.
About 7000 B.C, He came,
living chiefly in the forests, where He gathered His disciples around Him.
There was no king to bid him welcome, no gorgeous court to acclaim Him. He came
as a singer, wandering through the land, loving the life of Nature, her sunlit
spaces and her shadowed forest retreats, averse to cities and to the crowded
haunts of men. A band of disciples grew around Him, and He taught them in the
glades of woodland, silent save for the singing of the birds and the sweet
sounds of forest life, that seemed not to break the stillness.
323.
He taught by song, by
music, music of voice and instrument, carrying a five-stringed musical
instrument, probably the origin of Apollo’s lyre, and He used a pentatonic
scale. To this He sang, and wondrous was His music, the Angels drawing nigh to
listen to the subtle tones; by sound He worked upon the astral and mental
bodies of His disciples, purifying and expanding them; by sound He drew the
subtle bodies away from the physical, and set them free in the higher worlds.
His music was quite different from the sequences, repeated over and over again,
by which the same result was brought about in the Rootstock of the Race, which
it carried with it into India. Here He worked by melody, not by repetition of
similar sounds; and the rousing of each etheric centre had its own melody,
stirring it into activity. He showed His disciples living pictures, created by
music, and in the Greek Mysteries this was wrought in the same way, the
tradition coming down from Him. And He taught that Sound was in all things, and
that if man would harmonize himself, then would the Divine Harmony manifest
through him, and make all Nature glad. Thus He went through Hellas singing, and
choosing here and there one who would follow Him, and singing also for
the people in other ways, weaving over Greece a network of music, which should
make her children beautiful and feed the artistic genius of her land.* (*Man:
Whence, How and Whither, p. 316 ff.)
324.
This wonderful tradition
of the Mysteries of Orpheus was handed down for thousands of years until in
classical times we find, on the one hand the Orphic Schools, of which that of
Pythagoras was a splendid offshoot, and on the other the greatest of all the
Greek Mysteries, those of Eleusis, which preserved much of the ancient teaching
in a ceremonial form. A relic of the tradition of Orpheus is found in the fact
that the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries was always chosen from the
sacred family of the Eumolpidae, the descendants of the fabled Eumolpus, whose
name meant the sweet singer; and one of the most important qualifications for
the office was the possession of a beautiful and resonant voice, with which the
sacred chants might be correctly intoned.* (*Les Mysteres d’Eleusis.
Paul Foucart. Paris,
1914, p. 170.)
325.
THE GODS OF GREECE
326.
The Greek idea of
worship was very different from our modern conceptions. It must not be
supposed that any of the educated Greeks believed in the mythology of their
religion as literal fact. Men sometimes wonder how it was possible for great
nations like Rome or Greece to remain satisfied with what we commonly call
their religion - a chaos of unseemly myths, many of them not even decent,
describing gods and goddesses who were distinctly human in their actions and
passions, and were constantly quarrelling amongst themselves. The truth is that
nobody was satisfied with it, and it never was at all what we mean by a
religion, though it was no doubt taken literally by some ignorant people. All
cultured and thinking men took up the study of one or other of the systems of
philosophy, and in many cases they were also initiates of the school of the
Mysteries; it was this higher teaching that really moulded their lives, and
took for them the place of what we call religion - unless, indeed, they were
frankly agnostic, as are so many cultured men now. Some of these weird myths,
however, were explained in the Mysteries and were seen to enshrine a hidden
teaching relating to the life of the soul.
327.
Nevertheless many of the
gods of Greece
were real personages, who played their parts in the lives of the people, and
were channels to them of the divine blessing. The chief aspect of the outer
religion of Greece
was the cult of the beautiful. It was known in Greece that every true work of art
radiated an atmosphere of joy and beauty; therefore the Greeks surrounded
themselves and their worship with every kind of lovely thing. They knew that
the gods manifested themselves through beauty, were aspects of and channels for
the One Beauty; and thus they gathered streams of the divine influence around
them and so outpoured blessing upon the world. The gods of Greece were not the
same as those reverenced in Egypt; they represented somewhat different aspects
of the one eternal God in forms suited to the development of the Celtic
sub-race, which was essentially an artistic, as the Egyptians had been a
scientific people. As students of the occult side of religion are aware, each
sub-race has its own especial presentation of truth, its own divine forms
through whom worship is offered to the Supreme; and the type of religion is
formulated by the World Teacher Himself in accordance with the development and
culture which are to be the distinguishing characteristic of that race and its
contribution to the world-plan of evolution. In Greece, as in Egypt, there was
a multiplicity of these divine forms, some of them represented and ensouled by
great Angels, who may be compared to some extent to those adored in Christian
lands - S. Michael, S. Gabriel, S. Raphael and others. The gods of Greece were
no less real than these great ones, although they belonged to an entirely
different type, resembling rather the presiding Angels of the various countries
than the Rulers of the nine orders of the Angelic hosts.
328.
Pallas Athene, the
grey-eyed goddess of wisdom, was a magnificent and splendid Being, who
practically governed Athens
in the old days through her devotees. Her influence was enormously stimulating,
but she was not so much an embodiment of compassion or of love, as is the
Blessed Virgin Mary, but rather of efficiency and of that perfect accuracy of
form that is the essence of all true art. Much of the wonderful art of Greece
was inspired directly by her; and to satisfy her it had to be the very highest
and truest and most accurate. She could not tolerate a single line misplaced,
even in the smallest thing. There was something of polished steel about Athene;
she was cold and keen like a rapier, tremendously powerful, keeping the people
up to the highest, the noblest, the purest, the most beautiful; and yet less
for the sake of an abstract love of beauty than because it would have been a
disgrace to be otherwise than beautiful. There was practically no emotion
connected with Pallas Athene; we had an intellectual appreciation of her greatness,
an intense devotion along mental lines, a splendid enthusiasm in following her;
but we should not have ventured upon anything like personal affection. She kept
Athens in perfect order, directing it, governing it, brooding over its people
with her wonderful inspiration; and she watched the development of her city
with the closest interest, determined that it should be ahead of Sparta and
Corinth and the other cities of Greece.
329.
Hera was a real
personage likewise, but very different from Pallas Athene. She was one of the
many incarnations or forms of the feminine aspect of the First Ray, and was
thought of as the Queen of Heaven; she corresponds most closely to the Indian
goddess Parvati, the shakti or power of Shiva, imaged as His consort, as Hera
was the consort of Zeus.
330.
Dionysus was the Logos
Himself, just as Osiris had been in Egypt, though in a somewhat
different aspect; and the legend of His death and resurrection corresponded
closely with that of Osiris, and was taught with the same signification in the
Mysteries of Greece. Phoebus Apollo, the God of the Sun and of music, whose
symbol was the lyre, seems originally to have been Orpheus; so that in
venerating him the Greeks in reality offered their love to the great World
Teacher. Demeter and her daughter Persephone or Kore were especially reverenced
at Eleusis.
These two deities were personifications of the great forces of nature, the
first of the brooding motherhood of the earth, and the second of that creative
life which makes the earth to flourish and blossom with corn and flowers and
fruit, and then withdraws once more at the onset of winter into a kind of
hibernation - a hidden life within, only to burst out again as though in a new
incarnation under the influence of spring. Demeter appears to correspond with
Uma, the Great Mother, still venerated in India.
331.
Aphrodite, the goddess
of Love - “immortal Aphrodite of the broidered throne,” as Sappho calls her -
represented the feminine aspect of the Deity as the divine compassion; she was
called the “foam-born” because she was mystically supposed to have risen from
the waters of the ocean. Swinburne describes her in magnificent lines:
332.
Her deep hair heavily
laden with the odour and colour of
333.
flowers,
334.
White rose of the
rose-white water, a silver splendour, a
335.
Flame …
336.
who, at her mystic
birth,
337.
Came flushed from the
full-flushed wave, and imperial, her
338.
foot on the sea.
339.
And the wonderful waters
knew her, the winds and the
340.
viewless ways,
341.
And the roses grew
rosier, and bluer the sea-blue stream of
342.
the bays.
343.
This beautiful symbolism
of her name refers to the form side of the Deity, the root of matter - called
the “deep sea”, or the “virgin sea” - which is impregnated with the divine life
and beauty, and so gives birth to the loveliest of forms. The title “foam-born”
is particularly appropriate when we consider that all forms are built up of
aggregations of bubbles blown in the “deep sea”, the aether of space. All this
was explained to the initiates of the Mysteries. The same mystical idea lies in
the title of Our Lady Mary, “Star of the Sea”; although she embodies in herself
a fuller manifestation of the divine love in the perfection of eternal
motherhood, and indeed unites in her person many Aspects of the Deity that were
divided in Greece.
There were, however, two sides of the cult of Aphrodite. The higher side was
embodied in Aphrodite Ouranios, the heavenly Aphrodite, who was indeed
“the Mother of fair love”; but there was a lower aspect of her worship as Aphrodite
Pandemos, the earthly, common love, which leads to much evil and base
desire, unworthy of the name love; and this aspect was the most prominent in
the days when the old religion had become outworn and corrupt. Aphrodite
corresponds to some extent with Lakshmi in India.
344.
The gods were connected
with the Mysteries, and worked with and through their faithful followers; but
even in the Mysteries there was less of devotion and more of intellectual
appreciation than in our religion to-day. In studying different branches of the
Mysteries as worked in different lands we can but give certain analogies - we
cannot hope to make exact comparisons; and the difficulty is still greater when
we try to compare the ancient with the modern faiths - their whole outlook was
so different from ours.
345.
THE OFFICIALS
346.
The control of the
Eleusinian Mysteries in classical times lay in the hands of two families: the
Eumolpidae and the Keryces or heralds, who were also connected with the worship
of the Pythian Apollo at Delphi. Most of the
officers were chosen from these two families, although there were also
important civil representatives of the Athenian State
who were responsible for the public ceremonial of the Mysteries as well as for
the control of finance.
347.
The chief officer was
the hierophant, chosen for life by lot from the Eumolpidae. He alone had the
guardianship of the Hallows (Hiera), those sacred treasures which were so
carefully preserved at Eleusis
and played so great a part in the ceremonial magic of the Mysteries. He was
invariably a man of advanced age and distinguished position, and in his hands
lay the supreme control over the secret ceremonial.
348.
Next to him in rank
stood the Dadouchos, the bearer of the double torch, chosen for life from the
family of the Keryces. Both these officials had houses in the sacred enclosure
at Eleusis,
into which only initiates might enter; but while the hierophant remained in
almost entire seclusion, the Dadouchos often took a prominent part in public
affairs. A third official was the Hieroceryx, or sacred herald, who also was
chosen for life from the family of Keryces; one of his duties was to make the
solemn proclamation to the Mystae before their initiation into the
Greater Mysteries, to preserve silence upon sacred matters. A fourth official
was the Priest of the Altar, chosen also from the Keryces, who in later times
was responsible for the sacrifices. In the great days of the Mysteries animal
sacrifices were never offered, but, as in all religious systems, a time came
when the tradition had become formalized and much of the inner knowledge had
been withdrawn. It was then that certain teachings upon the meaning of
sacrifice and its place in the spiritual life were distorted and materialized
into the cruel superstition that it was necessary to sacrifice animals to the
Diety.
349.
There were also two
women hierophants, dedicated to the two goddesses who presided over the
Mysteries, Demeter and Kore; and in addition to them there was a priestess of
Demeter, who appears to have been closely connected with certain other rites of
the goddesses open only to women (Thesmophoria, Haloa), as well as with
the Mysteries of Eleusis. A number of minor officials also took part in
the ceremonial. As in Egypt,
women were admitted to the Mysteries on equal terms with men, and no distinction
was made between the sexes save in the matter of office. The instruction of the
candidates was placed in the hands of the Mystagogues, who taught under the
supervision of the hierophant and prepared the initiates for the celebration
of the Mysteries, communicating to them certain formulae which would be
required in the course of the ceremonial. An enclosed order of priestesses
lived in retreat at Eleusis,
vowed to celibacy and dedicated to the higher life. It seems probable that
these are the “bees” of whom Porphyry and various grammarians speak.* (*Les
Mysteres d’Eleusis. Foucart,
Ch. VI and
VIII, passim.)
350.
THE LESSER MYSTERIES
351.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
were divided into two degrees, the Lesser and the Greater. We see no trace of
the tri-gradal system suggested by some scholars, although there were special
ceremonies for the installation of the principal officers. The Lesser Mysteries
were celebrated in the Temple of Demeter and Kore at Agrae, near Athens, in the month of March. In them
teaching was given upon the life after death in the intermediate or astral
world, just as in the Lesser Mysteries of Egypt, and in this sense it is
possible to compare the Lesser Mysteries with our Masonic 1°, although the
details of the ceremonial do not exactly correspond. The ceremony was conducted
by the hierophant of Eleusis,
assisted by his various officers; and the initiates of this degree were called
mystae.
352.
The ceremonies opened
with a preliminary purification or baptism in the waters of the Ilissus, during
which certain ritual formulae were recited; they were continued in the secrecy
of the temple, in which representations of the astral world were shown to the
candidate, and instruction given upon the results of certain courses of action
in the life after death. In earlier days when the hierophant directing the
studies described the effect of some particular vice or crime, he used his
occult power to materialize some good example of the fate which his words
portrayed, in some cases, it is stated, enabling the sufferer to speak and
explain the condition in which he found himself as the outcome of his neglect
while on earth of the eternal laws under which the worlds are governed.
Sometimes, instead of this, a vivid image of the state of some victim of his
own folly would be materialized for the instruction of the neophytes.
353.
In the days of the
decadence, just as in Egypt, there remained no hierophant who possessed the
power to produce these occult illustrations, and consequently their place was
taken by actors dressed to represent the sufferers, and in some cases by
ghostly images projected by means of concave mirrors - or even by
cleverly executed statuary or mechanical figures. Of course it was perfectly
understood by all concerned that these were only representations, and no one
was ever led to suppose that they were original cases. Certain of our
ecclesiastical writers, however, failed to realize this, and some of them spent
much time and ingenuity in “exposing” deceptions which never deceived anyone,
least of all those who were specially concerned with them. Besides this
teaching upon the exact results in astral life of physical thought and action,
much instruction was given in cosmogony, and the evolution of man on this earth
was fully explained, again with the aid of illustrative scenes and figures,
produced at first by materialization, but later imitated in various ways.
354.
The initiates of the
Mysteries had a number of proverbs and aphorisms peculiar to themselves. “Death
is life, and life is death” was a saying which will need no interpretation for
the student of the inner side of life, who comprehends; at least to some
extent, how infinitely more real and vivid is life on any other plane than this
imprisonment in the flesh. “Whosoever pursues realities during this life will
pursue them after death; whosoever pursues unrealities during this life will
pursue them also after death,” was another statement entirely in line with the
facts of post-mortem existence, and it emphasizes the great truth upon which
we so often find it necessary to insist, that death in no way changes the real
man, but that his disposition and his mode of thought remain exactly what they
were before.
355.
The myths of the
exoteric religion of the country were taken up and studied in the Eleusinian
Mysteries, as in the Mysteries of Egypt. Among those relating to the life after
death was that of Tantalus, who was condemned to suffer perpetual thirst in
Hades: water surrounded him on all sides, but receded from him whenever he attempted
to drink; over his head hung branches of fruit which receded in like manner
when he stretched out his hand to touch them. This was interpreted to mean that
everyone who dies full of sensual desire of any kind finds himself after
death still full of desire, but unable to gratify it.
356.
Another story was that
of Sisyphus, who was condemned always to roll uphill a huge block of marble,
which as soon as it reached the top rolled down again. That represents the
condition after death of a man full of personal ambition, who has spent his
life in making plans for selfish ends. In the other world he goes on making
plans and working them out, but always finds at the point of completion that
they are nothing but a dream. The liver of Tityus was ceaselessly devoured by
vultures. This was symbolical of the raging desire that tears at a man until it
is burnt out by suffering. In many such ways desire is purified and the man is
able to pass onwards to the life of the heaven-world, which was the subject of
instruction in the Greater Mysteries.
357.
Within the Lesser
Mysteries, just as in the Mysteries of Egypt, there existed an inner school for
the training of specially selected candidates. These were taught to awaken the
senses of the astral plane, so that the teaching given in the Mysteries could
be verified by them at first hand. As in Egypt, the severe tests of courage
were applied only to the small proportion of those who entered the Mysteries
who intended to take up positive occult training, and become active workers on
the astral and higher planes. Tens of thousands of people were initiated
without them. One classical author mentions a gathering of thirty thousand
initiates. All serious-minded people gravitated towards these Mysteries, much
as the better class of young men and women of our day go to the great
Universities, and in addition many were interested in one or other of the
systems of philosophy.
358.
This inner school was
kept secret, so that none even of the initiates knew of its existence until
actually received into it. The dress of the mystae was the dappled fawn-skin
(Nebris),* (*Recherches sur les Mysteres du Paganisme. Par M. le Baron
de Sainte-Croix. Ed., Paris,
1817. Tome I, p. 347.) a fitting emblem of the uncontrolled astral body, which
in this 1° had to be trained and brought into subjection by the will. This
dress corresponded with the leopard-skin worn by the Egyptian priests, and the
tiger or antelope skin so often used by the Eastern Yogis.
359.
THE GREATER MYSTERIES
360.
The Greater Mysteries
were held at Eleusis in the month of September
(Boedromion), and in connection with their celebration all Greece went
into holiday, and splendid public processions took place, in which the whole
populace, both initiates and non-initiates, joined. These public processions have
been described in detail by contemporary writers; but beyond these exoteric
descriptions nothing of the Greater Mysteries is known to the outer world save
through a few obscure hints. On the 13th Boedromion the young men gathered at Eleusis to form the escort of the solemn procession to Athens, which was distant from Eleusis some twelve miles. On the 14th the
Hallows (Hiera) were solemnly escorted to the great city, accompanied by the
hierophant and his officers, the members of the priestly families, the college
of priestesses and the retinue of the Eleusinian temple. The Hallows were
treated with the deepest reverence; they were conveyed in great wicker baskets
secured with bands of purple wool, and placed upon a ceremonial car. Only the
hierophant and his ministers were allowed to handle them, and none but
initiates might even see them, under pain of death. During the rest of the year
they remained in a shrine or chapel (Anactoron) in the temple at Eleusis, and were guarded
with the utmost care and awe, as being of divine origin.
361.
When the procession
reached the outskirts of the city of Athens,
the Hallows were met by the magistrates and people, and were escorted with all
magnificence and pomp to the Eleusinion at the foot of the Acropolis. Like the
mother temple at Eleusis,
this was surrounded by high walls, and no one but the initiates was ever
allowed to enter. On the 15th day of the month, the day of the full moon, the
mystae who were to be advanced to the Greater Mysteries assembled, and the
solemn proclamation was made, enumerating those to whom access to the Mysteries
was forbidden … “Whoso hath unclean hands … whoso hath an unintelligible
voice”.* (*Libanius, quoted Foucart. op. cit., p. 311.) This latter qualification
has been taken to mean that only Greek-speaking people could be admitted to the
Mysteries; but M. Foucart suggests the more probable explanation that the
voice must be free from impediment in order that the sacred formulae might be
pronounced correctly; and he compares this qualification to the Egyptian title
Maat-heru, which meant not only “true of voice” but one who is able to
wield the occult powers of sound without mistake.* (*Ibid., p. 149.)
When we remember the tradition of Orpheus and realize how great a part sound
played in the Greek Mysteries, we may understand that this conjecture is not
without foundation.
362.
On the 16th day of the
month the mystae took a ceremonial bath of purification in the sea; on the 17th
and 18th various public processions took place in Athens; while the mystae
remained secluded in the temple, receiving instruction and preparing themselves
by meditation for their initiation into the Greater Mysteries. On the 19th the
great procession of the initiates to Eleusis
was formed, the Hallows were carried back to their ancient resting-place with
the fullest possible pomp and splendour, and the candidates and Brn. marched in
triumph to the temple of initiation accompanied by vast crowds of people.
363.
First came the car of
Iacchos, bearing the statue of “the fair young God”, who was one of the forms
of Dionysus, the “Blazing Star of nocturnal Initiation” as Aristophanes calls
him;* (*Aristophanes. Frogs, 346.) next marched the young men,
myrtle-crowned, with shields and lances glittering in the sunlight, whose duty
and privilege it was to escort the sacred Hallows, borne aloft upon the
ceremonial car in the great wicker baskets, still bound with purple wool; after
them came the hierophant and his officers, dressed in their purple robes and
wearing myrtle crowns, followed by the mystae in charge of the mystagogues.
After them marched the vast company of initiates and people, arranged according
to their tribes and demes, and preceded by the civil magistrates and the
council of the five hundred; and the whole splendid throng was followed by a
train of baggage-animals carrying bedding and provisions for the few days’
sojourn at Eleusis.
364.
The procession arrived
at the sacred village after nightfall, and glowed like a river of fire in the
blazing light of the torches carried by all the people; and after a tremendous
ovation the Hallows were carried into the sacred enclosure by the hierophant,
who placed them once more in the secret shrine within the hall of initiation
(Telesterion). The next two days, during which the actual ceremonial
instruction took place, were spent by the initiates within the enclosing walls
of the temple, and the whole glorious celebration concluded with a festal
assembly held outside the temple walls, in which all the citizens took part,
afterwards returning quietly to their homes.* (*Les Mysteres d’Eleusis.
Ch. XI and XII, passim.)
365.
In the Greater Mysteries
the teaching upon the life after death was extended to the heaven-world; they
thus corresponded to some extent to our 2°. The initiates were named epoptae,
and their ceremonial garment was no longer a fawn-skin, but a golden fleece -
whence, naturally, the whole myth of Jason and his companions. This symbolized
the mental body, and the power definitely to function in it. Those who have
seen the splendid radiance of all which pertains to that mental plane, who have
noticed the innumerable vortices produced by the ceaseless emission and impact
of thought-forms, who remember that a brilliant yellow is especially the colour
which manifests intellectual activity, will acknowledge that this was no inapt
representation.
366.
In this class, as in the
lower one, there were two types - those who could be taught to use the mental
body, and to form round it the strong temporary vehicle of astral matter which
has sometimes been called the mayavi rupa - and the far greater majority who
were not yet prepared for this development, but could nevertheless be
instructed with regard to the mental plane and the powers and faculties
appropriate to it. As in the Lesser Mysteries men learned the exact result in
the intermediate world after death of certain actions and modes of life on the
physical plane, so in the Greater Mysteries they learnt how causes generated in
this lower existence worked out in the heaven-world. In the Lesser the
necessity and the method of the control of desires, passions and emotions was
made clear; in the Greater the same teaching was given with regard to the
control of mind.
367.
Further teaching upon
cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis was also continued. In the Greater Mysteries
instead of being instructed only as to the broad outlines of evolution by
reincarnation (which does not appear to have been clearly taught in the outer
religion), and the previous races of mankind, the initiates now received a
description of the whole scheme as we have it to-day, including the seven great
chains of worlds and their positions in the solar system as a whole. Their
terms were different from ours, but the instruction was in essence the same;
where we speak of successive life-waves and outpourings, they spoke of aeons
and emanations, but there is no doubt that they were fully in touch with the
facts, and that they represented them to their pupils in wonderful visions of
cosmic processes and their terrestrial analogies.
368.
Just as in the case of
the after-death states, these representations were at first produced by occult
methods; and later, when these failed them, by mechanical and pictorial means,
the results of which were greatly inferior. Illustrations of the development of
the human embryo, shown by picture or model in the same way as we might show
some of them by means of a microscope, were employed to teach by the law of
correspondences the truth of cosmic evolution. We may remember how Madame
Blavatsky adopted in The Secret Doctrine a similar method of
illustrating the same evolutionary processes.* (*Op. cit., Vol. iii, p. 441.)
It is probable that a misunderstanding of the representation of some of these
processes of reproduction was distorted into an idea of indecency, and so the
seed was sown from which sprang later the false and foolish accusations of the
ignorant and bigoted Christians.
369.
The culmination of the
ceremonial of the Greater Mysteries was the exposition of an ear of corn. Of
this Hippolytus speaks:
370.
The Athenians, while
initiating people into the Eleusinian Rites, likewise display to those who are
being admitted to the highest grade at these Mysteries, the mighty, marvellous,
and most perfect secret suitable for one initiated into the highest mystic
truths: I allude to an ear of corn in silence reaped. This ear of corn is also
considered among the Athenians to constitute the perfect and enormous
illumination that has descended from the unportrayable One, just as the
hierophant himself declares.* (*Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies,
Bk. V, iii (Ante-Nicene Library Ed.))
371.
This symbol referred to
the divine life of God, ever-changing, ever-renewed, buried in the earth of the
lower planes, only to rise in other forms to a fuller and more abundant life,
passing from manifestation to manifestation without end. This was explained by
the hierophant to the initiates, and the simplicity of the symbol and the
beauty and profundity of the meaning underlying it formed a fitting climax to a
wonderful ceremony.
372.
THE MYTHS OF THE GREATER
MYSTERIES
373.
The meaning of various
myths was explained in detail in the instruction given to the initiates. The
legend of Persephone or Proserpine (Kore) is clearly an occult parable of the
descent of the soul into matter. If we remember how the story tells us that
Proserpine was carried away while she was plucking the flower of the narcissus,
at once we have a suggestion of connection with that other myth of the soul’s
life. Narcissus is represented to have been a young man of extraordinary beauty
who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, and was so much
attracted by it that he fell into the pool and was drowned, and was afterwards
changed by the gods into a beautiful flower. It was taught that the soul was
not originally immersed in matter, and need not have been so, but for the fact
that she was attracted by the image of herself in the lower conditions of
matter, symbolized by water. Beguiled by this reflection, she identifies
herself with the lower personality, and is for the time sunk altogether in
matter; yet nevertheless the divine seed remains, and presently she springs up
again as a flower. It was while Proserpine was stooping to Narcissus that she
was seized and carried off by Desire, who is the king of the lower world; and
although she was rescued from complete captivity by the effort of her mother,
yet after that she had to spend her life half in the lower world, and half in
that above, that is to say, partly in incarnation and partly out of it.
374.
The Minotaur, which was
slain by Theseus, was the personality in man, “half animal and half man”.
Theseus typifies the higher self, who has been gradually developing and
gathering strength until at last he can wield the sword of his divine father,
the Spirit. Guided through the labyrinth of illusion which constitutes these
lower planes by the thread of occult knowledge given him by Ariadne (who represents
intuition), the higher self is enabled to slay the lower and escape safely from
the web of illusion; yet there still remains for him the danger that,
developing intellectual pride, he may neglect intuition, even as Theseus
neglected Ariadne, and so failed for the time to reach his highest
possibilities. The legend of the slaying of Bacchus by the Titans, the tearing
of his body into fragments and his resurrection from the dead, was also taught,
with the same interpretation as that given to the legend of Osiris in the
Mysteries of Egypt - the descent of the One to become the many, and the reunion
of the many in the One through suffering and sacrifice.
375.
THE MAGIC OF THE GREATER
MYSTERIES
376.
In the Eleusinian
Mysteries the initiates were brought into close communion with the Deity
through specially consecrated food and drink. Cups of highly-magnetized water
were given to them, and consecrated cakes were eaten during the ceremonies of
initiation. S. Clement of Alexandria
gives us the formula or pass-word of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which some have
taken to refer to this sacrament: “I fasted; I drank the draught; I took from
the chest; having tasted, I placed in the basket, and from the basket into the
chest.”* (*Clem, Alex. Exhortation to the Greeks. Loeb. Ed., p. 43
(Lobeck.)) In many religions we find a similar method of conveying the
divine blessing to the people.
377.
The Hallows (Hiera)
already mentioned were physical objects extremely highly magnetized, through
which much of the magical side of the Mysteries was performed. They were the
personal property of the priestly family of the Eumolpidae, being handed down
from generation to generation; and their solemn exposition and the explanation
of the symbolical teaching connected with them was one of the features of the
Eleusinian ritual.* (*Foucart. Op. cit., p. 150.)
378.
One of these was the
caduceus, the rod of power, surrounded by the twisting serpents and surmounted
by the pine-cone. It was the same as the thyrsus; and was said to be hollow and
to be filled with fire. In India
it is a stick of bamboo with seven knots in it, which represents the spinal
column with its seven centres or chakras. When a candidate had been initiated,
he was often described as one who had been touched with the thyrsus, showing
that it was not a mere emblem, but had also a practical use. It also indicated
the spinal cord, ending in the medulla, while the serpents were symbolical of
the two channels called in Eastern terminology Ida and Pingala;
and the fire enclosed within it was the serpent-fire which in Sanskrit is
called kundalini. It was laid by the hierophant against the back of the
candidate, and thus used as a strong magnetic instrument in order to awaken the
forces latent within him, and to free the astral body from the physical, so
that the candidate might pass in full consciousness to the higher planes. To
help him in the efforts that lay before him the priest in this way gave the
aspirant some of his own magnetism. This rod of power was of the greatest
importance, and we can understand why it was regarded with so much awe when we
realize something of its occult potency.
379.
There was also the krater
or cup, always associated with Dionysus, and emblematical of the causal body of
man, which has ever been symbolized by a cup filled with the wine of the divine
life and love. The tradition of this passed down through the ages and became
mingled with that of the Holy Grail, which played so great a part in early
mediaeval romance and legend.
380.
Among the holy symbols
there were also highly-magnetized and richly jewelled statues, which had been
handed down from a remote past, and were the physical basis of certain great
forces invoked in the Mysteries; and a lyre, reputed to be the lyre of Orpheus,
on which certain melodies were played and to which the sacred chants were sung.
There were also the toys of Bacchus, with which he was playing when he was
seized by the Titans and torn to pieces - very remarkable toys, full of
significance. The dice with which he plays are the five Platonic solids, the
only regular polygons possible in geometry. They are given in a fixed series,
and this series agrees with the different planes of the solar system. Each of
them indicates, not the form of the atoms of the different planes, but the
lines along which the power works which surrounds those atoms. Those polygons
are the tetrahedron, the cube, the octahedron, the dodecahedron and the
icosahedron. If we put the point at one end and the sphere at the other we have
a set of seven figures, corresponding to the number of planes in our solar
system.
381.
In some of the older
schools of philosophy it was said: “No one can enter who does not know
mathematics.” That meant not what we now call mathematics, but that science
which embraces the knowledge of the higher planes, of their mutual relations,
and the way in which the whole is built by the will of God. When Plato said:
“God geometrizes,” he stated a profound truth which throws much light upon the
methods and mysteries of evolution. Those forms are not conceptions of the human
brain; they are truths of the higher planes. We have formed the habit of
studying the books of Euclid,
but we study them now for themselves, and not as a guide to something higher.
The old philosophers pondered upon them because they led to the understanding
of the true science of life.
382.
Another toy with which
Bacchus played was a top, the symbol of the whirling atom pictured in Occult
Chemistry. Yet another was a ball which represented the earth, that
particular part of the planetary chain to which the thought of the Logos is
specially directed at the moment. Also he played with a mirror. The mirror has
always been a symbol of the astral light, in which the archetypal ideas are
reflected and then materialized. Thus each of those toys indicates an essential
part in the evolution of a solar system.
383.
THE HIDDEN MYSTERIES
384.
The two divisions of the
lesser and greater mysteries above-mentioned were generally known, but it was
not known that there was always, behind and above those, the greater mystery of
the Path of Holiness, the steps of which are the five great Initiations already
mentioned. The very existence of the possibility of that future advancement
was not certainly known even by the initiates of the Greater Mysteries until
they were actually fit to receive the mystic summons from within. If one thinks
of the conditions of that time one can readily understand the reason for that
secrecy. The Roman Emperors, for example, knew of the existence of the Lesser
and the Greater Mysteries, and insisted upon being initiated into them. We know
from history that many of the Emperors were hardly of a character to be allowed
to play a leading role in a religious body, but it would have been very
difficult for the hierophants of the Mysteries to refuse entrance to an Emperor
of Rome. As was once said: “One cannot argue with the, master of thirty
legions.” Many of the Emperors would certainly have killed anyone who stood in
the way of anything they wished; so the existence of the true Mysteries was not
made public; and no one knew of them until he was deemed, by those who could
judge, worthy to be admitted into them. The teaching of these higher degrees is
still open to the worthy, and to the worthy alone; but certain conditions must
be fulfilled, as I have explained in The Masters and the Path.
385.
Thus the Mysteries of
Eleusis corresponded closely with those of Egypt, though they differed in
detail; and both these systems led their initiates, when properly prepared, to
that Wisdom of God which was “before the beginning of the world”. We in Masonry
do not inherit the Eleusinian succession directly, although something of its
inspiration and influence was transmitted to certain of the mystic schools of
the Middle Ages. Nevertheless our rites have the same purpose, symbolize the
same invisible worlds, and are intended to prepare candidates for the same
august reality that lies behind all true systems of the Mysteries alike.
386.
THE SCHOOL OF PYTHAGORAS
387.
The great philosopher
Pythagoras was born in Samos about 582 B.C., and was the founder of the school
that bore his name and studied his teachings in Greece,
Italy, Egypt and Asia Minor.
Mr. G. R. S. Mead says of the Pythagorean school:
388.
The finest characters
among women with which ancient Greece
presents us were formed in the School
of Pythagoras, and the
same is true of the men. The authors of antiquity are agreed that this
discipline had succeeded in producing the highest examples not only of the
purest chastity and sentiment; but also a simplicity of manners, a delicacy and
a taste for serious pursuits which was unparalleled.* (*Orpheus: G.R.S. Mead,
p. 265, 266.)
389.
Pythagoras travelled
through many of the countries of the Mediterranean basin, studying for some
years in Egypt, where he was
initiated at Sais.
He was also initiated into the Eleusinian, Kabeiric and Chaldaean Mysteries,
and thus was thoroughly versed in all the hidden knowledge of the ancient
world. In addition to his travels round the shores of the Mediterranean,
Pythagoras journeyed to India,
where he met the Lord Buddha and became one of His disciples. He spent some
years in India, and it is
reported that he had the high honour of an interview with the next World
Teacher, the holy Child Shri Krishna, who blessed him and sent him back to Europe to found his system of philosophy and of esoteric
instruction. Thus in the Pythagorean school many lines of tradition met
together, and were blended into a comprehensive teaching upon the hidden side
of life.
390.
There is a curious old
writing called the Leyland-Locke MS., which was at one time in the Bodleian
Library, but recent investigators have been unable to trace it. Its genuineness
has been disputed by some authorities, “but,” says Bro. Ward, “in my opinion on
quite inadequate grounds.”* (*An Outline History of Freemasonry, by J.S.M.
Ward, p. 24.) Its reputed date is 1436, and it is written in the quaint old
English of the period, and in the form of question and answer. In the part
referring to Freemasonry it asks where it began, and the answer is that it
began with the first men of the East, who were before the first men of the
West. Then it asks who brought it to the West and the answer is: “The
Venetians, etc.”
391.
It then continues:
392.
How comede ytt
(Freemasonry) yn Engelonde?
393.
Peter Gower, a Grecian,
journeyed for kunnynge yn Egypte and yn Syria, and yn everyche londe whereat
the Venetians hadde plauntedde Maconrye, and wynnynge entraunce yn al Lodges of
Maconnes, he learned muche, and retournedde and worked yn Grecia Magna wachsynge
and becommynge a myghtye wysacre and gratelyche renowned, and here he framed a
grate Lodge at Groton, and maked many Maconnes, some whereoffe dyd journeye yn
Fraunce, and maked manye Maconnes wherefromme, yn process of tyme, the arte
passed yn Engelonde.
394.
This is said to have
much puzzled John Locke until he realized that Peter Gower was Pitagore - the
French pronunciation of Pythagoras, that Groton
was Crotona, and the Venetians the
Phoenicians.
395.
No wonder that Mackey
says: “It is not singular that the old Masons should have called Pythagoras
their ‘ancient friend and brother’.” About 529 B.C. Pythagoras settled in
Crotona in the south of Italy,
remaining there until he was forced by political troubles to remove to Metapontum. At Crotona he became the centre of a widespread and
influential organization, a religious brotherhood which extended over all the
Greek-speaking world. “Number is great and perfect and omnipotent, and the
principle and guide of divine and human life,” said Philolaus, and the sentence
expresses the keynote of the Pythagorean system. Number is order and
limitation, and alone makes a cosmos possible. By numbers nature moves, and to
understand numbers is to be the master of nature. Hence the Pythagorean sought
to understand the nature of numbers, and to trace their working in the
universe, whether in the vast ordered movements in the heavens, or in the
arrangements of the earth. Hence also his devotion to mathematics, a science
which (as far as Europe is concerned) may almost be said to have been created
by Pythagoras, so much did he add to it and systematize it; he found it but a
number of scattered and unrelated facts, and left it a science.
Metempsychosis or reincarnation was an essential part of the Pythagorean
teaching; the purification of the soul being thus accomplished by repeated
descents into matter and withdrawals into the invisible worlds, in order to
transmute experience into faculty.
396.
THE THREE DEGREES
397.
The Pythagorean schools
worked in close association with the teaching of the Mysteries, but without the
ceremonies; they gave a philosophical exposition of the same great facts of the
inner worlds. In those schools the pupils were divided into three degrees which
corresponded almost exactly with those of the early Christians, who called
them the stages of purification, illumination and perfection respectively - the
last one including what S. Clement of Alexandria
calls the “scientific knowledge of God”. In the Pythagorean scheme the first
degree was that of the akoustikoi or hearers, who took no part in the
discussions or addresses, but kept absolute silence in the meetings for two
years, and devoted themselves to listening and learning.
398.
At the end of that time,
if otherwise satisfactory, the students were eligible for the second degree,
that of the mathematikoi. The mathematics which they learnt were not,
however, confined to what we now mean by that term. We study this science as an
end in itself, but for them it was only a preparation for something much wider,
higher and more practical. Geometry, as we now know it, was taught in the outer
world in ordinary life as a preparation; but inside these great schools the
subject was carried much farther, to the study and comprehension of the fourth
dimension, and the laws and properties of higher space. It can be fully
understood only if we take it thus as a whole, not in mere fragments, and as an
introduction to higher development. It leads a man upwards towards the
understanding of all the octaves of vibrations, as to vast areas of which
science knows nothing as yet, towards the intricate occult relations of
numbers, colours and sounds, the various three-dimensional sections of the
mighty cone of space, and the true shape of the universe. There is a vast
amount to be gained from the study of mathematics by those who know how to take
it up in the right way; it helps us to see how the worlds are made.
399.
The mathematikoi
brought geometry, mathematics and music into relation with one another, and
worked out the correspondences between them, which are very remarkable.
Everyone who knows anything about music is aware that there is a fixed
proportion between the lengths of the strings which produce certain tones. A
piano can be tuned according to a certain system of fifths, and the relation
of the different tones to one another can be expressed by the number of
vibrations of each tone; so a harmonious chord can be stated mathematically.
This was first discovered simply by experiment; later the mathematicians found
out what the proportions should be, and again by experiment they were found to
be exact. But the peculiarity is that the numbers which produce a harmonious
chord have the same relation to one another as that which exists between
certain parts of the Platonic solids. Our scale, so different from the old
Greek scale, which consisted of five tones, can still be deduced from the
proportions of those five Platonic figures, which were studied over two
thousand years ago in Greece. One might think that there cannot be much
relation between mathematics and music, but we see by this that they are both
parts of one great whole.
400.
The third degree of the
Pythagoreans was that of the physikoi - not physicists in our modern
sense of the word, but students of the true inner life, who learnt how to
distinguish the divine life under all its disguises, and so were able to
comprehend the course of its evolution. The life exacted from all these pupils
was of the most exalted purity. Mackey gives the following account of the
school at Crotona:
401.
The disciples of this
school wore the simplest kind of clothing, and, having on their entrance
surrendered all their possessions to the common fund, they submitted for three*
(*This should be two only.) years to voluntary poverty, during which time they
were also compelled to a rigorous silence. The scholars were divided into
Exoterics and Esoterics. This distinction was borrowed by Pythagoras from the
Egyptian priests, who practised a similar mode of instruction. The exoteric
scholars were those who attended the public assemblies, where general ethical
instructions were delivered by the sage. But only the esoterics constituted
the true school, and these alone Pythagoras called, says Iamblichus, his
companions and friends. Before admission to the privileges of the school, the
previous life and character of the candidate were rigidly scrutinized, and in
the preparatory initiation secrecy was enjoined by an oath, and the severest
trials of his fortitude and self-command were imposed. The brethren, about six
hundred in number, with their wives and children, resided in one large
building. Every morning the business and duties of the day were arranged, and
at night an account was rendered of the day’s transactions. They arose before
day to pay their devotions to the sun, and recited verses from Homer, Hesiod,
or some other poet. Several hours were spent in study, after which there was an
interval before dinner, which was occupied in walking and in gymnastic
exercises. The meals consisted principally of bread and honey.
402.
Although we do not find
any direct connection between the School of Pythagoras and the degrees of
modern Masonry, yet the influence of Pythagoras upon our Mysteries was
profound, as Masons have always recognized. The tradition of the Pythagoreans
passed into the Neo-Platonic schools; and from thence much of the inner
teaching came into Christian hands, and formed the basis of many of those
schools of mystic instruction which enshrined in mediaeval times certain of the
secrets now preserved in the higher degrees of Masonry. There is a
succession of ideas as well as of sacramental power; and the school of
Pythagoras may certainly be said to be one of the links in the chain of Masonic
philosophy, even though to-day the greater part of that philosophy has faded
from our rites. To Pythagoras is attributed the discovery of the 47th
proposition of Euclid, which now forms the jewel of the I.P.M. in English
Masonry, and is the basis not only of a great portion of exoteric geometry but,
in a mystical sense, of the whole system of the Mysteries, and indeed of the
universe itself. It is impossible exactly to estimate the influence of any
given line of tradition. We cannot say more than that some of the Pythagorean
teachings, probably transmitted along several mutually-interacting lines of
descent, became mingled with the Masonry of the Middle Ages and formed part of
the inner instruction that was associated with the ceremonies handed down among
the operative builders from Jewish sources. These were preserved under binding
pledges of secrecy, and emerged in speculative Masonry after the Reformation,
thus forming part of our present Masonic system.
403.
OTHER GREEK MYSTERIES
404.
Another line of
tradition is that of the Mysteries of Dionysus (or as the Romans called him,
Bacchus), which approached more closely to the Egyptian scheme of initiation
than the Eleusinian rites. They were celebrated throughout Greece and Asia Minor, but principally at Athens; they were carried to Rome, and afterwards formed a link in the
chain of Masonic descent. Their central legend deals with the slaying of
Dionysus by the Titans and his subsequent resurrection.
405.
The mysteries commenced
with the consecration of an egg, symbolizing the mundane egg from which all
things came. The candidate was crowned with myrtle, clothed in the sacred
robes, exhorted to have courage, and then led through dark caverns amid the
howling of wild beasts and other fearful noises, while flashes of lightning
revealed monstrous apparitions to his sight. After three days and nights of
this kind of experience, he was laid on a couch in a solitary cell; there was a
sudden crash of waters, typifying the deluge, and the murder of Dionysus was
enacted, his limbs being scattered on the waters. Then, amid lamentations,
commenced the search of Rhea for the remains of Dionysus, and the apartments
were filled with shrieks and groans, accompanied by the frantic dances of the
Corybantes. Suddenly the body was found, the scene changed to one of joy, and
the aspirant was released from his confinement. After that he descended into
the infernal regions, where he saw the sufferings of the wicked and the rewards
of the good, and afterwards became an epopt or seer - one who could look upon
the world from above, see it as a whole, and therefore understand it. Among the
followers of this Bacchic form of the Mysteries were the celebrated Dionysian
Artificers, a secret society, bound by the most rigid pledges never to reveal
their s … and p … w …, and employing emblems adopted from the building trade. These
wandering bands of workmen built temples all over Syria and Asia Minor, just as
the bands of Freemasons afterwards built churches in Europe. Bro. Ward writes
of them:
406.
They appear to have
reached Asia Minor from the south-east, and, according to Strabo, could be
traced through Syria and Phoenicia, via Persia and India. Apparently they
reached Phoenicia about fifty years before the building of K.S.’s temple, and
it is their presence which alone explains how that temple came to be built.
Indeed, the Bible itself makes it abundantly clear that the temple was not
built by Jews, who at that time were an agricultural race, quite incapable of
undertaking the task of building such an elaborate edifice.
407.
From the same source we
learn that the chief architects and men came from Phoenicia, and Phoenician
letters have been found on what are believed to be the foundations of the first
temple … From Phoenicia they spread first into Asia Minor, and thence into
Greece, from which country Greek colonists no doubt in the course of time
carried members of the guild to Magna Grecia, which was the early name for
South Italy.* (*An Outline History of Freemasonry, by Ward, p. 22.)
408.
It is said that this
cult of Dionysus survived up to 1908 in Thrace, in a slightly modified form at
Viza, and may still exist.* (*R. M. Dawkins, Journal of Hellenic Studies,
xxvi (1906), pp. 191-206.)
409.
In the same land of
Phoenicia, the mysteries of Adonis or Tammuz were celebrated at Byblos or
Gebal, where lived the Gibelim or Stone-squarers, deriving their name from that
of the town. The legend of these mysteries is an interesting combination of
those of Egypt and Eleusis, the death and resurrection of Adonis being
interwoven with a theme upon his exile and return for six months of the year,
which reminds us of the fate of Persephone.
410.
This cult appears in
many forms, some of them savage and sanguinary, evidently derived from the dark
and debased delusions of prehistoric and even cannibal tribes. Some hint of
these may be seen in the account given on p. 000.
411.
The mysteries of Attis
and Cybele in Phrygia had many points in
common with the last-named, the death and resurrection of Attis being the
central myth. Other mystery-cults existed also, all teaching similar ideas.
That of the Kabeiroi in Samothrace, which was held in great honour in the
ancient world, is thought by some scholars to be the oldest of them all - a
theory which is supported by the barbarous names of the deities involved. But
even these are myths of death and resurrection, the god being in this case
called Kasmillos.
412.
It seems probable that
when Virgil, in the sixth book of the Aeneid, depicted the descent of Aeneas
into hell, he intended to give a representation of what happened in some of
these Mysteries.
413.
The
Mithraic Mysteries
414.
ZARATHUSTRA AND
MITHRAISM
415.
THE Mysteries of Mithra
were in many ways similar to those of Greece, but they always had certain
characteristics which were especially their own, and the line of succession
which they transmitted was distinct from that of the three degrees of Blue
Masonry; some of the more important features of its ritual seem to have passed
over into the 18°. There was a strong military flavour about them, and they
demanded from their devotees a purity of life which was almost ascetic.
416.
Just as the Mysteries of
Egypt and Greece arose respectively from the incarnations of the World Teacher
as Thoth and Orpheus, so did the Mithraic scheme arise from His incarnation as
the first Zarathustra about 29,700 B.C. in Persia. It taught of Mithra, Captain
of the hosts of the God of Light and Saviour of mankind.
417.
MITHRAISM AMONG THE
ROMANS
418.
It is said that
Mithraism was first transmitted to the Roman world during the first century
B.C. by the Cilician pirates captured by Pompey; but, as we have already seen,
it was before that time in the possession of the Essene communities in
Palestine. For nearly two centuries it attained no great importance in Rome,
and it was not until the end of the first century A.D. that it began to attract
serious attention. Towards the close of the second century, the cult had spread
rapidly through the army, the mercantile class and the slaves, all of which
classes were largely composed of Asiatics. It throve especially at the military
posts, and in the track of trade, where its monuments have been discovered in
greatest abundance. Some twenty of the Mithraic temples still remain, and they
show certain points of resemblance to our Masonic Lodges. The temple was rectangular,
with a raised platform at the east end, often apsidal in form; continuous
benches ran along its walls on the longer sides for the accommodation of the
Brn., and the ceiling was made to symbolize the firmament.
419.
Jerome (Epist.
cvii) tells us that the system consisted of seven degrees: Corax, the
Raven, so-called not only because the raven was the servant of the sun in
Mithraic mythology, but because the raven can only imitate speech and not
originate ideas for himself;* (*Cf. the Akoustikoi of the Pytagoreans,
and the fact that the due-gard of the 1º shows that the E.A. must confine
himself to what is taught in the V.S.L.) Cryphius, the Occult, a
degree in the taking of which the mystic was perhaps hidden from others in the
sanctuary by a veil, the removal of which was a solemn ceremonial; Miles,
the Soldier, signifying the holy warfare against evil in the service of the
God; Leo, the Lion, symbolic of the element of fire, which played so
great a part in the Persian faith; Perses, the Persian, clad in Asiatic
costume, a reminiscence of the ancient origin of the religion; Heliodromus,
the Courier of the Sun, with whom Mithra was identified; and Pater, the
Father, a degree bringing the mystic among those who had the general direction
of the cult for the rest of their lives.
420.
It is not easy to trace
exact correspondences between these seven stages and our own degrees, because
of the difference between the systems. The Corax is fairly parallel with the
E.A., and the Cryphius and Miles with the F.C., the latter being distinguished
from the former by additional knowledge which may not inaptly be compared with
that of the Mark degree. These three classes together were regarded to some
extent as servitors; the next stage, Leo, was the first whose members were called
“participants” and admitted to the Mithraic sacrament. We may consider the
three stages of Leo, Perses and Heliodromus as divisions of the M.M.
degree; the first gave access to the full fellowship of the Mithraic
brotherhood, the second passed him who received it through a most impressive
ceremony in the course of which he was symbolically slain and raised to life in
honour of Mithra, and the third put him in possession of additional knowledge
equivalent to that which is supposed to be given to us in the Holy Royal Arch;
for only when he had that knowledge of the name and qualities of the deity was
he fitted to go forth as a messenger of the Sun to bear his strength and life
through the world. The Pater corresponded to our I.M., who alone can confer the
various degrees and pass on the succession to posterity.
421.
THE MITHRAIC RITES
422.
The Mithraic cult was
essentially a religion of soldiers, a veritable brotherhood of arms. Women were
never admitted to their rites of initiation, although it seems probable that in
earlier times there were separate degrees for them. The power flowing through
the rites gave especially courage and purity, and the demands upon the
candidates in both these respects were exceedingly high. There was an intensity
of brotherly feeling between the initiates of Mithra which is rarely realized
in our Lodges to-day; they were pledged to fight for the right, and they stood
shoulder to shoulder against all foes.
423.
The Mithraic sacrament
consisted of bread and wine and salt, and was consecrated at a solemn ceremony
in the Mysteries, being linked to that aspect of the Deity which was
represented by Mithra, and intensely charged with force along the
characteristic lines of purity, courage and brotherhood, helping to bind the
brethren together into a body corporate as soldiers of Light and Truth. This
same Eucharist has been transmitted to us to-day through the Culdee line of
tradition, in the ceremonial of the Rose-Croix of Heredom; but the forces flowing
through it have been modified to some extent, so that instead of a Brotherhood
of Arms we have now a Brotherhood of Love. The power of love takes the place of
the military influence of courage, although the method of consecration in the
higher worlds is the same. This is due to a blending with the Egyptian line of
tradition.
424.
The analogies between
Mithraism and Christianity are very close; they are well summarized thus in the
Encyclopedia Britannica:
425.
The fraternal and
democratic spirit of the first communities, and their humble origin; the identification
of the object of adoration with light and the Sun; the legends of the shepherds
with their gifts and adoration, the flood, and the ark; the representation in
art of the fiery chariot, the drawing of water from the rock; the use of bell
and candle, holy water and the communion; the sanctification of Sunday and of
the 25th of December; the insistence on moral conduct, the emphasis
placed upon abstinence and self-control; the doctrine of heaven and hell, of
primitive revelation, of the mediation of the Logos emanating from the divine,
the atoning sacrifice, the constant warfare between good and evil and the final
triumph of the former, the immortality of the soul, the last judgment, the
resurrection of the flesh and the fiery destruction of the universe - these
are some of the resemblances … At their root lay a common Eastern origin rather
than any borrowing?* (*Ency. Brit. (11th Edn.), Art. Mithras.)
426.
The Great Powers behind
evolution appear at one time to have thought seriously of making Mithraism the
religion of the fifth sub-race instead of the maimed Christianity which had
rejected its own gnosis and put aside its Mysteries. But the ideal of Mithraic
purity was so high that it would probably have been impossible for men to
follow it during the Dark Ages; and another very serious objection to the
system was that it absolutely excluded women. Mithraism was allowed therefore
to sink into the background and finally to pass out of sight of the outer
world. Nevertheless the ancient succession is still guarded and the rites are
preserved in the custody of the H.O.A.T.F.; so Mithraism may yet have its part
to play in the religious life of the future.
427.
In addition to the
Mysteries of Mithra, there was an Atlantean tradition of the Mysteries - that
to which we have already referred as the Chaldaean line of succession. In the
days of its splendour the Chaldaean rituals put the initiate into relation with
the great Star-Angels who were adored in that mighty faith; and a relic of this
tradition is still found in the hidden side of certain of the degrees of the
rites of Memphis and of Mizraim. The Chaldaean method of seating the Principal
Officers of a Lodge is still preserved in Continental Masonry, and has passed
also into certain of the higher degrees.
428.
THE ROMAN COLLEGIA
429.
We may now return to the
main line of Masonic descent, that of the three Craft degrees. We have already
seen how the Jewish Mysteries handed down the essentials of our Masonic rites;
it remains for us to trace their transmission to our modern Lodges. The next
link in the chain is the Roman Collegia, in which the transition from
speculative to operative Masonry took place.
430.
We have seen that the
science of architecture was always closely connected with the Mysteries, and
that our Masonic Craft ritual when properly worked is designed to build a
superphysical temple of the Ionic order of architecture, which was chosen
because it is the vehicle of the special type of force which flows through
Craft Masonry.* (*See The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, p. 120.)
431.
Other forms are built by
the higher degrees, belonging to different kinds of architecture, according to
the influences which are to be radiated through them; so we see that we are in
the presence of a science of spiritual building, of which material architecture
is but the reflection in the dense matter of the physical plane. Each order of
architecture expresses an idea and is the channel of certain types of influence
associated with that idea, attracting the attention of certain kinds of Angels
who work along the lines of that idea in the invisible worlds. Each sub-race
has its own characteristic type of architecture as well as its own type of
music, and these are often utilized by the Great Ones behind in order to
impress upon the people certain characteristics which are necessary for their
evolution.
432.
The principles of this
inner science of building were taught in the ancient Mysteries, and the temples
of the different faiths were planned by the priests with full knowledge of the
hidden side of what they were doing; it was for this reason that builders were
always associated with temples and temple-worship, and the secrets of building
were carefully guarded as part of the teaching of the Mysteries. Thus the
confusion between speculative and operative, which was purposely effected at
the breaking-up of the Roman Empire, presented no difficulties to the Powers
behind, since those two aspects had always worked in close association, and it
was merely a question of emphasizing the one, and of temporarily withdrawing
the other into yet further silence and secrecy. No essential change was
required.
433.
THE WORK OF KING NUMA
434.
Plutarch tells us that
the Roman Collegia were originally founded by Numa, the second king of Rome,
who lived during the seventh century B.C.* (*Plutarch’s Life of Numa,
A. H. Clough, Vol. i, p. 152.) Numa is a half-legendary figure to our modern
historians; but he was a very real personage, and the true founder of the Roman
Mysteries as well as of the trade guilds. Plutarch says of his character:
435.
He was endued with a
soul rarely tempered by nature and disposed to virtue, which he had yet more
subdued by discipline, a severe life, and the study of philosophy … He banished
all luxury and softness from his own home, and, while citizens alike and
strangers found in him an incorruptible judge and counsellor, in private he
devoted himself not to amusement or lucre, but to the worship of the immortal
Gods, and the rational contemplation of their divine power and nature.* (*Ibid.,
pp. 130, 131.)
436.
Numa was “deeply versed,
so far as anyone could be in that age, in all law, divine and human,* (*Livy.,
Bk. I, xviii (Loeb Ed.)) says Livy; while Dio Cassius tells us that he shaped
the political and peaceable institutions of Rome, as Romulus had determined its
military career.* (*Dio's Roman History, Loeb. Ed., p. 29.) In addition
to all his external ability, he was far advanced on the Path of Holiness, and
was a high Initiate of the White Lodge. His especial work was laying down, at
the very beginning of the Roman State, the inner foundation of Rome’s future
greatness; he moulded both her outer religion and her inner Mysteries, which in
later days were to be the channel of that spiritual force which would make Rome
mighty among the nations, one of the greatest empires that the world has ever
known.
437.
Numa sent messengers to Egypt, to Greece,
to Chaldaea, to Palestine and other lands, to
study all existing systems of the Mysteries, so that he might adopt in Rome those most suited to
the development of his people. His high occult rank opened all doors; and like
Pythagoras, an even greater Initiate, who came later, he was enabled to
synthesize many lines of tradition into one comprehensive whole. The system
which appears to have been adopted in Rome was that of the Mysteries of
Dionysus or Bacchus, which, as we have already seen, closely corresponded to
the Egyptian system; and here we have the first of the links with the Dionysian
Artificers of whom Masonic tradition so persistently speaks.
438.
Numa introduced the
Egyptian line of succession, and thus the hierophants of his Mysteries were
I.M.s. after the manner of the priests of Egypt and the Masons of to-day.
This succession appears to have been handed down in secret among the Colleges
of Architects until the time when Christianity began to dominate the Roman
world at the beginning of the third century A.D. The fortunes of the Colleges
or guilds which were thus formed were very varied; gradually they rose to great
political power, were abolished by the senate about 80 B.C., and restored again
twenty years later. The Emperors issued edicts against them from time to time,
but those which could prove their antiquity or religious character were
permitted to remain in existence. They were finally abolished in A.D. 378.
439.
THE COLLEGES AND THE
LEGIONS
440.
Of these Colleges of
Architects one was attached to every Roman Legion, building for it
fortifications in time of war and in time of peace temples and houses. It was
thus that the Roman Mysteries were brought to Northern
Europe. Wherever the Romans settled, the Collegia worked their
rites, and in process of time native soldiers were initiated into their ranks,
until the system became deeply-rooted in each Roman colony. Closely connected
with these rites were those of Mithra which, as we have seen, were also spread
by the Roman armies, although the two systems were always kept separate and
distinct.
441.
The organization of the
Colleges, as extant records show, corresponded in many ways with that of our
modern Lodges. “Tres faciunt Collegium” – “Three make a College” was one of
their principles; and the rule was so indispensable that it became a maxim of
civil law. The College was ruled by a Magister or Master, and two Decuriones
or Wardens; and among other officers were a treasurer, sub-treasurer, secretary
and archivist.* (*R. F. Gould, History of Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 42.)
There was also a Sacerdos or Chaplain, who was in charge of the religious
side of the work. The members of the College consisted of three grades
corresponding closely to Apprentices, Fellows and Masters; and records point to
the fact that they possessed semi-religious rites which were kept rigidly
secret, and also that they attached symbolic interpretations to their tools,
such as the square and compasses, the plumb-rule and level. They took pagan
gods as their patrons in much the same way as the guilds which succeeded them
adopted Christian patron saints. The Four Crowned Martyrs, the patron saints
of Masonry, were Christian members of a College who were tortured to death by
the Emperor Diocletian for refusing to make a statue of Aesculapius.* (*J. S.
M. Ward: Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods, pp. 144, 145.) They were later
confused with the tradition of the Four Brothers of Horus.
442.
Bro. J. S. M. Ward
describes a building of the Collegia unearthed at Pompeii
in 1878, which had been buried in A.D. 79, during the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It contains striking Masonic correspondences.
There are two columns, and on the walls are interlaced triangles. Upon a
pedestal in the centre was found an inlaid marble slab with a skull, level and
plumb-rule and other Masonic designs in mosaic work. A fresco in another
building close by shows a figure in the act of making the F.C.H.S.* (*J. S. M.
Ward: Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods, pp. 115, 116.) The Roman
Colleges of Architects were brought to Britain by the Roman army. One legion
under Julius Caesar established a colony at Eboracum or York, later to be so
prominent in Masonic legend and tradition; and another centre was at Verulam,
afterwards known as S. Albans.
443.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
JEWISH FORM
444.
The introduction of the
Jewish form of the Masonic ceremonies was intentionally arranged by the Powers
who stand behind Freemasonry about the time when Christianity was gaining
ascendancy in the Roman Empire. It would have
been almost impossible to continue the Mysteries of Bacchus or those of Mithra
in their original form, while there was so much opposition between the
Christian faith and the old Pagan religion. No such opposition was in Roman
days felt towards the Jews, among whom the Christian faith arose and had its
early nurture; and the Jewish form of the Mysteries was therefore adopted by
the White Lodge as the best means of transmitting the ancient rites through the
Dark Ages, when the Church rigorously persecuted all who were not in agreement
with her doctrines. The chief agent in the work of transition was He who was
then known as S. Alban, but whom to-day we revere as the Master the Comte de S.
Germain, the Head of all true Freemasons throughout the world. I have given
some account of Him and His Roman incarnation in The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry.* (*Op. cit., pp. 12-16)
445.
THE TRANSITION TO THE
OPERATIVES
446.
The Mysteries of Bacchus
quite naturally and gradually gave place to the Jewish form of the same
tradition as Christianity grew more and more powerful; for this was not
incompatible with the Christian faith as the Greek and Egyptian traditions
would have been; and the speculative secrets were more and more confused with
operative terminology until the transition was complete. When the Roman Empire
of the West was destroyed, political power came more and more into the hands of
the Church, which grew very suspicious of secret societies, and suppressed them
with great vigour. She did not, however, persecute the operative Masons, whom
she regarded as a body of men wisely guarding the secrets of their trade, which
she supposed to be concerned with the measurements of columns and arches,
quantities for the mixing of mortar, and other such things.
447.
The Masters of the White
Lodge, therefore, intentionally confused the symbolical with the operative
working and thus preserved Blue Masonry, but permitted the higher wisdom to
sink for the time out of sight. Thus they provided for such of the egos born in
Europe as could not develop under the cruder teaching which was mis-called
Christianity.
448.
This effort to preserve
the Mysteries in the Dark Ages was successful because the speculative Masons
adopted as much as they could of the operative Masons’ terminology, and
entrusted them with some of the secrets. The latter then faithfully carried on
the forms without comprehending more than half of what they meant.
449.
Then those who held
philosophical ideas of which the Church would not approve allied themselves
with the operative masons, became members of the fraternity, and attended their
meetings; they did not come into the guilds as operative masons, and therefore
were not bound as apprentices, but were free masons accepted into the operative
body, but not belonging to it by right of physical-plane work. The tradition of
the Collegia passed into the Lodges of the guilds, as we shall see in the next chapter,
and the ancient succession of I.M.s, which we in Britain trace through S.
Alban, was handed down unbroken from century to century. In consequence of this
persecution, and the partial restoration of Masonry in different forms in
different countries, its outward history had been obscured and confused in the
greatest possible degree. It is a matter that might no doubt be elucidated by
long and painstaking research, but it would be a task involving far too great
an expenditure of energy and time.
450.
Craft
Masonry in Medieval Times
451.
EVOLUTIONARY METHODS
452.
THE theory of human
evolution ordinarily put before us is that of a slow upward progress of man
from extremely primitive and almost animal conditions through the Stone Age,
the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, until he has arrived at his present level, which
is by this hypothesis the highest which he has yet attained. This view is
only partially true; it is only on the one hand in a very broad and general
sense covering a development lasting many millions of years, and on the other
in a purely local sense affecting one or two sub-races, that it can be said to
be true at all, for it leaves entirely out of account some of the most
important factors in the case.
453.
Let no one ever doubt
that evolution is a fact - that God has a plan for man, and that that plan is
one of eternal advancement and unfoldment, carrying him on to heights of glory
and splendour of which at present we have no conception.
454.
Yet we doubt not through
the ages one eternal purpose runs.
455.
And the thoughts of men
are widened with the process of the suns.* (*Locksley Hall, by Lord
Tennyson.)
456.
But if we wish to
understand anything of this wondrous scheme we must begin by trying to grasp
its general principles. First, it is no mere haphazard growth; it is being
definitely directed from behind by a body of perfected men which we call the
Great White Brotherhood - a body which exists to carry out the will of the
Logos of the solar system. It works through machinery so vast and complicated
that from the physical plane we can never see more than a tiny corner of its
operation, and so we constantly misconceive and underrate it.
457.
Secondly, its method of
working is cyclical. The soul of man grows by occupying a succession of bodies,
each of which is born, grows slowly to maturity, lives its life, learns (or
fails to learn) its lesson, and then dies. Just so humanity grows by
incarnating in a succession of races, each of which passes through its stage of
youth, adolescence, full manhood and decay. Often the period of decay seems
sad, both with the man and with the race; often the student of history cannot
but regret the passing of a once mighty and splendid civilization to make way
for a savagery possibly more virile, but certainly in its youth coarser and cruder.
458.
A flagrant example of
that was the destruction of the gentle and beautiful civilization of Peru by
the incredibly cruel and atrocious methods of the invading Spaniards; another
very similar case was the utterly unjustifiable attack upon the civilization of
Rome by the ferocious hordes of Goths and Vandals from the north. So coarse, so
brutal were they that their very names have become a proverb, and we use them
to-day to indicate the extremes of clumsiness and wanton destruction. Yet they
also were an instrument in the hand of the divine power, and their crass
ignorance contained within itself the seed of certain qualities which were in
danger of dying out and being forgotten among the decaying races which they
were destined to leaven and partially to replace.
459.
THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE
MYSTERIES
460.
Even before the
destruction of the Roman Empire the withdrawal
of the Mysteries as public institutions had taken place; and this fact was
mainly due to the excessive intolerance displayed by the Christians. Their amazing
theory that none but they could be “saved” from the hell which they themselves
had invented naturally led them to try all means, even the most cruel and
diabolical persecutions, to force people of other faiths to accept their
particular shibboleth. As the Mysteries were the heart and stronghold of a more
rational belief, they of course opposed them bitterly, quite forgetful that in
the earlier days of their religion they had claimed to possess as much of the
inner knowledge as any other system.
461.
THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES
462.
Even to-day it is quite
commonly thought that Christianity had no mysteries, and some of its followers
boast that in it nothing is hidden. That mistaken idea has been so sedulously impressed
upon the world that it leads many people to feel a certain distaste for the
wiser faiths which met all needs, and to think of them as unnecessarily hiding
part of the truth or grudging it to the world. In the old days there was no
such thought as this; it was recognized that only those who came up to a
certain standard of life were fit to receive the higher instruction, and those
who wished for it set to work to qualify themselves for it. Knowledge is power,
and people must prove their fitness before they will be entrusted with power;
for the object of the whole scheme is human evolution, and the interests of
evolution would not be served by promiscuous publication of occult truth.
463.
Those who maintain the
above-mentioned opinion about Christianity are unacquainted with the history of
the Church. Though many of the early Christian writers are bitterly hostile to
the Mysteries, they indignantly deny the suggestion that in their Church they
have nothing worthy of that name, and claim that their Mysteries are in every
way as good and deep and far-reaching as those of their ‘pagan’ opponents. S.
Clement says: “He who has been purified in baptism and then initiated into the
little Mysteries (has acquired, that is to say, the habits of self-control and
reflection), becomes ripe for the greater Mysteries, for Epopteia or Gnosis,
the scientific knowledge of God.”* (*Quoted in Some Glimpses of Occultism,
Ch. ii.) The same writer also said: “It is not lawful to reveal to profane
persons the Mysteries of the Logos.”
464.
Origen, the most
brilliant and learned of all the ecclesiastical Fathers, also asserts the
existence of the secret teaching of the Church, and speaks plainly of the
difference between the ignorant faith of the undeveloped multitude, and the
higher and reasonable faith which is founded upon definite knowledge. He draws
a distinction between “the popular irrational faith” which leads to what he
calls “somatic Christianity” (the merely physical form of the religion) and
the “spiritual Christianity” offered by the Gnosis or wisdom. He makes it
perfectly clear that by “somatic Christianity” he means that faith which is
based on the gospel history. He says of it: “What better method could be
devised to assist the masses?” In Dean Inge’s Christian Mysticism he is
quoted as teaching that:
465.
The Gnostic or sage no
longer needs the crucified Christ. The eternal or spiritual gospel which is his
possession shows clearly all things concerning the Son of God Himself both the
Mysteries shown by his words and the things of which his acts were the symbols
… Origen regards the life, death and resurrection of Christ as only one
manifestation of a universal law, which was really enacted not in this fleeting
world of shadows, but in the eternal counsels of the Most High. He considers
that those who are thoroughly convinced of the universal truths revealed by the
incarnation and the atonement need trouble themselves no more about their
particular manifestations in time.* (*Op. cit., p. 89.)
466.
Here we see distinct and
repeated references to the hidden teaching, greater far than anything known to
the Church of the present day, and carrying those who study it to a much higher
level than is ever now attained by the disciples of orthodoxy. What has become
of this magnificent heritage of Christianity? It is true that everything the
Church knows is now given out, but that is only because she has forgotten the
mysteries which she used to keep hidden. This is one of the principal reasons
why she has lost control of her more intellectual sons, and has therefore
failed in her duty to educate and instruct the people in the most important
things of life, and has left our age the most unpractical one ever known.
467.
We have come into this
world to live our lives, not to make money, and on the way in which we live
depends the condition of our future births. One would think, therefore, that
people would be taught all about these things in school. It is certain that
every one must die, but nobody tells us anything that is worth knowing about
that important matter. On the contrary, exoteric Christianity in the days of
its power positively forbade those who knew to say anything on the subject, and
enforced with the most terrible weapons its incredibly foolish commandment:
“Thou shalt not think.”
468.
Happily all this
wonderful wisdom is not lost, for much of it is preserved to us in the
teachings of Freemasonry. There were many thousands of people at the time when
Christianity began to dominate the world who still clung to the ancient
tradition, who preferred to state their views in the older forms. As
Christianity grew narrower and more aggressive, and less tolerant of fact,
those who knew something of the truth, and wished to preserve its enshrinement
in those older forms, had more and more to keep their meetings secret; for the
Church was exceedingly intolerant towards anyone who dared to differ from her,
even in minor matters.
469.
THE REPRESSION OF THE
MYSTERIES
470.
In A.D. 399 the Emperor
Theodosius issued his celebrated edict, which was a heavy blow to the outer
manifestation of the ancient pagan faith:
471.
Whatever privileges were
conceded by the ancient laws to the priests, ministers, prefects, hierophants
of sacred things, or by whatsoever name they may be designated, are to be
abolished henceforth, and let them not think that they are protected by a
granted privilege when their religious confession is known to have been
condemned by the law.
472.
By A.D. 423 the
penalties against those who clung to the old beliefs had become severe, for in
a later edict of the same Emperor we find:
473.
Although the pagans that
remain ought to be subjected to capital punishment if at any time they are
detected in the abominable sacrifices of demons, let exile and confiscation of
goods be their punishment.* (*Codex Theodosianus XVI, 10, 14, 23, quoted
in A Source Book for Ancient Church History. Ayer, p. 371.)
474.
Wherever possible the
temples of the gods were destroyed, the ancient libraries were burnt, the
statues and other relics were broken in pieces by the brutal hands of the savage
Christians - and what destruction remained to be accomplished in the Western Empire was completed by the no less barbarian
invaders. So perished the outer worship of the gods of Greece and Rome; the
Mysteries were withdrawn into inviolable secrecy, which remained unbroken until
after the Reformation, when the Church had lost her power to burn and torture
all who did not at least pretend to be in agreement with her doctrines.
475.
THE CROSSING OF
TRADITIONS
476.
This retirement took
place in several countries simultaneously, so several traditions arose which,
like the mystery-systems from which they were derived, differed considerably in
their details, though they were always based upon a common plan. These
traditions have crossed and recrossed one another constantly throughout
the centuries, have influenced each other in all sorts of secret ways, have
been carried from country to country by many messengers; so that the Masonry
which emerged in the eighteenth century bears the signature of many lines of
descent, of many interacting schools of mystical philosophy.
477.
Behind all these
different movements, utterly unknown except by the few disciples charged with
the work of keeping alight the sacred fire during the Dark Ages, stood the
White Lodge itself, encouraging all that was good in them, guiding and
inspiring all who were willing to open themselves to such influence.
478.
By efflux of time the
true philosophy has gradually faded out of them again and again, and from time
to time the adepts have taken advantage of some favourable opportunity to
restore a little of it sometimes by founding a new rite or school, sometimes by
instigating the establishment of additional degrees in an existing rite. We
see, therefore, a number of parallel and equally valid streams of tradition
running down in secret throughout the Middle Ages, and emerging here and there
in movements which are to some extent known in the outer world. The real
continuum of Masonry may thus be compared to the roots of a plant creeping
along under the ground, and giving forth apparently separate plants at
intervals. There are, however, more or less broken lines of outward descent
that may be traced up to a certain point on the physical plane; it is with
these that we shall especially concern ourselves in the following chapters.
479.
THE TWO LINES OF DESCENT
480.
We have already
indicated that the only portion of the Masonic tradition which was anciently
divided into definite degrees is that which we now call Craft or symbolic
Masonry - the direct descendant of the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries of
Egypt and Judaea, and closely akin to the
Mysteries of Greece. Greater sacramental powers were conferred and deeper
spiritual instruction was given to the few who were endeavouring to prepare themselves
for the true Mysteries of the White Lodge; but these cannot be called degrees
after the manner of Craft Masonry, for even in ancient Egypt they were not
organized as such. Both these lines of sucession passed down through the Middle
Ages; the Craft degrees were deliberately confused with operative building, and
were thus transmitted, although in secrecy, in the outer world, but the
higher instruction still belonged only to the few, and was handed down in far
deeper secrecy still, being introduced from time to time into the heart of
various mystical schools, which were much more exclusive in their choice of
members than the operative builders.
481.
With the Craft degrees
were associated the kernel of those ceremonies which we now attach to the
Honourable Degree of Mark Master Mason, connected, as always, with the 2°, and
the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem, worked in conjunction
with the 3°. Our present rituals for these are not therefore necessarily
ancient, for all have been subjected to much modern recasting and editing. A
body of legend and tradition explanatory of the ceremonial appears also to have
been handed down; and the relics of this have in comparatively recent times
been manufactured into separate ceremonial degrees - such, for example, as
certain of the earlier stages of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and
their kindred among the side or additional degrees worked in England and
America.
482.
THE CULDEES
483.
A noteworthy line of
tradition, connected with Craft Masonry to some extent, but even more with the
Royal Order of Scotland and the 18°, is found among the Culdees of Ireland, Scotland and York. Few trustworthy sources of information
exist concerning them, though they have been the centre of many beautiful
dreams; but they are thought by scholars to have been either an ancient
monastic order with settlements in Ireland and Scotland,* (*Enc. Brit.,
Art. Culdees (Eleventh Ed.)) or in a wider sense to have represented the
monks and clerics of the Celtic Church without limitation, as well as those
understood to be their successors in later times.* (*Hist. Freemasonry,
R. F. Gould, Vol. I, p. 47.)
484.
We hear of them in
Ireland from the ninth to the seventeenth centuries; from the ninth to the
fourteenth centuries in Scotland, where they had several influential monastic
communities, including one upon the holy island of Iona, which had been one of
the greatest spiritual centres of Celtic Christianity long before the word
Culdee is mentioned in the historical records concerning it. In Wales in the
twelfth century there was a strict community of Culdees living in the island of
Bardsey, the holy island of Wales; while in England we find them as officiating
clergy in the Cathedral Church of S. Peter at York during the reign of King Athelstan,
who was so closely linked with English Masonic tradition.* (*Hist.
Freemasonry, R. F. Gould, Vol. I, p. 50 ff.) It is said that after
requesting the prayers of the Culdees for victory over the Scots, when he was
successful he granted them a perpetual endowment of corn, to enable them to
continue their works of charity.
485.
Their name has been
derived from the Celtic Cele-De, meaning Companion or Servant of God,
and from the Latin Colidei, worshippers of God; others have thought
that it came from the Celtic cuill dich, meaning men of seclusion; but
the etymology of the word is not certainly known. Godfrey Higgins claimed that
the word Culdee was the same as Chaldee, and ascribed to them an Oriental
origin, although he adduces no authentic evidence for his views.* (*Quoted by
Bro. A. E. Waite: A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, Art. Culdees.)
486.
CELTIC CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN
487.
Students of English
Church History know that Christianity was introduced into Great Britain long
before the missions of S. Patrick and S. Augustine; and there has been a
persistent feeling that this Christianity was not that of Rome, but had
affinities rather with the Eastern rites.* (*Neander, General History
of the Christian Religion and Church, Vol. i. p. 117. Quoted Gould, loc.
cit.) Many traditions, none of them substantiated by authentic records,
bear witness to this belief, and point the way to a truth in the background.
There is the beautiful legend of Joseph of Arimathaea and the Holy Thorn
of Glastonbury; there is the story told by Theodoret and Fortunatus that S.
Paul visited Britain, which appears to receive some confirmation from S.
Clement of Rome; while Eusebius, the great ecclesiastical historian, mentions
that some of the twelve apostles visited the British Isles.* (*Foundation
Stones. Austin Clare, p. 16.) Indeed it was not until the twelfth century
that Celtic Christianity was finally brought into line with the usages of Roman
Catholicism.* (*Enc. Brit., loc. cit.)
488.
The holy island of Iona,
once the heart of the old Celtic Church, lies off the west coast of Scotland among the Inner
Hebrides. It was called Hy or Icolmkill (the island of Columba of
the Church), and by the Highlanders Innis nan Druidhneah (the isle of the
Druids), implying that before the coming of S. Columba in A.D. 563 it had been
a hallowed centre of the ancient worship of the Celts.* (*Enc. Brit.,
Art. Iona.) The monks of Iona spread their learning over Sootland and
Northern England, and the early Celtic Bishops owned the abbot of Iona as their
spiritual head. In 717 the monks of Iona were expelled from Scotland by the
Pictish King Nechtan; but their place was largely filled by the Culdees of
Ireland,* (*Enc. Brit., Art. Culdees.) who appear to have been
followers of the same tradition. No mention is made of the Culdees in Scotland
after A.D. 1382.* (*Gould, loc. cit.)
489.
We find that the early British Church, of which the Culdees were the
later survivors, possessed a beautiful and mystical form of Christianity
derived from Eastern sources and closely connected with the traditions of the
Essenes, who were the immediate followers of Our Lord. It had the apostolic
succession of the Christian Church, but its teachings were less defined and
rigid, more mystical and poetic than the Roman scholasticism which in later
days so completely absorbed it. In addition to the Christian sacraments,
certain secret rites were brought to Britain by the original
missionaries, rites belonging to the Mithraic line of succession, which, as we
have already seen, were practised among the Essenes; and there may also in all
likelihood have existed among them a succession of Jewish Masonry unconnected
with the Roman Collegia.
490.
THE DRUIDIC MYSTERIES
491.
These various lines of
tradition were assimilated to some extent with the indigenous Mysteries of the
Druids, which, however, had lost much of the splendour of former times; and
even the outer Christian rites became touched with that peculiar beauty which
is the heritage of the Celt. We find confirmation of the ancient legend that
the splendid Celtic race called the Tuatha De Danaan, which flourished in
ancient Ireland, came
originally from Greece
through Scandinavia; and the same is true of other offshoots of the Celtic
stock which settled in Wales,
Cornwall and Brittany. They all formed a branch of that
Fourth Sub-race from which the later Greeks and Romans were also descended; and
the origin of the Mysteries of the Druids may be traced to the great World
Teacher, in His incarnation as Orpheus, the singer of Hellas, though they were
also influenced somewhat by the still older Mysteries of Ireland which date
from Atlantean times. The lyre of Apollo became the harp of Angus; and the old
worship of God as the divine beauty manifesting through music thus passed down
into Britain.
492.
The Druidical Mysteries
had a certain influence on the imported Roman or Norman rites. They are
compared by Strabo and Artemidorus to the rites of Samothrace,
and by Dionysius to those of Bacchus, while Mnaseas refers to their Kabiric
correspondences. We learn from Diogenes Laertius and from Caesar that the
Druidic method of instruction was by symbols, enigmas and allegories, and that
they taught orally, deeming it unlawful to commit their knowledge to writing.
It is said that their ceremonies of initiation required much physical
purification and mental preparation. In the first degree the aspirant’s
symbolical death was represented, and in the third his regeneration from the
womb of the giant goddess Ceridwin and the committal of the newly-born to the waves
in a small boat, symbolical of the ark. Their doctrines were similar to those
of Pythagoras - including reincarnation and the existence of one Supreme Being.
Apart from a few stray references in classical authors, we know of them today
chiefly through the Bardic songs attributed to the Welsh poet Taliesin, of the
sixth century A.D., who claimed Druidic initiation. Culdees of York blended
Christian mysticism with these pre-Christian rites, and so linked them with
modern Masonry.
493.
There have been many
other mysteries, such as those of Ireland, closely connected with the Druids,
and of Scandinavia, wherein the death and resurrection of Balder was the chief
theme, and no doubt all these were connected with the source of our present
Masonry, being branches of the same tree, even though external traces of their
relationship in the past have disappeared.
494.
THE HOLY GRAIL
495.
As part of this indirect
heritage from the Greek Mysteries came the well-known symbol of the Krater
or Cup, which in the intermingling with early British Christianity was
identified with the Sangreal, the Chalice used by our Lord at the Last Supper
for the founding of the Holy Eucharist. King Arthur, who has often been
supposed to be an imaginary hero, was a very real and most lovable and sagacious
ruler, of whom England may well be proud; his Round Table also is fact and not
fiction, and among its Knights there was a rite of the Christian Mysteries
centring round the beautiful story of the quest for the Holy Grail. Some there
were who took the legend literally and undertook endless physical-plane
pilgrimages in search of an earthly cup; others knew that the mystical meaning
of the finding of the Holy Grail is the union between the higher and the lower
self, which is one of the qualifications for initiation into the true Mysteries
of the White Lodge; for the Chalice symbolically represents the causal body
into which the “blood” of the Mystery is poured. “I am the cup, His love the
wine.” The Mysteries of the Holy Grail were simultaneously celebrated in
various centres, both in Great Britain and on the Continent, where they
doubtless became mingled with other lines of tradition; and in them we find
clear traces of one of those secret schools in which the flame of the hidden
wisdom burnt bright during the early Middle Ages. The tradition of the Grail
and its spiritual Knighthood passed into literature through the hands of
Chretien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach and other writers, whence on the one
hand we derive the Morte d’Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory, from which
Tennyson drew the materials for his Idylls of the King, and on the other
the glorious music of Parsifal, in which Wagner reconstructed so
magnificently the German tradition of the Grail Brotherhood.
496.
HEREDOM
497.
In Scotland these secret Mysteries of the East and
West were handed down from generation to generation in various centres, one of
the chief of these being the sacred island
of Iona. Among the
initiates of the Culdee rites Iona was called Heredom. Heredom is said in
Masonic tradition to be a mystical mountain, and as such it is indeed the mount
of Initiation beyond the veils of space and time; but it was also the secret
name of the physical centre of the Mysteries - and this centre was Iona.
Another such secret centre in mediaeval days was the Abbey of Kilwinning; and
thus, the rites which derive in part from Culdee sources have always styled
themselves as of Kilwinning and of Heredom.
498.
The Saxon invasion of Britain drove
the Celtic inhabitants of the plains to the mountains of the west and north;
and thus there was a further mingling of the Jewish Mysteries of the Collegia
with the Culdee rites. The Culdees of York were among the guardians of the
Masonic tradition in the tenth century, and the Old Charges tell us that an
assembly of Masons was held at York
during the reign of King Athelstan, when a reorganization of the Craft took
place. For many centuries York was a powerful centre of Masonry; and we have a
curious piece of testimony given in 1835, by Godfrey Higgins, who claimed to be
in possession of a Masonic document by which he could prove that “no very long
time ago” the Culdees or Chaldaeans of York were Freemasons, that they
constituted the Grand Lodge of England, and that they held their meetings in
the crypt under the great cathedral of that city.* (*Quoted in Waite’s New
Encyclopaedia, Art. Culdees.) As we shall presently see, it was at
York that certain important Masonic degrees emerged in the eighteenth century.
499.
The monks of the Celtic Church
were largely responsible for the introduction of Christianity into Germany.
“Wherever they came they raised Churches and dwellings for their priests,
cleared the forests, tilled the virgin soil, and instructed the heathen in the
first principles of civilization.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., Vol. I, p.
107.) Some German authorities have held that the monks directing these
operations owed much of their success to the remnants of the Roman Colleges of
Gaul and Britain, and ultimately laid the foundations of the craft guild system
in Germany. Gould rejects this view on the ground that at the time of the
Celtic influence there were no craft guilds in Germany;* (*Gould. Hist.
Freem., Vol. I, p. 109.) but nevertheless some of the secret rites and
traditions of the Celtic monks passed into the German monasteries and formed
one of the lines of descent of those stonemasons who built the great German
cathedrals in the Middle Ages.
500.
In Scotland the Celtic
Mystery-tradition passed down independently of the later operative Lodges, for
there is no trace whatsoever of any high degrees in the extant Minutes of
Mother Kilwinning, No. 0 upon the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which
date from 1642.* (*History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel, No.
I) D. Murray Lyon, pp. 340, 434.) There is
truth in the legend of the coming of certain of the French Knights Templars to Scotland after
their proscription in 1307, and there was an intermingling of their doctrines
also with the Scottish rites. One line of descent crossed from Scotland to
France, where it was blended in the eighteenth century with the Egyptian
tradition to form the rite of Heredom or of Perfection under the Council of the
Emperors of the East and West, as will be further explained in Chapter XI.
Another line was handed down in Scotland and England, becoming blended with
Jewish Tradition, and Emerged in the Degrees of HRDM-RSYCS in what we now call
the Royal Order of Scotland. The curious rhymed ritual of the Royal Order bears
internal evidences of age, and although its Christianity has been ruthlessly
edited in protestant interests there are yet traces of the old mystical ideas
of the Celtic Church.
501.
Operative
Masonry in the Middle Ages
502.
THE TEMPORARY CUSTODIANS
503.
IN a complete study of mediaeval
operative Masonry it would be necessary to include a treatise upon the various
schools of mediaeval architecture and the tendencies, national and economic,
which influenced their creation and development. In this book we are concerned
with the operative builders only in so far as they were the temporary
custodians of the speculative science of the Mysteries; but the study of
architecture is of considerable value to the Mason; for it is the
physical-plane reflection of mighty ideas in the inner worlds, and by the study
of architecture certain of the laws of spiritual building may by analogy be
reached and understood.
504.
As Masons, our
speculative ancestry is noble and magnificent, for we are in that respect the
lineal descendants of the kings and prophets and priests of old who have been
the bearers of the Hidden Light to men through countless generations; but of
our operative forefathers who so faithfully guarded the tradition in the days
of darkness we may also be proud, for their art at its zenith was unsurpassed
in richness and splendour by the achievements of any other age in Europe; the
great cathedrals and monasteries which they built to the glory of God and in
the service of His Church are touched with the finger of divine inspiration, so
that the cold marble is transfigured into almost unbelievable grace and
delicacy; they are veritable dreams of beauty materialized into stone. The
operative Masons, too, have handed down to us many of their customs and usages;
and it is well that we should understand these in addition to what we have
derived from other sources.
505.
When Europe
was overrun by the Germanic tribes and the Empire of the West was destroyed,
the Roman Collegia for the most part disappeared with the other fruits of
civilization. The Mysteries enshrined in them survived in a more or less
repressed form in Italy, France and England, although they were kept
extremely secret for fear of the barbarian invaders. It was from these
survivals that the Lodges of the guild Masons of the Middle Ages were derived.
506.
DECLINE OF THE COLLEGIA
507.
Mackey shows how the
Collegia declined after the fall of Rome, and how new guilds were started and
old ones revived under the patronage of the Christian clergy, and asserts that
after the tenth century the whole of Europe was perambulated by bands of
wanderers called Travelling Freemasons, who erected churches and monasteries in
the Gothic style. Authorities differ seriously in opinion as to whether the
fraternities who built the great cathedrals were joined together by any central
organization. There is much in the similarity of style of building in the
different countries, and in the Masonic signs upon the buildings, to indicate
their connection, but the central organization must have allowed its branches
great latitude, since the differences in style are also great. The cathedrals
that the Travelling Freemasons built with such great skill and artistic
inspiration were laid out upon a symbolic plan, usually based upon the cross
and the vesica piscis, and there is some evidence that they moralized
upon their tools. Undoubtedly these were men of the loftiest intellect and
spirituality, and we modern speculative Masons have no reason to be ashamed of
our associations with such operative craftsmen.
508.
THE COMACINI
509.
The first signs of a
revival in the art of building, the first stirrings of that creative spirit
which was to blossom in later years in the full glory of the Gothic, are to be
found in Lombardy, where originated the style called Romanesque, which
eventually spread all over Europe. According to tradition, the College of
Architects from Rome removed during the last days of the Empire to the safe
refuge offered by the little republic of Comum, once the home of Pliny, and
made its retreat upon the lovely island still known as Isola Comacina in Lake
Como in Northern Italy.* (*The Cathedral Builders, Leader Scott; pp. 11,
140.) In A.D. 568 the surrounding country fell into the hands of the Lombards
or Longobards, so-called from their long beards and uncouth appearance, whose
original home had been in the lower basin of the Elbe; and although at first
they were detested by the Italians, with surprising rapidity they developed
enthusiasm for the arts and refinement of the land they had conquered.* (*History
of Art, H. B. Cotterill, Vol. I, p. 232.)
510.
The first mention in
contemporary records of the celebrated Comacine Masters, who were descended
from that Roman College, occurs in the code of the Lombard King Rothares (643),
in which they figure as Master Masons with power to make contracts for building
works and to employ workmen and labourers.* (*The Cathedral Builders, p.
5.) They are mentioned also in the Memoratorio of King Luitprand in
713,* (*Ibid., p. 24.) when they received the privileges of freemen in
the Lombard State. To their creative genius
Romanesque architecture is due; and in all probability they adapted the
traditional Roman methods to the requirements of their Lombard
masters. It is clear from the Edict that they were highly-skilled architects.
From a letter from Theodoric the Great to an architect whom he had appointed,
we learn that the profession was highly developed, and an architect had to be
able to construct a building from foundation to roof, and also decorate it
with sculpture and painting, mosaic and bronzework. This inclusiveness
prevailed in all the mediaeval schools up to 1335, when the Siennese painters
seceded; and subsequently other branches also separated themselves into
distinct guilds.
511.
The first dawn of the
new style (c. 600) was followed by a long period of obscuration, not unlike
that Dark Age which in the evolution of Greek art followed the Dorian conquest.
Then, with a strange suddenness, sprang forth (c. 1000) in wonderful perfection
the new style, and rapidly extended itself over much of western and northern
Christendom - the rapidity of this extension being easily explainable by the
fact that master-builders and workmen were often summoned to great distances
from well-known centres of architecture. In the same way as Venice and Ravenna
sent to Constantinople for Byzantine builders, Charles the Great and many other
princes, as well as cities, procured from Italy skilful Romanesque
architects, such as the Comacine Masters, and the characteristics of this
Lombard Romanesque are found not only in Germany and France but even in
England.* (*History of Art, Vol. I, p. 230.)
512.
Italian chroniclers
relate that architects and builders were sent by Pope Gregory the Great to
England with S. Augustine, and we learn from the Venerable Bede that S.
Benedict Biscop set out for Gaul to search for masons to build the monastic
church at Monk Wearmouth “according to the Roman style he had always loved”.*
(*The Cathedral Builders, pp. 143, 154.) S. Boniface visited Italy
before undertaking his great mission to Germany in A.D. 715; Pope Gregory II
gave him instructions and credentials, and sent with him a large following of
monks versed in the art of building, and of lay brethren who were also architects
to assist him.* (*Ibid., p. 133.) Leader Scott contends that these
builders were Comacine Masters, and bases her arguments upon the evidence of
building methods and the similarity of the styles employed. In like manner she
traces the Comacini into France
and Normandy, Southern Italy and Sicily, and even to Ireland in fact wherever the
Romanesque style of building has penetrated.
513.
THE COMACINE LODGES
514.
The Comacine Guild not
only inherited the building traditions of the Collegia, but also their secret
Mysteries; and it was largely owing to the impulse given by them that a general
revival of the existing Lodges of Europe took place. A very considerable
interchange of influence occurs at this time; new Lodges were founded and old
Lodges were restored, for, although the primary inspiration came from Italy,
the builders in the different countries soon learnt to modify the new style in
accordance with national requirements and taste. Many of the higher brethren,
the Magistri of the Guild, were men of wide culture and refinement, who knew
much of the inner meaning of the rites and ceremonies handed down amongst them;
and it may well be that some among them possessed the knowledge now belonging
to the higher degrees, for high degree signs are occasionally found upon their
work. The majority of the craftsmen, however, probably knew little more than
that there was a symbolical meaning to their ceremonies and tools, and tried to
order their lives accordingly.
515.
As Bro. J. S. M. Ward
has pointed out very clearly, the Comacini show marked analogies with our
modern Masonic system. They were organized into Masters and Disciples under the
rule of a Gastaldo or Grand Master. Their working-places were called Lodges.
They had Masters and Wardens, signs, tokens, grips, pass-words and oaths of
secrecy and fidelity. The Four Crowned Martyrs were their Patron Saints; they
wore white aprons and gloves, and among the symbols associated with them we
find the Lion of Judah, King Solomon’s knot, the square and compasses, the
level and plumb-rule, and the rose and compasses.
516.
On a pulpit at Ravello,
in one of their buildings of the thirteenth century, Jonah is seen coming out
of the whale’s mouth, making the F.C.H.S.* (*Freemasonry and the
Ancient Gods, J. S. M. Ward, Ch. xviii, passim.) At Coire Cathedral
in Switzerland, which is Romanesque in style and contains abundant evidence of
Comacine work, several figures on the capitals of the pillars in the choir and
sanctuary are depicted making Masonic s … s, notably the F.C.H.S., the G. and
R. S., and several s … s now associated with the Rose-Croix, Knights Templars,
and other high degrees in Freemasonry.* (*An Outline History of Freemasonry,
J. S. M. Ward, p. 34.) In the town-hall at Basle there is a fresco by Hans Dyg,
painted in 1519, in which we may see the same s … s, and also one of the Mark
degree. King Solomon’s knot is the traditional name among the Italians of
to-day for the elaborate interlaced stonework executed by the Comacine Masters
up to the eleventh century. It consists always of a single strand woven and
interwoven in the most complex and beautiful designs. Leader Scott calls it
“that intricate and endless variety of the single unbroken line of unity -
emblem of the manifold ways of the power of the one God who has neither beginning
nor end”.* (*The Cathedral Builders, p. 72.)
517.
OTHER SURVIVALS OF THE
COLLEGIA
518.
Before passing on to the
rise of Gothic architecture, which marks the climax of operative achievement in
the Middle Ages, it will be well if we indicate certain other survivals of the
Collegia and their Mysteries; for although the great impulse to restore the art
of building came through the Comacine Masters, other Lodges had existed in
Europe from Roman days which, under the influence of Italian inspiration,
regained their power and vitality. In France especially it is clear that
the organization of the Collegia was never fully destroyed and that the
craft-guilds (Corps d’Etat) of the Middle Ages were derived from them in
unbroken continuity.
519.
The true origin of the
corporation is found in the social life of the Romans, and amongst the
vanquished Gauls, who always formed the principal population in the cities,
and faithfully preserved under their new masters the remembrance and traces of
their ancient organization.* (*Levasseur, Histoire des Classes Ouvrieres en
France, Vol. i, p. 104, quoted Gould i, p. 182.)
520.
Roman civil
architecture, industry, art - in one word, the whole Roman tradition - was
perpetuated in France
till the tenth century. Even the German conquerors, while preserving their own
national laws, customs, and usages, accepted the Gallic industry much as they
found it.* (*Monteil, Histoire de l’Industrie Francaise, Preface by C.
Louandre, p. 76, quoted ibid., p. 183.)
521.
Not only was the trade
organization preserved without break; the inner Mysteries of the Colleges of
Architects were transmitted to the mediaeval building guilds of France, though
they were no doubt strongly influenced by the Italian Masters who practised the
same Mysteries and the same glorious Craft.
522.
THE COMPAGNONNAGE
523.
An interesting survival
of the mediaeval craft-guilds of France is seen in an association of
French journeymen for mutual support and assistance during their travels.
Practically nothing was known about the practices of the Compagnonnage before
the nineteenth century, although a partial revelation of one of the sections
composing it (Enfants de Maitre Jacques) had been extracted by the Doctors of
the Sorbonne in 1651, who not unnaturally stigmatized their proceedings as
impiety and sacrilege. In 1841 the Livre du Compagnonnage was published
by Agricol Perdiguier, a French workman of some culture, who undertook the task
of revealing as much of the history and traditions of the Compagnonnage as his
oath would permit, in order to put an end to the strife which ceaselessly
occurred between its different sections.
524.
The Compagnonnage
consisted of three organizations perpetually at war with one another, each of
which had an interesting traditional history and claimed a traditional chief.
The oldest division was that of the Sons of Solomon, originally consisting of
stonemasons only, although joiners and locksmiths were admitted later;
the second was that of the Sons of Maitre Jacques, who likewise admitted
members of these three trades and later of many others, notably saddlers,
shoemakers, tailors, cutlers, and hatters; while the third section
followed Maitre Soubise, and was originally composed only of carpenters, although
at a later date plasterers and tilers were also admitted. It is generally
conceded that the Sons of Solomon were the oldest of all; and another
remarkable fact is that the masons (to be carefully distinguished from the
Stonemasons) were never admitted at all. Houses of call belonging to these
three associations existed in the more important towns of France; and
travelling journeymen had the right to lodging and assistance in finding work
in the houses belonging to their fraternity.
525.
The three sections of
the Compagnonnage preserved legends concerning King Solomon and his temple.
Little is known of the form of the legend current among the Sons of Solomon,
but there are curious indications that the story of the death of Hiram (which
is not contained in the Bible) was known to them. Perdiguier tells us little,
but he gives certain hints:
526.
An ancient fable has
obtained currency amongst them (the Sons of Solomon) relating, according to
some, to Hiram, according to others, to Adonhiram; wherein are represented
crimes and punishments. Again he tells us “that the joiners of Maitre Jacques
wear white gloves, because, as they say, they did not steep their hands in the
blood of Hiram”.
527.
Furthermore with regard
to the use of the word chien bestowed upon all the Compagnons du Devoir,
he says:
528.
It is believed by some
to be derived from the fact that it was a dog which discovered the place where
the body of Hiram, architect of the Temple,
lay under the rubbish, after which all the companions who separated from the
murderers of Hiram were called chiens or dogs.
529.
Some have thought, and
among them Perdiguier himself, that these are indications of a legend which may
have been borrowed from the Freemasons; but they clearly point to an
independent line of tradition handed down among the stonemasons of France. Maitre
Jacques and Maitre Soubise have also their traditional histories, likewise
going back to the days of Solomon’s Temple; and in that of the former an
elaborate account of the death of Maitre Jacques is given, which may likewise
be an echo of the death of another and greater Master - for it is clearly
intended to be symbolical. There is also a suggestion that it was taken to
refer to the death of Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights
Templars. Much yet remains to be discovered about the Compagnonnage, for no
full investigation into its records has yet taken place; and it may well be
that future research will show clearly that the speculative Masons of England and
the operative journeymen of France derive their traditions from a common
ancestry in the ancient Mysteries. This at least was the opinion of R. F.
Gould, the greatest of our Masonic historians.* (*See Gould. Hist. Freem.,
Vol. I, ch. iv and v, for a complete account of what is known of the French
Craft Guilds and the Compagnonnage.)
530.
THE STONEMASONS OF GERMANY
531.
Another line of survival
of the ancient tradition is found among the Stonemasons of Germany. We have
already traced the influence of two streams of tradition into Germany, one emanating from Britain through the Celtic monks, and another
coming from Italy
through S. Boniface. The craft guilds of Germany developed independently of
monastic influence, but according to Gould it is probable that in the twelfth
century the skilled masons of the monasteries amalgamated with the craft
builders in the towns, and together formed the society afterwards known
throughout Germany as the Steinmetzen.* (*Concise History of Freemasonry,
R. F. Gould, p. 17.)
532.
We know from the Torgau
Ordinances of 1462 that the Stonemasons venerated the Four Crowned Martyrs as
their patron saints, and the Strasburg Constitutions of 1459 contain a devout
invocation of the names of the “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; of our gracious
Mother Mary; and of her blessed servants, the Holy Four Crowned Martyrs of
everlasting memory”.* (*Gould, Concise History, p. 19.) From the Brother-Book
of 1563 we learn that they had a greeting and a grip which might not be
described in writing;* (*Gould, Hist. of Freem., Vol. i, p. 128.) and a
curious piece of testimony came to light at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when a certain architect, who had joined a survival of the Stonemasons
and was subsequently admitted into Masonry, recognized the E.A. grip as
identical with that of the Steinmetzen of Strasburg.* (*Ibid., p.
146.) A ceremony of admission was in use among them; but what it was is not
known.* (*Concise History, Gould, p. 22.)
533.
At Daberan in
Mecklenburg there is a carving of the Last Supper, wherein the apostles are
depicted in well-known Masonic attitudes,* (*An Outline History of
Freemasonry, J. S. M. Ward, p. 35.) while according to the Bulletin
of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (Southern
Jurisdiction, U.S.A.) the legend of Hiram Abiff is carved in stone at
Strasburg.* (*Op, cit., vii, 200.) In the cathedral at Wurzburg two pillars, inscribed Jachin and
Boaz, originally stood at the porchway or entrance, but they have now been
moved within the building. Stieglitz in his Early German Architecture
says that they were intended to bear a symbolic reference to the fraternity.*
(*Gould, Concise Hist., p. 24.) A bas-relief in a convent near
Schaffhausen depicts a figure making one of the s … s of an I.M.* (*An Outline
History of Freemasonry, J. S. M. Ward, p. 11.) In the year 1459 the
Stonemasons of Germany united to form a Grand Guild, governed by four Head
Lodges, of which Strasburg was the chief. So close are the parallels between
its organization and that of modern speculative Masonry that many German
writers have held that the Steinmetzen were the originators of the speculative
system. As a matter of fact there appears to have been no interchange in modern
times between the two corporations, and modern German Craft Masonry is clearly
derived from England.* (*Gould, Concise History, pp. 18, 24.)
534.
THE ENGLISH GUILDS
535.
Three distinct lines of
tradition contribute to the Masonry of the English guilds. One line was
preserved among the Celts, as we have already seen, and became mingled in later
times with streams from other sources. Secondly, the Roman Collegia survived to
some extent in England after the departure of the Romans; the Saxons found them
there and did not interfere with them.* (*Coote - cited in The Cathedral
Builders, Leader Scott, p. 140.) Thirdly, there was the influx of
Continental builders, beginning in the time of S. Augustine, but greatly
augmented after the Norman Conquest under the patronage of Archbishop Lanfranc,
the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, a Lombard by birth and a celebrated
patron of building even before he came to England.* (*J. S. M. Ward, Freemasonry
and the Ancient Gods, p. 147.) All these streams of tradition were
represented in the mediaeval guilds, and were handed down in various centres.
The French craft-guilds preserve accounts similar to those found in our English
Old Charges regarding the assistance given to Masons by Charles Martel.*
(*Gould, Concise History, p. 30.)
536.
The secret Mysteries of
the Craft, common, save for certain unimportant local modifications, to all
these lines of descent, Celtic, Saxon and Continental, were handed down in the
Lodges of the mediaeval Masons, which were the units of organization and labour
within the guilds; they were never written down, but were transmitted orally
from generation to generation, the succession passing down from Master to
Master as in the present day. The primary work of the Lodges was of course
operative, and the speculative ritual which was handed drown so faithfully in
essentials was regarded as an ancient heritage to be scrupulously transmitted
to posterity; but it is unlikely that any but the few recognized its true
purpose, or thought of it as containing more than a merely moral code of life.
It is due to the rigid observance of the O. “never to write those secrets” (an
O. which would have been enforced by certain pains and penalties not unknown to
Masons today), that no trace of the ritual can be found in any document prior
to 1717; and it is because of this lack of all records that many Masonic
scholars believe that it was compiled only at the beginning of the eighteenth
century. Even in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the Old Charges
were written down, no mention is made of the Legend of Hiram; for this formed
part of the secret ritual and therefore might not be divulged. A figure
representing God the Son in the porch of Peterborough Cathedral is depicted as
making the F.C.H.S.* (*J. S. M. Ward, Op. cit., p. 116.) showing that
this s … at least was known to our old operative brethren.
537.
THE RISE OF GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE
538.
The climax of mediaeval
operative building was reached in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the
rise and development of Gothic architecture, which was inspired directly by the
Head of all true Freemasons throughout the world, as part of the plan for the
development of the fifth or Teutonic sub-race. Many theories have been advanced
to account for the rapid development of the new style.
539.
Whether the wonderful
change of style that in a few years spread over a great part of Western
Christendom was due primarily to the discovery of the possibilities of the
pointed arch or those of the so-called ogival vaulting is much disputed.
Probably it was due to both, and also of course to certain movements, social
and political, which were bound to favour immensely any such new enthusiasm;
for a new national consciousness was rapidly gaining strength, especially in
France, and cities and communes were beginning to vie in erecting vast
buildings - first cathedrals and later civic edifices - the architects being
now mostly laymen, the founders and donors often municipal bodies and rich
citizens, and the workmen not seldom volunteers from the people. The old
monastic era of Romanesque suddenly gave way to that of a new, popular, and
civic architecture, and in a surprisingly short time much the same had happened
as that which we noted after the passing of the fateful year A.D. 1000, when, according
to old Raoul Glaber, Christendom cast aside its outworn attire and put on a
fresh white robe of new-built Churches.* (*Cotterill, History of Art,
Vol. I, p. 278.)
540.
We, however, do not need
to speculate or theorize as to the causes of the rapid development of the new
style, for we have the advantage of knowing that the movement was all the time
being definitely steered from behind by the H.O.A.T.F. and a corps of able
assistants under his direction.
541.
As I have already said,
architecture has a powerful effect upon the consciousness of the people, for it
is one of the means chosen by the White Lodge to influence the development of
the various nations according to the plan of the Great Architect of the
Universe. To understand the significance of the Gothic style, we must consider
for a moment an important fact of occult history, that which is technically
known to students as the cyclic change of Ray. The seven rays, or types of the
divine consciousness and activity, to one or other of which all living things
belong, influence the world in turn, and this cyclic change produces the
modifications of outlook which are to be noted as century succeeds century.
542.
Each race and sub-race
has its own especial qualities to develop. The fifth root-race, to which we ourselves
belong, is engaged as a whole in the unfolding of intellect; but each of its
sub-races has likewise a quality to cultivate. The fourth or Celtic sub-race
was concerned with the evolution of intellect through the emotions, and so
produced the beauty-loving peoples whom we see in Greece and Ireland; while the
fifth or Teutonic sub-race, to which the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians
belong, is striving to awaken the intellect working in the concrete mind, and
so is producing the scientific and industrial nations which lead the world
to-day.
543.
This cyclic change of
Ray, which is also part of the great plan, produces other, but no less definite
modifications in the corporate consciousness. In Greece we saw something of the
fifth ray, the ray of knowledge, working upon the fourth sub-race with its love
of beauty, resulting in that intellectual type of art so characteristic of the
classical age; the Middle Ages show forth the qualities of the sixth ray, the
ray of devotion, working upon the fifth or Teutonic sub-race, and producing as
its characteristic intellectual fruit scholastic philosophy with its
hair-splitting intellectuality based upon an almost fanatical devotion.
544.
Devotion, indeed, was
the great characteristic of the Middle Ages. The twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, so rich in the annals of Christian mysticism, were adorned by men
and women whose power of devotion reached heights rarely touched in any other
age. The great S. Bernard (who among many other noted works gave their Rule to
the Order of Knights Templars), Richard of S. Victor, S. Hildegarde, S. Francis
of Assisi and S. Antony of Padua, and a little later S. Bonaventura and S.
Thomas Aquinas - all these have shone forth as a light unto many generations.
Profound changes took place in the Catholic Church during these significant
years, and Europe rose from the dark ages into the full glory of an era of
culture and art. Gothic architecture was intended to lift the devotion of the
masses to greater heights than had been induced by the contemplation of the
flatter Romanesque style; by its soaring lines and ever-ascending curves, by
the richness of its ornamentation and the splendid complexity of its design, by
its amazing grace and delicacy, it had power to raise the hearts of men on the
wings of its silent music to the very throne of God Himself, to mould and
enrich their devotion in unseen subtle ways, to pour out upon them spiritual
influences which would aid in the great work of transformation which had to be
accomplished.
545.
The change from Romanesque
to Gothic, then, was brought about deliberately. The inspiration was given to
certain master-builders in the different countries by the H.O.A.T.F., and the
erection of the splendid cathedrals of the period was carried out by travelling
bands of Masons passing from centre to centre, and doubtless employing the
local builders upon the actual work of construction. This, as we have said, was
an age of devotion, and every stone was carved with the utmost care to the
glory of God, and thereby charged with the adoration of the skilful craftsmen
who worked so unselfishly. The powerful spiritual influences generated by all
this loving care have contributed in no small degree to the extraordinary
beauty of the Gothic cathedrals, and to the power which they possess even in
the present day of evoking devotion and reverence from all who approach them.
546.
The particular
expressions of Gothic vary in the different countries, and even in different
parts of the same country; that is always the case in every style of building.
But behind the whole order of Gothic architecture there is one great idea, that
of soaring, passionate devotion ever rising to the feet of God; and that is
found with national modifications in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
This was the great age of operative Masonry, and at its close the building
corporations began to decline in power, until in England and Germany especially
the movement miscalled the Reformation killed out ecclesiastical architecture,
and church building as a fine art practically ceased.
547.
In the fourteenth
century the merchant guilds, which organized an entire industry, became
decentralized, and a new system of craft guilds gradually arose, organizing
different branches of each industry. This change of organization was due to a
profound change of thought among the people, which was to lead to the great
stirring of the Renaissance and the growth of national consciousness in the
different countries. It is at this period that the Old Charges of our ancient
operative Brn. first appear, and they were written down as the Freemasons
became gradually disorganized, in order to preserve the older oral records from
oblivion.
548.
THE OLD CHARGES
549.
These Old Charges
reflect in no small measure the ignorance of the time in matters of geography
and chronology, but they nevertheless contain an account of the broad outline
of Masonic descent from Egypt, through Judaea, into Europe; and it would
certainly be difficult to suppose that they were fabricated by mere operative
builders who had nothing of hidden mystery to transmit. I give below a brief
summary of the Dowland manuscript, which is fairly representative of the tradition
common to all. It is reproduced from Hughan’s Old Charges (1872), and is
quoted from Mackey’s Encyclopaedia.* (*Art. Legend of the Craft.)
550.
The legend begins with
an account of Lamech and his four children, who founded all the sciences of the
world before the flood. These sciences were engraved on two pillars, one of
which was later found by Hermes, who taught its contents to the people. Nimrod
is next mentioned as having employed Masons at the building of the Tower of Babel, and as having given them their
first Charge. Next Abraham and Sarah are said to have taught the seven sciences
to the Egyptians, and especially to a “worthy Scoller that hight Ewclyde”. The
latter was commissioned by the king to teach Masonry to a large number of
children of “the lord and estates of the realm”. The legend passes then to
David, who, when he began the temple of Jerusalem, learned the Charges and
manners of Masons from Egypt and gave them to his people. Solomon continued the
building of the temple after David’s death, sent for Masons from all lands, and
confirmed the Charges given by his father. There is no reference to the legend
of the 3° in any of the Old Charges before the second edition of Anderson’s Constitutions,
published in 1738, except that Aynon, the son of Iram, is mentioned as being
the “chiefe Maister” of all Masons, and “Master of all his gravings and
carvinge and of all other manner of Masonrye that longed to the temple”. The
legend, in defiance of all chronology, then states that, “one curious Mason
that hight Maymus Grecus”, who had been at the making of Solomon’s temple, taught
Masonry to Charles Martel of France. Since the latter died in A.D. 741, the
former would have been about seventeen hundred years old, unless we are to
understand that the Charge assumes that he had reincarnated!
551.
A legendary account is
given of S. Albans work for Masons in the third century, and especially of his
institution of General Assemblies. He is also said to have obtained for them a
Charter, to have given them Charges, and to have arranged for better pay.
Later, Athelstan is said to have built many abbeys and towers, and to have
“loved well masons”. His son Edwin, who loved them still more, held an Assembly
at York and gave them a Charter. All the old writings were collected at this
period, “some in Frenche, and some in Greek, and some in English, and some in
other languages; and the intent of them all was founded all one”. These old
writings were digested into the York Constitutions which resulted from this
Assembly of A.D. 926. It is from this source that we draw the material now
embodied in the Old Charges.
552.
The
Transition from Operative to Speculative
553.
THE REFORMATION
554.
THE dawn of a new era
was heralded by the Renaissance of classical learning and culture in the
fifteenth century, a time of immense creative activity, of the bursting of bonds,
of the liberation of a new and vital spirit of freedom, the direct result of
which was what it is the fashion to call the Reformation. The cause of this
change and reconstruction was a general reaction against the spirit of the
Middle Ages.
555.
The Renaissance
originated in that longing for emancipation from the shackles of the past which
is probably felt by every new generation, and which now and then, favoured by
special conditions, succeeds in realizing its ideals. … The ideals in this case
were joy and liberty and personality, liberation from mediaeval asceticism,
mediaeval priestcraft, mediaeval dogma; liberation from the anathema that had
rested on the natural rights of man - on freedom of thought and on moral
judgment; liberation from traditional law and self-constituted authority, and
the restoration to the individual of intellectual and moral self-rule.*
(*Cotterill. History of Art, Vol. i, p. 390.)
556.
One of the factors which
helped to bring about this great revival of learning was the overthrow of the
Eastern Empire by the Muhammadans, the capture of Constantinople and the
conquest of Greece, driving all who possessed the means to take refuge in
Italy. Many scholars came to Italy at this time, bringing with them precious
manuscripts of the old Greek writers; and the restoration of classical
learning, classical building and classical art is the most notable feature of
the Renaissance. The invention of printing made possible a wider diffusion of
learning, and a wave of creative enthusiasm swept over Europe, leaving its mark
upon the art, literature and philosophy of the age, and indeed making all
things new.
557.
It was obvious to the
thinking men of the period that a reform of the Church was essential, for
corruption and abuses of all kinds had crept into her sanctuaries. At first an
attempt was made towards a broader view of Christian doctrine from within the
Roman Church, and scholars, such as Ficino, the Platonists of Italy, Erasmus,
and Sir Thomas More, sought to reinterpret Christianity in the light of the
philosophy of Plato and Plotinus. But this attempt failed; and, in consequence,
the Reformation took place outside the Church in the sixteenth century. It was
an attempt to purify the Church from her abuses, to bring her teachings into
closer harmony with the new ideas; but it must be admitted that it did little
to improve matters from the spiritual point of view, even though it won freedom
of belief and liberty for the individual intellect to search for the truth in
its own way. For so great was the ignorance and bigotry of the reformers that
they cast aside the good with the evil, and framed a theology more intolerable
than that of Rome, while to a great extent rejecting her sacramental and
contemplative treasures.
558.
THE REAPPEARANCE OF
SPECULATIVE MASONRY
559.
After the Reformation in
England
ecclesiastical architecture practically ceased as an activity of the guilds,
and the operative Lodges fell into decay since their work was no longer needed.
But while the Reformation thus injured operative Masonry, it made Europe safe
for the re-emergence into comparative publicity of the speculative art. The
guilds had always accepted rich and influential patrons, and there was nothing
new in the introduction of theoretic Masons into the Lodges. Some have denied
the possibility of any speculative Masonry existing before the revival; but
speculation was the rule rather than the exception in all the guilds, not only
the Masonic, and in that devotional age workmen of all trades might be found
moralizing upon the instruments of their labour.
560.
But between the period
when operative Masonry was at the height of its power and inspiration and the
revival of the speculative art at the beginning of the eighteenth century,
there was a dark period in which the light of Masonry, both operative and
speculative, seemed almost extinguished. Many of the operative Lodges had lost
nearly all trace of ritual workings, and had forgotten the traditional secrets
of building no less than the ancient secrets of the building symbolism. It is
to this period of darkness and decay as well as to the O. not to write those
secrets, that we may attribute the paucity of records referring to the
mystery-tradition among so many of the old operative Lodges; but by the
guidance of the Great Ones this was nevertheless definitely preserved, and
transmitted from various sources into our modern Craft.
561.
THE FIRST MINUTES
562.
It is during this
post-Reformation period, when the old Lodges had almost forgotten the glory of their
heritage, both operative and speculative, that we first find actual minutes of
Lodge Meetings. These minutes show the condition into which the Craft had
fallen at the time; they are, as we should expect, almost silent upon all
questions of ritual, secrets and symbolism, although there are occasional
indications which point to the concealment of a hidden tradition. It is in this
period also that the first public references to the secrets of the Freemasons
occur in contemporary literature; and we are able by means of them to trace to
some extent the gradual emergence of the speculative Mysteries.
563.
SCOTTISH MINUTES
564.
The oldest Lodge Minute
extant at the present time is contained in the records of the Lodge of
Edinburgh, Mary’s Chapel, No. 1 upon the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland,
and is dated 1598. We know that it had been the custom from the earliest times
for the operative Lodges to “accept” nonoperative Brethren; but the first
authentic record of this is contained in the same archives, which state that
John Boswell of Auchinlech was admitted in the year 1600* (*History of the
Lodge of Edinburgh, D. Murray-Lyon, p. 53.) The signature of Boswell, a
facsimile of which is given in Murray-Lyon’s admirable History, is followed
by his mark, a cross within a circle - a symbol often used by the Brn. of the
Rosy Cross, and bearing a profound meaning in connection with their Mysteries.
One of the earliest references to the Rosy Cross in Great Britain occurs
in Scotland and in connection with Masonry; for in Henry Adamson’s The
Muses’ Threnodie (dated Perth, 1638) we find the words:
565.
For what we do presage
is riot in grosse,
566.
For we are brethren of
the Rosie Cross,
567.
We have the Mason Word
and second sight.
568.
Things for to come we
can fortell aright.
569.
The Rosicrucian
Manifestos, which are the first literary memorials of the order (c. 1614), were
not translated and published in English until 1652, when Thomas Vaughan, the
celebrated alchemist and mystic, who wrote under the name of Eugenius
Philalethes and has now become an Adept of the White Lodge, undertook the
task;* (*The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, A: E. Waite, p. 375.) so as
early as 1638 Masonry was associated both with the Rosicrucian Brotherhood and
with the occult power known as second sight. The connection of the Rosy Cross
with Masonry belongs to our next chapter.
570.
The Mason Word is
the only secret alluded to in early Lodge Minutes in Scotland. What it was is still
unknown, although there are curious indications emanating from two writers who
did not belong to the Craft. The Rev. George Hickes, afterwards Dean of
Worcester, describes it about 1678 as “a secret signal masons have thro’out the
world to know one another by”. Robert Kirk in 1691 says that it is:
571.
Lyke a Rabbinical
Tradition, in way of Comment on Jachin and Boaz, the two Pillars erected in
Solomon’s Temple (I. Kings vii, 21), with an Addition of some secret signe
delivered from Hand to Hand, by which the know and become familiar one with
another.* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 183.)
572.
So far had the Craft
forgotten its traditions in Scotland
that it seems clear that only one degree existed, so far as the communication
of secrets was concerned. The Mason Word was revealed to Apprentices, under a
“Great Oath”, and it is probable that a Charge was read, but there is no other
indication of ritual procedure. The attainment of the grade of Fellow of the
Craft or Master was merely a question of age and skill, and it is ordered in
the Schaw Statutes of 1598 that admission to it should take place in the
presence of Apprentices, thus precluding any secrets peculiar to the Degree.*
(*History of the Lodge of Edinburgh. D. Murray-Lyon, p. 10.) As the
years passed by more and more non-operatives were admitted into the Scottish
Lodges, until the speculative element entirely predominated.
573.
ENGLISH MINUTES
574.
An indication of the
secret transmission of speculative masonry is found in the Lodge of the
Acception attached to the Masons’ Company of London, whose records go back to 1356.*
(*Gould. Concise History, p. 105.) We first hear of that Lodge in
1620-21, when it was clearly a body distinct from the Company, for the King’s
Master Mason, Nicholas Stone, though Master of the Company in 1633, and again
in 1634, was not enrolled among the “Accepted Masons” until 1639.*
(*Gould. Concise History, p. 111.) Persons not belonging to the Company
were also eligible for admission, although from them a higher fee was demanded
for the privilege of initiation. Elias Ashmole, the celebrated student of
alchemy, who collected certain texts upon this abstruse science in his Theatrum
Chemicum Britannicum, was initiated into a non-operative Lodge at
Warrington in Lancashire in 1646.* (*Ibid., p. 112.) In 1682 he received
a summons to attend a Lodge at Masons’ Hall in London - which was almost
certainly the Acception - and was present at the initiation of six candidates,
two of whom were not members of the Masons’ Company.* (*Ibid., p. 116.)
575.
Elias Ashmole has
sometimes been cited as the real founder of speculative Masonry, and also as a
Bro. of the Rosy Cross; the latter suggestion is possible, although no evidence
exists upon the point, but the former cannot of course be accepted by those who
hold that Masonry has descended from the ancient Mysteries. A speculation is
put forward by Bro. A. E. Waite in a recent book, connecting the Acception with
Robert Fludd, the great English Rosicrucian Philosopher (1576-1637). He says:
576.
However and whenever it
arose, my thesis is that the Acception may have included a group of Hermetic
Students, of which there were many at the period; that Fludd drew them together
or took his place among them; and that - after his manner and the manner of the
Rosy Cross - they began to speak of spiritual building in a Hall of Masons, of
a Hermetic Art in stone; and that therefore they may have contributed something
to our own unfinished sketch of figurative building.* (*Emblematic
Freemasonry, p. 43.)
577.
Among the records of the
Acception was a Book of Constitutions “which Mr. Flood gave”.
578.
In the Harleian MSS.,
No. 2054, a rough memorandum of date 1665 is found, containing the following
sentence, which looks like notes of an Obligation, used probably in the Chester
Lodge:
579.
There is seu`all word
and signes of a free Mason to be revailed to yu wch as yu
will anew: before God at the great and terrible day of Iudgmt yu
keep Secret and not to revaile the same to any in the heares of any pson w but
to the Mrs and fellows of the said Society of free Masons so helpe
me God, xt.* (*Ibid., p. 115.)
580.
Dr. Robert Plot in his Natural
History of Staffordshire (Chap. iii), published in 1686, refers to the
admission of Masons, “which cheifly consists in the communication of certain secret
signes, whereby they are known to one another all over the Nation.”
He also speaks of “a large parchment volum they have amongst them containing
the History and Rules of the craft of masonry.”* (*Emblematic
Freemasonry, p. 119.) In the Aubrey MSS. of the Natural History of
Wiltshire Dr. Plot refers to the adoption of Sir Christopher Wren as a
Freemason.* (*Ibid., p. 120.) The Minutes of Lodge Antiquity No. 2, the
old Lodge which met at the Goose and Gridiron, dated 1723, refer to a set of
candlesticks which “its worthy old Master, Sir Christopher Wren” presented to
the Lodge.* (*The Builders, Vol. x, No. 2, p. 55.)
581.
The “old Lodge at York City”
was in a flourishing condition in 1705, but there is no documentary evidence to
show its earlier history, though a Logium Fabricae is mentioned in the
Fabric Rolls of York Minster in 1352. From 1705, and perhaps before, the York
Lodge was exclusively the home of speculative or symbolical Masonry. The
earliest minutes preserved are in a parchment roll dated 1712-1730. The greater
number of meetings are described as Private while a few are referred to
as General Lodges, although Candidates were apparently admitted at both.
New members were “Sworne and Admitted” - the only documentary trace of any
ritual working.* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 122.) As we shall see, the
York Lodge proclaimed itself the “Grand Lodge of All England” in 1725, eight
years after the foundation of the Grand Lodge of England, and only a few months
after the Grand Lodge of Ireland was formed; it lingered somnolently until the
closing years of the eighteenth century, when it seems to have been silently
absorbed into the bosom of its rivals. Anderson in his Constitutions of 1738
refers to Grand Lodges which derived from other sources than the Grand Lodge of
England, and gives them definite recognition:
582.
But the old Lodge
at York City, and the Lodges of Scotland, Ireland, France, and Italy,
affecting Independency, are under their own Grand Masters, though they
have the same Constitutions, Charges, Regulations, etc.,
for substance, with their Brethren of England.* (*Gould. Concise
History, p. 197.)
583.
This is a significant
statement, for Lodges “affecting independency,” one of which is admittedly
“old,” do not take kindly to innovations from outside their ranks. If any proof
is required that Masonry was not the invention of Anderson, we have it here in
his own words.
584.
Two of Steel’s essays in
The Tatler in 1709 and 1710 refer to the existence of signs and tokens
among the Freemasons. In the Minutes of the Old Lodge at York and of Mary’s
Chapel at Edinburgh there is evidence of the proving of Brn. before they were
admitted to the Lodge, the latter entry referring to no less a person than Dr.
Desaguliers, who in 1721 was found qualified in all points of Masonry by his
Scottish Brn. - an incident showing identity of secrets between the Scottish
and the English Lodges.* (*History of the Lodge of Edinburgh. D.
Murray-Lyon, p. 159.) The same gradual transition from operative to
non-operative membership took place in the English as in the Scottish Lodges,
and it was this infiltration of educated and cultured men which made possible
the momentous events of 1717.
585.
IRISH MINUTES
586.
Irish Masonry presents
certain difficulties of research; for it was a point of honour among Irish
Masons in the eighteenth century to destroy all documents, warrants,
certificates, Lodge registers and minute books, rather than that they should
pass into the hands of outsiders.* (*Dr. Chetwode Crawley. A. Q. C.,
xvi, 69.) Dr. Chetwode Crawley states that there was a speculative Lodge of the
English type at Doneraile in 1710-12, which used methods of initiation not to
be distinguished from those perpetuated at the revival. Into this Lodge
Elizabeth St. Leger, the famous lady Mason, was initiated, and it must have
worked at least two degrees. Dr. Crawley remarks:
587.
This last deduction will
require a good deal of explaining away on the part of those Brethren who hold
that, because early Scottish operative Lodges suffered the ritual to dwindle
into the merest mode of recognition, the early English speculative Lodges
cannot have worked more than one degree.* (*A. Q. C., viii, 55.)
588.
This period of
transition forms the connecting link between the old dispensation and the new.
The day of operative Masonry as practised in the mediaeval Lodges was over;
that of speculative Masonry as we know it to-day had not yet begun. No longer
was there need of secrecy; the dread of death and torture no longer compelled
the servants of the Hidden Light to take refuge in the workshops of the
builders in stone. Freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of action had
at last been won. And as in the twilight that precedes the dawn we may discern
the faint mysterious outlines of some lovely landscape hidden beneath the robe
of darkness, till, as the light of the rising sun glows stronger and yet
stronger, they are clothed with richer colour and beauty; so in this age of
twilight we may glimpse in the outer world the dim shadows of the Hidden
Mysteries as they emerge from their long night of secrecy and silence into the
freedom of the day, and the Royal Art is seen once more of men.
589.
THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND
590.
The only extant record
of the founding of the Premier Grand Lodge of the world occurs in the second
edition of Dr. Anderson’s Constitutions, published in 1738. No minute of Grand
Lodge itself has been traced before the year 1723.* (*Gould. Concise History,
p. 204.) The following is part of the account therein given of this important
event in the history of Craft Masonry:
591.
After the Rebellion was
over, A.D. 1716, the few Lodges at London.
… thought fit to cement under a Grand Master as the centre of Union
and Harmony, viz., the Lodges that met,
2
At the Goose and Gridiron Ale-house in St.
Paul’s Church-yard.
3
At the Crown Ale-house in Parker’s Lane,
near Drury-Lane.
4
At the Apple-Tree Tavern in Charles Street,
Covent Garden.
5
At the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel-Row,
Westminster.
592.
“They and some old
Brothers met at the said Apple-Tree, and having put into the Chair the oldest
Master Mason (now the Master of a Lodge), they constituted
themselves a Grand Lodge pro Tempore in Due Form, and
forthwith revived the Quarterly Communication of the Officers
of lodges (called the GRAND LODGE), resolv’d to hold the Annual ASSEMBLY
and Feast, and then to chuse a GRAND MASTER from among themselves, till they
should have the Honour of a Noble Brother at their Head.” The
Grand Lodge was according formed on S. John the Baptist’s Day 1717, with Anthony
Sayer as the First Grand Master.* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 201.)
593.
Bro. Calvert has
demonstrated that the first three Lodges were probably composed of operative
Masons, and numbered about fifteen Brethren each, while the fourth Lodge had a
roll of seventy members and was the speculative Lodge, to which all the
leading men of the Craft belonged in the early days, including Payne Anderson
and Desaguliers, and a large and influential body of noblemen.* (*A. F.
Calvert. The Grand Lodge of England,
cited in The Builders, Vol. x, p. 84.)
594.
At first very little
seems to have been done, and it does not appear that the original founders of
the Grand Lodge had the least idea of starting a world-movement; but with the
advent of the Duke of Montague to the Grand Master’s Chair in 1721, the Society
rose into fame and success at one bound.
595.
The first task was the
compilation and ‘digesting’ of the Old Gothic Constitutions, which as we have
seen had been handed down in the Lodges from operative times; and this was done
by Anderson in
1721. The Constitutions were printed in 1723, and a subsequent and somewhat
altered edition in 1738, when the speculative system was firmly established
under Grand Lodge auspices. George Payne, the second Grand Master, drafted the
regulations, Anderson ‘digested’ the general subject matter after ‘a new
and better manner’, Dr. Desaguliers, the third Grand Master, wrote the Preface
and Dedication, and the fourth Grand Master, the Duke of Montague, ordered the
book to be printed after its formal approval by the Grand Lodge.* (*Ibid.,
p. 205.)
596.
Perhaps the most
important feature of these Constitutions is the definite removal of all
religious barriers to membership in the Order. Our ancient operative Brn. had,
of course, been Christians and Catholics; but now the universality of the
Mysteries was again to be demonstrated by the excision of all sectarian
limitations. The language in which this was expressed is not happy; but it is
possible that some inspiration may have been given upon this point, for it was
certainly in accordance with the policy of the White Lodge. Masonry is indeed
the heart of all religions, and should be bound definitely to none; although
every Mason is at liberty to profess whatever faith may be most congenial to
him, since they are all facets of the truth.
597.
THE RECOMPOSITION OF THE
RITUALS
598.
Much debate and
controversy has taken place among Masonic writers with regard to the origin of
our modern speculative rituals, of which there is no documentary trace before
the revival in 1717. That there was a definite Masonic Ceremonial in existence
at this time we learn from Dr. Stukely, who tells us that “his curiosity led
him to be initiated into the mysterys of Masonry, suspecting it to be the
remains of the mysterys of the antients”.* (*Gould. Concise History, p.
54.) He was initiated into the Order on January 6th, 1721, and says: “I was the
first person made a freemason for many years. We had great difficulty to find
members enough to perform the ceremony.”* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 223.)
The Manningham Letters also offer testimony that the rituals of speculative
Masonry belong to an earlier period than 1717. Dr. Manningham, Deputy Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of England, writes in 1757 of:
599.
One old Brother of
Ninety, who I conversed with lately; this Brother assures me He was made a
Mason in his youth, and has constantly frequented Lodges, till rend’red
incapable by his advanc’d Age, and never heard, or knew, any other Ceremonies
or Words, than those us’d in general amongst us; such Forms were deliver’d to
him, and those he has retain’d.* (*Ibid., p. 249.)
600.
This testimony is
significant, for a Mason ninety years old in 1757 would have been fifty years
of age in 1717, so that if he was initiated in his youth, our ceremonies must
date at least from the last half of the seventeenth century. It will be
remembered that the judgment of R. F. Gould is precise upon this matter:
601.
If we once get beyond or
behind the year 1717, i.e. , into the domain of ancient Masonry, and again look
back, the vista is perfectly illimitable, without a speck or shadow to break
the continuity of view which is presented to us.* (*R. F. Gould. A. Q. C.
xvi, 30.)
602.
The decay of the
operative Lodges, noted earlier in this chapter, had a disastrous effect upon
the ancient ritual which had been handed down orally from Lodge to Lodge and
from Master to Master from the days of the Roman Collegia. No word of it might
ever be written, and it had to be learnt by heart by the Masters and officers
of the Lodges. By the time, however, that we reach the days of the revival,
this oral tradition had become much corrupted, and although the ancient ritual
actions were still remembered, the words accompanying them had degenerated into
mere verbal jargon, often quite unintelligible to those who recited it. One
example will be sufficient to indicate the state of affairs. Several inns in
England are named “The Goat and Compasses,” and as it stands the phrase has no
meaning, unless it be taken to refer to the perennial fable of the “riding of
the goat”. The real derivation is from the words “God encompasses us,”
degenerated into “Goat and Compasses”. It was into a somewhat analogous state
that the whole ritual had fallen in the days of Anderson and Desaguliers, who
after the founding of the new Grand Lodge set to work to bring order out of
chaos.
603.
They proceeded to
collect and revise all the workings known to them, clothing the skeleton of the
ritual in the eighteenth century English so familiar in our ears to-day. On the
whole their task was well carried out, and although many losses had occurred
before 1717, the portion which Anderson brought with him was fairly
representative of the general chaos. Anderson was clearly not a man of genius,
though he did his best, and it may well be a matter of regret that the stilted
language of that dullest of dull periods should have been chosen to clothe the
ancient Mysteries rather than the inspired and stately English of a century
before. But taverns are not conducive to spiritual inspiration, and it was in
taverns that this rebirth of the Mysteries took place.
604.
TWO AND THREE DEGREES
605.
At first it would appear
that only two degrees were worked, for the Constitutions of 1723 (Regulation
xiii), speak of “Apprentices,” and of “Masters and Fellow-Craft” who could only
be made in Grand Lodge “unless by a Dispensation”.* (*The Constitutions of
Freemasons (Bi-centenary Ed.), p. 61.) This rule was repealed in 1725, when
Grand Lodge enacted that “the Master of Each Lodge, with the Consent of his
Wardens and the Majority of the Brethren, being Masters, may make Masters at
their discretion”.* (*A. Q. C., xvi, p. 38.) There is in this same year
a mention of three degrees in the working of the “Grand Lodge of All England”
at York, when a speech was delivered by Dr. Francis Drake, Junior Grand Warden,
in which he mentions E.A., F.C., and M.M.R.F. Gould holds that the “Apprentice
Part consisted of what we now know as the 1° and 2° and that the Master’s Part”
was our 3°, containing the legend of Hiram.* (*A. Q. C., xvi, p. 36.)
606.
He considers it settled
beyond dispute:
607.
Not only that what we
now call the Third Degree existed before the era of Grand Lodges, but that,
having passed through a long decline, its symbols had become corrupted, and
their meaning (to a great extent) forgotten, when the step itself - then known
as the “Master’s Part” - is first heard of (i.e., unequivocally referred to) in
any print or manuscript to which a date can be assigned (1723).* (*Gould. Concise
History, p. 223.)
608.
It seems probable that
the original workings may have been compressed into two degrees, and the
subsequent division into three degrees may well have been a rearrangement of
the material in accordance with ancient tradition. Evidence for the working of
three grades of Masonry occurs as early as 1725 in London in the Transactions
of the Philo-Musicae et Architecturae Societas in which certain brethren
are recorded as “regularly passed Masters,” “regularly passed Fellow Crafts”
and “regularly passed fellow Craft and Master,” although it is not
clearly known exactly what took place.* (*Ibid., p. 228.) By 1738 the
procedure in the Lodges seems to have been generally similar to that known
among us to-day.
609.
OPPOSITION
610.
That there was at first
some distrust and dislike of the new movement, upon the part of older Masons,
is certain. In the second edition of the Constitutions (1738) Anderson tells us that in 1720:
611.
At some private
Lodges, several very valuable Manuscripts (for they had nothing yet in
print) concerning the Fraternity, their Lodges, Regulations, Charges, Secrets,
and Usages (particularly one writ by Mr. Nicholas Stone, the Warden of Inigo
Jones) were too hastily burnt by some scrupulous Brothers, that these
Papers might not fall into strange Hands.* (*A. Q. C., xvi, p. 33. See ante.
Page 246)
612.
We know that there were
other Lodges not at first included in the Grand Lodge, and it may well be that
certain of the older Brn. viewed the new venture with suspicion, and destroyed
their records to prevent them from falling into the hands of innovators. There
is a suggestion, too, that other traditions were preserved elsewhere in greater
fullness, as we shall see in connection with the schism of the “Antients”. But
although the Grand Lodge was inaugurated humbly enough, it soon began to
attract attention under the Duke of Montague, and its success as a movement was
immediately established.
613.
THE SUCCESSION OF I.M.s
614.
The succession of I.M.s
was preserved under the new dispensation, although there is little trace in London of a definite
degree in the sense of ritual working. Such a degree was part of the authorized
working of the “Ancients” in 1751, though it was not adopted by the “Moderns”
until 1810.* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 225.) The actual power,
however, was transmitted by the act of installation which forms the essential
part of the sacrament, and we learn from the “Manner of Constituting a
New Lodge according to the ancient Usages of Masons” given in the Constitutions
of 1723, that after the new Master had submitted to the Charges of a Master “as
Masters have done in all ages,” the Grand Master shall “by certain
significant Ceremonies and ancient Usages, install him”.* (*The Constitutions
of Freemasons (Bi-centenary Ed.), p. 72.)
615.
THE GRAND LODGES OF YORK, IRELAND
AND SCOTLAND
616.
But although the impulse
towards revival clearly originated in London
with the erection of the Grand Lodge of England, the Apple-Tree Tavern was not
the only temple of the Mysteries. Other Lodges existed both in England and the
sister-kingdoms, and other equally valid streams of tradition began to emerge
in different centres. York was for unnumbered years a powerful and hallowed
sanctuary of speculative Masonry; and the “old Lodge” at York proclaimed itself
a Grand Lodge in 1725. It is even possible that it may have called itself such
before, for there is written testimony in 1778 from the then York Grand
Secretary to the effect that the Grand Lodge at York antedated the Lodge of
London by twelve or more years.* (*A. E. Waite. Emblematic Freemasonry, p. 59.)
617.
It is clear that ancient
York workings existed, and that something of their tradition, passing through
Irish and “Ancient” Masonry, is with us to-day, blended with the traditions
inherited from Anderson. York has a glamour about its ancient walls like that
which surrounds Kilwinning and the sanctuary which was Heredom; to York also we
must look for one of the guardian-centres of our Mysteries.
618.
It is clear from a study
of Irish Masonry and that of the “Ancients,” which was so closely allied to it,
that more was handed down from the past than the three Blue degrees; for the
latter on their own showing are not complete without the symbolism preserved
for us in the Holy Royal Arch and other similar degrees, which did not, it
would seem, emerge in the South. The first mention of the Holy Royal Arch comes
from Youghal in Ireland in
1743; the second emanates from York
in 1744. The “Ancients,” though they had nothing to do with the “Grand Lodge of
All England” at York, nevertheless persistently
refer to themselves as York Masons, thus claiming kinship with the York tradition.
619.
On the other hand,
Murray Lyon shows that the records reveal no traces of ritual procedure or of
speculative Masonry as we know it to-day until after the foundation of the
Grand Lodge of England in 1717, and that the speculative ritual was derived
from England after that event. No evidence exists to show that Lodge
Kilwinning, the second Lodge in Scotland according to the Schaw Statutes, whose
extant Minutes go back to 1642, ever worked any degrees other than those
belonging to Craft Masonry, either before or after the formation of the Grand
Lodge.
620.
A Past Master of Lodge
Canongate Kilwinning draws my attention to a serious mistake which I made in The
Hidden Life in Freemasonry (p. 119) in describing that historic Lodge as
founded in 1723. He says:
621.
Lodge Canongate
Kilwinning No. 2 received a Charter from the Mother Lodge at Kilwinning in
Ayrshire (now known as Lodge Mother Kilwinning No. 0) dated 20th December,
1677, and recorded in the Minutes of Kilwinning Lodge on that date.
622.
The Lodge history tells
us that:
623.
At the beginning of the
eighteenth century the Lodge numbered amongst its members the foremost noblemen
and gentlemen of Scotland
who were devoted to the Stuart cause.
624.
The unsuccessful rising
in 1715 sent those who had escaped death on the battlefield into exile: and
during the confusion attendant on those times, the whole early records of the
Lodge were lost or destroyed, and no trace of them can now be found. At length
the survivors, a small but trusty band, met about the beginning of 1735 and
resumed the meetings.
625.
The earliest Minute in preservation
is dated 13th February, 1735, and begins:
626.
Cannongate, Feby. ye
13th A.D. 1735 A.M. 5735.
627.
The Lodge having met
according to adjournment do appoint. …
628.
The Lodge is never
closed, but adjourned to the next fixed day of meeting.
629.
Most Lodges install on
S. John the Evangelist’s Day, 27th December. Lodge Canongate Kilwinning
installs on S. John the Baptist’s Day, 24th June. The earliest reference in the
Minutes of this (or any Scottish) Lodge to the admission of Master Masons is on
31st March, 1735.
630.
I apologize for the
error in my previous book, and will see that it is corrected if a second
edition should be needed.
631.
The Grand Lodge of
Ireland appears to have come into being in 1725, and the Irish rituals are
clearly derived from a somewhat different line of tradition from those
preserved in Southern England, being indeed closely allied with the York workings. The Grand
Lodge of Scotland was formed in 1736; and here again we find marked differences
of ritual and even of secrets, though there is no evidence on the physical
plane to show whence this distinctive Scottish Masonry is derived. It is from
these three Premier Grand Lodges, and from the Grand Lodge of the Ancients, now
amalgamated with the Grand Lodge of England, that all Anglo-Saxon Masonry, and
probably much of Continental Masonry also, has sprung. The details of their
workings may differ in non-essentials, but the same hallowed Mysteries were the
heritage of all, and through them have penetrated into all the world “to be a
light to those who sit in darkness” and “to guide their feet into the way of
peace”.
632.
THE “ANCIENTS”
633.
As a further indication
that the Grand Lodge of England had not inherited the only tradition current in
the United Kingdom, we find
the schismatic Grand Lodge of the “Ancients” formed in 1751 in London, under the title of the “Grand Lodge
of England according to the old Institutions”. The researches of Mr. Henry
Sadler into the archives of the Grand Lodge prove that the establishment of
this body was due to the activity of a number of Irish Masons resident in
London.* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 252.) They claimed affinity with
the York tradition, though not with the York Grand Lodge; and it is clear that
they differed considerably from the Modern or regular Grand Lodge of England.
Their Grand Secretary, Lawrence Dermott, says:
634.
The Ancients under the
name of Free and Accepted Masons according to the old Institutions, and the
Moderns under the name of Freemasons of England, though similar in name, yet
differ exceedingly in makings, ceremonials, knowledge, Masonic language, and
installation, so much that they have always been, and still continue to be, two
distinctive societies totally independent of each other.* (*Quoted. loc. cit.)
635.
Furthermore he tells us
something of the nature of such differences:
636.
A Modern Mason may
safely communicate all his secrets to an Ancient Mason, but an Ancient cannot
with like safety communicate all his secrets to a Modern Mason without further
ceremony. For as a Science comprehends an Art (though an Art cannot comprehend
a Science), even so Ancient Masonry contains everything valuable among the
Moderns, as well as many other things that cannot be revealed without
additional ceremonies.* (*Ibid., p. 256.)
637.
There is little doubt
that these differences consisted of changes in the 3°, the degree of I.M., and
the Holy Royal Arch; and they are clearly the result of the inheritance of a
different stream of Masonic tradition. It is almost certain that the Moderns
did make innovations in the ritual; they seem to have exchanged the words of
the First and Second Degrees, because of the exposures contained in Samuel Pritchard’s
Masonry Dissected, which had an enormous sale in England and on the Continent,
and the old order is still preserved in Continental Masonry, especially in
Lodges working what is known as the French Rite.
638.
THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH
639.
The first mention in
contemporary records of the Holy Royal Arch occurs at Youghal in Ireland in
1743; and we hear of it again in 1744 in Dr. Dassigny’s “Serious and
Impartial Enquiry into the cause of the Present Decay of Freemasonry in the
Kingdom of Ireland,” in which he tells us of the existence of an Assembly
of Royal Arch Masons at York - from which city the degree was introduced into
Dublin; that it was known and practised in London “some small space before”;
and that the members thereof were “an organis’d body of men who have passed the
chair”.* (*Quoted. loc. cit. p. 199.)
640.
We have already seen how
in ancient days the Royal Arch was associated with the 3°, as the Mark was with
the 2°; and both these items of ceremonial appear to have been included in that
corpus of tradition which reached Anderson in 17I7 or thereabouts, and to have
been worked in private in certain of the Lodges from time immemorial, although
they do not seem to have been formally sanctioned by the Grand Lodge. The first
exoteric mention of the Mark Degree occurs in the Minute-Book of a Royal Arch
Chapter in Portsmouth
in 1769.* (*Quoted. loc. cit., p. 263.) A careful study of existing
rituals of both these degrees shows that considerable differences occur in
English, Scottish and Irish workings; and it is clear that in their case also
many lines of tradition were handed down. Bro. A. E. Waite refers to a ritual
of the Old York Mark Lodge in his possession, which differs almost completely
from any of our present workings.* (*Emblematic Freemasonry, p. 62, note.) It
is not difficult to account for differences of ritual between “Ancients” and
“Moderns,” when we consider the number and variety of traditions handed down
throughout the ages.
641.
THE UNITED GRAND LODGE
642.
In 1813 the two rival
Grand Lodges of England formally united, and thenceforward the United Grand
Lodge of England has been the governing body of Craft Masonry in that country.
At the union an amalgamation took place between the two lines of tradition, and
English Craft Masonry is indebted to Ireland and to York as well as to the
Apple-Tree Tavern for its methods of working. According to the Articles of
Union already noted it was agreed upon that for the future:
643.
Pure Antient Masonry
consists of three degrees, and no more, viz., those of the Entered Apprentice,
the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason (including the Supreme Order of the Holy
Royal Arch). But this Article is not intended to prevent any Lodge or Chapter
from holding a meeting in any of the Degrees of the Orders of Chivalry,
according to the Constitutions of the said Orders.* (*A. Q. C., xvi,
63.)
644.
In such wise the Masonic
tradition became fixed, and it remains the same in essentials to-day.
645.
CRAFT MASONRY IN OTHER
COUNTRIES
646.
It is commonly held that
Masonry was introduced into France
from England
about 1732, though some think that it came in seven years earlier under
Jacobite auspices. In reality it antedates that era altogether, for Masonic
tradition of some sort had existed in France from time immemorial, and when
King James II took refuge at Clermont Abbey in 1688 he found a Masonic centre
there which he tried unsuccessfully to use for political purposes. Whether the
English rite which was brought in at the date above-mentioned linked itself in
any way with the indigenous Masonry is uncertain - there is no evidence upon
the point - but French Masonry has diverged very considerably from the English
workings.
647.
The symbolic or blue
degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite appear in many ways to
preserve a fuller tradition, and they probably represent another line of
descent, for they employ the ancient Chaldaean method of seating the three
principal officers in an isosceles triangle. As in the regular Grand Lodge of
England prior to 1810, there is no degree of I.M. worked on the Continent,
except in bodies deriving authority from the Grand Lodge in London. The elected
Master is placed in the Chair without ceremony, as in the older English
working. The Grand Lodge of Scotland recognized the ceremonial degree only in
1872. It was derived from sources accessible to the “Ancients,” possibly from York.
Certain of the signs of the degree are found on the walls of Egyptian temples,
and when its inner or occult side is studied, installation into the Ch.: of K.:
S.: is found to have formed part of the genuine and immemorial tradition of the
Mysteries.
648.
Masonry is said to have
appeared in Germany in 1733,
though the first known Lodge was established in Hamburg
in 1737; in Sweden it dates
from 1735; while Dutch Masonry was inaugurated in 1731, when the Duke of
Lorraine was initiated at the Hague
by Dr. Desaguliers.* (*Gould, Concise History, p. 306.) It was
introduced into America before 1733, when the first Lodge holding written
authority from the Grand Lodge of England was established in Boston.* (*Ibid.,
p. 333.) It was in reality practised in America before the date of the founding
of Grand Lodge, being carried thither by some of the earlier settlers. Many
Lodges were constituted with Scottish, Irish and “Ancient” Warrants, which
accounts for the many variations to be found in American workings. In America
to-day there are over fifty Grand Lodges with a membership of at least two
millions, many of whom also belong to various high degree Obediences.* (*Ibid.,
pp. 348, 349.) There are nine Grand Lodges in Canada, with a hundred and twenty
thousand members, and seven Grand Lodges in Australasia, with seventy-five
thousand members.* (*Ibid., p. 345.) Craft Masonry flourishes likewise
in many other countries, and is unquestionably one of the greatest powers for
good in the world in this twentieth century.
649.
Other
Lines of Masonic Tradition
650.
THE STREAM OF SECRET
SOCIETIES
651.
IN the name of the
Christ, the Lord of love and compassion, that body which called itself His
Church and professed to follow Him had established a reign of terror throughout
Europe, and plunged into a mad orgy of cruelty and unbridled wickedness such as
the world has rarely seen even among the most degraded savages. It was this
desperate condition of affairs that made necessary the intentional confusion of
the inner truths of Freemasonry with the trade secrets of the operative guilds;
but that was not the only method adopted by the Powers behind to carry on the
tradition of the Light through those days of more than Cimmerian darkness.
There were also certain societies, secret or semisecret, which existed for the
express purpose of perpetuating a noble and pure teaching.
652.
Just because they had to
work so warily and so quietly it is not easy to find traces of the activity of
these organizations; but a very earnest Mason, Mrs. Isabel Cooper-Oakley, has
devoted years of patient and laborious original research in many parts of
Europe to the study of this subject, and has published the results of her toil
in Traces of a Hidden Tradition in Masonry and Mediaeval Mysticism. From
that book I extract the following list of mystical societies, interspersed with
a few names of individual mystics:
653.
In the third century we
find Manes, the widow’s son, the link for all of those who believe in the great
work done by the “Sons of the Widow” and the Magian Brotherhood.
654.
In the fourth century
the central figure for all occult students is the great Iamblichus, the
forerunner of the Rosicrucians.
655.
From the third to the
ninth century the following organizations and sects appear; Manichaeans;
Euchites; Dionysian Artificers; Ophites; Nestorians; Eutychians, and the
Magistri Comacini, of whom we may read in Llorente’s History of the
Inquisition, and in Professor Herzario’s I Maestri Comacini. This
author says: “In this darkness which extended over all Italy, only one small
lamp remained alight, making a bright spark in the vast Italian necropolis. It
was from the Magistri Comacini. Their names are unknown, their individual works
unspecialized, but the breath of their spirit may be felt all through those
centuries, and their name collectively is legion. We may safely say that of all
the works of art between 800 and 1000 A.D., the greater and better part are due
to that brotherhood - always faithful and often secret - of the Magistri
Comacini.”
656.
In the tenth century we find
still the Manichaeans and the Euchites; also the Paulicians and the Bogomiles.
657.
Eleventh century: the
Cathari and Patarini, condemned by the Roman Church, both derived from the
Manichaeans; the Paulicians with the same tradition, also persecuted; the
Knights of Rhodes and of Malta; Scholastic Mystics.
658.
Twelfth century: the
Albigenses appear, probably derived from Manichaeans who settled in Albi; the
Knights Templars, publicly known; the Cathari, widely spread in Italy; the
Hermetists.
659.
Thirteenth century: the
Brotherhood of the Winkelers; the Apostolikers; the Beghards and the Beguinen;
the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit; the Lollards; the Albigenses, crushed
out by the Catholic Church; the Troubadours.
660.
Fourteenth century: the
Hesychasts, the precursors of the Quietists; the Friends of God; German
Mysticism, led by Nicholas of Basle; Johann Tauler; Christian Rosenkreutz; the
great Templar persecution; the Fraticelli.
661.
Fifteenth century: the
Fratres Lucis at Florence, also the Platonic Academy; the Alchemical Society;
Society of the Trowel; the Templars; the Bohemian Brothers, or Unitas Fratrum;
the Rosicrucians.
662.
Sixteenth century: the
Rosicrucians became widely known; the Order of Christ, derived from the
Templars; Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, in connection with a secret
association; Saint Teresa; S. John of the Cross; Philippe Paracelsus; the
Fire Philosophers; Militia Crucifera Evangelica, under Simon Studion; the
Mysteries of the Hermetic Masters.
663.
Seventeenth century: the
Rosicrucians; the Templars; the Asiatische Bruder; Academia di Secreti, at the
home of John Baptista Porta; the Quietists, founded by Michael de Molinos; and
the whole group of Spanish mystics.
664.
Eighteenth century: the
Fratres Lucis, or the Knights of Light; the Rosicrucians; the Knights and
Brothers Initiate of St. John the Evangelist from Asia, or the Asiatische
Bruder; the Martinists; the Theosophical Society, founded in London, 1767, by
Benedicte Chastanier, a mystic Mason; the Quietists; the Knights
Templars; some Masonic bodies.
665.
The various sects and
bodies here detailed should not be understood as belonging exclusively to the
century under which they appear in the above classification. All that this
list is intended to convey is that such sects were more markedly prominent
during the century in which they are placed.* (*Op. cit., pp. 27-9.)
666.
Yet again Mrs.
Cooper-Oakley writes with deep appreciation of the work done by the
Troubadours:
667.
From the death of Manes,
A.D. 276, there was an intimate alliance - even a fusion - with some of the
leading Gnostic sects, and thence do we derive the intermingling of the two
richest streams of Oriental Wisdom: the one, directly through Persia from
India; the other, traversing that marvellous Egyptian period, enriched by the
wisdom of the great Hermetic teachers, flowed into Syria and Arabia, and thence
with added force - garnered from the new divine powers made manifest in the profound
mystery of the blessed Jesus - into Europe, through Northern Africa, finding a
home in Spain, where it took deep root. From this stock sprang into full flower
that richness of speech and song for which the Troubadours will live for ever,
Manichaeans who sang and chanted the Esoteric Wisdom they dared not speak.
668.
Next we see them
dispersed in sects, taking local names - separated in name only, but using the
same secret language, having the same signs. Thus, everywhere they journeyed,
and no matter by what name they were called, each knew the other as a “widow’s
son,” bound together on a Mystic Quest, knitted - by virtue of a secret science
- into one community; with them came from the East a chivalric ideal, and they
chanted of love and sang of heaven: but the love was a Divine Love, and their
heaven was the wisdom and peace of those who sought the higher life.* (*Ibid.,
p. 124.)
669.
I have taken two long
extracts from Mrs. Oakley’s book, because it is the only one of which I know
which treats in any detail of these little-known sects. Among them two stand
out as better known or at any rate more fully discussed than the others, and
both of them have to a considerable extent influenced our modern Masonic
rituals, especially those of the higher degrees. These two are the Knights
Templars and the Brethren of the Rosy Cross.
670.
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
671.
The Order of the Knights
Templars, called also the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, was
founded in 1118 by Hugues de Payens (Hugo de Paganis), a Knight of Burgundy,
and Godefroid de St. Omer a Knight of Northern France, in order to protect
the pilgrims who flocked to the Holy Land after the First Crusade.
Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem, allotted to those two knights and six others who
joined with them quarters near the site of Solomon’s Temple, whence their name
Templars was derived.
672.
Nine years later Hugues
de Payens visited Europe with the object of
placing the new Order upon a more secure foundation and of gaining recognition
and a Rule from the Pope. He secured the enthusiastic support of S. Bernard,
the great Abbot of Clairvaux, and in 1128 a Rule, which was drawn up for them
by S. Bernard himself, was approved for the Knights Templars by the Council of
Troyes. It was not, however, until 1163 that Pope Alexander III issued the
charter of the Order, and its organization was fully established.
673.
The Order of the Temple
in the days of its glory consisted of various grades. The Knights (fratres
milites) formed its most important section, at least from the military point of
view; at their reception they were pledged to observe the three evangelical
counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience,* (*The Reception of a Templar.
Bro. E. J. Castle, K. C. in A. Q. C., Vol. xv, p. 163.) like the
members of all other religious orders throughout the Church. The Knights, who
were often of high birth, were each entitled to three horses, a squire and two
tents. Married men were also received, but only on condition of bequeathing one
half of their property to the Order. No women were admitted.
674.
Besides these there was
also a body of clergy (fratres capellani) - Bishops, priests and
deacons - who were under the same vows as the Knights, and by special
dispensation owed obedience to no superior, ecclesiastical or civil, except the
Grand Master of the Temple and the Pope. It was laid down that the confessions
of brethren of the Order should only be heard by these special clergy; and thus
their secrets were guarded inviolate. There were also two classes of Serving
Brothers, those bearing arms (fratres servientes armigeri), and the
menials and craftsmen (fratres servientes famuli and officii).
675.
At the head of the whole
organization stood the Grand Master; next in rank came the Seneschal of the
Temple, and the Marshal, the supreme authority in military affairs; and the
Order was administered in Provinces under a number of Commanders. After the
fall of the Latin Kingdom, the Headquarters of the Order were moved from Jerusalem
to Cyprus, and Paris became the chief Templar centre in Europe.
676.
The influence wielded by
the Templars grew rapidly. They fought gallantly in the various Crusades, and
also became the great international financiers and bankers of the age, thereby
amassing vast riches. It is reckoned that before the middle of the thirteenth
century they possessed nine thousand manors in Europe alone. The Paris Temple
was the centre of the world’s money market, and their influence and wealth in
England also were very great. In the later part of that century they are said
to have drawn a revenue amounting to nearly 2,500,000 in our money, more
than that of any European kingdom or state of that time.* (*Quelques
Reflexions sur les Origines de la Franc-Maconnerie Templiere, par le
Grand Commandeur du Supreme Conseil de Belgique (Count Goblet d’Alviella).
Bruxelles, 1904, p. 8.) At this period the Templars were believed to number
between 15,000 and 20,000 Knights and Clergy; but in attendance upon these
there was a veritable army of squires, servants and vassals. Their influence
may be estimated from the fact that members of the Order were summoned to the
great Councils of the Church, such as the Lateran Council of 1215 and the
Council of Lyons of 1274.* (*See also Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. Templars,
from which much of the above information is derived.)
677.
The Knights Templars
brought back to the West a set of symbols and ceremonies belonging to the
Masonic tradition, and they possessed certain knowledge which is now given only
in the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The Order was thus
one of the repositories of the Hidden Wisdom in Europe in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, although the full secrets were given only to the few;
alone, therefore, among the religious Orders, their ceremonies of reception
were conducted in strict privacy. As was but natural in such an age, the most
evil and horrible practices were attributed to the Order because of this
secrecy, and stories were told which had absolutely no foundation whatever in
fact.
678.
In the Templar form of
what we now call the 18°, the Most Wise Sovereign was an ordained priest or
Bishop, and the bread and wine which was consecrated in open Chapter in the
course of a splendid ceremony was a veritable Eucharist - a wonderful blending
of the Egyptian with the Christian sacrament.
679.
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE
TEMPLARS
680.
The suppression of this
great and powerful Order forms one of the darkest blots upon the tenebrous
history of the Roman Catholic Church. The reports of the French trial were
published by Michelet, the great historian, in 1851-61 and an excellent digest
of the evidence given both in France and England is contained in a series of
articles which appeared in 1907 in Ars Quattuor Coronatorum (xx, 47,
112, 269). We can give here but a brief outline of what took place, referring
those who wish for a more detailed account to the sources quoted, and to the
general literature of the subject.
681.
Philip the Fair, King of
France, was in desperate need of money. He had already debased the coinage, had
arrested the Lombard bankers and the Jews, and after confiscating their wealth
upon a trumped-up charge of usury - a thing abhorrent to the mediaeval mind -
had expelled them from his country. Then he determined to get rid of the
Templars, who had lent him large sums, and since the Pope, Clement V, owed his
position to the intrigues of Philip, the matter presented little difficulty.
His task was rendered easier, too, by the accusations brought against the Order
by the ex-knight Esquiu de Floyran, who had a personal interest in the matter,
and pretended to reveal all manner of evil things - blasphemy, immorality,
idolatry and the worship of the devil under the form of a black cat. This
traitor is still execrated in some of the Masonic rituals, together with one
Noffo Dei of Florence, who, however had nothing to do with the matter.
682.
These charges were
accepted by Philip with delight, and on Friday, October 13th, 1307, all the
Templars throughout France were arrested without warning on behalf of the most
infamous tribunal that has ever existed, a collection of demons in human form
called in ghastly mockery the Holy Office of the Inquisition, which at this
time held plenary jurisdiction in this and other countries of Europe. The
Templars were horribly tortured, so that many died, and the remainder confessed
in set terms whatever the Church required. The interrogations were concerned
chiefly with the alleged denial of Christ and the spitting on the cross, and in
a minor degree with certain grave charges of immorality. A study of the
evidence reveals the entire innocence of the Templars and the diabolical
ingenuity of the familiars of the Holy Office, who kept them separated without
adequate defence or proper consultation, and circulated among them lying
rumours that the Grand Master had confessed to the Pope that there were evils
in the Order. The brethren were cajoled, bribed and tortured into confessing
crimes they had never committed, and they were treated with the most fiendish
cruelty.
683.
Such was the “justice”
of those who bore the name of the Lord of Love in the Middle Ages; such the
compassion which was shown to His faithful servants, whose only crime was their
wealth, lawfully won for the Order, and not for themselves. Philip the Fair
obtained his money; but what karma, even in a thousand lives of suffering,
could ever be sufficient for so vile a wretch? The Roman Church has doubtless
many good deeds to its credit; but can all of them put together ever cancel
such incredible wickedness as this?
684.
The Pope desired to
destroy the Order, and called a Council at Vienne
in 1311 for that purpose, but the Bishops refused to condemn it unheard. The
Pope, therefore, abolished the Order in private Consistory on November 22nd,
1312 (5312 A.L. - a date still commemorated in a striking fashion in our
high-grade rituals), although he admitted that the charges were not proved. The
riches of the Temple were to be transferred to the Order of S. John: but it is
certain that the French portion found its way into the coffers of King Philip.
685.
The last and most brutal
act of this stupendous tragedy occurred on the 14th of March, 1314, when the
venerable Grand Master of the Temple,
Jacques de Molay, and Gaufrid de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, were publicly
burned as relapsed heretics before the great cathedral of Notre Dame. As the
flames closed round him the Grand Master summoned the King and the Pope to meet
him within a year before the judgment-seat of God, and both Pope and King were
dead within twelve months.
686.
THE PRESERVATION OF THE
TEMPLARS’ TRADITION
687.
The destruction of the
Order of the Temple
did not, however, involve a complete suppression of the teaching enshrined
within it. Certain of the French Knights Templars took refuge with their
brethren of the Temple in Scotland, and in that country their traditions became
mingled to some extent with the ancient Celtic rites of Heredom, thus forming
one of the sources from which the Scottish Rite was later to be evolved.
Traditions of vengeance upon the execrable King and Pope and the Traitor passed
down throughout the ages, and were interwoven with the Egyptian tradition
corresponding to our Black Masonry, culminating in what we now call the 30°.
688.
It is not difficult to
see how such confusion might arise, especially among those who did not fully
understand the inner meaning of the Egyptian teaching, and how a particular and
temporary idea of vengeance might be blended with the philosophical doctrine of
the meaning of evil and retribution and its place in the divine plan. It is
these traditions of vengeance, however little understood, that form the basis
of our 30° ritual, although in modern days the tendency has been to soften the
harsh outlines as far as possible, to expunge all ideas of physical revenge,
and even, as in the French rites, to delete all reference to the Templars and
their wrongs.
689.
Other streams said to be
from the Order of the Temple
are claimed as genuine by their modern representatives, but without sufficient
reason. The French Ordre du Temple alleged a direct succession from Jacques de
Molay, and produced in support thereof the celebrated Charter of Larmenius
(which is usually considered a forgery); in any case the Ordre du Temple had no
connection with modern Masonry. The Strict Observance, though it claimed to
perpetuate Templar lines of thought, never, I believe, held its rituals to be
of ancient origin, for these clearly belong to the eighteenth century. The
modern Military and Religious Order of Knights Templars does not claim direct
descent, though it may well embody certain genuine traditions. Its ritual is
beautiful, and it appears to have been one of those rites which have been taken
up by the H.O.A.T.F. and used. The real rites of the Templars have not
survived, though it would no doubt be possible to reconstruct them, and certain
traditions about them have passed down and become incorporated into various
modern degrees.
690.
THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND
691.
The most important of
the bodies inheriting part of the Templar tradition is the Royal Order of
Scotland, though it is in reality the result of the interaction of several
lines of Masonic descent. As I have said on page 124, the doctrines which the
Knights Templars brought with them from France when their Order was suppressed
in their native country were intermingled with those of more than one of the
existing Scottish rites. Those who founded it, or at least developed its
teaching, appear to have been thoroughly eclectic, for in addition to the
two sources above indicated they seem to have assimilated a certain
amount of material from the Culdees, and also from the Jewish tradition, though
using the symbology of the Second Temple. Ramsay quotes in connection with it
the Jewish legend of the sword and trowel; and it is with the sword in one hand
and the trowel in the other that the Brn. of the Royal Order still take their
O. I have already referred to its curious old rhymed ritual, which bears
internal evidence of antiquity, and teaches the search for a lost word which is
eventually found in Christ.
692.
The Order consists of
two degrees, the first that of HRDM or Heredom, and the second of RSYCRS or the
Rosy Cross. The degree of HRDM is divided into two parts, the Passage of the
Bridge, and the Admission to the Cabinet of Wisdom. It has certain resemblances
to some of the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Its form has
been very grossly corrupted to make it agree with the most extravagant form of
modern protestantism, with references to the blood of Jesus, to the lamb and
the book, etc. The quest for the Word is analagous to that undertaken in the
Rose-Croix, though the degrees are quite different. Our 18° has little to do
with the symbolism of the Royal Order, although the purpose of the two rites is
the same. The 46° of the Rite of Mizraim (Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix of
Kilwinning and of Heredom) has a close resemblance to the ritual of the Royal
Order, bearing some of the signs and much of the essential meaning. Of all those
bodies which may be thought of as developing into what afterwards became higher
degrees, this Royal Order of Scotland was the first to formulate itself
definitely, though little is heard of it in the outer world; and it may be
taken as the primary type of the Scots degrees.
693.
THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSY
CROSS
694.
The mysterious Order of
the Rosy Cross still remains something of a problem to the student. The glamour
of the Rosicrucian Philosophy has not yet passed away, and an enormous mass of
controversial literature has gathered about the Order, many students affirming
that it never existed at all, and that its famous manifestos were but an
elaborate hoax played upon Europe by a few unscrupulous jesters; others say
that the Society did exist, but that it was no more than an obscure Lutheran
sect which thus cleverly advertised its opinions; others, again, think that it
was a genuine school of wisdom, in which the deeper knowledge of life’s secrets
was given to the few who were prepared by long discipline to receive it.
695.
THE LITERATURE OF
ROSICRUCIANISM
696.
The Order of the Rosy
Cross was first made known to Europe by the
publication in 1614 of the Fama Fraternitatis of the Meritorious Order of
the Rosy Cross, addressed to the Learned in General and the Govenors of
Europe. This was, according to mediaeval custom, bound up with another
treatise: A Universal Reformation of the Whole Wide World, by order of the
God Apollo, is published by the Seven Sages of Greece, and some other Litterati.
Some have thought this latter to be a Rosicrucian pamphlet, but in reality it
is a translation from the Ragguagli di Parnasso of Boccalini, and
probably, as Michael Maier held, had no connection with the Order at all.* (*A.
E. Waite. The Real History of the Rosicrucians, p. 35.)
697.
The Fama Fraternitatis
contains a description of the traditional life of Christian Rosenkreutz (b.
A.D. 1378), the founding of the Order of the Rosy Cross, and his death and
burial. This is followed by a highly symbolical account of the discovery of the
Tomb of C .: R .: C .: by Brn. “of the third order and row of succession”; and
finally the resolution of the Head of the Order that it should now be proclaimed
to the Western world is narrated, and an invitation issued (in five languages)
to the learned of Europe to join the Fraternity. It closes with the statement
that:
698.
Although at this time we
make no mention either of our names or meetings, yet nevertheless everyone’s
opinion shall assuredly come to our hands, in what language so ever it be, nor
any body shall fail, whoso gives but his name, to speak with some of us, either
by word of mouth, or else, if there be some left, in writing.* (*Fama
Fraternitatis, quoted op. cit., p. 83.)
699.
This extraordinary
document was followed in 1615 by another striking pamphlet, the Confessio
Fraternitas R. C. ad Eruditos Europae, which was bound up in a Latin work
entitled: Secretioris Philosophiae Consideratio Brevio a Philippo a Gabella,
Philosophiae studioso, conscripta. In the Confessio, which is
divided into fourteen chapters, we have a guarded account of the aims of the
Society, the knowledge of nature’s secrets contained within its different
grades, the dawn of a new age of regeneration, and a consequent appeal to all
those who had the welfare of mankind at heart, and who cared nothing for the
folly and selfishness of the “ungodly and accursed goldmaking” mentioned in the
Fama, to join the Order and partake of its privileges:
700.
We affirm that we have
by no means made common property of our arcana, albeit they resound in five
languages within the ears of the vulgar, both because, as we well know, they
will not move gross wits, and because the worth of those who shall be accepted
into our Fraternity will not be measured by their curiosity, but by the rule
and pattern of our revelations. A thousand times the unworthy may clamour, a
thousand times may present themselves, yet God hath commanded our ears that
they should hear none of them, and hath so compassed us about with His clouds
that unto us, His servants, no violence can be done; wherefore now no longer
are we beheld by human eyes, unless they have received strength borrowed from
the eagle.* (*Confessio Fraternitatis, quoted op. cit., p. 90.)
701.
The Confessio is clearly
written by one deeply versed in genuine occult lore, and contains a veiled but
unmistakable promise that real knowledge will be given to the earnest and
unselfish aspirant.
702.
A year later a third
pamphlet was published at Strasburg called The Chymical Marriage of
Christian Rosenkreutz, supposed to have existed in MSS. as early as 1601-2.
It is dated Anno 1459, and commences with the following significant warning:
703.
Arcana publicata
vilescunt, et gratiam prophanata amittunt. Ergo: ne margaritas objice porcis,
seu asino substernere rosas.* (* “Published secrets become valueless, and
things profaned lose their grace. Therefore cast not pearls before swine, nor
strew roses before an ass.” Op. cit., p. 99.)
-
showing clearly
that it was meant to be taken in a mystical sense. It is a long and cryptic
account, lit with gleams of humour, of the initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz
into the Mysteries of the Rosy Cross, commencing from his invitation, or
awakening to the inner life, and ending with his final triumph or regeneration
as a Knight of the Golden Stone. This is the most curious of all the
Rosicrucian documents, and it will repay the close study necessary to its
comprehension; for within it are contained some of the deepest secrets of
spiritual alchemy.
704.
The authorship of these
pamphlets has always been a matter of speculation. They have all been
attributed to Johann Valentine Andreas, a cultured and travelled German scholar
of the seventeenth century, who was much interested in secret societies, and
was a follower of the doctrines of Paracelsus. The arguments for and against
his authorship are very ably given by Bro. A. E. Waite in his Real History
of the Rosicrucians, and in his recent work, The Brotherhood of the Rosy
Cross, in which, however he may mistake, in our opinion, as to the real
purpose and aims of the original Order (the existence of which he denies) he
has nevertheless brought together a mass of valuable facts which throw a good
deal of light upon the whole question. Andreas acknowledges the Chymical
Marriage, although he calls it a ludibrium or jest; from his later
works he seems to have turned against the Order of the Rosy Cross, and started
a new Society of his own. It is extremely unlikely, however, that Andreas was
the author of the Fama and the Confessio.
705.
These three documents
raised an indescribable storm of curiosity all over Europe.
Numbers of students wrote open letters applying to be admitted into the Order,
and setting forth their qualifications; but none of these seem to have been
openly answered. A multitude of pamphlets appeared, especially in Germany, some
attacking the Society, and others no less valiantly defending it; while many
charlatans arose, claiming to be Brethren of the R.C., and relieving the
credulous of their superfluous money. The most noted of the opponents of
Rosicrucianism was Andreas Libavius of Halle, who wrote three treatises against
the Order, in the last of which, “though posing as a critic, he advises all
persons to join the Order, because there is much to be learned and much wisdom
to be gained by so doing.”.* (*The Real History of the Rosicrucians, p.
252.)
706.
On the Rosicrucian side
we may note the Echo of the God-illuminated Brotherhood of the
Venerable Order R.C., published in 1615, and supposed to have been written
by Julius Sperber of Anholt, in which he asserts that the Rosicrucians
possessed deep wisdom, although only a few had been accounted worthy to partake
of it. The Echo claimed to embody absolute proof that the statements of Fama
and Confessio were possible and true, that the facts had been commonly
familiar to certain God-fearing people for more than nineteen years, and that
they were on record in secret writings.* (*The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross,
p. 254.) Another pamphlet published in 1617, the Fraternitatis Rosatae
Crucis Confessio Recepta, declares that it requires much study and careful
research, as well as personal sacrifice, to become the possessor of
transcendental secrets.* (*The Real History of the Rosicrucians, p.
256.)
707.
But the literature of
the Rosy Cross was by no means confined to pamphlets. A system of philosophy
was put before Europe through their mediation,
a philosophy which bears a striking resemblance to that of the theurgic
Neoplatonism of the third and fourth centuries of our era. Many great names are
associated with the Order; among them was Michael Maier, who died in 1622,
after writing the Silentium post Clamores (1617); the Symbola Aureae
Mensae (1617), and the Themis Aurea (1618) - all of which expound
and defend Rosicrucian and alchemical philosophy. Thomas Vaughan, although not
an actual member of the Society, was in close sympathy with its tenets, and
translated into English the Fama Fraternitatis and the Confessio.
There were Robert Flood, a great English Rosicrucian philosopher, author of the
Tractatus Apologeticus, the Tractatus Theologo-Philosophicus, and
other works; “Sincerus Renatus,” or Sigmund Richter, who published in 1710 the
curious work, The Perfect and True Preparation of the Philosophical Stone,
according to the secret of the Brotherhoods of the Golden and Rosy Cross,
with which is included the Rules of the above-mentioned Order for the
initiation of new Members; and, lastly, the author of the Secret Symbols
of the Rosicrucians of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, a rare
book containing a number of occult engravings which enshrine much inner
teaching.
708.
THE TRADITIONAL HISTORY
OF THE ROSICRUCIANS
709.
The traditional history
of Christian Rosenkreutz is contained in the Fama Fraternitatis, but it obviously
cannot be accepted literally as it stands. It is clearly intended to bear an
allegorical and mystical meaning, like all the traditional histories in the
mystic schools; and, although certain historical facts may well be woven into
its structure, they can only be subordinate to the living truth its author has
sought to convey. Origen clearly states the principle always used in the
Mysteries in his De Principiis:
710.
Where the Word found
that things done according to the history could be adapted to these mystical
senses, he made use of them, concealing from the multitude the deeper meaning;
but where, in the narrative of the development of supersensual things, there
did not follow the performance of those certain events which were already
indicated by the mystical meaning, the Scripture interwove in the history the
account of some event that did not take place, sometimes what could not
have happened; sometimes what could, but did not.* (*Origen, Bk. IV, Chap. i,
15 (Ante-Nicene Library Ed.)
711.
This is one of the
methods by which the secret teachings are guarded from the profane, who throw
them aside, thinking that as history they are inaccurate and uninteresting, and
so completely miss their deeper meaning.
712.
The Fama
Fraternitatis, which admittedly contains only a tradition, written down
long after the events recorded had taken place, tells us how C .: R .: C .: was
born in A.D. 1378, of poor but noble parents, and how he entered a monastery at
a very early period of his life. While still quite young, he is said to have
journeyed to Cyprus with a Brother P.A.L., who died there. He then crossed to
Palestine, and came into touch at the age of sixteen with the wise men of
Damcar in Arabia,
713.
Who received him not as
a stranger (as he himself witnesseth), but as one whom they had long expected;
they called him by his name, and shewed him other secrets out of his cloyster,
whereat he could not but mightily wonder.* (*Fama Fraternitatis, quoted
in The Real History, etc., p. 67, from which translation the citations
following are also taken.)
714.
There he learnt Arabic,
translated into Latin the book M., which he afterwards brought to Europe, and
in which Paracelsus was said to have been interested; and thence he travelled
to Egypt and to Fez, to become acquainted with the “Elementary Inhabitants, who
revealed unto him many of their secrets”.
715.
From Fez the Founder of
the Order is said to have crossed into Spain, where he offered his knowledge to
the learned, but “to them it was a laughing matter”. He therefore returned to
Germany, his own native country, determining gradually to begin there the
foundation of the brotherhood that was destined to reform Europe. He chose
three brethren out of his own monastery to be the first Rosicrucians; and later
increased the number to eight, binding them by certain definite rules.
716.
The brethren then went
forth to the world, leaving only two of their number to remain with the head of
the Order. In due time, Christian Rosenkreutz died, and was buried very
secretly in the tomb prepared for him, his resting-place remaining unknown even
to members of the fraternity.
717.
At a later period, a
seeming accident revealed the door of the tomb, upon which was written in great
letters: “Post cxx Annos Patebo” - After a hundred and twenty years I will come
forth.” In the midst of the tomb there shone a blazing star, and upon the altar
in the centre of the vault these significant words were engraved: “A.C.R.C. Hoc
universi compendium unius mihi sepulchrum feci” - “I have made this my tomb a
compendium of the universe.” Beneath the altar was found “a fair and worthy
body … with all the ornaments and attires. In his hand he held the parchment
called T., the which next unto the Bible is our greatest treasure, which ought
not to be delivered to the censure of the world.” Various other objects were
discovered - “looking-glasses of divers virtues, little bells, burning lamps,
and chiefly wonderful artificial songs” - and most important of all, the secret
Book M. and other volumes, including certain of those of Paracelsus, the
philosopher and chemist of the sixteenth century.
718.
Such is the traditional
history of Christian Rosenkreutz, as contained in the documents of the Order.
The form in which the story is cast shows that it is obviously not intended to
be an historical narrative. It is clearly designed as an allegory to express
certain hidden truths to those whose eyes are opened, even though historical
details are probably contained within it.
719.
THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER
720.
Despite the assertions
of scholars and the absence of corroborative evidence, Christian Rosenkreutz
did indeed found the Order of the Rosy Cross, and he was in fact an incarnation
of that mighty Master of the Wisdom whom we revere to-day as the H.O.A.T.F. He
was born in 1375, three years before the date given in the Fama, and was
sent, when quite young, to a lonely monastery on the borders of Germany and
Austria, where he received his education and training. Like many such
communities in the Middle Ages, this monastery preserved a secret tradition,
and its monks, who devoted themselves to meditation, were possessed of genuine
spiritual and occult knowledge. Here Christian Rosenkreutz studied those deeper
secrets of nature of which chemistry is but the outer shell, that alchemy which
is concerned primarily with the transformation of the lead of the personality
into the gold of the spirit, and only secondarily with the transmutation of
metals and the manufacture of jewels. Christian Rosenkreutz now began to travel,
and after passing through Germany, Austria and Italy, finally reached Egypt,
where he was welcomed by the Brethren of the Egyptian Lodge of that White
Brotherhood to which in past lives he had belonged.
721.
In Egypt Christian
Rosenkreutz was received into all the degrees of the Egyptian Mysteries, which
had been preserved by the White Lodge in direct succession from the hierophants
of old; and through him we may trace one of the most important of the lines of
succession which eventually became incorporated into the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite. Among other things he adapted, and translated into Latin from
the Egyptian, that Ritual of the Rosy Cross to which we have already referred,
and this became the prototype of the Ceremony of Perfection worked in the
Sovereign Chapters of Co-Masonry to-day.
722.
On his return from Egypt
Christian Rosenkreutz founded the Order of the Rosy Cross, choosing here and
there a brother who was worthy to be brought into touch with the secret
Mysteries of Egypt and the profound occult knowledge which they enshrined. The
Order was always extremely limited in numbers, some thirty or forty at most,
but it had an enormous effect upon the secret tradition in Europe, and indeed
formed a Western school through which the White Lodge might be directly
reached. In later days a portion of its teaching and ritual passed into
less exclusive hands, and it is through one of these semi-exoteric bodies that
the Rose-Croix Ritual was transmitted into the keeping of the Council of
Emperors of the East and West.* (*See chapter xi.)
723.
During its passage
through many hands ignorant of its true meaning that Ritual has suffered much
distortion, being on the one hand blended with protestant Christianity, as in
English and American workings, or rationalized beyond recognition under the
auspices of the Supreme Council of France. In our Co-Masonic Order we
have the great privilege of using, by order of the H.O.A.T.F., an English
translation of His original Latin ceremonial and I think that we may say without
exaggeration that it is one of the most stately and beautiful rituals of
the Rose-Croix in existence.
724.
The Rose-Croix, as we
have said before, is essentially a degree of Christhood, concerned with the
awakening of the Christ mystical within the heart, the hidden Love which is the
heart of the mystic rose, and which can only be known when the heart is laid
upon the Cross of Sacrifice; but it was not originally intended to be an
appendage to Christianity, as it has now become in England, but rather an independent
sacramental channel through which the Lord of Love may pour down His Blessing
upon initiates of every faith, for it was founded thousands of years before the
birth of the disciple Jesus in Palestine. Thus although it is the Christ, the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who is adored in the Rose-Croix, the
Christ whose Love is outpoured in the Sovereign Chapters of Heredom, in
our Co-Masonic Ritual we speak of Him only as the Lord of Love, and do
not bind our Brn. especially to the doctrines of the last great faith which He
founded in person on earth; for He is the Lord of all religions alike, and
the Rose-Croix is no less His than the glorious sacraments of the
Christian Church which He Himself gave two thousand years ago.
725.
The original Order of
the Rosy Cross still exists in utter secrecy, and, although it is unknown in
the outer world, its Mysteries are yet handed down on the physical plane, and
it still preserves the ancient secrets of healing and magic which its M.W.S.
brought in the fifteenth century from the Egyptian Lodge. Only very few, and
those high Initiates of the White Lodge from whence it came, are admitted to
its House of the Holy Spirit. Many have claimed and still claim to belong to
it, but it is quite independent of the many Orders and Societies, both open and
secret, which bear its hallowed name in the twentieth century. In Masonry,
however, we inherit some portion of its ritual, though but little of its hidden
lore, and the sacramental powers of the Rosy Cross yet shine through certain of
our high grades in the
726.
Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite. There is thus good reason why modern Masons have claimed
affinity with the Rosy Cross, and why it has exercised so fascinating an
influence over the minds of men since it was first heard of in the seventeenth
century.
727.
It is the nearest
approach to “a higher degree” that existed in ancient Egypt; in fact,
we may say that to all intents and purposes it was a higher degree, though it
never called itself so. I have explained in The Hidden Life in Freemasonry
that in Egypt thousands of years ago there were three Grand Lodges which
differed from all the rest in their objects and workings, and that it was these
three Lodges which, at certain stated times every year, undertook the duty of
flooding the land with spiritual force by means of the magnificent ritual of The
Building of the Temple of Amen.* (*The Hidden Life in Freemasonry,
p. 290.) When the Brn. were performing that holy duty they showed their
solidarity with ordinary Masonry by opening in the 1° and raising the Lodge as
quickly as possible to the 3° before commencing their wonderful work; on the
comparatively rare occasions when they had to admit a candidate carefully
selected from one of the Craft Lodges, they did not open in Blue Masonry at
all, but plunged straight into this ceremony of the Rose-Croix.
728.
The ritual had to be
modified somewhat in the eighteenth century to bring it into harmony with the
system of higher degrees which it had then been thought well to adopt; the list
and explanation of those degrees were added, and also the reference to
Jerusalem. The Word, which in modern Masonry has degenerated into mere
initials, was then in itself a living “word of power,” pregnant with deepest
meaning, though a double scheme of initials was also used. All this needed and
received the most skilful attention when the translation from Egyptian into
Latin was made; one cannot but admire the marvellous ingenuity which, while
changing the language, yet contrived to keep practically intact the sound, the
form, and an elaborate triple set of meanings, one within the other. The
eighteenth century additions have considerably lengthened the ceremony, but
they are congruous with the older part, so that it still retains its
transcendent beauty; and all the principal features of the degree - the rose,
the cross, the cup, the sacrament - are precisely the same as they were
thousands of years ago.
729.
THE
Scottish Rite
730.
ORIGIN OF THE RITE
731.
THE origin of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of 33°, or rather that of the Rite of
Perfection or of Heredom of 25° out of which it was evolved, has been one of
the most obscure Masonic problems; practically nothing is known about it by
scholars, since no authentic contemporary evidence is preserved in available
documents or publications. This silence need cause but little wonder to the
student who has followed us so far, for, like many other activities both in
politics and religion, the high-grade Masonry of the early eighteenth century
was intended to be kept secret, and the secrecy was preserved by committing
nothing to writing and leaving no trace on the physical plane. I cannot expect
that my statements will be accepted by Masonic scholars who pin their faith to
documents alone, but I shall nevertheless give a brief account of what actually
took place, supplying corroborative evidence whenever possible from reliable
historians, so far as their works are available to me. This book is written in
Australia, far away from the chief centres of Masonic life and learning, and I
have consequently had to depend largely upon the resources of my own library.
If I had access to a larger selection of Masonic volumes I should no doubt be
able to find other fragments of valuable testimony.
732.
THE JACOBITE MOVEMENT
733.
There has been a
persistent tradition among Continental writers upon Masonry that the Jacobites
had much to do with the development of the higher degrees of the eighteenth
century; and, as Bro. R. R. Gould points out, colour is lent to this view by
the fact that the earliest names mentioned in connection with Freemasonry in
France are those of well-known adherents of the Stuarts, although he himself
rejects the hypothesis for lack of sufficient evidence.* (*Gould. Hist.
Freem., III, 78.) We have the direct and personal testimony of Baron von
Hund, the founder of the Rite of the Strict Observance, given in 1764, that he
himself was received into the Order of the Temple in Paris in 1743 by “an
unknown Bro., the Knight of the Red Feather, in the presence of Lord
Kilmarnock* (*At that time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and
Master of Lodge Kilwinning on his election to that high office in 1742. Ibid.,
p. 53.) … and that he was subsequently introduced as a distinguished Brother of
the Order to Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender”.* (*Ibid., p.
101.) From papers found after his death it is clear that von Hund regarded the
Knight of the Red Feather as Prince Charles himself. The life of von Hund shows
him to have been a man of stainless honour who had made great sacrifices for
the cause which he had at heart; and although it has been said that in 1777
Prince Charles denied to an emissary of the Strict Observance* (*Ibid.,
p. 110.) that he had ever been a Freemason, such an official démenti is
not unknown even to-day in political circles, and perhaps we need not attach
great importance to it.
734.
The Scottish adherents
of King James II, who followed him into exile after the landing of the Prince
of Orange in 1688, brought to the English Court at S. Germains (which had been
placed at the disposal of the King by Louis XIV) those ancient rites of Heredom
and Kilwinning, intermingled with the Templar tradition, to which we have
already referred. When King James II fled from England he took refuge at the
Jesuit Abbey of Clermont, which had attached to it a College of Clermont in
Paris, founded by Guillaume du Prat, Bishop of Clermont, in 1550.* (*The
Catholic Encyclopaedia (1913), Vol. xiv, p. 88.) There, most unexpectedly,
the King found a Masonic centre, working rites which had been handed down in
France from a remote past. An intermingling of two traditions thus took place,
and it was at this period - many years before the revival in 1717 - that
certain of the ceremonies which are to-day included in the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite were first put together.
735.
It is probably this fact
which gave birth to that other recurring tradition that the Jesuits were
connected with the development of high-grade Masonry on the Continent; and it
is from this indigenous French tradition, of which another branch had found its
way into the Compagnonnage, that the rituals of French Craft Masonry - so
different from the English - were derived. A further intermingling with the
English tradition transmitted through Anderson no doubt took place after 1717.
736.
King James conceived the
idea of trying to use Freemasonry to assist him in his endeavour to regain his
throne; but this attempt failed, for, though they sympathized with the King,
the Masonic authorities staunchly refused to abandon their traditional neutral
policy, or to allow the Order to become a cloak for political intrigue. The
Jacobite influence nevertheless left its traces upon this part of Masonry, and
in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite the 14° is still called, under some
Obediences, Grand Scottish Knight of the Sacred Vault of James VI, though its
older name was Grand, Elect, Ancient Perfect Master.* (*A. E. Waite. Secret
Tradition in Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 125.) Baron von Hund spoke the truth
when he claimed to have met Prince Charles in Paris in 1743, and he seems to
have inherited certain lines of succession which afterwards became the heart of
the Rite of the Strict Observance. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which
practically destroyed the Jacobite movement, the connection of the Stuarts with
Masonry was dropped, and it seems probable that Baron von Hund himself composed
the Latin Rituals of the Strict Observance, which played a considerable part in
German Masonry in the eighteenth century.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., III,
101.)
737.
THE ORATION OF RAMSAY
738.
After the year 1740
“Scots Degrees” sprang up in all parts of France,* (*Ibid., p. 92.) and their
creation and development are largely attributable to the celebrated Oration
delivered in 1737 in the Provincial Grand Lodge of England in Paris by the
Chevalier Ramsay; although the first published reference to a “Scotch Masons’
Lodge” occurs as early as 1733 in London.* (*R. F. Gould, A.Q.C., XVI,
44.)
739.
Ramsay was born in 1681
or 1682 at Ayr near Kilwinning (though he does
not seem ever to have joined that ancient Lodge). He was converted to
Catholicism by Archbishop Fenelon, whose Life he wrote and with whom he
continued to live till his death in 1715. After that he acted as tutor to the
two sons of the rightful King James III in Rome. He was unquestionably a learned man, a
deep student both of ancient and modern history, a D.C.L. of Oxford University
and, like many other prominent Freemasons of the period, a Fellow of the Royal
Society. He never appears to have taken much interest in Masonry, though he
wrote to Cardinal Fleury, the Prime Minister of France, in 1737 asking his
protection for the Freemasons, and stating that their ideals were very high and
most useful to religion, literature and the state. He died in 1743.
740.
But although Ramsay
never did much work for Masonry, the Oration which he delivered in 1737 before
the Provincial Grand Lodge of England in Paris, of which he was Grand
Chancellor and Orator, had a profound influence upon French Masonry. It was a
tolerably good Oration, but nothing very extraordinary. None the less it
appears to have given just that impetus that was needed to set the French
high-grade movement in activity, and ever afterwards the makers of high grades
looked to Ramsay as their pattern and ensample.
741.
He proclaimed the ideal
of Masonry to be a Universal Brotherhood of cultured men, a Spiritual Empire
that would change the world. He refers to the three degrees, and calls them
Novices or Apprentices, Fellows or Professed Brothers, Masters or Perfected
Brothers - a slightly different set of titles which may refer to a different
stream of tradition. These are required to practise respectively the moral
virtues, the heroic virtues and the Christian virtues.
742.
According to him,
Masonry was founded in remote antiquity and was renewed or restored in the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades. It has affinities
with the ancient Mysteries, especially those of Ceres at Eleusis,
Isis in Egypt
and others. The Crusaders adopted a set of “ancient signs and symbolical words
drawn from the well of religion,” which were intended to distinguish Crusader
from Saracen, and were concealed under strict pledges of secrecy. The intimate
union between the Crusading Masons and the Knights of S. John of Jerusalem is
the reason why the Blue degrees are called S. John’s Masonry. The returning
Crusaders brought Lodges of Masonry to Europe, and from thence they were
introduced into Scotland, where “James, Lord Steward of Scotland, was Grand
Master of a Lodge established at Kilwinning, in the West of Scotland in 1286,
shortly after the death of Alexander III, King of Scotland, and one year before
John Baliol mounted the throne”.
743.
Ramsay goes on to
explain that by degrees our Lodges and rites were neglected almost everywhere,
but nevertheless they were preserved in all their integrity amongst those
Scotsmen to whom the kings of France
confided during many centuries the safeguarding of their royal persons. He
allows that “Great Britain became the seat of our Order, the conservator of our
laws and the depository of our secrets”. Many of our rites and usages which
were contrary to the prejudice of the reformers were changed, disguised or
suppressed. Thus it was that many Brn. forgot the spirit and retained only the
shell of the outer form. Masonry however is to be restored to its pristine
glory in the future.
744.
The rituals of these
Scots Degrees are varied, but one chief idea underlies them all - the discovery
in a vault by Scottish Crusaders of the long-lost and ineffable Word, during
the search for which they had to work with the sword in one hand, and the
trowel in other.* (*Hist. Freem., III, p. 92.) This same symbolism of
the sword and the trowel is mentioned in Ramsay’s speech, in which he derives
Freemasonry from the patriarchs and the ancient Mysteries through the Scottish
crusaders; and they are further mentioned both in the present ritual of the
Royal Order of Scotland, in which the candidate takes his O. with a sword in
one hand and a trowel in the other,* (*A. E. Waite. Secret Tradition in
Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 404.) and in a quotation from that ritual occurring
as early as 1736 in print at Newcastle.* (*A. Q. C., XV, 186.) We hear
of two Scottish degrees being received by Baron C. Scheffer, the first Grand
Master of Sweden, in 1737,* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 300.) and we
may perhaps suggest - though in opposition to the theory held by most Masonic
writers - that the oration of Ramsay, although it may have helped to popularize
Scottish Masonry, was in reality an effect rather than the cause of the
introduction of high-grade Masonry on the Continent, which was all the time
being quietly directed from behind by the H.O.A.T.F.
745.
The Scots Masters
claimed extraordinary privileges in the French Craft Lodges, and these were
formally recognized by the Grand Lodge of France in 1755.* (*Gould. Hist.
Freem., III, p. 95.) They wore distinctive clothing, remained covered in a
Masters’ Lodge, claimed the right to confer the Craft degrees with or without a
ceremony; and eventually the Scots Lodge actually appointed the W.M. of the
corresponding Craft Lodge without consulting the Brn. over whom he was to
rule. They further usurped the privilege of the Grand Lodge and issued warrants
of constitution. One of the most important of these is the Mere-Loge-Ecossaise
of Marseilles, said to have been constituted in 1751, which worked a
number of degrees not belonging to what afterwards became the Scottish Rite,
but later incorporated - at least as far as their titles are concerned - in the
Rite of Memphis of 96°. These Scots Lodges or still more, the Royal Order of
Scotland from which they arose, form the first public manifestation of the
movement for creating high degrees which reached such a fervour of activity in
the latter half of the eighteenth century.
746.
THE CHAPTER OF CLERMONT
747.
Our main channel of
descent lies behind the Scots Lodges, and first appears indubitably in the
outer world in the Chapter of Clermont, commonly thought to have been founded
by the Chevalier de Bonneville in 1754,* (*Ibid., p. 94.) but in reality
a continuation of that same Order of the Temple into which Baron von Hund was
received in 1743, which was derived from the Scottish courtiers exiled at S.
Germains and from the College of Clermont. According to Thory (who, however,
wrote sixty years after the event) this Chapter was based on the three degrees
of Blue Masonry, the Scots or S. Andrew’s Degree, and worked three higher
grades - 5, Knight of the Eagle or Select Master; 6, Illustrious Knight or
Templar; 7, Sublime Illustrious Knight.
748.
In the later form in
which it emerges in 1754 both Jacobite and Jesuit connections had been dropped,
and the succession, together with certain ceremonial degrees, probably
including a form of the Kadosh, had passed into the hands of distinguished
French noblemen, courtiers, military officers, and the elite of
the professions.* (*Ibid., p. 95.) It was in this Chapter of Clermont
and in the Council of the Emperors of the East and West into which it was
transformed in 1758, that the colossal work of casting the ancient traditions
into a ceremonial rite was to a great extent performed; and it is in these two
bodies, which were yet one body, that the immediate origin of our Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite is to be found.
749.
THE COUNCIL OF EMPERORS
750.
The Council of Emperors
was composed largely of men of noble birth and high culture who were also deep
students of the secret science, learned in various traditions of the wisdom
which had been handed down along so many lines in the past. They had inherited
not only the Clermont Rites and the Scottish lines of Kilwinning and of
Heredom, but other traditions derived directly from both Templar and
Rosicrucian sources, together with the powers of the Egyptian rite to which we
have previously referred. They were men of wide knowledge, but also apparently
of overweening pride, like so many of the nobles of the ancien regime;
and the drawing together of this body of noblemen was one of the attempts made
by the emissaries of the White Lodge to prepare them for the great changes
which should have been accomplished, had not their pride been so great,
without the horrors of the French Revolution.
751.
A definite commission
appears to have been given to them by the H.O.A.T.F., the Master the
Comte de S. Germain Himself, to mould all these various traditions, which He
had caused them to inherit, into a rite which should express to some extent the
power for good of the Egyptian succession in a form suited to a more
modern age. These orders they proceeded to carry out as faithfully as possible,
and the result of their labours was the Rite of Perfection or of Heredom of
twenty-five degrees, all of which are still contained in our modern Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite.
752.
The Council of Emperors
received much inspiration from the H.O.A.T.F., although not necessarily on the
physical plane, and it must have been far easier to influence such a body of
men than the frequentors of those Georgian taverns which were the first temples
of the English Mysteries after the great revival in 1717. But, as with many
other attempts to synthesize a number of traditions by a committee of
revision, the Council of Emperors was hampered in its work by the necessity of
including less important materials which had come into the hands of certain of
its members. The result is seen in the inclusion of several almost meaningless
intermediate degrees, which still belong to the Scottish Rite, but are seldom
or never worked among US.
753.
A certain marriage of
traditions took place in the case of the 18°, for the great ritual of the Rosy
Cross used for the perfecting of the Rosicrucian and Egyptian Brethren, though
shorn already of much of its ancient splendour, was blended with the old
Mithraic Eucharist handed down in the Rites of Heredom, to form the source of
our modern workings of the Rose-Croix. The Emperors’ Ritual of the 30°, then
called the 24°, Grand Commander of the Black and White Eagle, Grand Elect
Kadosh, reflected far more efficiently the Egyptian teachings of Black
Masonry than those which have to-day reached us through the hands of many
editors, who were ignorant of their true meaning. The highest Degree among them
was the 25°, now our 32°, called Most Illustrious Prince of Masonry, Grand and
Sublime Knight Commander of the Royal Secret; and the Tracing Board of
the 32°, often little understood, reflects their original plan of union with
the, Hidden Light through the passing of many rites of initiation.
754.
There was no degree of
Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, for the 33° as such did not yet exist; but
the wonderful powers which now belong to that high rank were conferred upon
their Grand Inspectors, chosen from among the Prince Masons of the 25°; and the
great white Angels who wear the insignia of the KING were linked with these,
even as they are linked with the Brn. of the 33° to-day. The crimson Angels of
the Rosy Cross likewise attended their Sovereign Chapters, and many other glorious
powers which are ours to-day were theirs also. Thus the Council of Emperors
represents the first real attempt ever made to incorporate the full Egyptian
inner tradition into a ceremonial form; and as such it is an important landmark
in the history of Masonry.
755.
Almost all the splendid
teaching given by the great Master the Comte de St. Germain, by Pere Joseph and
Cagliostro, and other emissaries of the White Lodge, was swept into oblivion in
the colossal tragedy of the French Revolution. The Rite of Perfection of
twenty-five degrees was carried into Great Britain, and handed down among the
Templar Encampments long before the advent of the Supreme Councils of the
Scottish Rite which derived their authority from Charleston. Most of the Brn.
of the old Rite joined the new Obediences as soon as they were formed;
but there exists to-day one line of tradition at least, in part derived from
those old Templar Encampments, which has never been incorporated in the Supreme
Councils of England, Scotland and Ireland. There was also a perpetuation in
France, which later amalgamated with the French Supreme Council.* (*Gould. Hist.
Freem., p. 164.)
756.
STEPHEN MORIN
757.
The scene of our story
now shifts to the New World; for it was there
that the change from the Rite of Perfection of 25° into the Scottish Rite of
33° took place. In 1761, three years only after its foundation, the Council of
the Emperors of the East and West granted a patent to one Stephen Morin “to
establish perfect and sublime Masonry in all parts of the world,” constituting
him a Grand Inspecter of the Rite of Perfection. The patent authorized him to
“form and establish a Lodge in order to admit to and multiply the Royal Order
of Masons in all the perfect and sublime degrees,” and gave him power to create
other Inspectors. The original of this document has not yet been found, and the
world knows of it only from the copy preserved in the Golden Book of the Comte
de Grasse-Tilly, founder of the Supreme Council 33° of France. Bro. R. R Gould,
however, has a right intuition in the matter, for he “is by no means prepared
to deny its authenticity,” and a complete transcription of it is given in his
History of Freemasonry.* (*III, p. 125ff.) It is signed by Chaillon de
Joinville, Prince de Rohan, Brest-de-laChaussee, Comte de Choiseul, and others
of the Council of the Emperors. In 1761, Stephen Morin arrived in San
Domingo, where he commenced the dissemination of the rite, and appointed many
Inspectors both for the West Indies and the United States.* (*Mackey’s Encyclopaedia.
Art. Scottish Rite.)
758.
He was unfortunately by
no means an ideal Channel for spiritual force, and although he certainly
transmitted to his American Brn. the Egyptian succession of powers, he was
sometimes not in possession of the fullness of the power himself. At times he
rose splendidly to the occasion, and showed signs of distinct advancement; I
have watched him during the consecration of a Chapter of the high degrees
magnificently overshadowed by the H.O.A.T.F. Himself and the great white Angels.
But it cannot be denied that he had many faults, among others a passion for
amorous intrigues; and not infrequently the greater part of his spiritual
heritage was withdrawn, leaving him the mere seeds of the succession to
transmit to others. The reports of his misdoings were so numerous and
persistent that at one time the Council of Emperors actually withdrew his
patent; but posts were slow in those days, and before the withdrawal reached
him the Council had already cancelled it, and fully reinstated him.
759.
Stephen Morin was also
unfortunate in his choice of lieutenants, for in many cases these were Jews of
not very good repute; and it is through these somewhat soiled hands that we
must trace the Rite of Perfection during the next forty years. The rite passed
through a period of obscuration, when the degrees were shamelessly sold to any
who would buy their titles, and the inner meaning of the ceremonies was almost
forgotten. But although the splendid occult knowledge of the Emperors was lost
and the rites became shorn of most of their power, the seeds of the succession
still passed down - until a higher class of egos was guided into the rite and a
new era began. The rite was established at Charleston in 1783 by Isaac da
Costa, who was created Deputy-Inspecter of South Carolina by Moses Hayes. It
will be seen that a succession is definitely claimed by the authorities of the
rite.
760.
FREDERICK THE GREAT
761.
It was during this
period of obscuration that the curious myth of Frederick the Great arose among
the Jews, probably in order to enhance the commercial value of the degrees; and
it was apparently really believed that the King of Prussia was the Supreme Head
of the Rite, for in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Perfection in Albany (New
York), founded in 1767, the Lodge is required, on September 3rd, 1770, to
prepare its report for transmission to Berlin. We find also in 1785, one year
before the king’s death, a letter addressed to Frederick by a certain Solomon
Bush, Deputy Grand Inspector of North America, asking for recognition of a
Lodge which he had consecrated.* (*Note Historique sur le Rite Ecoss .
: Anc . : et Acc . : Par le Souv .: Gr .: (Count Goblet d’Alviella)
p. 7.) It was afterwards alleged that Frederick the Great, on his death-bed,
ratified the Grand Constitutions of 1786 containing the laws that still bind
the Scottish Rite, and that he constituted the 33° in person, delegating his
powers as a Sovereign of Masonry to nine Brn. in each country. The original
Grand Constitutions were in French, but in 1834 a Latin version of them alleged
to have been signed by Frederick himself was accepted as genuine by the Supreme
Council of France; but this is now on all sides admitted to be a forgery.
762.
The truth is that
Frederick took no active part in the Rite of Perfection, that he neither
ratified the Constitutions nor created the 33°; and indeed to-day the majority
even of the Supreme Councils are prepared to waive the claim that they derive
their authority from Frederick the Great, whose interest in Masonry (at any
rate in later years) was but of the slightest. The grand constitutions
nevertheless remain the law of the Rite in all Supreme Councils deriving
lawfully from Charleston,
and Albert Pike believed them to be genuine. As it is certain that Frederick
had nothing to do with the Rite, I fear we must regretfully conclude that both
the fourth and the fifth documents in de Grasse-Tilly’s Golden Book - the
alleged Constitutions of 1762 and the Grand Constitutions of 1786 - were
forgeries. It would seem that they were sent over from Europe, perhaps in
response to a demand from the Jewish interest; and the fact that Dr. Dalcho’s
father was an officer in the Prussian army who had served with great
distinction under Frederick the Great may well have disposed the Doctor the
more readily to accept these remarkable documents.
763.
THE CHARLESTON
TRANSFORMATION
764.
The second great
transformation of the high degrees, though it was on a far smaller scale than
the first, took place at Charleston
before 1801. We learn from the Circular of Dr. Dalcho that
765.
On the 31st of May,
1801, the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree for the United States of
America was opened, with the high honours of Masonry, by Brothers John Mitchell
and Frederick Dalcho, Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General; and in the course of
the present year (1802) the whole number of Grand Inspectors-General was
completed, agreeably to the Grand Constitutions.* (*Quoted in Mackey’s Encyclopaedia.
Art. Supreme Council.)
766.
Such is a brief account
of the formation of that which called itself the Mother Supreme Council of the
World, from which, indeed, all other Supreme Councils of the world spring, with
the exception of a few survivals of other lines of descent. It is clear from
archives in the possession of the Mother Supreme Council that up to the eve of
its formation the only degrees worked were the 25° of the Rite of Perfection.
767.
The formation of the new
Rite was inspired and directed by the H.O.A.T.F. Himself, and the extra eight
degrees which then appeared were but rearrangements of the old twenty-five
degrees of the Rite of Perfection. Now that more advanced egos had come into
possession of the degrees, a fuller manifestation of the power behind was
permitted; and since then the Scottish Rite, though its rituals have been
altered in various countries and in various interests, has become the most
important and splendid of all Masonic Obediences.
768.
THE SPREAD OF THE
SCOTTISH RITE
769.
We may here refer back
to the third document in the Golden Book, the patent granted to De Grasse-Tilly
by the new Supreme Council 33° in Charleston in 1802, only a few months after
its formation, which certifies that he has been tested in all the degrees of
the Rite and authorizes him to erect Lodges, Chapters, Councils and
Consistories in both hemispheres, creating him Sovereign Grand Commander of a
Supreme Council for the Antilles for life. It is signed by Dalcho, De la Hogue
and others, who all describe themselves as Kadosh, Prince of the Royal Secret,
Sov. Gr. Inspector 33°.
770.
The Scottish Rite was
introduced by the Comte de Grasse-Tilly into France
(1804); from France it
passed into Italy (1805), Spain (1811) and Belgium (1817). In 1824 the Supreme
Council for Ireland
was formed with jurisdiction over the official degrees of White Masonry only,
because of the previous existence of Chapters and Lodges of Rose-Croix and
Kadosh belonging to the old Rite of Perfection. The Supreme Council of England
and Wales was formed in 1845, and that of Scotland a year later.
771.
In America in 1812 a working jeweller named Joseph
Cerneau established in Boston what he called a
Sovereign Grand Consistory of the United States. Cerneau possessed
the necessary succession, and so was able to pass on the actual powers; but as
he had no mandate from the Council of Emperors the Charleston Supreme Council
denounced his proceedings as irregular, and themselves appointed a Supreme
Council for the Northern Jurisdiction a year later. Supreme Councils deriving
from Cerneau still exist, though they are not recognized by bodies holding the
Charleston succession. Both lines, however, are valid.
772.
The rite has spread into
almost all countries of the world, and does an incalculable amount of good to
thousands upon thousands of Brn., even though but few derive from it the full
possibilities of spiritual advancement which lie behind it. But to be brought,
however unconsciously, into touch with so holy an influence must unquestionably
uplift and bless even the least sensitive; and some touch of its hidden glory
is conferred upon all.
773.
THE
Co-Masonic Order
774.
THE RESTORATION OF AN
ANCIENT LANDMARK
775.
THE Co-Masonic Order is
distinguished from the rest of the Masonic world by the admission of women to
Masonry on equal terms with men. In this it is introducing no innovation into
the body of Masonry, but rather restoring one of the ancient landmarks which
was forgotten during the confusion of the Mysteries with the operative Masonry of
the Middle Ages. In both Egypt and Greece, as we have seen, women were admitted
to the Mysteries, and were able to penetrate into the inmost sanctuaries as
well as men. The officials of the masculine Craft are for the most part against
their admission to-day. They have been most strongly impressed, and quite
rightly so, with the paramount importance of keeping the rituals and customs
unchanged; but they quite wrongly regard the admission of women as a serious
departure from ancient usage. Co-Masons are equally urgent in their respect for
the traditions; but in this matter they prefer to follow the older custom,
which has also the added merit of being logical and fair. Since reincarnation
is a fact, there is no difference between the ego or soul of a man and that of
a woman; and we do not see any reason why in a particular birth, because he
happens in the course of his evolution to occupy a woman’s body, that ego
should be deprived of the advantages of initiation into the sacred Mysteries
of Masonry.
776.
THE SUCCESSION OF
CO-MASONRY
777.
The Co-Masonic Order
derives its succession of Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General of the 33° from
certain Brn. belonging to the Supreme Council of France, founded by the Comte
de Grasse-Tilly in 1804. In his booklet, Universal Co-Freemasonry: What is
it?, the Very Illustrious Bro. J. I. Wedgwood, 33° gives the following
account of its foundation, which he derives from the official minutes of the
Supreme Council published in Dr. Georges Martin’s Etude de la
Franc-Maconnerie Mixte et de son Organisation, and from Transaction No.1
of the Dharma Lodge, Benares:
778.
Our own Order of
Universal Co-Freemasonry, or, to give it its French title, L’Ordre
Maconnique Mixte Internationale, is the first Masonic body which has aimed
at establishing a world-wide order to which women should be admitted on equal
terms with men. Its career began in the year 1882. There existed a body styling
itself La Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise de France. It consisted of
various Craft Lodges which had broken loose from the Supreme Council in France
and constituted themselves into a Grand Lodge. It was only anticipating what
the other Craft Lodges under the Supreme Council did in 1894-97, when they
organized themselves into the now existing Grand Lodge of France, and absorbed
into themselves, with one exception, the Lodges of La Grande Loge Symbolique
Ecossaise de France. This latter body, with which we are concerned, almost
at once received recognition from the Grand Orient of France …
779.
The principle which this
particular schism espoused was that of the autonomy of Craft Lodges, summed up
in the phrase Le Macon libre dans la Loge libre - a principle sound
enough in the main, but, it may at once be confessed, obviously not capable of
application outside certain wide limits. Still, it has always received much
recognition in France, ever since French Masonry broke away from the parent
English stem. One of the Lodges holding from this body was called Les Libres
Penseurs, and met at Pecq, a little place in the Department of Seine et
Oise. This Lodge - belonging to a then recognized Masonic Obedience - decided
to initiate a woman, a certain Mdlle. Maria Deraismes, a well-known authoress
and lecturer, noted for her service to humanitarian and feminist movements.
They did so, in the presence of a large assembly, on January 14th, 1882. The
Right Worshipful Master, Bro. Houbron, 18°, justified their experiment as
having the welfare and highest interests of humanity at heart, and as being a
perfectly logical application of the principle of ‘A Free Mason in a Free
Lodge’. The Lodge was of course suspended for putting the family motto into
practice …
780.
For some time Sister
Maria Deraismes did nothing in the way of extending to others the Masonic
privileges she had received. Eventually she yielded to the persuasions of
friends, and notably of Dr. Georges Martin. This latter gentleman was a member
of the Lodge Les Libres Penseurs when Mdlle. Deraismes was initiated. He
gave her his staunch support and the benefit of his wide Masonic experience
throughout her Masonic career. Upon his retirement from political life - he had
been a Senator - he devoted his energies to the helping of humanity through our
Order … On March 14th, 1893, Sister Deraismes initiated a number of ladies, in
the presence of Dr. Martin, and on April 4th of the same year La Grande Loge
Symbolique Ecossaise de France, Le Droit Humain, came into being …
781.
In 1900 the new Grand
Lodge, with a view to extending its ramifications into other countries, found
it desirable to work the higher degrees. Aided, therefore, by Brethren in
possession of the 33° the body was raised from a Craft Grand Lodge to a Supreme
Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Mme. Marie Martin, the close
friend and collaborator of Mdlle. Deraismes, succeeded upon the death of the
latter to the leadership of the movement, Dr. Georges Martin holding the
office of Grand Orateur, and she occupied her exalted position with
distinction, with dignity, and with utter devotion, until her demise in 1914.
782.
There are Lodges in France, Belgium,
England, Scotland, India,
Australia, South Africa, America
(over 100), Holland, Java,
Switzerland, and Norway.
783.
We need add only a few
words about the movement in England.
The first of our English lady members to enter the Order was our highly
esteemed Sister Francesca Arundale. Mrs. Annie Besant, feeling that a Masonic
movement open to men and women alike could be made a powerful force for good in
the world, who had been offered initiation by Mdlle. Deraismes, learned of the
continuance of the Order from Miss Arundale, and sought initiation in Paris.
She was subsequently created Vice-President Grand Master of the Supreme Council
and Deputy for Great Britain and its Dependencies. The first Co-Masonic Lodge
was consecrated in London in September, 1902, by the grand Officers of the
Supreme Council, under the title of Human Duty, No. 6.* (*Op. cit., p.
25 ff.) (See Plates X and XI, following p. 178.)
784.
With the advent of Dr.
Annie Besant to the leadership of the Order in the British Empire, the direct
link between Masonry and the Great White Lodge which has ever stood behind it
(though all unknown to the majority of the Brn.) was once again reopened; and
the H.O.A.T.F. has taken a keen personal interest in its development. The
ancient English and Scottish succession of Installed Masters, Installed Mark
Masters and Installed First Principals of the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem was
introduced into Co-Masonry by sympathetic
785.
Brn. from the masculine
Obediences, and these degrees now form part of our British Co-Masonic workings.
(Plate XII, following p. 178.)
786.
THE CO-MASONIC RITUALS
787.
In 1916, by order of the
H.O.A.T.F., the ritual of the Craft degrees was finally revised in accordance
with their ancient occult meaning, this ritual being based upon the English and
Scottish workings. Certain features, such as the recognition of the elementals
and the three symbolical journeys, were introduced from the French Craft
rituals worked under the auspices of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite -
with further modifications from occult sources. This ritual was approved by the
H.O.A.T.F. Himself, who deigned to work it in His own Lodge, afterwards making
certain suggestions, which were of course immediately adopted.
788.
In 1923 He further most
graciously authorized an English translation of His Latin ritual of the
Rose-Croix, to be worked in those Sovereign Chapters R … C who desired to make
use of it. The celebration of this ceremonial has enormously quickened the
occult strength of our Chapters; and though as yet we cannot hope to equal the
old Egyptian working, we are able to some extent to call down and pour forth
upon the world the splendid powers of the Rosy Cross.
789.
In 1925 the H.O.A.T.F.
was kind enough to allow the use of a Mark Ritual which had been brought into
line with the inner meaning of the degree; and in the same year He directed
that a ritual of the Holy Royal Arch should be prepared, embodying certain suggestions
which He Himself had deigned to make. Thus step by step the whole working is
being revised in accordance with the ancient knowledge, and the way to the
restoration of the Mysteries is being prepared.
790.
THE FUTURE OF MASONRY
791.
Masonry must surely have
a wonderful part to play in the civilization of the future. Not for naught have
the old hallowed rites been preserved in secret and the immemorial powers of
the Mysteries transmitted throughout the ages to our modern world of the
twentieth century; for we stand to-day on the threshold of a new era, which
will be heralded by the coming forth once more of the World Teacher, the Lord
of Love Himself, who taught in Palestine two thousand years ago. We have seen
that human evolution takes place according to a cyclic law; race succeeds race,
and subrace follows subrace according to the plan of the Great Architect of the
Universe, working in this world through that White Lodge which is the guardian
of humanity. The time has come for the blossoming of a new subrace, the sixth
of our great Aryan race, and it is already beginning to appear in North
America, Australia and other lands. In that subrace, as in all the others,
there will be egos of different temperaments; some no doubt will seek their
inspiration in the liberal forms of Catholic Christianity, but others will
find themselves attracted to the philosophic and ceremonial teaching formerly
given in the Mysteries of Egypt which are the heritage of the Masonic
brotherhood.
792.
The coming of the World
Teacher has always in the past marked a revival or an inauguration of the
Mysteries. Thoth in Egypt, Zoroaster in Persia, Orpheus in Greece - each of
these mighty Messengers of the White Lodge, who were yet one Messenger
appearing under different names and in different forms, left behind Him a
glorious rite of initiation to lead men to His feet after He had gone. That
great Teacher of mankind passed from human sight as Gautama the Lord Buddha;
but the sceptre of the Lord of Love was placed by the spiritual KING in the hands
of His successor, whom to-day we revere as the Lord Christ, whose coming we
await with hearts filled with longing love.
793.
He, too, will surely
take the sacred vessels of the Mysteries and fill them anew with His own
wonderful life; He, too, will mould them according to the needs of His people
and the age in which they live. For the influence of the sixth ray, the ray of
devotion which inspired the Christian mystics and the glorious Gothic
architecture of the Middle Ages is passing away, and the seventh ray is
beginning to dominate the world - the ray of ceremonial magic which brings the
especial cooperation of the Angelic hosts, of which Masonry itself with its
many coloured pageant of rites is a splendid manifestation. Thus in the coming
days when the Lord of Love who is our Most Wise Sovereign and the Prince of
Sovereign Princes will visit yet again His holy sanctuaries - guarded
throughout the ages by His great Disciple, the Prince-Adept of the seventh ray
and the Master of our Craft - we may look for a restoration to the worthy, and
to the worthy alone, not only of the full splendour of ceremonial initiation,
once more to be a true vehicle of the Hidden Light, but also of that secret
wisdom of the Mysteries which has long been forgotten in the outer Lodges and
Chapters of the Brotherhood.
794.
Such surely is the
destiny that awaits our beloved Order in the future; such the splendour that
will transfigure the Craft in the years that are to come, until within its
temple walls once more is raised - not only in symbol but in actual fact - the
ladder which stretches between earth and heaven, between men and the
Grand Lodge above, to lead them from the darkness of the world to the fullness
of light in God, to the Rose which ever blossoms at the heart of the Cross, to
the Blazing Star whose shining brings peace and strength and blessing to all
the worlds.
TRANSMUTEMINI,
TRANSMUTEMINI DE LAPIDIBUS MORTUIS IN
LAPIDES VIVOS
PHILOSOPHICOS S ... M ... I ... B ...
APPENDIX I
THE DEGREES OF THE
RITE OF PERFECTION
COMPARED WITH
THOSE OF
THE ANCIENT AND
ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE
APPENDIX I
LIST OF TWENTY
FIVE DEGREES
WORKED BY THE
COUNCIL OF
EMPERORS OF THE EAST AND WEST
1758
LIST OF DEGREES
OF THE RITE OF PERFECTION
|
LIST OF
CORRESPONDING DEGREES OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE
|
1° Apprentice
2° Companion
3° Master
4° Secret Master
5° Perfect Master
6° Intimate Secretary
7° Intendant of the Buildings
8° Provost and Judge
9° Master Elect of Nine
10° Master Elect of Fifteen
11° Illustrious Elect Chief of the Twelve
Tribes
12° Grand Master Architect
13° Knight Royal Arch
14° Grand Elect, Ancient Perfect Master
15° Knight of the Sword or of the East
16° Prince of Jerusalem
17 ° Knight of the East and of the West
18° Knight Rose-Croix
19° Grand Pontiff or Master
ad Vitam
20° Grand Patriarch Noachite
21° Grand Master of the Key of Masonry
22 ° Prince of Libanus, Knight Royal Arch
alternatively Royal Axe**
23° Knight of the Sun, Prince Adept, Chief
of the Grand Consistory.
24° Illustrious Chief Grand Commander of
the White and Black Eagle, Grand Elect Kadosh
25° Most Illustrious Sovereign Prince of
Masonry, Grand Knight, Sublime Knight Commander of the Royal Secret
|
Entered Apprentice
Fellow Craft
Master Mason
The same
"
"
8°
7°
The same
Illustrious Master Elect of Fifteen
Sublime Knight Elected
The same
Royal Arch of Enoch
Grand Scottish Knight of the Sacred Vault
(of James VI)* or Sublime Mason
The same
"
"
Sovereign Prince of Rose-Croix
Grand Pontiff or Sublime Scotch Mason
21° Noachite or Prussian Chevalier
20° Venerable Grand Master of Symbolic
Lodges
The same
28°
30°
32°
|
* This is clearly a later title, and in the
Master the Count’s list the degree is given as Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime
Mason.
** This is obviously a confusion in sound,
the word being Hache or Axe. Count Goblet D’Alviella has pointed out both in
this connection and in that of the Royal Arch that the names in French show
that they are not of French origin. The French would be Chevalier de l’Arche
Royale, not du Royale Arche, had the degrees originated in France. It
seems quite possible that this may be true of the Royal Arch of Enoch, and that
the Royale Hache may have been made to agree.
The Brn. of the highest degree were termed
the Council of the Emperors of the East and West, Sovereign Prince Masons,
Substitutes-General of the Royal Art, Grand Surveillants and Officers of the
Grand Sovereign Lodge of S. John of Jerusalem; and the rite which they
worked was called the Rite of Perfection or of Heredom.
There was also an Office or Rank of Grand
Inspector, though there was no degree of Sovereign Grand Inspector-General
until the beginning of the nineteenth century.
On the formation of the Mother Supreme
Council at Charleston
in 1801, eight further Degrees were added to the 25° to make the total of 33°.
It is supposed that these were drawn from Continental sources. Most of them
were previously worked under a Grand Chapter of Prince Masons in Ireland. They
received the approval of the H.O.A.T.F.
These are:
23° Chief of the Tabernacle
24° Prince of the Tabernacle
25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent
26° Prince of Mercy
27° Sovereign Commander of the Temple
29° Grand Scottish Knight of St. Andrew
31° Grand Inquisitor Commander
33° Sovereign Grand Inspector-General
APPENDIX II
TABLE OF PRINCIPAL
MASONIC EVENTS FROM 1717
NOTE
The history of Freemasonry, and more
especially of its higher degrees and what are called the side degrees, during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is so extraordinarily confused and
questionable that I think it is advisable to arrange its principal events in
chronological order, in tabular form, and in parallel columns, tracing its
development in England, on the Continent of Europe, and in North America
respectively. The organization whose story we are trying to follow is after all
a secret organization; it moves steadily on its way in the privacy of its Lodge
rooms, and it is only rarely and as it were by accident that any reference to
it or to its proceedings appears in the light of day. Little wonder that
accounts are scrappy, and difficult to reconcile one with another; we are
dealing with sporadic and largely accidental manifestations, and no outer
indication has before been given, so far as I know, to the inner clue which
makes all the confusion clear. That clue is of course the existence of the
H.O.A.T.F., who is acting all the time for Masonry the part popularly assigned
to Providence - watching over it, guiding its activities in this direction or
that, stimulating it where it needs stimulation, bringing it to the surface in
one place, and letting it sink out of sight in another, and seeing that, in one
way or another, its existence is maintained and its light ever kept burning. He
is the true Hidden Life in Freemasonry to whom my previous volume referred; it
is His energy flowing through it which has kept this wonderful body alive;
while He continues to inspire it, we need have no fear for its future.
TABLE OF PRINCIPAL
MASONIC EVENTS FROM 1717
DATE
|
GREAT BRITAIN
|
FRANCE
|
AMERICA
|
|
|
|
|
1717
|
Foundation of the Grand Lodge of
England
|
Clermont Degrees and Rites of Heredom
practised privately.
|
Masonry of various rites existing but
unorganized, introduced by settlers.
|
1722
|
First reference to degrees higher than Blue
Degrees. Robert Samber.*
|
|
|
1723
|
References to the Arch and Mark
of a Master in A
Mason's Examination, published in The Flying Post.
|
|
|
1729
|
Ephraim Chambers in Cyclopaedia referred to
Masons "who have all the character of Rosicrucians".
|
|
|
1732
|
|
Introduction of the English
tradition of
Craft Masonry.
|
|
1733
|
First mention of a Scotch Mason's Lodge in
Dr. Rawlinson's List of Lodges. Also in same List the first mention in print
of a Master Mason's Lodge was made.
|
|
A Lodge of S. John founded in Boston.
|
1735
|
Oration of the Provincial Grand Master of
Durham quoting twelve verses on the use by the Jews of the Sword and Trowel;
now used in the rhymed ritual of the Royal Order of Scotland.
|
|
|
1737
|
|
Baron Scheffer, first Grand Master of
Sweden, received the Three S. John's Degrees in Paris, and also two Scottish Degrees.
Chevalier Ramsay's famous Oration in Paris
gave an impetus to high-degree movement in France.
|
|
1738
|
Anderson's Book of Constitutions (Second Edition) published.
|
First condemnation of Freemasons by Papal
Bull In Eminente.
Duc d'Antin succeeded Lord Derwentwater as
Grand Master of France.
|
A Master's Lodge established in Boston.
|
1740
|
An itinerant peddler of the Royal Arch
degree is said to have propagated it in Ireland,
claiming that it was practiced in York and London.
|
Rise of Scots Lodges in all parts of France. Many
rituals existed, exceedingly diverse in character. Chief theme the Recovery
of a Lost Word in a Secret Vault by Scottish Crusaders. Scots Masters claimed
extraordinary privileges in Blue Lodges.
|
|
1741
|
|
Masons of Lyons are said to have introduced
the Kadosh Degree, but there is no direct evidence of this.
|
|
1743
|
Stirling Rock Royal Arch Chapter of
Scotland has Minutes dating from this year.
First decisive reference to Royal Arch in Ireland in
contemporary report of proceedings of a Lodge at Youghal.
|
Baron von Hund was received into the Order
of the Temple by "the Knight of the Red
Feather," and presented to Prince Charles Edward Stuart in Paris.
|
|
1744
|
Dr. Dassigny's Serious and Impartial
Enquiry referred to an Assembly of Royal Arch Masons at York,
whence the degree was introduced into Ireland. Known and practised also
in London
"some small space before," and described as "an organized body
of men who had passed the Chair".
|
|
|
1746
|
Regulation of fees at Swalwell Lodge for
the admission of Harodim; cf. the first degree of the Royal Order, i. e.,
HRDM, the second being RSYCRS. Five Brn. made Scots Masons in the Old Lodge
at Salisbury.
|
|
|
1751
|
Formation of the Grand Lodge of the
"Ancients" who accused the "Moderns" of having altered
the ritual and changed the landmarks.
|
About this date was founded the Mere-Loge
Ecossaise, working a number of degrees not belonging to our Scottish Rite. Marseilles.
This was probably descended from a Scots
Lodge which had assumed the right to constitute other Lodges. Among these
degrees we find Rosecroix and the degree of Knight of the Sun. These do not
appear before 1765, however, and appear before 1765, however, and appear
before 1765, however, and were probably taken from the Emperors. Certain of
the other degrees all found in the Rite of Memphis.
|
|
1753
|
|
|
Under date December 22, the Minutes of
Fredericksburg Lodge, Virginia, are said to contain the earliest known record
of the Royal Arch degree in actual working.
|
1754
|
|
Foundation of the Rite of the Strict
Observance, claiming unknown Superiors, said by its founder to derive from
Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1743, and hence from the Scottish Templars.
This system very popular in Teutonic Masonry.
Foundation of the Chapter of Clermont, said
to have worked Templar Degrees superimposed upon the Scots Degrees. Composed
of high members of the nobility.
College de Valois of Knights of the East.
Composed of bourgeois.
|
|
1755
|
|
May have worked ten degrees. In rivalry to
Chapter of Clermont. Grand Lodge of France recognized the privileges claimed
by Scots Masons.
|
|
1757
|
Scots Lodges and Degrees of Masonic
Chivalry condemned by Grand Lodge, Maningham Letters, as innovations.
|
|
|
1758
|
|
Under the direction of the H.O.A.T.F. the
Chapter of Clermont was expanded into the COUNCIL OF THE EMPERORS OF THE EAST
AND WEST. This was Composed of some of the highest nobility of the country.
It worked the Rite of Perfection or Heredom; a list of its degrees will be
found in Appendix I.
|
|
1761
|
The Grand Lodge of All England at York revived. Said t0
have recognized Templars and Royal Arch besides Blue Degrees.
|
Stephen Morin received from the COUNCIL OF
THE EMPERORS the rank of Inspector-General and a commission to establish the
Rite of Perfection in America.
|
|
1763
|
|
|
Stephen Morin founded the Rite of
Perfection in San Domingo.
|
1766
|
|
A Chapter of True and Ancient Rose Croix
Masons was established at Marburg,
Germany, by
F.J.W. Schroder.
|
|
1769
|
Earliest known reference to the Mark Degree
occurs in the Minute Book of a Royal Arch Chapter in Portsmouth.
|
|
|
1770
|
|
|
Stephen Morin created a Council of Princes
of the Royal Secret 25° at Kingston,
Jamaica.
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1772
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Louis Claude de S. Martin created Knight of
the Rose-Croix by Marlines de Pasqually, at Bordeaux.
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(Period of the Jews)
Morin conferred the rank of
Inspector-General upon Franklin of Jamaica, he in turn upon Moses Hayes of Boston, and he upon
Spitzer of Charleston. All these Inspectors met at Philadelphia
to confer the Inspectorship upon Moses Cohen of Jamaica, who in turn gave it to
Isaac Long.
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1777
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A Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch
established in London.
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1786
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At some period during the latter half of
the eighteenth century the Rite of Perfection was taken to England, and
worked in Templar Conclaves. (Yarker gathered up the threads of this
succession in his Supreme Council 33°).
These were also introduced into Ireland before the formation of the Mother
Supreme Council at Charleston,
and were worked under a Grand Chapter of Prince Masons and Templar Grand Con
clave. The degrees of Kadosh and Rose-Croix were thus already in possession
when the Supreme Council of Ireland was introduced.
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Institution by the Grand Orient of France
of the French Rite of 7°, the highest being Rose-Croix. The Rite of
Perfection absorbed into the Grand Orient.
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1791
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THE REVOLUTION.
Rite of Perfection disappeared from public
view.
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At some time during this period the myth of
the formation of the 33° by Frederick
the Great arose and the alleged Grand Constitutions of1762 and 1786 were produced.
Who was originally responsible for these is not known, but there is clearly
no foundation for them, though they were widely accepted as genuine.
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1796
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Isaac Long conferred the Inspector ship
upon Comte de Grasse Tilly, founder of the Supreme Council of France, upon
his father-in-law, De la Hogue, and a number of others.
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1801
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Formation of the MOTHER SUPREME COUNCIL OF
THE WORLD at Charleston.
Eight degrees were added to the 25 of the Rite of Perfection.
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1802
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A Scottish Rite of 33° is said to have been
formed in Paris.
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De Grasse Tilly and De la Hogue formed a
Supreme Council 33° in Port-au-Prince.
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1804
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Formation of the Supreme Council 33° of France by De Grasse-Tilly in Paris. This body underwent various
vicissitudes, but is now flourishing.
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1805
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(Supreme Council of Italy formed).
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1810
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The Degree of Installed Master sanctioned
by the Regular Grand Lodge of England. The Ceremony was ranked as a landmark,
and Masters of London Lodges were cited to appear for Installation as Rulers
in the Craft.
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Patent said to have been granted by
Lechangeur to Marc Bedarride for the promulgation of the Rite of Mizraim.
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1811
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(Formation of the Supreme Council of Spain.)
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1812
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A working jeweller named Joseph Cerneau
established what he called a Sovereign Grand Consistory of the United States.
Cerneau possessed the necessary succession, but had no mandate from the
COUNCIL OF EMPERORS, SO the Charleston Supreme Council denounced his
proceedings as irregular.
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1813
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Union between the "Ancients" and the "Moderns".
Formation of the United Grand Lodge of
England, recognizing three degrees including the Holy Royal Arch.
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Supreme Council 33° of the Northern
Jurisdiction of the U.S.A.
formed.
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1817
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(Formation of the Supreme Council of Belgium at Brussels).
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1821
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Foundation of the Grand Lodge of France.
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1824
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Formation of the Supreme Council of
Ireland, with jurisdiction over 31°, 32°, and 33° only, because of the
previous existence of the 30° and the 18°. The 28° Prince Adept, Knight of
the Sun, which also belonged to the Rite of Perfection, is said to be still
worked in Ireland.
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1838
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The Rite of Memphis
introduced into Paris
as a system of 95°. Marconis the younger elected Grand Hierophant.
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1845
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Formation of the Supreme Council of England and Wales.
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1846
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Formation of the Supreme Council of Scotland.
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1856
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Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons formed in
London.
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1862
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Rite of Memphis was placed by its Grand Hierophant
under the Grand Orient of France. He resigned his powers over it.
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Sovereign Sanctuary 95° of the Rite of
Memphis consecrated by the Grand Hierophant, Harry J. Seymour, Sovereign
Grand Master 96°.
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1865
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The Degrees of the Rite of Memphis were
reduced from 95° to 33°, the essential degrees being preserved.
The Grand Orient suppressed the higher
degrees of the Rite, but allowed a few Craft Lodges to continue.
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Division in the Sovereign Sanctuary of America.
Harry J. Seymour agreed to the reduction. Calvin C. Burt formed a clandestine
Sovereign Sanctuary of the Egyptian Masonic Rite of Memphis, working 96°.
This body seems to have sold the degrees shamelessly, and its history is of
the most sordid character.
(Harry J. Seymour also inherited the
Cerneau Tradition of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite 33°, and was
Sovereign Grand Commander of a Supreme Council 33° deriving from him.
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1872
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The Sovereign Sanctuary for Great Britain and Ireland was consecrated by Harry
J. Seymour, John Yarker being Sovereign Grand Master.
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1875
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(Convention of Supreme Councils at Lausanne).
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1876
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Formation of a Supreme Grand Council
General of the Rite of Mizraim was effected within the bosom of the Sovereign
Sanctuary, Yarker as Chief of the Rite.
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1879
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Grand Loge Symbolique de France formed from
a secession of Rose-Croix Chapters belonging to the Supreme Council 33° of France.
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1882
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Initiation of Mlle. Maria Deraismes in the
Lodge "Les Libres Penseurs," belonging to this Body. Consequent
suspension of the Lodge.
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1893
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Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise Mixte de
France founded by Dr. Georges Martin and Mlle. Maria Deraismes.
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1900
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Supreme Conseil Universel Mixte 33° formed
by Dr. Georges Martin 33° and other Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General
deriving their succession from the Supreme Coucil of France.
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1902
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Mrs. Annie Besant was initiated into
Co-Masonry. Consecration of first Co-Masonic Lodge in England. (Human Duty
No. 6.)
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Co-Masonry introduced into America, both
Craft and higher degrees.
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During the next few years the English
Succession of Installed Masters was introduced into Co-Masonry by Installed
Masters of the English Craft. The Mark and the Holy Royal Arch were likewise
introduced. The Craft Rituals were brought into line with English workings.
The higher degrees were also introduced
into English Co-Masonry.
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1914
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The Rt. Rev. J. I. Wedgwood received the
degrees of Prince Patriarch Grand Conservator 33°, 95° of the Rite of
Memphis; Absolute Grand Sovereign 33°, 90°, of the Rite of Mizraim; and
Sovereign Grand Inspector General 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite (Cerneau) by Yarker in person.
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*In Robert Samber's Dedication in a Hermetic
Tact entitled "Long Livers" appearing in 1712 under the pseudonym of
Eugenius Philalethes,
Junior, and addressed to members of the Grand
Lodge of England, we find what many have thought to be an allusion to higher
degrees. Samber distinguishes between those "who are not far
illuminated" and those "who have greater light; ' who are "of
the higher class; and "are illuminated with the sublimest mysteries and
profoundest secrets of Masonry"; and he speaks to those Masons of the
higher degree which is found "behind the veil". Bro. A. E. Waite, who
has deeply studied the alchemical tradition, holds that these quotations refer
rather to progress in the secrets of alchemy; yet even if that be so, the
remarks are of interest, only five years after the foundation, in a tract
actually dedicated to the Grand Lodge.