The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry
by
C. W. Leadbeater
33°
THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE
ADYAR, MADRAS,
INDIA
1926
Second Edition,
Plate 0.
FOREWORD
IT is once more my privilege
to usher into the world, for the helping of the thoughtful, another volume of
the series on the hidden side of things written by Bishop Charles W.
Leadbeater. True Mason that he is, he is ever trying to spread the Light which
he has received, so that it may chase away the darkness of Chaos. To look for
the Light, to see the Light, to follow the Light, were duties familiar to all
Egyptian Masons, though the darkness in that Ancient Land
never approached the density which shrouds the West today.
This book will be welcomed by
all Freemasons who feel the beauty of their ancient Rite, and desire to add
knowledge to their zeal. The inner History of Masonry is left aside for the
present, and the apprentice is led by a trustworthy guide through the labyrinth
which protects the central Shrine from careless and idle inquirers. Places that
were obscure become illuminated; dark allusions are changed to crystal clarity;
walls which seem solid melt away; confidence replaces doubt; glimpses of the
goal are caught through rifts in the clouds; and the earth-born mists vanish
before the rays of the rising sun. Instead of fragments of half-understood
traditions, confused and uninterpreted, we find in our hands a splendid science
and a reservoir of power which we can use for the uplifting of the world. We no
longer ask: “What is the Great Work? We see “that it is nothing less than a
concerted effort to carry out the duty that is laid upon us, as those who
possess the Light, to spread that Light abroad through the World, and actually
to become fellow-labourers with T.G.A.O.T.U. in His great Plan for the
evolution of our Brn”.
The detailed explanations of
the ceremonies are profoundly interesting and illuminative, and I commend them
very heartily to all true Freemasons. Our V .·.·. I .·.·. Brother has added a
heavy debt of gratitude by this book to the many we already owe him. Let us be
honest debtors.
Adyar
ANNIE BESANT
December 25, 1925
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
THE Masonic fellowship differs
from all other societies in that candidates for membership have to join it
blindfold, and cannot receive much information about it until they actually
enter its ranks. Even then the majority of Masons usually obtain only the most
general idea of the meaning of its ceremonies, and seldom penetrate further
than an elementary moral interpretation of its principal symbols. In this book
it is my object, while preserving due secrecy upon those matters which must be
kept secret, to explain something of the deeper meaning and purpose of
Freemasonry, in the hope of arousing among the Brn. a more profound reverence
for that of which they are the custodians and a fuller understanding of
the mysteries of the Craft.
Although the book is
primarily intended for the instruction of members of the Co-Masonic Order,
whose desire, as is expressed in their ritual, is to pour the waters of
esoteric knowledge into the Masonic vessels, I hope nevertheless that it may
appeal to a wider circle, and may perhaps be of use to some of those many Brn.
in the masculine Craft who are seeking for a deeper interpretation of Masonic
symbolism than is given in the majority of their Lodges, showing them that in
the ritual which they know and love so well are enshrined splendid ideals
and deep spiritual teachings which are of the most absorbing interest to the
student of the inner side of life.
Before we can gain this
fuller understanding we must have at least some slight acquaintance with
certain facts concerning the world in which we live - a world only half of
which we see or understand. Indeed, undignified as the statement sounds, it is
quite true that our position resembles very closely that of a caterpillar
feeding upon a leaf, whose vision and perception extend but very little
beyond the leaf upon which he crawls. How difficult it would be for such
a caterpillar to transcend his limitations, to take a wider view, to understand
that his leaf is part of a huge tree with millions of such leaves, a tree with
a life of its own - a life outlasting a thousand generations of lives such as
his; and that tree in turn only a unit in a vast forest of dimensions
incalculable to his tiny brain! And if by some unusual development one
caterpillar did catch a glimpse of the great world around him and tried to
explain his vision to his fellows, how those other caterpillars would
disbelieve and ridicule him, how they would adjure him to waste no time on such
unprofitable imaginings, but to realize that the one purpose of life is to find
a good position on succulent leaf, and to assimilate as much of it as he can!
When later on he becomes a
butterfly, his view widens, and he comes into touch with a beauty, a glory and
a poetry in life of which he had no conception before. It is the same world,
and yet so different, merely because he can see more of it, and move about in
it in a new way. Every caterpillar is a potential butterfly; and we have the
advantage over these creatures in that we can anticipate the butterfly stage,
and so learn much more about our world, come much nearer to the truth,
enjoy life much more, and do much more good. We should study the hidden side of
every-day life, for in that way we shall get so much more out of it. The same
truth applies to higher things - to religion, for example. Religion has always
spoken to mankind of unseen things above - not only far away in the future, but
close around us here and now. Our life and what we can make of it largely
depend upon how real these unseen things are to us. Whatever we do, we should
think always of the unseen consequences of our action. Some of us know how
useful that knowledge has been to us in our Church Services; and it is just the
same in freemasonry.
Though this vast inner world
is unseen by most of us, it is not therefore invisible. As I wrote in The
Science of the Sacraments:
There are within man
faculties of the soul which, if developed, will enable him to perceive this
inner world, so that it will become possible for him to explore and to study it
precisely as man has explored and studied that part of the world which is
within the reach of all. These faculties are the heritage of the whole human
race; they will unfold within every one of us as our evolution progresses; but
men who are willing to devote themselves to the effort map gain them in advance
of the rest, just as a blacksmith’s apprentice, specializing in the use of
certain muscles, may attain (so far as they are concerned) a development much
greater than that of other youths of his age. There are men who have these powers
in working order, and are able by their use to obtain a vast amount of most
interesting information about the world which most of us as yet cannot see. …
Let it be clearly understood that there is nothing fanciful or unnatural about
such sight. It is simply an extension of faculties with which we are all
familiar, and to develop it is to make oneself sensitive to vibrations more
rapid than those to which our physical senses are normally trained to respond.*
(*Op. cit., pp. 9, 10.)
It is by the use of those
perfectly natural but super-normal faculties that much of the information given
in this book has been obtained. Anyone who, having developed such sight,
watches a Masonic ceremony, will see that a very great deal more is being done
than is expressed in the mere words of the ritual, beautiful and dignified as
they often are. Of course, I fully understand that all this may well seem
fantastically impossible to those who have not studied the subject at
first-hand; I can but affirm that this is a clear and definite reality to me,
and that by long and careful research, extending over more than forty years, I
am absolutely certain of the existence and reliability of this method of
investigation.
It is no new discovery, for it
was known to the wise men of old; but, like so much else of the ancient
wisdom, it has been forgotten during the darkness of the early Middle Ages, and
its value is only gradually being rediscovered; so to many it appears
unfamiliar and incredible. We have only to remember how utterly inconceivable
the wireless telegraph, the telephone, the aeroplane or even the automobile
would have seemed to our great-grandfathers, in order to realize that we
should be foolish to reject an idea merely because we have never heard of it
before. Only a few years ago the powers of research put at our disposal by the
invention and development of the spectroscope were as far beyond popular
thought as those of clairvoyance are now. That by it we could discover the
chemical constitution and measure the movements of stars thousands of millions
of miles away might well have been regarded as the baseless fabric of a dream.
May not other discoveries be impending?
Men of high scientific
attainments, such as Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir William Crookes, Professor
Lombroso, M. Camille Flammarion and the late Professor Myers, who have taken
the trouble to inquire into this matter of inner sight, have convinced
themselves that this faculty exists; so if there be those among the Brn. to
whom this claim seems ridiculous, I would ask them notwithstanding to read on
and see whether the knowledge obtained by a means which is strange to them does
not nevertheless supply for obscure or incomprehensible points in our ritual an
explanation which commends itself to their reason and common sense. That which
gives them a better grasp of the meaning underlying the mysteries of our Craft,
and thereby increases their veneration and love for it, cannot be unworthy or
absurd. Any student who wishes to know more of this fascinating subject may be
referred to a little book entitled Clairvoyance, which I wrote some
years ago.
I should like strongly to
recommend for the perusal of my Brn. Of the Craft two books by Wor. Bro. W. L.
Wilmhurst - The Meaning of Masonry and The Masonic Initiation; I
have myself read them with great delight and profit, and have gathered many
gems from their pages.
[Note: While this paragraph
is missing in First Edition, in Second Edition it is indicated as part of First
Edition.]
I desire to offer my
heartiest thanks to the Rev. Herbrand Williams, M.C., B.A., for his kindness in
placing at my disposal his vast stores of Masonic erudition, and for many
arduous months of patient and painstaking research; also to the Rev. E. Warner
and Mrs. M. R. St. John for the careful drawing of the illustrations, and to
Professor Ernest Wood for his untiring assistance and cooperation in every
department of the work, without which the production of the book would not have
been possible.
C. W. L.
Second Edition
In this second edition a few
trifling corrections have been made, and some additional information has been
given with regard to certain higher degrees.
C. W. L.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Author's Preface
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
Personal Experience. Egyptian
Evidences. Preservation of Rituals and Symbols. The Egyptian Outlook. The
Hidden Work. The Egyptian Race. The Grand Lodges. The Ordinary
Lodges. The History of Masonry.
CHAPTER II
THE LODGE
Form and Extension.
Orientation. The Celestial Canopy. The Altar. Pedestals and Columns. Orders of
Architecture. Meaning of the Three Columns. The Pillars of the Porchway.
CHAPTER III
THE FITTINGS OF THE
LODGE
The Ornaments. The Mosaic
Pavement. The Indented Border. The Blazing Star. The Furniture. The Movable
Jewels. The Immovable Jewels.
CHAPTER IV
PRELIMINARY
CEREMONIES
The Co-Masonic Ritual. The
Procession. The Apron. The Ceremony of Censing. Lighting the Candles.
CHAPTER V
THE OPENING OF THE
LODGE
The Brethren Assist. Tyling
the Lodge. The E.A. S ... n. The Officers. The Duties. The Opening. The E.A. K
… s.
CHAPTER VI
INITIATION
The Candidate. Divisions of
the Ceremony. Preparation of the Candidate. The Inner Preparation. The Three
Symbolical Journeys. The O …. The E …. I L … s. The S … and P … Examination and
Investiture. The Working Tools. Egyptian Interpretation of the Working Tools.
(Second Edition: The Working Tools, and the Egyptian
Interpretation of Them.
CHAPTER VII
THE SECOND DEGREE
The Questions. The
Preparation. The Inner Preparation. The Opening. The E.A.'s Last Work. The Five
Stages. The Five Steps. The O. The Working Tools. Closing the Lodge.
CHAPTER VIII
THE THIRD DEGREE
The Opening of the Lodge. The
C … The Preparation. The Internal Preparation. Entering the Lodge. The Seven
Steps. The O … The Etheric Forces. Hiram Abiff. Death and Resurrection. The
Star. The Raising of Humanity. Fire, Sun and Moon. The Villains.
The Inscription.
(Second Edition: Our Master H. A. instead of Hiram Abiff.)
CHAPTER IX
THE HIGHER DEGREES
The Masonic Plane. The
Ceremony of Installation. The Mark Degree. The Holy Royal Arch. Still Higher.
The Rose Croix. Black Masonry. White Masonry. How to Use the Powers. Our
Relation with Angels.
CHAPTER X - (CHAPTER IX
in First Edition)
TWO WONDERFUL RITUALS
The Workings in Egypt. The Form
of the Temple of Amen-Ra. The Building of the Temple of Amen-Ra. The Unveiling
of the Hidden Light. The Offerings. The Descent of Osiris. The Distribution of
the Sacrament. The Re-union of Osiris. The Shining of the Light. The Pledge and
the Blessing. The Ceremony of the Holy Angels. The Lodge and Officers. The
Triangle of Adepts. The Arrival of the Angels. The Building of the Temple of the Angels. The
Ceremony in the Temple.
The Effect of the Festival.
CHAPTER XI - (CHAPTER X in
First Edition)
CLOSING THE LODGE
The Greetings. Preparation
for Closing. The Closing.
PLATES
0.
The Masonic Temple
(Coloured)
I.
An Egyptian Apron (Coloured)
II.
(a) An Egyptian Initiation
(b)
Osiris on the Square
III.
The Plan of the Lodge
IV.
The Three Columns
(a)
Doric
(b)
Ionic
(c)
Corinthian
V.
Ruins of a Greek Temple
VI.
A Pillar of the Porchway
VII.
The Chapiter
VIII.
The Arrow of Ra (Coloured)
IX.
The Chakras
X.
The Second Portal
XI.
The Temple of
the Angels (Coloured)
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
1.
THE origins of
Freemasonry are lost in the mists of antiquity. Last century there were many
who thought that it could be traced no further back than the mediaeval guilds
of operative masons, though some regarded these in turn as relics of the Roman
Collegia. There may still be some who know no better than that, but all
students of the Ancient Mysteries who are also Freemasons are aware that it is
along that line that we find our true philosophical ancestry; for there is much
in our ceremonies and teachings which could have had no significance for the
mere operative mason, though when examined by the light of the knowledge
received in the Mysteries it is seen to be pregnant with meaning. Many Masonic
writers claim various degrees of antiquity for the Craft, some assigning its
foundation to King Solomon, and one at least boldly stating that its wisdom is
all that now remains of the divine knowledge which Adam possessed before his
fall. There is, however, plenty of evidence less mythical than that, and to
that evidence I happen to be able to contribute a fragment of personal
experience of a rather unusual kind.
2.
By devoting some years
to the effort and many more years to practice, I have been able to develop
certain psychic faculties of the kind mentioned in the Foreword, which, among
other things, enable me to remember the previous existences through which I
have passed. The idea of pre-existence may be new to some of my readers.*
(*Those who wish to learn more about this most fascinating subject should read
Reincarnation, by the V .·.·. Ills .·.·. Bro .·. A. Besant, and the
chapter on Reincarnation in my Textbook of Theosophy.) I do not propose
now to advance arguments in its favour, though they exist in abundance, but
simply to state that for me, as for many others, it is a fact of personal
experience. The only one of those previous lives of mine with which we are here
concerned was lived some four thousand years before Christ in the country which
we now call Egypt.
3.
When I was initiated
into Freemasonry in this life, my first sight of the Lodge was a great and
pleasant surprise, for I found that I was perfectly familiar with all its
arrangements, and that they were identical with those which I had known six
thousand years ago in the Mysteries of Egypt. I am quite aware that this is a
startling statement; I can only say that it is literally true. No mistake is
possible; coincidence will not serve as an explanation. The placing of the
three chief officers is unusual; the symbols are significant and distinctive,
and their combination is peculiar; yet they all belonged to ancient Egypt, and
I knew them well there. Almost all the ceremonies are unchanged; there are only
a few differences in minor points. The s … ps taken, the k … s given - all have
a symbolical meaning which I distinctly remember.
4.
EGYPTIAN EVIDENCES
5.
Knowing these facts to
be so from my own experience, I set to work to collect ordinary physical-plane
corroborative evidence for them from such books as were within my reach, and
found even more than I had hoped. The explanation of the First Degree t …
b … begins by remarking that the usages and customs among Freemasons have ever
borne a near affinity to those of the ancient Egyptians, but does not furnish
us with any illustrations of the points of similarity. These are to be found
in Bro. Churchward’s most illuminative books, Signs and Symbols of
Primordial Man and The Arcana of Freemasonry, also in The Arcane
Schools, by Bro. John Yarker, and Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods,
by Bro. J. S. M. Ward. I will proceed to summarize, with grateful
acknowledgment, the information derived from these volumes. Masons of various
degrees will be able to select from it the features which remind them of their
own ceremonies.
6.
Some interesting
illustrations have been collected from the wall-pictures of ancient Egypt, and from
vignettes on various papyri, chiefly from The Book of the Dead, of which
there are many recensions. It is clear from these sources that the formation of
the temple in Egypt
was
7.
Figure 1
8.
9.
a double square, and in
the centre were three cubes standing one upon another, forming an altar*
(*Churchward, The Arcana of Freemasonry, p. 43.) upon which were laid
their Volumes of the Sacred Lore - not the same as our own, of course,
for ours had not yet been written. Those cubes represented the three Aspects or
Persons of the Trinity - Osiris, Isis and Horus - as may be seen from the
signs engraved on them (see Fig. 1) which, however, is copied not from an
Egyptian altar, but from an illustration in Mr. Evans’ book on Crete; but at a
later period we find only a double cube.
10.
There were two pillars
at the entrance to the temple, and on them were squares representing earth and
heaven.* (*Ibid., p. 44.) One of them bore a name which signified “in strength”
while the name of the other signified “to establish”.* (*Ibid., p. 121.) This
gateway was regarded as leading to the higher world of Amenti, the world where
the soul was blended with immortal spirit, and thereafter established for ever;
so this was the figure of stability. At the entrance of the Lodge there were
always two guards armed with knives; the outer was called the Watcher, the
inner was known as the Herald.* (*Ibid., p. 47.) The candidate was divested of
most of his clothing, and entered with a c … t … and h … w … He was led to the
door of the temple, and there asked who he was. He replied that he was Shu, the
“suppliant” or “kneeler,” coming in a state of darkness to seek for Light. The
door was an equilateral triangle of stone, which turned on a pivot on its own
centre.
11.
As the candidate entered
he trod on the square, and, in so doing, it was supposed that he was treading
on, and leaving, the lower quaternary or personality of man, in order to
develop the higher triad, the ego or soul. (In modern Masonry the same idea is
expressed in the First Lecture, where it is stated that a Mason comes to the
Lodge “to learn to rule and subdue his passions, and to make further progress
in Masonry”.) He was conducted through long passages, and led round the Lodge
seven times; and, after having replied to many questions, he was eventually
brought to the centre of the Lodge, and there asked what he required. He was
told to answer: “Light”. In all his perambulations, he had to begin with the
left foot. If the candidate violated his O., so it is stated in The Book of
the Dead, his throat was cut and his heart torn out. Another degree is
mentioned in the papyrus of Nesi-Amsu, where it is said that the body was cut
to pieces and burnt to ashes, and these were spread over the face of the waters
to the four winds of heaven.
12.
There is in the temple
of Khnumu in the island of Elephantine, just off Assouan, a bas-relief which
shows us two figures, one of the Pharaoh and the other of a priest wearing the
ibis head-dress of Thoth, standing in an attitude strongly suggestive of the f
… p … of f …, though not exactly agreeing with our present practice. (See Plate
II a.) It is intended to represent an initiation, and the word given is
“Maat-heru,” which means “true of voice” or “one whose voice must be obeyed”.*
(*Churchward, The Arcana of Freemasonry, p. 49.) I have also seen
a painting in which four attendants are depicted saluting a Pharaoh with the p
… s … of an I.M., and the s … of s … is often to be found on the monuments, and
is characteristic of Horus. The gavel was then made of stone, and was a model
of the double-headed axe.
13.
Plate I
14.
15.
In those days the aprons
were made of leather, and were triangular. That of the First Degree was pure
white, as it is now; but the M.M.’s apron was brilliantly coloured and heavily
jewelled, with tassels of gold. (See Plate I.) Our t … f … i … g … was
represented by a cubit of twenty-five inches. The Blazing Star in the centre of
the Lodge existed, but it had eight points instead of six or five. It was
called “The Star of Dawn” or “The Morning Star,” and represented Horus of the
Resurrection, who is pictured as bearing it upon his head and as having given
it to his followers.
16.
The Masonic square was
well-known, and was called neka. It is to be found in many temples, and
also appears in the great pyramid. It is said that it was used for squaring
stones, and also symbolically for squaring conduct, which once more resembles
the modern interpretation. To build on the square was to build for ever,
according to the teachings of ancient Egypt; and in the Egyptian Hall of
Judgment Osiris is seen seated on the square while judging the dead. (See
Plate II b.)
17.
18.
Thus the square came to
symbolize the foundation of eternal law.* (*Churchward, The Arcana of
Freemasonry, p. 59.)
19.
The Egyptians used the
rough and the smooth ashlars with much the same meaning that Masons attach to
them today.* (*Ibid., p. 60.) A wand surmounted by a dove is represented, not
only in ancient Egypt, but
also in some of the monuments in Central America,
and those who bore it were called “conductors”. It is a curious fact, also,
that the descendants of the Nilotic negroes, who emigrated long ago from Egypt
to Central Africa, when called to take an oath in a court of law, still do so
with a gesture which, still do so with a gesture, were I at liberty to describe
it in writing, would be universally recognized by the Craft.
20.
Another point that
struck me much on looking at engravings of vignettes in The Book of the Dead
is that the h … s … of the F.C. is depicted perfectly clearly; a group of
people is shown as worshipping the setting sun, or paying respect to it, in
that attitude.
21.
This Book of the Dead,
as it has been somewhat unfortunately called, is part of a manual which in its
entirety was intended as a kind of guide to the astral plane, containing a
number of instructions for the conduct both of the departed and the initiate in
the lower regions of that other world. The chapters which have been collected
from the various tombs do not give us the whole of that work, but only one
section of it, and even that is much corrupted. The mind of the Egyptian seems
to have worked along exceedingly formal and orderly lines; he tabulated every
conceivable description of entity which a dead man could by any possibility
meet, and arranged carefully the special charm or word of power which he
considered most certain to vanquish the creature if he should prove hostile,
never apparently realizing that it was his own will which did the work, but
attributing his success to some kind of magic. The Book of the Dead was
originally intended to be kept secret, although in later days certain chapters
were written on papyrus and buried with the dead man. As is said in one of the
texts: “This Book is the greatest of mysteries. Do not let the eye of anyone
look upon it - that were abomination. The Book of the Master of the Secret
House is its name.”* (*W. Marsham Adams, The Book of the Master, p.
96.)
22.
In ancient Egypt they
recognized seven souls, or life-forces, coming forth from the Most High.
Students of Eastern philosophy call them the primordial seven, and they are
mentioned in The Book of Dzyan.* (*See The Secret Doctrine, by H.
P. Blavatsky.) Six of these were prehuman; the seventh was our humanity, and
was brought forth from the virgin Neith. The symbol attached to that bringing
forth was that of the pelican, who was fabled to draw blood from her own breast
in order to feed her young; this later became a prominent symbol in the
Rosicrucian philosophy, which seems to have been derived largely from Egyptian
teaching. We read in Egyptian hieroglyphics of “the One and the Four,”
referring to Horus and his four Brothers. Of that we also read in The
Stanzas of Dzyan; and another expression common to both is “The One from
the Egg”. In Egypt
the egg was the symbol for the setting sun, which is often seen in that shape
when about to touch the horizon. That egg passed into the underworld, and was
hatched there, and out of it came the young sun the next morning, rising in his
strength, which was called “the flame born of a flame”. All this bore a deeply
mystical significance, which was explained in the Mysteries.
23.
When Osiris died, Isis
and Nepthys - in turn tried to raise him, but it proved a failure; then Anubis
attempted it and succeeded, and Osiris returned to the world with the secrets
of Amenti - a significant statement which seems to suggest that the secrets
which we possess are closely connected with the underworld and the life after
death.
24.
These are some of the
most striking of the evidences which I have been able to collect; and there are
others which may not be written. I feel that many more can probably be found,
but even these, when taken together, make any theory of coincidence impossible.
There is no doubt that this to which we have the honour to belong today is the
same fraternity which I knew six thousand years ago, and it can indeed be
carried back to a far greater antiquity still. Bro. Churchward claims that some
of the signs are six hundred thousand years old; that is quite likely to be
true, for the world is very ancient, and assuredly Freemasonry has one of the
very oldest rituals existing. We must of course admit that the mere appearance
of one of our symbols does not necessarily involve the existence of a Lodge,
but at least it shows that, even so long ago as that, men were thinking
along somewhat the same lines, and trying to express their thoughts in the same
language of symbol that we employ today.
25.
PRESERVATION OF RITUALS
AND SYMBOLS
26.
That the rituals and
symbols should have been preserved to us with so wonderfully little alteration
is surely a marvellous thing; it would be inexplicable but for the fact that
the Great Powers behind evolution have taken an interest in the matter, and
gradually brought people back to the true lines when they had swerved somewhat
away from them. This business was always in the hands of the Chohan of the
Seventh Ray, for that is the ray most especially connected with ceremonial of
all kinds, and its Head was always the supreme Hierophant of the Mysteries of
ancient Egypt.
The present holder of that office is that Master of the Wisdom of whom we often
speak as the Comte de S. Germain, because He appeared under that title in the
eighteenth century. He is also sometimes called Prince Rakoczi, as He is the
last survivor of that royal house. Exactly when He was appointed to the
Headship of the Ceremonial Ray I do not know, but He took a keen interest in
Freemasonry as early as the third century A.D.
27.
We find him at that
period as Albanus, a man of noble Roman family, born at the town of Verulam in England.
As a young man he went to Rome,
joined the army there, and achieved considerable distinction in it. He served
in Rome for
some seven years at any rate, perhaps longer than that. It was there that he
was initiated into Freemasonry, and also became a proficient in the Mithraic
Mysteries, which were so closely associated with it.
28.
After this time in Rome he returned to his birthplace in England, and
was appointed governor of the fortress there. He also held the position of “the
Master of the Works”, whatever that may have meant; he certainly superintended
the repairs and the general work in the fortress at Verulam, and he was at the
same time the Imperial Paymaster. The story goes that the workmen were treated
as slaves and wretchedly paid, but that S. Alban (as he was afterwards called)
introduced Freemasonry and changed all that, securing for them better wages and
greatly improved conditions generally. Many of our Brn. must have heard of the
Watson MS of 1687. In that a good deal is said about S. Albans work for the
Craft, and it is specially mentioned that he brought from France certain
ancient charges which are practically identical with those in use at the
present time. He was beheaded in the persecution by the Emperor Diocletian in
the year 303, and the great abbey of S. Alban was built over his remains some
five hundred years later.
29.
In the year 411 he was
born in Constantinople and received the name
of Proclus - a name which in after life he was destined to make famous. He was
one of the last great exponents of Neo-Platonism, and his influence
overshadowed to a great extent the medieval Christian Church. After that there
is a gap in his list of incarnations, as to which at present we know nothing.
We find him reborn in the year 1211, and in that life he was Roger Bacon, a
Franciscan friar, who was a reformer both of the theology and the science of
his day. In 1375 came his birth as Christian Rosenkreutz. That also was an
incarnation of considerable importance, for in it he founded the secret society
of the Rosicrucians. He seems some fifty years later, or a little more than
that, to have used the body of Hunyadi Janos, an eminent Hungarian soldier and
leader. Also we are told that about 1500 he had a life as the monk Robertus,
somewhere in middle Europe. We know
practically nothing about that, as to what he did or in what way he distinguished
himself.
30.
After that comes one of
the greatest of his births, for in the year 1561 he was born as Francis Bacon.
Of that great man we hear in history little that is true and a great deal that
is false. The real facts of his life are gradually becoming known, largely by
means of a cipher story which he wrote secretly in the many works which he
published. That story is of entrancing interest, but it does not concern us
here. A sketch of it may be found in my book The Hidden Side of Christian
Festivals, from which I am epitomizing this account.* (*Op. cit.., p. 303.)
31.
A century later we are
told that he took birth as Jozsef Rakoczi, a prince of Transylvania.
We find him mentioned in the encyclopedias, but not much information is given.
After that considerable mystery surrounds his movements. He seems to have
travelled about Europe, and he turns up at
intervals, but we have little definite knowledge about him. He was the Comte de
S. Germain at the time of the French Revolution, and worked much with Madame Blavatsky,
who was at that period in incarnation under the name of Père Joseph. He also
appears to have disguised himself as Baron Hompesch, who was the last of the
Knights of St. John of Malta, the man who arranged the transfer of the island of Malta to the English. This great saint
and teacher still lives, and His present body has no appearance of great age. I
myself met Him physically in Rome
in 1901, and had a long conversation with Him.
32.
In Co-Masonry we refer
to Him as the Head of all True Freemasons throughout the world (abbreviated as
the H.O.A.T.F.) and in some of our Lodges His portrait is placed in the east,
above the chair of the R.W.M., and just beneath the Star of Initiation; others
place it in the north, above an empty chair. Upon His recognition and assent as
Head of the Seventh Ray the validity of all rites and degrees depends. He often
selects pupils from among the Brn. of the Masonic Order, and prepares those who
have fitted themselves in the lower mysteries of Masonry for the true Mysteries
of the Great White Lodge, of which our Masonic initiations, splendid though
they be, are but faint reflections, for Masonry has ever been one of the gates
through which that White Lodge might be reached. Today but few of His Masons
acknowledge Him as their Sovereign Grand Master, yet the possibility of such
discipleship has ever been recognized in the traditions of the Order. It is
said in an ancient catechism of masculine Masonry:
33.
Q. As a Mason whence come you?
A.
From the W …
t.
34.
Q. Whither directing your course?
A.
To the E … t.
35.
Q. What inducement have you to leave the W … t and go
to the E … t?
A.
To seek a
Master, and from Him to gain instruction.
36.
Fortunately our
ancestors have recognized the importance of handing down the working unchanged.
Some few points have been dropped during that vast lapse of time; a few others
have been slightly modified; but they are marvellously few. The charges have
become longer, and the non-officials take less part in the work than they used
to do; in the old days they constantly chanted short versicles of praise or
exhortation, and each one of them understood himself to be filling a definite
position, to be a necessary wheel in the great machine.
37.
From this knowledge
several points emerge. It is noteworthy that the Masonic ceremonies, which have
so long been supposed to be rather in opposition to the received religion of
the country, are seen to be themselves a relic of the most sacred part of a
great ancient religion. Like every product of these ancient and elaborately
perfected systems, these rites are full of meaning, or rather of meanings; for
in Egypt
we attributed to them a fourfold signification. Since every detail is thus full
of import, it is obvious that nothing should ever be changed without the
greatest care, and only then by those who know its full intent, so that the
symbology of the whole may not be spoiled.
38.
THE EGYPTIAN OUTLOOK
39.
It is exceedingly
difficult to explain to twentieth century readers all that this work meant to
us in the sunny land
of Khem; but I will try
to describe the four layers of interpretation as they were taught when I myself
lived there.
40.
The first idea of its
meaning was that it conveyed to us and symbolized in action the way in
which the Great Architect had constructed the universe - that in the movements
made and in the plan of the Lodge were enshrined some of the great principles
on which that universe had been built. The vortical movement in the censing,
the raising and lowering of the columns, the cross, the anchor and the cup upon
the ladder of evolution - all these things and many more we interpreted in that
way. The different degrees penetrated further and further into the knowledge of
His methods and of the principles upon which He works. For we not only held
that He worked in the past, but that He is working now, that His universe is an
active expression of Him. In those days, books filled a far less prominent
place in our lives than they do now, and it was considered that to record
knowledge in a series of appropriate and suggestive actions made a more
powerful appeal to a man’s mind, and established that knowledge better in
memory, than to read it from a book. We are, therefore, preserving by our
unvarying actions the memory of certain facts and laws in nature.
41.
Because that is so, and
because the laws of the universe must be universal in their application and
must act down here as well as above, we held that the Great Architect expected
from us a life in accordance with the law which He had made. The square was to
be applied literally to stones and buildings, but symbolically to man’s
conduct, and man must arrange his life in agreement with what obviously
followed from these considerations; therefore the strictest probity was
demanded, and a high level of purity, physical, emotional and mental. Perfect
rectitude and justice were required, and yet at the same time loving-kindness
and gentleness, and in all cases “doing unto others what ye would that they
should do unto you.” So Masonry is indeed “a system of morality veiled in
allegory and illustrated by symbols,” but it is a system based not on an
alleged commandment, “Thus saith the Lord,” but on definite facts and laws in
nature which cannot be doubted.
42.
The work is a preparation
for death, and for what follows it. The two pillars B. and J. were supposed to
stand at the entrance to the other world, and the various experiences through
which the candidate passed were intended to symbolize those which would come to
him when he passed out of this physical world into the next stage. There is a
vast amount of information about the life after death to be derived from an
intelligent consideration of Masonic ceremonies, and through constantly
practising them these worlds will become really familiar to us; so that when we
shall pass beyond the grave, no longer in figurative death, we shall feel
ourselves quite at home in repeating once more what we have so often enacted in
symbol within the Lodge. Above all, it is emphasized that the same laws hold
good on the other side of the grave as on this, that in both states we are
equally in the presence of God, and that where that holy Name is invoked there
can be no cause for fear.
43.
The fourth intention is
the hardest of all to explain. To make you understand that, I must try to take
you back, if I can, into the atmosphere of old Egypt, and to the attitude that
religious men held there. I do not know whether it is possible to reconstruct
that in these modern days, which are so hopelessly, so fundamentally different.
44.
The religion which we
know best at the present day is intensely individualistic; the great central
objective put before most Christians is that of saving their own souls. That
duty is represented to be of primary importance. Can you picture to yourselves
a religion, just as much a religion in every way, in every respect as earnest,
as fervid, as real, from which that idea was entirely absent, to which it would
have been utterly inconceivable? Can you think, as a beginning, of a condition
of mind in which no one feared anything excepting wrong, and its possible
results in delaying unfoldment; in which men looked forward with perfect
certainty to their progress after death, because they knew all about it; in
which their one desire was not for salvation but for advancement in evolution,
because such advancement brought them greater power to do effectively the
hidden work which God expected of them?
45.
I am not suggesting that
every one in ancient Egypt
was altruistic, any more than are all the people in modern England. But I
do say that the country was permeated with joy and fearlessness so far as its
religious ideas were concerned, and that every one who by any stretch of
courtesy could be described as a religious man was occupied not with thoughts
of his personal salvation, but with the desire to be a useful agent of the
divine Power.
46.
The outer religion of
ancient Egypt - the official religion in which everyone took part, from the
King to the slave - was one of the most splendid that have ever been known to
man. Gorgeous processions perambulating avenues miles in length, amid pillars
so stupendous that they seemed scarcely human work, stately boats in a medley
of rainbow colours sweeping majestically down the placid Nile,
music triumphant or plaintive, but always thrilling - how shall I describe
something so absolutely without parallel in our puny modern times? The common
dress of all classes in Egypt
was white; but in contradistinction their religious processions were masses of
splendid, glowing colour, the priests wearing vestments of crimson and a
gorgeous blue supposed to represent the blue of the sky, and many other
brilliant colours also. The life of ancient Egypt,
as indeed of modern Egypt,
centred round the river Nile, slow-flowing and
majestic, and richly decorated barges were used for all purposes of transit,
and also for the celebration of religious festivals. On these the priests were
arranged in certain symbolical figures, standing or sitting; and all wore the
colours appropriate to the particular aspect of the Deity which they
symbolized.
47.
Not only were solemn
sacrifices offered to the gods upon these barges at altars wonderfully adorned
with flowers and precious embroideries, sometimes built up by stages to a
hundred feet or more in the air; but living pictures or scenes were also
enacted upon them, having a symbolical meaning connected with the festival
which was being celebrated. In such ways was represented the judgment of the
dead, with the weighing of the heart by Anubis against the feather of Maat, the
characters of Anubis and Thoth being played by priests who wore the appropriate
masks. I remember also a very gruesome performance of the dismemberment of
Osiris, in which His body was cut into pieces and then put together again - not
the body of a real person, of course, but none the less very realistically
enacted. These splendid processions swept down the river between the thronging
multitudes of worshippers, shedding the benediction of the gods as they
passed by, and evoking tremendous enthusiasm and devotion in the people.
48.
The ancient Egyptians
have often been accused of polytheism, but in reality they were no more guilty
of the charge than are the Hindus. All men knew and worshipped the One God,
Amen-Ra, the “One without a Second”, the centre of whose manifestation on the
physical plane is the sun; but they worshipped Him under different aspects and
through different channels. In one of the hymns addressed to Him it was said:
49.
The gods adore Thee,
They greet Thee, O Thou the One Dark Truth, the Heart of Silence, the Hidden
Mystery, the Inner God seated within the shrine, Thou Producer of Beings, Thou
the One Self. We adore the souls that are emanated from Thee, that share Thy
Being, that are Thyself. O Thou that art hidden, yet everywhere manifest, we
worship Thee in greeting each God-soul that cometh forth from Thee and liveth
in us.
50.
The “gods” were not
considered to be equal with God, but rather to have attained union with Him at
various levels, and therefore to be channels of His infinite power to mankind.
51.
The cult of the gods was
in reality but little different from the cult of Angels and Saints in the
Catholic Church. Just as Christians look to St. Michael and to Our Lady as real
personages and hold festivals in their honour, so in ancient Egypt adoration
was offered to Isis and Osiris, and to other deities likewise. In the ultimate
these august names referred to Aspects of the Godhead, Amen-Ra, for the Trinity
in Egypt was represented by Father, Mother, Son - Osiris, Isis and Horus
instead of the Christian presentation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but
below that divine level there were then, as there are now, great Beings in whom
the Ideal was embodied, who acted as representatives and as channels of God’s
threefold power and grace to man. Furthermore there are hierarchies of Angels
belonging to these different lines, just as there are hierarchies of Angels who
follow the leadership of St. Michael and of Our Lady - each of whom is a
channel and representative of his Order according to the level of his
development. The celebration of the ritual of Isis, for instance, always
attracted her attention, and invoked the presence of Angels of Her Order, who
acted as channels of the divine blessing in that wondrous aspect of the Hidden
Truth which she represented.
52.
THE HIDDEN YORK
53.
No doubt the really
religious man took his part in all the outward pomp which I have described; but
what he prized far above all its amazing magnificence was his membership in
some Lodge of the sacred Mysteries - a Lodge which devoted itself with reverent
enthusiasm to the hidden work which was the principal activity of this noble
religion. It is of this hidden side of the Egyptian cult, not of its outer glories,
that Freemasonry is a relic, and the ritual which is preserved in it is a part
of that of the Mysteries. To explain what this hidden work was, let us draw a
parallel from a more modern method of producing a somewhat similar result.
54.
The Christian plan for
spreading abroad the divine power or grace is principally by means of the celebration
of the Holy Eucharist, commonly called by our Roman brethren the Mass. We must
not think of that grace as a sort of poetical expression, or as in the least
degree vague and cloudy; we are dealing with a force as definite as electricity
- a spiritual power which is spread abroad over the people in certain ways,
which leaves its own effect behind it, and needs its own vehicles, just as
electricity needs its appropriate machinery.
55.
It is possible by
clairvoyance to watch the action of that force, to see how the service of the
Eucharist builds up a thought-form, through which that force is distributed by
the priest with the aid of the Angel invoked for that purpose. It has been so
arranged that the attitude of the priest, his knowledge - even his character -
does not in any way interfere with the due effect of the Sacrament.* (*See No.
26 of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England in The Book of
Common Prayer.) There is, in any case, an irreducible minimum which
is transmitted. So long as he performs the prescribed ceremonies the result is
achieved.* (*See The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, by T.
Waterworth, p. 55 (Session VII, Canon xii)) If he is also a devout man, those
who receive the Sacrament at his hands have the additional benefit of a share
in his love and devotion, but that in no way affects the value of the Sacrament
itself; whatever his failings, the divine strength is outpoured upon the people.
56.
The old Egyptian
religion had the same idea of pouring out spiritual force upon all its people,
but its method was altogether different. The Christian magic can be performed
by the priest alone, and may even be done quite mechanically; but the intelligent
assistance of the laity greatly increases its power and the amount of force
which can be outpoured. The Egyptian plan, however, positively required the
earnest and intelligent co-operation of a considerable number of people. It
was, therefore, much more difficult to achieve perfectly, but when thoroughly
done it was far more powerful, and covered a much wider range of country. The
Christian scheme needs a vast number of churches dotted all over the land; the
Egyptian plan required only the action of a few Grand Lodges established in the
principal cities in order to flood the whole kingdom with the Hidden Light -
the work of the ordinary Lodges being regarded as subsidiary to these, and
rather as a training ground for membership in the Grand Lodges.
57.
The central doctrine of
the religion of the ancient Egyptians was that the divine power dwelt in every
man, even the lowest and most degraded, and they called that power “The Hidden
Light”. They held that through that Light, which existed in all, men could always
be reached and helped, and that it was their business to find that Light within
every one, however unpromising, and to strengthen it. The very motto of the
Pharaoh was “Look for the Light,” implying that his supreme duty as King was to
look for that Hidden Light in every man around him, and strive to bring it
forth into fuller manifestation.
58.
The Egyptians held that
this divine spark, which exists in every one, could most effectively be fanned
into flame by transmuting and bringing down to the three lower worlds the
tremendous spiritual force which is the life of the higher planes, and then
pouring it out over the country as has been described. Knowing that spiritual
force to be but another manifestation of the manifold power of God, they gave
to it also the name of the Hidden Light; and from this double use of the term
confusion sometimes arises. They fully recognized that such a downpour of
divine grace could be evoked only by a supreme effort of devotion on their
part; and the making of such an effort, together with the provision of
suitable machinery for spreading the force when it came, was a great part of
the hidden work to which the noblest of the Egyptians devoted so much of
their time and energy; and this was the fourth of the objects intended to be
served by the sacred and secret ritual, of which that of Masonry is a relic.
59.
THE EGYPTIAN RACE
60.
The Egyptian race of the
period of which I have been speaking was of mixed blood, but dominantly Aryan.
Our researches show that about 13,500 B.C. a band of men and women belonging to
the highest classes of the great South Indian empire which then existed set out
on an expedition to Egypt, by way of Ceylon, having been directed to do so by
the Manu. The ruling race in Egypt
in those days was a branch of what has been called in Theosophical books the
Toltec sub-race - a branch probably identical with that Cro-Magnon race which
inhabited Europe and Africa somewhere about
25,000 B.C. In Ancient Types of Man* (*Op. cit., p. 71.) Sir Arthur
Keith remarks that this race was mentally and physically one of the finest
that the world has ever seen. Broca has noted that the brain content of the
skull of the Cro-Magnon woman surpasses that of the average male of today. The
average height of the men of this race was six feet one and a half inches; the
shoulders were exceedingly broad and the arms short as compared with the legs;
the nose was thin but prominent, the cheek-bones high, and the chin massive.
61.
It happened that the
King or Pharaoh on the throne at the time when the expedition from South India arrived had a daughter but no son, his wife
having died in child-birth. The newcomers were received with great cordiality
by both King and High-Priest, and intermarriage with the strangers became a
coveted honour in the Egyptian families, especially as the King had approved
the marriage of his daughter with the leader of the band, who was a Prince of
India.
62.
In a few generations the
Aryan blood had tinged the entire Egyptian nobility, and this produced the
type, well known from the monuments, which had Aryan features, but the Toltec
colouring. After many centuries there came a ruler who was influenced by a
foreign princess, whom he had espoused, to cast aside the Aryan traditions and
establish lower forms of worship; but the clan drew together and, by strictly
marrying only among themselves, preserved the old customs and religion as well
as their purity of race. Nearly four thousand years after the arrival of the
Indians, there arose in Egypt
certain prophets who foretold a great flood, so the clan in a body took ship
across the Red Sea and found a refuge among the mountains of Arabia.
63.
In 9,564 B.C. the
prophecy was fulfilled; the island of Poseidonis sank beneath the Atlantic Ocean in the
deluge mentioned in the Timaeus of Plato; at the same time the land rose
and made the Sahara Desert where a shallow sea had been before, and a
vast tidal wave swept over Egypt,
so that almost its entire population was destroyed. Even when everything
settled down, the country was a wilderness, bounded on the west no longer by a
peaceful sea but by a vast salt swamp, which as the centuries rolled on dried
into an inhospitable desert. Of all the glories of Egypt there remained only the
pyramids towering in lonely desolation - a state of things which endured for
fifteen hundred years before the clan returned from its mountain refuge, grown
into a great nation.
64.
But long before this
half-savage tribes had ventured into the land, fighting their primitive battles
on the banks of the great river which had once borne the argosies of a mighty
civilization, and was yet to witness a revival of those ancient glories, and to
mirror the stately temples of Osiris and Amen-Ra. The first of the several
races that entered the country was a negroid people from Central Africa; they
had, however, been displaced by various others before the Aryo-Egyptians
returned from Arabia, settled near Abydos, and gradually in a peaceful manner
became once more the dominant power. Two thousand four hundred years later the
Manu (under the name of Menes) incarnated, united the whole of Egypt under one rule, and founded at the same
time the first dynasty and his great city of Memphis. This empire had already flourished
for more than a millennium and a half before the reign of Rameses the Great,
who was himself the Master of one of the principal Lodges at the time when I
had the Honour to belong to it.
65.
THE GRAND LODGES
66.
During the time when I
was living in Egypt,
the government of the country was directed from within the organization of the
Mysteries. Egypt
was divided into forty-two nomes or counties, and the nomarch or ruler of the
county was the Master of the principal Lodge of the nome. There was a Grand
Lodge - not to be confused with the three Grand Lodges of Amen to be described
later - which consisted of all the nomarchs, and of which the Grand Master was
the Pharaoh. This Grand Lodge was convened at Memphis, and worked a different ritual from
those of the lower grades. It was to this body that the Pharaoh announced his
decrees; for although his power in the land was almost absolute, yet before any
serious decision was made he always took counsel with his nomarchs - and,
judging by their decisions, they were a very capable body of men. Lesser
matters were settled by an executive committee of this Lodge over which the
Pharaoh presided; but important steps were always discussed in Grand Lodge
itself. Thus the Mysteries entered into political as well as into religious
life in the old days; and politics were much less selfish in consequence.
67.
There were in Egypt in those
days three Grand Lodges of Amen, each of which was strictly limited to forty
members, every one of whom was a necessary part of the machine. Including the
officers, whose business was the recitation of the Office and the magnetization
of the Lodge, each member was the representative of a particular quality. One
was called the Knight of Love, another the Knight of Truth, another the Knight
of Perseverance, and so on; and each was supposed to become a specialist in
thinking and expressing the quality assigned to him. The idea was that the
forty qualities, thus expressed through the Lodge as a whole, would make the
character of a perfect man, a kind of heavenly man, through whom the power
behind could be poured out upon the whole country.
68.
These three Grand Lodges
worked three distinct types of Masonry, of which only one has come down to us
in the twentieth century. The Master of the first Grand Lodge represented
wisdom, and his two Wardens strength and beauty, as in our Lodges today. The
predominant power outpoured was that wisdom which is perfect love, the quality
that is indeed most needed in the world at the present time. The Master of the
second Grand Lodge represented strength, and his Wardens wisdom and beauty,
and the strength of the First Aspect of the Trinity was the predominant quality
of the Lodge. The Master of the third Grand Lodge typified beauty, and the
wisdom and the strength were made subordinate to that third aspect of the
Hidden Light.
69.
As every one present had
to bear his part in building the form, exact co-operation and perfect harmony
were absolutely necessary, and only people who could forget themselves entirely
in the great work were selected from the ordinary Lodges to become members of
these three Grand Lodges, whose power was such that their influence covered the
entire country. The slightest flaw in the character of one of the forty members
would have seriously weakened the form through which all the work was being
done. It is perhaps a relic of this paramount necessity which dictates our
present regulation that any Brn. who are not in perfect harmony with each other
should not put on their aprons until they have settled their differences. In
ancient Egypt there was an intensity of brotherly feeling between the members
of a Lodge which is probably rarely attained now; they felt themselves bound
together by the holiest of ties, not only as parts of the same machine, but
actually as fellow-workers with God Himself.
70.
The ritual worked by the
Grand Lodges was known as The Building of the Temple of Amen; a
translation of its actual wording will be given in another part of this book.
It was indeed one of the most splendid and powerful sacraments known to man. It
was celebrated for thousands of years, during which Egypt was a mighty land, but a time
came when the egos most advanced in evolution began to seek incarnation in new
nations, in which, as in different classes in the world-school, they might
learn new lessons. Then this portion of the Egyptian Mysteries fell into
abeyance, while the Egyptian civilization grew degenerate and formalized as it
became a theatre for the activities of less evolved men.
71.
THE ORDINARY LODGES
72.
There were also dotted
all about the country numerous other Lodges, which more closely resembled
those of modern times. Their work was much more varied than that of the three
Grand Lodges, and they met more frequently, for to them was entrusted the work
of preparing their members for higher things, and giving them a liberal
education. Their purpose was the same as that of the Mysteries everywhere, to
provide a definite system of culture and education for adults, a thing which is
not done on a large and public scale in our present day, when the rather
curious belief is widely spread that education ends with school or college. The
Mysteries were the great public institutions, centres of national and
religious life, to which people of the better classes flocked in thousands, and
they did their work 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 about
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.
73.
Even in these ordinary
Lodges every member took part in the work, and the labour of those in the
columns was regarded as more arduous than that of the officers. Though the
latter had special physical actions through which they must go with great
accuracy, the former had to use their thought-power all the time. They had all
to join at certain points in the ritual in sending out streams of thought, more
in the nature of will-power than of meditation, the object of the whole effort
being to erect over and around the Lodge a magnificent and radiant thought-form
of perfect proportions, specially constructed to receive and transmit in the
most effective way the Divine Force which was called down by their act of
devotion. If any member’s thought was ineffectual, the mighty temple-like
thought-form was correspondingly defective in one part; but the Master of the
Lodge was usually a clairvoyant priest or priestess who could see where
the defect lay, and so could keep his Lodge strictly up to the mark. Thus
these Lodges also shared in the same great work of force-distribution, though
on a smaller scale than the three Grand Lodges which were specially entrusted with
that task.
74.
Without some purpose
such as this our great Masonic effort seems unintelligible. We have in
nearly all Masonic Lodges a beautiful opening ceremony, full of deep
symbolical meaning, and when understood it is seen to be no mere form, but a wonderfully
effective formula, calling to our aid various entities, and preparing the way
for the performance of a very definite service to mankind. Yet, having opened
our Lodge and made all these preparations, we proceed at once to close down,
unless we have a candidate to initiate or pass or raise, or a lecture to
deliver to our own people. Surely such a wonderful preparation should end in
something definite, in a real piece of work for the benefit of mankind.
75.
In ancient Egypt there was
this splendid work, the culmination to which all the preparations led up. Our
true purpose should be the same. We meet and go through certain ceremonies, and
give them the name of work - a name that is quite inappropriate as applied to
the mere ceremonies, no matter how full of meaning they may be. But if we are
building a grand and beautiful form as a channel for the divine energy, through
which the world may be helped, then most assuredly we are doing work,
collecting, concentrating and storing up great superhuman forces, and then,
with the closing blessing, pouring all that out upon the world. Without
this, all the preliminaries are, as it says in the Co-Masonic mystic charge,
“like massive doorways, leading nowhither”.
76.
There is no reason why
we in the present day should not do as much with our ritual as did the ancient
Egyptians. Any defects that may stand in the way are to be found not in the
outer world, but in the failure on the part of the Brn. to realize the
seriousness of the work which they have undertaken, or to rise to the degree of
unselfishness that is requisite to ensure regular attendance for the sake of
humanity. In Egypt
no one troubled the Bro. Secretary with letters of excuse; the Brn. considered
their membership the most valuable privilege and blessing of their lives, and
were always in the Lodge at the proper time, unless too ill to move. Let us
hope that Freemasonry will have a future worthy of its past, and that before
long such Lodges as they had in Egypt
will be working in many parts of the world.
77.
There are various lines
along which the recollection of the way in which the work was done in ancient Egypt may be of
use to us, for those people performed their ceremonies with full knowledge of
their meaning, and so the points upon which they laid great stress are likely
to be important to us also.
78.
Deep reverence was their
strongest characteristic. They regarded their temple much as the most earnest
Christians regard their church, except that their attitude was dictated by
scientific knowledge rather than by feeling. They understood that the temple
was strongly magnetized, and that to preserve the full strength of that
magnetism great care was necessary. To speak of ordinary matters in the temple
would have been considered as sacrilege, as it would mean the introduction of a
disturbing influence. Vesting and all preliminary business was always done in
the anteroom, and the Brn. entered the Lodge in procession, singing, as
Co-Masons do now.
79.
THE HISTORY OF MASONRY
80.
The Mystery teaching of Egypt was very
closely guarded, and it was only with great difficulty and under special
conditions that anyone not an Egyptian born could be allowed to receive it.
Still, it was given to various distinguished foreigners, and among others to
Moses, of whom it is said in the biblical story that he was “learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians”. He passed on his knowledge to the Jewish priestly
line, and thus it survived in a more or less defective form till the time of
David and Solomon.
81.
When Solomon built his
temple he erected it on Masonic lines, and made it a centre of Masonic
symbolism and work. He unquestionably intended his temple to demonstrate and to
preserve for his people a certain set of measurements, in the same sort of way
in which all kinds of astronomical and geodetic facts were enshrined in the
measurements of the great pyramid.* (*See Ch. II, on the Pillars.) He did not
succeed, because much of the tradition had been lost; or it would perhaps be
truer to say that while external ceremonial and even the traditional
ornamentation had been very fairly preserved, the clue to the meaning of it all
was no longer known. Until that time initiates of the Jewish Mysteries had had
their attention directed to the House of Light in Egypt; but King Solomon
resolved to keep their thoughts and feelings strictly focused upon the building
which he had himself erected, and therefore instead of speaking to them of the
symbolical death and resurrection of Osiris in Egypt he invented the original
form of our present traditional history to take its place. In fact, he Judaized
the entire ritual, substituting Hebrew words for the original Egyptian, though
in some cases at least preserving the original meaning.
82.
It should be remembered
that in doing this he was only bringing the practice of his people into line
with that of neighbouring tribes and nations. There were many lines of Mystery
tradition, and though the Jews had brought with them across the desert of Sinai much of the Egyptian form, the
Tyrians and others preserved rather the story of the descent of Tammuz or
Adonis than that of the dismemberment of Osiris. Indeed, Bro. Ward in his
latest book on this subject seems inclined to advocate the theory that we as
Masons owe comparatively little to Egypt
and very much to Syria.
In this briefest of outlines of Masonic history I cannot pursue the question
further, but I hope to say more upon it in my next volume, Glimpses of
Masonic History.
83.
It is principally along this line of Jewish descent that Masonry has
come down to us in Europe, though there have
been other infiltrations. Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, who founded
the Roman Collegia, established in connection with them a system of the
Mysteries which derived its Masonic succession from Egypt; but its ceremonies
and teachings were somewhat modified by the migration of the rites of Attis and
Cybele to Rome about 200 B.C., and again through the medium of the soldiers
returning from the campaigns of Vespasian and Titus. From the Collegia this
mingled tradition was handed on through the Comacini and various other secret
societies through the dangerous times of the Middle Ages; and when a better age
dawned and persecution became less fierce it came to the surface once more.
Certain fragments of it were gathered together in 1717 to form the Grand Lodge
of England, and so it has come down to us unto the present day.
84.
It should be understood,
however, that there is no one line of Masonic orthodoxy. A parallel tradition,
coming originally from Chaldean sources, has given rise to Masonry as worked
upon the continent of Europe. And yet another
line seems to have been brought back by the Knights Templars on their return
from the crusades.
85.
The whole subject of
Masonic history is one of exceeding interest; but, owing to the fact that
Masonry is after all a secret society, it is often almost impossible to trace
the line of its descent by means of any documents which are now available, and
consequently there is great confusion and contradiction among the various
accounts. We have ourselves devoted a good deal of investigation and research
to this matter, and I have published some of its results in the book just mentioned,
Glimpses of Masonic History.
86.
Much of the ancient
wisdom has been allowed to slip into oblivion, and so some of the true secrets
were lost to the great body of the Brn. But among the Hierophants of the Great
White Brotherhood the true secrets have ever been preserved, and they will
always reward the search of the really earnest Mason. We, of these later
sub-races, may prove ourselves just as unselfish and capable of just as good
work for our fellowmen as were the people of old. Indeed, we ourselves may
well be those men of old, come back in new bodies, and bringing with us the old
attraction to the form of faith and work which then we knew so well. Let us try
to revive under these far different conditions the unconquerable spirit which
distinguished us so long ago. It means a good deal of hard work, for every officer
must do his part quite perfectly, and that involves much training and practice.
Yet I feel sure that there are many who will respond to the Master’s call and
come forward to join in preparing the way for those who are to come.
87.
Let each Lodge make itself
a model Lodge, thoroughly efficient in its working, so that when anyone visits
it he may be impressed by the good work done and by the strength of its
magnetic atmosphere, and may thereby be induced to share in this vast undertaking.
Our members must also be able, when they in turn visit other Lodges, to explain
our method of working, and show how, from the occult point of view, the
ceremonies should be performed. Above all, they must carry with them everywhere
the strong magnetism of a completely harmonious centre, the potent radiation of
brotherly love.
88.
To us also, as to the
ancient Egyptians, the Lodge should be holy ground, consecrated and set apart
for Masonic work, never to be used for any secular purpose. It should have an
atmosphere of its own, just as have the great medieval cathedrals; as they are
permeated by the influence of centuries of devotion, so should the very walls
of our Temple
radiate strength, broadmindedness and brotherly love.
89.
CHAPTER II
90.
THE LODGE
91.
FORM AND EXTENSION
92.
IT is customary in
speaking of the Freemasonic Lodge to which one belongs to think of a hall or
room in an ordinary building in the physical world. Therefore, when its
extension is mentioned, the ordinary ideas of its measurements in length,
breadth and height come up in the mind. It is necessary, however, to think of
much more than that, for the Lodge represents the universe at large, as is explained
in the ritual of the Craft degrees of Universal Co-Masonry. In the description
of the t … b …, we are told that the Lodge is in length from east to west, in
breadth from north to south, and in depth from the zenith to the centre of the
earth, which shows that it is a symbol for the whole world.
93.
The form of the
Lodge-room, according to Dr. Mackey, should be that of a parallelogram at least
one-third larger from east to west than it is from north to south. It should
always, if possible, be situated due east and west, should
94.
Plate III
95.
96.
be isolated, where it is
practicable, from all surrounding buildings, and should be lofty, to give
dignity to the appearance of the hall, as well as for purposes of health. The
approaches to the Lodge room from without should be angular, for, as Oliver
says, “a straight entrance is unmasonic, and cannot be tolerated.” There should
be two entrances to the room, which should be situated in the west, and on each
side of the W.S.W.’s station. That on his right hand is for the introduction of
visitors and members and, leading from the T.’s room, is called the T.’s
or the outer door; the other, on his left, leading from the preparation room,
is known as the “inner door” and sometimes is called the north-west door. Plate
III shows the form of the Lodge and the positions of the principal objects in
it, as usually arranged by Co-Masons of the British jurisdiction.
97.
The floor of the Lodge,
technically speaking, is the mosaic pavement, which will be described among the
ornaments of the Lodge. The correct shape for this is a double square - that is
to say, a rectangle having a length double its breadth - and the Lodge may be
thought of as a double cube standing on this floor. Considered as the entire
room, the Lodge is a temple of humanity, and as such it may be taken to
symbolize a man lying upon his back. In this position the three great supports correspond
to important centres in the human body. The column of the R.W.M. is in the
place of the head or brain; that of the W.S.W, corresponds to the generative
organs, symbols of strength and virility, and also to the solar plexus, the
great ganglionic centre of the sympathetic system; and that of the W.J.W.
corresponds to the heart, anciently regarded as the seat of the affections.
98.
ORIENTATION
99.
Three reasons are given
in the ritual to explain why our Lodges are set east and west. In the first
place, the sun rises in the east, and the sun is regarded in Masonry as a
symbol of divinity. Secondly, all the western nations look to the east as the
source of their wisdom. Thirdly, the Masons follow the precedent of the temple
of King Solomon, which was set east and west in imitation of the arrangement
of the tabernacle which was carried by the Israelites in their wanderings
through the desert, and was always placed east and west when put down. It is
certainly not sufficient to say that the early Masons oriented their Lodges
merely because all churches and chapels ought to be so; rather the
ecclesiastical rule spectare ad orientem was also a rule for the Masons.
100.
As we have already said,
the Egyptian origin of Masonry has been somewhat obscured by Jewish influence.
When Moses introduced the Egyptian wisdom to the Jews they quickly gave their
own colouring to it. They are a very remarkable race, in that they assimilate
readily, but stamp their own decided characteristics upon whatever they take
up. In this case, the Egyptians spoke of the great pyramid of Gizeh as the
“House of Light”, or more commonly “The Light” but the Jews were taught to
interpret it as referring to the temple
of King Solomon.
101.
The real reason,
however, for the careful orientation of the Lodge is magnetic. There is a
constant flow of force in both directions between the equator and each of the
poles of the earth, and there is also a current flowing at right angles to
that, moving round the earth in the direction of its motion. Both of these currents
are utilized in the working of the Lodge, as will be explained when we come to
deal with the ceremonies. The world at large does not recognize the
presence of these forces, which are not of the same order as those which
influence a common steel or iron magnet, but there are some people who are
sensitive to them to such an extent that they cannot sleep comfortably if they
lie across them. Some of these people sleep best with the head to the north,
others with the head to the south. Among the Hindus it is considered that only
an ascetic should sleep with his head to the north. The householder, the man of
the world, should lie with his head to the south.
102.
THE CELESTIAL CANOPY
103.
The ritual tells us that
the covering of a, Freemason’s Lodge is a celestial canopy of divers colours.
This may very well symbolize the star-lit heavens which canopy the true temple
of humanity, when we regard the Lodge as universal; but the reference to divers
colours indicates another meaning, for the vault of the sky is not of various
hues, except at sunrise and sunset, but is blue. The real celestial canopy is
the aura of the man whom we have thought of as lying on his back; it is the
vividly tinted thought-form that is made during the working of the Lodge. We
see this symbolism appearing elsewhere also, in Joseph’s coat of many colours
in the V.S.L., in the Robe of Glory which the initiate puts on, according to
the Gnostic hymn; and also in the Augoeides of the Greek philosophers, the
glorified body in which the soul of man dwells in the subtle invisible world.
Bro. Wilmshurst in The Meaning of Masonry also interprets the canopy as
the aura of man, which is surely more reasonable than to suppose with Dr.
Mackey that because the early Brn. met on the highest hills and in the lowest
vales this symbol must refer to the over-arching vault of heaven.
104.
THE ALTAR
105.
The altar should be in
the middle of the square nearest to the R. W. M., though this differs in
different Obediences. In the Grand Lodge of England working there is generally
no altar at all, or at the most only an appendage to the Master’s pedestal; so
that when the candidate is taking the O. he kneels before the pedestal of the
R. W. M. In some Lodges the altar is a little east of the centre of the floor,
and in others it stands in the middle of the floor.
106.
On the altar, or close
to it, or hanging above it in the middle of the eastern square, there is in
Co-Masonic Lodges a small light burning, usually enclosed in ruby-coloured
glass. This light symbolizes the reflection of Deity in matter, and it
corresponds exactly to the light in Catholic churches which burns always before
the Altar on which the Host is reserved.
107.
Figure 2.
108.
109.
Mackey, in his Lexicon
of Freemasonry, speaks of the altar as:
110.
The place where the
sacred offerings were presented to God. After the erection of the Tabernacle,
altars were of two kinds, altars of sacrifice and altars of incense. The altar
of Masonry may be considered as the representative of both these forms. From
hence the grateful incense of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, is ever rising
to the Great I Am; while on it the unruly passions and the worldly appetites of
the Brethren are laid as a fitting sacrifice to the genius of our Order. The
proper form of a masonic altar is that of a cube, about three feet high, with
four horns, one at each corner, and having spread open upon it the Holy Bible,
Square, and Compasses, while around it are placed in a triangular form and proper
position the three lesser lights.
111.
Fig. 2 is taken from the
same source. The stars represent the three lighted candles and the black dot
the vacancy in the north, where there is no light. In our Co-Masonic Lodges we
follow the English custom of having the three candles beside the seats of the
three principal officers, but they are still in the same relative positions. In
this, as in other matters, there is no orthodoxy in Masonry.
112.
The symbol upon the
eastern side of the altar is a circle bounded on the north and the south by two
lines. In the centre there should be a point - the point within a circle round
which a M.M. cannot err. The circle, as shown on the t … b …, is drawn the full
size of the altar, so that it touches or almost touches the V.S.L. An explanation
of this which is often given in Lodge lectures is that as the circle is bounded
by two lines, which signify Moses and Solomon, and also by the V.S.L.,
anyone who keeps himself within that circle and follows the precepts of the
V.S.L. as thoroughly as did Moses and Solomon will not err.
113.
In ancient Egypt, however,
long before the time of the Jews, it was already a symbol with many meanings.
First of all, it was the symbol of the sun-god, Ra; secondly, it bore to the
Egyptians the signification of the earth circling round the sun. That was with
them a portion of the secret knowledge reserved for the Mysteries. There was a
still older tradition, which held the circle to be the equator and the dot in
the centre to be the pole-star, whose position changes because of the
precession of the equinoxes, in which the Egyptians took great interest. The
inclination of the chief passage of the great pyramid was determined by the
position of the pole-star of the period. This symbol was used once more to
indicate the all-seeing eye - an idea easily suggested by the dot in the middle
of the circle.
114.
Another interpretation
of the symbol by the Egyptians was particularly beautiful, and all Brn. will
find it well worth remembering whenever their eyes fall upon it. The three
columns, representing wisdom, strength and beauty, were stated to stand round
God’s throne, which was the altar itself, which they took to signify love. Thus
the circle describes the love of God, and the two lines which bound it are the
lines of duty and destiny or, to put the idea in Oriental terms, of dharma and
karma. It was said that while a M.M. kept himself within the circle of the
divine love, and bounded his actions by duty and destiny, he could not err.
115.
The same device also
signifies the first manifestation of the Deity. It was held by the Egyptians
there were three successive manifestations; the first aspect far above our
reach, the second and third successively lower, and their conception of these
three was very similar to that of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity in
Christianity and the Trimurti among the Hindus; in fact, practically all
philosophical religions have recognized the triple manifestation of the Deity.
In The Book of Dzyan the same emblem, but without the two lines, was used
to denote the same reality, the first Logos or Word; while in Christian
mysticism it signifies the Christ within the bosom of the Father. It was also
considered to be a reflection of the Blazing Star which should be in the centre
of the Lodge ceiling, it being in this respect the same as the ever-burning
ruby lamp. It symbolized His light that “burns ever in our midst” and “shineth
even in our darkness”. Some students of Masonry see the same symbol once more
in many of the temples of the Druids and Scandinavians, which were formed of a
circle of stones with one, generally taller than the rest, in the centre.
116.
PEDESTALS AND COLUMNS
117.
“Our Lodges are
supported by three great pillars - wisdom, strength and beauty,” says the
Masonic ritual, “wisdom to contrive, strength to support and beauty to adorn;
wisdom to conduct us in all our undertakings, strength to support us under all
our difficulties, and beauty to adorn the inward man. The universe is the Temple of the Deity whom
we serve; wisdom, strength, and beauty are about His throne as pillars of His
works, for His wisdom is infinite, His strength is omnipotent, and His beauty
shines through the whole of the creation in symmetry and order. The heavens He
has stretched forth as a canopy; the earth He has planted as His footstool; He
crowns His Temple with stars as with a diadem, and from His hands flow all
power and glory. The sun and the moon are messengers of His will, and all His
law is concord. The three great pillars supporting a Mason’s L … e are emblematical
of these divine attributes.”
118.
Full-sized columns are
rarely erected in any Lodges, but the W.S.W. and W.J.W. have miniature columns
on their pedestals, and all three of the principal officers have usually larger
columns beside them, upon which are supported their respective candles. In
Craft literature various reasons are given for the presence of the three
pedestals and for their arrangement. Some say that there are three because King
Solomon had two other important people associated with him in the building of
the temple; but the deeper fact is that the pillars on the t … b … and the
columns near the pedestals of the three principal officers are intended to
symbolize the three aspects of the divine life in manifestation, which have
been spoken of by various religions as the Holy Trinity. In the earliest times
in Egypt,
as we have already explained, there were three kinds of Grand Lodges, with
somewhat different methods of working, according as the R.W.M. represented
wisdom, strength or beauty. In our modern days we have only one of these types,
in which the Master’s pedestal signifies wisdom, and the working is that of the
Second Person of the Trinity, the Christ. In the now practically defunct Rite
of Swedenborg the chair of the Master represented strength.
119.
In the process of the
development of our universe, the third member of the Trinity first exercised
His portion of the divine power in preparing the world of matter; then the
second Person put forth His energy, and that was the beginning of the evolution
of conscious life. This is symbolized in the opening of the Lodge. At first the
W.J.W.’s miniature column, which signifies the Third Person and the first
outpouring of divine activity, is erect, but at the moment when the R.W.M.
declares the Lodge open, that column is laid down and the W.S.W. raises his
column to the vertical position. By the authority of the First Person, the
Father, the Ruler of the world, the Second Person has now taken charge of the
proceedings, and the work of evolution of the powers of consciousness is the
order of the day in the open Lodge.
120.
The three pillars, the
columns and the pedestals, the candlesticks and candles, all mean the same
thing. The column on the desk or pedestal of each of the principal officers of
the Lodge is sculptured in a definite order of architecture which signifies his
power or quality; his candlestick also is carved in the same design, and often
it is depicted upon his candle as well. Our columns and candlesticks are now
usually made of painted wood, but in reality they should be of three different
kinds of stone; that of the R.W.M. should be of freestone, that of the
W.S.W. of granite, and that of the W.J.W. of marble. These three kinds of stone
are typical specimens of the three great classes of rocks freestone is aqueous
or sedimentary; granite is igneous or plutonic, and marble is metamorphic. If
wooden columns are used, they should be painted to resemble these stones.
121.
Plate IV
122.
123.
ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE
124.
In looking at any
column, there are two principal parts to be considered - the column itself, and
at the top of it the entablature which helps it to support the roof. Each of
these two parts is divided again into three. The column has its base, then a
long thin shaft, then the capital. The parts of the entablature are first the
architrave, that comes out above the capital, then the friezes which is a
straight piece with ornaments, and above that the cornice. In almost all these
points the different orders of architecture vary.
125.
The three orders of
architecture in ancient Greece
were the Ionic, the Doric and the Corinthian which are now assigned to the
R.W.M., the W.S.W. and the W.J.W. respectively. Afterwards two others were
added of Italian origin - the Tuscan and the Composite, which we do not use in
Masonry. The three columns are shown in Plate IV.
126.
Of the three Greek
columns the Doric is the simplest. Its shaft has twenty shallow flutings, and
its height is eight times its diameter. It has no base, and the capital is
solid and quite plain. In the entablature, which is not usually reproduced in
the officers’ pillars, its frieze is characterized by triglyphs, representing
the ends of joists, and metopes, representing rafters, and its cornice exhibits
mutules. This column is considered to be formed after the model of a muscular
full-grown man; it shows strength and noble simplicity.
127.
The Ionic column has
twenty-four flutings and a length nine times its diameter. Its capital is
adorned with two volutes, and its cornice with dentils. It is thought to be
modelled with the grace of a beautiful woman, the volutes being suggested by
the dressing of her hair.
128.
The Corinthian Column is
by far the most beautiful. Its flutings are not different from the Ionic, but
its height is ten times its diameter, which gives a slender and very graceful
appearance. The capital is ornamented with two rows of acanthus leaves and
eight volutes, which sustain the abacus.
129.
The following story is
told with regard to the origin of the Corinthian column. A Greek poet and architect
named Calimachus once visited a cemetery and saw there the grave of a child, on
which an acanthus plant had grown in a manner that struck the poet as so
pleasing and beautiful that he had it cut in stone, and it became the original
of the form now seen on the capital of every Corinthian pillar. On the grave
there was a circular box of toys which had been put there by the nurse of the
child in order to please its spirit - for at that time the idea was prevalent
that departed spirits were in the habit of visiting their places of burial or
sepulture, and were in a position to enjoy the objects placed there for them,
or the counterparts of those objects, which thus became their possessions on
the other side of death.
130.
Plate V
131.
132.
On the top of the little
box of toys the nurse had placed a flat tile to keep off the rain. It happened
that she had put the box upon an acanthus root, and that the leaves had grown
up and, when they reached the tile, had turned again to form a kind of fringe
round it, with most beautiful effect. The acanthus plant grows wild all over Sicily and the south of Italy
and Greece,
and is everywhere charming.
133.
The Tuscan column is the
plainest of all; it has a perfectly plain base and top, the length of its shaft
is only seven times its diameter, and it has no flutings. The composite column,
on the other hand, is the most ornate of all, as it is an attempt to combine
the beauties of the Ionic and the Corinthian. It has the same number of
flutings and the same proportions as the latter, but combines with the acanthus
ornament the volutes of the Ionic style.
134.
The three columns are
part of the Greek or classic style of architecture, which has always a flat or
very slightly sloping roof, no arches, and many pillars arranged in rows,
generally with a large shallow triangle, the pylon, at the front of the
building. (See Plate V.)
135.
In the religious
architecture of Europe we find mainly the
Gothic style. The guilds of Freemasons in the Middle Ages travelled over Europe in wandering bands, which were engaged in building
churches. All the great Gothic building was cone, broadly speaking, about the
same period, and at that time the famous cathedrals of Europe
were erected by the Freemasons, who had the three orders. They were operative
masons, but they had their practical secrets, and only they were able to do
this kind of work. The Gothic was an entirely new method, departing altogether
from the classic, and there is ample evidence to show that Freemasons were responsible
for the change. The great cathedral of Cologne,
for example, which has been five hundred years in course of erection and is not
yet completed, was laid out by a man who signed himself with a sign known only
by the M. M., and there are also documents to show that the early part of the
building was done by Freemasons. It has the peculiar form of pointed arch,
made by the intersection of two rising arches, which characterizes the Gothic
style, differing both from the Norman and Roman styles with their rounded
arches, and from the Saracenic or Byzantine with its serrated arches and round
domes.
136.
MEANING OF THE THREE
COLUMNS
137.
I am indebted for the
following luminous suggestions to Bro. Ernest Wood. They are an interpretation
of the three columns in the light of the principles embodied in his book, The
Seven Rays, and I commend them to the careful study of the Brn.
138.
In order to understand
the full significance of the columns presided over by the three principal
officers, we must recall the occult teaching of the great Divine Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. In Their unity They
are one Universal God in whom everything exists, whether it be animate or
inanimate, for there is nothing but That. But in Their separate appearances,
the Holy Ghost is the maker or builder of the outer world, and the Son is the
life in all beings, the “light that lighteth every man that cometh into the
world”. Every material object in the world is part of the being of God the Holy
Ghost in this large sense, and every life or consciousness is part of the
consciousness of God the Son, who is the manifested Solar Logos. Behind these,
invisible and beyond all imagining, is the ineffable glory and happiness of
the Father.
139.
Both the Holy Ghost and
the Son are in turn triune; wisdom, strength and beauty are the three qualities
of God the Holy Ghost, and they form the three supports of the objective world,
as they also mark out its three divisions. These divisions are (1) the visible
world of material objects, founded in beauty - God in things is seen as beauty;
(2) the invisible energy with which the world is filled, and on which all
things that are seen are built - this is the strength of God the Holy
Ghost; (3) the universal mind, the world of ideas, the storehouse of
archetypes, marking out the possibilities of material forms and relationships,
which is seen in what the scientist calls the laws of nature - the wisdom of
the Divine Architect, His settled plans. These are the three parts of any
objective world; they constitute the Lodge, the building, in which life plays
its part; and the three Pillars, Ionic, Doric and Corinthian, symbolize these
three divisions of the world - the field of consciousness, as it has been called
in the Bhagavad Gita.
140.
All the living beings
which people this world display the light of the divine life and consciousness
in their varying degrees. They are all parts of God the Son, the Christ, the
great sacrifice, the divine life crucified on the cross of matter. He also is a
trinity, and this is seen in the three powers of consciousness appearing in man
as the spiritual will, the intuitional love and the higher intelligence, which
are the root of all human will, love and thought. Since the officers are the
life in the Lodge, they represent these qualities in consciousness, which are
called in Sanskrit philosophy Ichchha, Jnana and Kriya. The R.W.M. expresses
the divine will of the Christ, directing the work to the perfecting of man; the
W.S.W. represents the divine love of the Christ; and the W.J.W. the divine
thought. These officers are to be known by their jewels, which represent will,
love and thought respectively, not by the columns at which they preside.
141.
Just as material energy
is the strength in things, so is love the strength in consciousness; it is what
has been called in Sanskrit terminology the buddhi in man, the wisdom that is
direct knowledge of life, the energy of consciousness. It is the faculty in man
with which he contacts and deals with life around him, while his thought is the
faculty with which he deals with objective things. So when at the opening of
the Lodge the W.J.W. lays down his pillar and the W.S.W. raises his, it
symbolizes the fact that now we are interested in life, we are working upon
man, upon consciousness, not upon material objects, as would be the case if we
were building a material structure, and not the temple of man, his inner
character, his immortal soul. The Great Architect is now building “a temple in
the heavens, not made with hands”.
142.
Thus the columns
represent the three qualities of the material Lodge, but the three principal
officers express the three qualities of consciousness or life. Now the
assistant officers must be explained. In his inner nature every man is a
spiritual consciousness, threefold, as we have seen - but when we look at him
in this world we see not the man himself but the body in which he lives, his
material house, or rather, to use a more modern simile, his motor car in which
he goes about to do the business of his life, to see what he wants to see and
to work where he wants to work. That body, trained perhaps for a particular
profession, brought up in the special culture of one of the nations, with its
manners and habits of action, feeling and thought, constitutes his personality,
the mask through which his voice can be heard in the world of outside
appearances. This personality is fourfold - there is the physical body, then
the etheric double or counterpart of that, then the emotional nature, then the
lower mind - the last two constituting his own private storehouse and gallery
of personal feelings and ideas. The S.D. stands for the lower mind, the J.D.
for the emotional or astral nature; the I.G. for the etheric double, and the
O.G. or T. for the physical body.* (*For a fuller study of these principles
from this point of view, see Professor Wood’s book, The Seven Rays.)
143.
According to this
interpretation the columns represent the three aspects of the outer world (the
world of human tuition), but the three principal officers, who preside at their
pedestals, stand for the three aspects of divine consciousness (the inner world
of human intuition), as in the following diagram:
144.
Diagram 1
145.
146.
THE PILLARS OF THE
PORCHWAY
147.
Referring to King
Solomon’s temple, the English Craft ritual says: “There was nothing in connection
with this magnificent structure more remarkable, or which more particularly
struck the attention, than the two great pillars which were placed at the porch
or entrance.” The ritual goes on to explain that these two pillars were set up
at the entrance of the temple to remind the children of Israel, on their way to
and from divine worship, of the pillar of fire which gave light to the
Israelites during their escape from bondage in Egypt, and the pillar of cloud
which proved darkness to Pharaoh and his followers, when they attempted to
overtake them.
148.
Their original
significance, however, dates much further back than this. It is claimed that
these two columns originally represented the north and south pole-stars. They
were at first the pillars of Horus and Set, but their names were afterwards
changed to Tat or Ta-at, and Tattu, the former meaning “in strength” and the
latter “to establish”, the two together being considered as the emblem of
stability. Tattu is the entrance to the region where the mortal soul is blended
with the immortal spirit, and thereby established for ever, as I have already
explained in Chapter I. It seems strange that so many authors should speak of the
north and south pole stars, when the fact is that there is no star of any
consequence at the south pole. The southern pole of the heavens is situated in
an unusually barren tract of the sky, and the nearest star of any consequence
is that at the foot of the Southern Cross, which is no less than twenty-seven
degrees from the pole.
149.
On the tops of the two
columns in the very ancient symbolism there were at first four lines or cross
sticks, which were symbols of heaven and earth, as in Fig. 3.
150.
Figure 3
151.
152.
How the four quarters or
the square, or rather the two squares, arose may be understood from Fig. 4.
153.
Figure 4
154.
155.
The first symbol shows
the two eyes of north and south, with a connecting line. The second shows the
line of Shu, where he makes a division at the equinox, and thus forms two
triangles of Set and Horus; and the third figure completes the square of the
four quarters. It is said that Tattu is thus the place established for ever, a
heaven with its four quarters, as Tat represents the earth with its four
quarters.
156.
Figure 5 and 6
157.
158.
In the hieroglyphs the
form has become like Fig. 5, while in the Papyrus of Ani it appears as
in Fig. 6.
159.
Dr. Mackey has made a
special study of these two pillars in their later Jewish form. He speaks of
them as memorials of God’s repeated promises of support to His people of
Israel, since Jachin is derived from Jah, which means “Jehovah”, and achin,
“to establish”, and signifies “God will establish His house in Israel,” while
Boaz is compounded of b, which means “in” and oaz, “strength”,
the whole signifying “in strength shall it be established”. Mackey thinks that
the pillars should be within the porch (which in reality they were not), at its
very entrance; and on each side of the gate. It will be seen how exactly the
meanings given here correspond with those of the Egyptian names of the same
pillars.
160.
We find various
descriptions of these columns given in the Christian Scriptures. The references
are 1 Kings, vii, 15; 2 Kings, xxv, 17; 2 Chron. iii, 15 and iv, 12; Jer. lii,
21 and Ezek. xl, 49. A description is also given by the Jewish historian
Josephus, and another may be found in Mackey’s Lexicon of Freemasonry.
These accounts differ in various respects, and the details given are so
confused that Masonic writers are by no means in agreement as to any but the
chief features. I therefore thought it best to take the trouble to make a
clairvoyant investigation, the result of which is given in Plates VI and VII.
The first of these is what is called a scale-drawing, showing the proportions
of the pillar exactly as it was, but as it never could have been seen by any
human being, because of its size. The second is an enlarged drawing, of the
same character, of the capital (or, as it is called in the Bible, the chapiter)
to show the detail of its somewhat complicated workmanship. There is also a
small ground-plan (Fig. 7) of the temple, to show the position of the
161.
Figure 7
162.
163.
pillars in relation to
the porch. It will be seen that they were not within the porch, but just
outside it. This ground-plan has been drawn to scale according to the biblical
measurements, but it should be noted that in it no account is taken of any
other doors than that of the porchway, or of the curious little side-chapels
which King Solomon added; nor is any attempt made to indicate the courts which
surrounded the temple.
164.
These pillars are
described in the Bible as of brass, but their appearance is much more that of
what we today call bronze. The height of the pillar itself is given in all the
accounts but one as eighteen cubits, and the chapiter which swells out above it
is said to have been five cubits in height, but as it overlapped the top to the
extent of half a cubit the total height was 22 1/2 cubits. As the
cubit is usually calculated to have been eighteen inches, this gives us the
total height of the pillar and its capital as 33 feet 9 inches. Its
circumference is given as twelve cubits or eighteen feet, which would make its
diameter just under six feet. The pillars were hollow, and the thickness of the
metal of which they were composed is usually supposed to have been three
inches, though it has sometimes been given as four. At the back of each pillar,
so that they were not seen at all from the front, were three small doors, one
above the other, so that part of the pillar may be thought of as divided into
safes, in which archives, books of the Law and other documents were kept.
165.
Plate VI
166.
167.
The chapiters which fit
on to the top of the pillars like caps are the most interesting part of these
remarkable castings. The ornamentation of these capitals will best be
understood from the illustration. The whole chapiter swells upwards in a
somewhat urn-like form, with a flat circular disc resting upon it. The upward
curve of the urn is continued through the disc, and makes a projection above
the disc which is a segment of a sphere, though this was of course not visible
to anyone looking up from the foot of the pillar. It would be more correct to
say that the form suggested is not actually a sphere but rather an oblate
spheroid, and in the original stone pillar which occupied a similar place in
the Egyptian temple, the symbology of which was copied by the Tyrian artificer,
this somewhat unusual form was undoubtedly intentional, and was adopted in
order to give an idea of the true shape of the earth, which was perfectly well
known in ancient Egypt. As will be seen in a later chapter, the Egyptians were
quite familiar with the exact measurements of the earth, but in the indication
of it in the spheroid of the pillar the polar depression is naturally greatly
exaggerated, as otherwise the difference could hardly have been visible. It is
known that these pillars were intended to represent the terrestrial and
celestial spheres respectively; and in some modern attempts to reproduce them they
are crowned with these two globes. In the originals, however, there were no
such globes, as the rounded chapiters sufficiently represented them.
168.
It will be seen from the
illustration that the surface of the chapiter below the disc is covered with a
network, and that the lower ends of the network coalesce into a kind of fringe,
from which depend a number of little balls. The Bible account tells us quite
accurately that these balls were intended to represent pomegranates, and that
there were two hundred of these pomegranates upon each pillar. Superimposed
upon the network is a rather curious decoration of chains, hanging in festoons,
and there are seven rows of these festoons one below the other. Each loop of
chain consists of seven links, and in each case the central link of the chain
is much the largest and heaviest, and the links diminish in size and weight as
they rise towards the ends of the loop. Along the edge of the disc runs a line
of lilies, and from this four chains of the same flowers are represented as
hanging straight down the chapiter on the north, east, south and west
respectively. These flower-chains, however, do not hang loose in the air, but
cling closely to the outline of the chapiter. Between them two palm-leaves are
crossed through the middle link of the central chain in each space.
169.
Entirely apart from this
scheme of decoration a very beautifully executed band of flowers is introduced
to hide the junction of the chapiter with the pillar. This consists of a triple
row of lilies; the central row, which exactly covers the edge of the chapiter,
is composed of fully opened flowers facing outwards from the pillar, with
leaves between them, while there is an upper row of tightly-closed buds
standing up between the flowers of the middle row and giving an effect not
170.
Plate VII
171.
172.
unlike that of the
points of a crown. The lilies of the third row hang gracefully downwards from
the middle row upon curved stems, and face in various directions.
173.
All this, we are told,
was the work of H. A., a widow’s son of Naphtali - a man described in the
biblical account as a cunning worker in brass, who was sent down to Jerusalem
by H., K. of T., especially in order to do this and other metal work for King
Solomon. Undoubtedly this man was a true artist, for he took an almost
inconceivable amount of trouble to carry out his design exactly as he wanted
it. So far as the investigators were able to see, his work was based entirely
upon a traditional account of the stone Egyptian pillars, which had been handed
down from the time of Moses. It did not appear that he had any clear idea of
the meaning of all these strange decorations, though Moses knew perfectly well
the whole system of symbology which lay behind it.
174.
It is to be understood
that all this varied ornamentation was not arranged in basso-relievo,
as would be expected in a casting; on the contrary it stood out boldly from the
face of the pillar, many of the flowers being connected with it only by a
comparatively thin stalk of considerable length. Some indication of the
patience and care which the artist exhibited may be gathered from the fact that
he carved in wood and in full size the entire triple band of lilies to go round
the eighteen-foot circumference of the base of the chapiter, and then made his
moulds round that wooden carving. Though the general idea of the threefold band
of flowers was preserved, the whole thing was arranged in a very natural
manner, no flower being an exact reproduction of its neighbour; it was not a
mere repetition of a pattern, such as we might have in a modern wallpaper, but
the whole conception was carried out as one great unit with the most loving and
painstaking care.
175.
Many experiments were
tried before this ancient artificer was satisfied, and he adopted various
ingenious methods to attain his object. He was anxious to make the whole
chapiter and all its decorations as nearly as possible in one casting, and with
the primitive appliances at his command this gave him an immensity of trouble.
His lilies may perhaps be considered as somewhat conventional; at least they do
not exactly correspond to any varieties with which I happen to be acquainted.
They were on the whole more like the lotus than like an ordinary lily; but on
the other hand the leaves were by no means lotus leaves.
176.
To the ordinary
worshipper in the temple all this rather complicated ornamentation was merely
decorative, but to the initiate it was full of esoteric significance. First,
these two pillars were an exemplification of the occult axiom, “As above, so
below”, for though they were absolutely alike in every particular it was always
understood that they represented respectively the terrestrial and celestial
worlds. On Tat, the left-hand pillar, each link of each chain symbolized what
in our Oriental studies we call a branch-race, and the links as they descended
became larger and thicker to indicate a deeper descent into matter, until the
fourth was reached, when the life-force begins to draw inward and upward, and
so its embodiment becomes less material.
177.
Each loop of seven links
therefore typified a sub-race, and the seven loops which extended round the
pillar, making one festoon, correspond to one of the great root-races, such as
the Lemurian, the Atlantean or the Aryan. The whole set of seven festoons
hanging one below the other denoted one world-period, one occupation of this
planet of ours.
178.
Underneath the
chain-work a beautifully executed system of fine network will be seen, and this
was employed by the priests of old to elucidate yet another side of the
marvellous mystery of evolution. When the Holy Spirit has brooded over the face
of the waters of space, and has impregnated and vivified primordial matter, the
activity of the Second Aspect of the Logos begins, and innumerable streams of
His divine life pour down into the field prepared for them. In a thousand ways
they interlace and combine, and so produce the bewildering multiplicity of the
life which we see around us. From their interaction result the manifold fruits
of evolution which we see exemplified in our pillars by the rows of
pomegranates which depend from the fringe of the network, the pomegranates
being chosen for this symbolism because each fruit contains a prodigious number
of separate seeds, thus illustrating the amazing fecundity of nature and the vast
variety of her types.
179.
In Tat the lilies
represented always the flower of humanity. Arranged in line round the edge of
the disc they indicated the Great White Brotherhood the jewels in the crown of
mankind, hovering above the human race and directing its evolution. The four
pendant flower-chains symbolized the Holy Four who reside at Shamballa - the
Spiritual King and His three pupil-assistants, the sole representatives on
earth of the Lords of the Flame who came down long ago from Venus to hasten the
evolution of mankind. The crossed palm-leaves between them typified the four
Devarajas, the principal agents through whom the decrees of the Sons of the
Fire-Mist are carried out.
180.
The three bands of
lilies which are arranged to hide the junction of the chapiter with the pillar
were taken to represent the initiates of the three stages of the Egyptian
Mysteries. The buds of the upper row, pointing upwards, typified the initiates
of the Mysteries of Isis, who were full of aspiration, reaching upwards and in
that way raising the general average of human thought. The flowers of the
middle row, opened and facing outwards, were the initiates of Serapis, showing
forth by their lives the glory, dignity and power of humanity as it should be.
The third row of drooping lilies represented the initiates of the Mysteries of
Osiris, reaching down into the world in order to devote themselves to the
helping and enlightenment of humanity.
181.
These three grads of initiates
seem to correspond in a general way to three other divisions or grades of the
occult life which I have described at length in The Masters and the Path.
There are first those on the probationary path, who are aspiring to enter the
Path proper, and are doing everything in their power to purify themselves, to
develop their character, and to serve humanity with unselfish love under the
guidance of the Masters. Then come those who have been initiated into the Great
White Brotherhood, and have thus entered on the Path proper; their lives are
dedicated entirely to the service of humanity; in them the bud of human life
has opened into flower, and their consciousness has risen into the buddhic
principle, which has been described as the truly human expression of man.
Thirdly come the Arhats, those who have taken the fourth great Initiation; they
are not compelled to reincarnate; if they do so it is quite voluntary; they dip
down into human life on this plane simply in order to help.
182.
On Tattu, the right-hand
pillar, we take up the tale of evolution where we left it on the other. A
single link here betokens one world-period, and therefore includes the whole
set of seven festoons on Tat. To use once more the technical terms of
Theosophical teaching, the loop of seven links on Tattu stands for what we call
a Round, the completed festoon of seven loops is meant to suggest one
Chain-period, and the full group of seven festoons equals one Planetary Scheme.
The two pillars taken together correspond exactly to the table of evolution and
the diagram which I give in the sixth section of The Inner Life, and
almost the whole of the information contained in that section was taught by the
Egyptian priests to their neophytes, and illustrated by means of this elaborate
system of chapiter decoration. It would be out of place to repeat here the
whole of the explanation included in that book, but I would refer to it those
students who wish to pursue further this most interesting subject. As there are
several editions of the book I am unfortunately unable to give an exact page
reference, but the diagram will easily be found.
183.
In Tattu the crown of
flowers round the edge of the disc seems to have been taken to symbolize the
hosts of the Dhyan Chohans, including perhaps the Planetary Logoi. The four
chains of lilies flowing down from that crown bore to the Egyptians a
signification connected with the Tetraktys, or perhaps with a reflection or
expression of that Mystery, while the triple band of lilies round the lower
edge of the chapiter was taken as signifying the action in matter of the three
Aspects of the Logos - the buds denoting the action of the Holy Spirit,
the Arm of the Lord outstretched in activity, and always pushing upward and
onward within the spirit of man, while the middle row was taken as showing the
strength of the Father ever shining forth as the sun in his glory far beyond
the clouds and mists of earth, and the lowest row betokened the action of the
Second Aspect, God the Son, bending down into incarnation and raising humanity
from within.
184.
The crossed palm-leaves
here indicate the Lipika, the Lords of Karma, who work through the four Kings
of the elements symbolized by similar leaves on Tat. They are unconnected with
the rest of the design because they represent forces not confined to our
planetary scheme, or even to our solar system; they administer a Law which
rules the whole universe, which Angels and men alike obey.
185.
The upper segment of the
spheroid, beyond the disc, was left entirely bare of ornament, in order to indicate
that beyond all that could be symbolized there was yet something more, out of
manifestation, and therefore entirely inexpressible.
186.
Another reason for the
placing of these two pillars at the entrance of the temple was that the man who
would enter the higher world of the Lodge from the common world of every-day
life must pass between them; and from this point of view they typified the
overcoming in his own lower nature of the turbulence of the personal emotions
and the Waywardness of the personal mind. First, his strength for fighting the
battle of life came from the emotions, the astral nature; then that pillar of
our personal nature, the pillar of Set, had to be conquered by the power of
the mind, the pillar of Horus, end conjoined with it in order to add to the
strength the stability necessary for going forward to higher things. Only then
is the man established in strength, having the power to execute and the wisdom
to direct.
187.
The pillars also
represent once more the two great laws of progress, karma and dharma, the
former providing the environment or material world, and the latter the
direction of the self within; by the union or harmonious working of these two
laws a man may attain the stability and strength required for the occult path,
and map thus reach the circle within which a M.M. cannot err.
188.
Also the pillars were
used in the teaching of the priests to illustrate the great doctrine of the
pairs of opposites - spirit and matter, good and evil, light and darkness,
pleasure and pain, etc.
189.
It is interesting to
note that Kabbalistic writers understood these pillars somehow to have
represented involution, the descent of the divine Life into lower worlds,
though they may not have been familiar with all the details. A treatise named The
Gates of Light is quoted by Bro. A. E. Waite in this connection as follows:
190.
He who knows the
mysteries of the two Pillars, which are Jachin and Boaz, shall understand after
what manner the Neshamoth, or Minds, descend with the Ruachoth,
or Spirits, and the Nephasoth, or Souls, through El-chai and
Adonai by the influx of the said two Pillars.
191.
And again:
192.
By these two Pillars and
by El-chai (the living God) the Minds and Spirits and Souls descend, as
by their passages or channels.* (*New
Encyclopaedia, II, 280.)
193.
They form also the
portal of the Mysteries by which the souls ascend to their divine Source; and
it is only by passing through them that the sanctuary of man’s true Godhead
may be reached, that divine splendour which when aroused in the depths of the
heart indeed establishes its dwelling-place in strength and stability.
194.
In the French working
two large pillars are placed inside the Lodge on either side of the door, in
the West, and the W.S.W. and W.J.P. sit at triangular tables beside these. This
arrangement is derived from the Chaldaean system.
195.
Several writers have
made persistent attempts to attach a phallic signification to these two
pillars; I can only say that in the course of a prolonged investigation by
means of the inner sight we found no trace of the attribution of any such
meaning.
196.
CHAPTER III
197.
THE FITTINGS OF THE
LODGE
198.
THE ORNAMENTS
199.
“THE interior fittings
of a Freemason’s Lodge”, says the Co-Masonic ritual, “comprise the ornaments,
the furniture and the jewels. The ornaments are the mosaic pavement,
symbolizing spirit and matter; the blazing star, ever reminding us of the
presence of God in His universe, and the indented border, the Guardian Wall.”
200.
THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT
201.
The three ornaments all belong
to the middle of the Lodge. The mosaic pavement is the beautiful floor, which
is composed of squares alternately black and white, and is explained in the
Craft ritual as the diversity of objects which decorate and ornament creation,
the animate as well as the inanimate parts thereof. Its alternate squares,
however, symbolize not only the mingling of living and material things in the
world, but even more the intermingling of spirit and matter, or life and
matter, everywhere. The double triangles interlaced indicate the same great
fact in nature.
202.
Throughout nature there
is no life without matter, and no matter without life. Until recent years many
scientific people thought that the life side of creation extended only as far
down as the vegetable kingdom, but nowadays it is being recognized that it is
not possible to draw a line anywhere and say: “Above this things are living and
conscious in various degrees, but below it there is only dead matter.” The
researches made by Professor Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose of Calcutta (recorded in
his book Response in the Living and Non-Living) which have won him the highest
scientific honours and respect, show that such a line simply does not exist,
but that there is some degree of life in the tiniest grain of sand. Some of his
conclusions have been stated in brief and effective form in Dr. Annie Besant’s
well-known work, A Study in Consciousness, in the following words:
203.
Professor Bose has
definitely proved that so-called “inorganic matter” is responsive to stimulus,
and that the response is identical from metals, vegetables, animals, and - so
far as experiment can be made - man.
204.
He arranged apparatus to
measure the stimulus applied, and to show in curves, traced on a revolving
cylinder, the response from the body receiving the stimulus. He then compared
the curves obtained in tin and in other metals with those obtained from muscle,
and found that the curves from tin were identical with those from muscle, and
that other metals gave curves of like nature but varied in the period of
recovery.
205.
Tetanus, both complete
and incomplete, due to repeated shocks, was caused, and similar results
accrued, in mineral as in muscle.
206.
Fatigue was shown by
metals, least of all by tin. Chemical re-agents, such as drugs, produced on
metals similar results to those known to result with animals - exciting,
depressing, and deadly.
207.
A poison will kill a
metal, inducing a condition of immobility, so that no response is obtainable.
If the poisoned metal be taken in time, an antidote may save its life.
208.
A stimulant will
increase response, and as large and small doses of a drug have been found to
kill and stimulate respectively, so have they been found to act on metals.
209.
“Among such phenomena,”
asks Professor Bose, “how can we draw a line of demarcation and say: ‘Here the
physical process ends, and there the physiological begins’? No such barriers
exist.”
210.
Psychic experience and
trained clairvoyance add their testimony to this conclusion, and affirm that
without a shadow of doubt the same kind of life can be seen pulsating in the
body of a tiger or an oak tree or a fragment of mineral substance. As The
Secret Doctrine expressed it:
211.
With every day, the
identity between the animal and physical man, between the plant and man, and even
between the reptile and its nest, the rock, and man - is more and more clearly
shown. The physical and chemical constituents of all being found to be
identical, Chemical
212.
Science may well say
that there is no difference between the matter which composes the ox, and that
which forms man. But the Occult doctrine is far more explicit. It says: Not
only the chemical compounds are the same, but the same infinitesimal invisible
Lives compose the atoms of the bodies of the mountain and the daisy, of man and
the ant, of the elephant and of the tree which shelters it from the sun. Each
particle-whether you call it organic or inorganic - is a Life.* (*The Secret Doctrine, I, 281.)
213.
In looking, then, at our
chequered pavement, those of us who understand the full significance of it are
constantly reminded of the omnipresence of life.
214.
In ancient Egypt the
sanctity of the mosaic pavement was guarded with the most jealous care, and it
was never invaded except by the candidate and the officers at the proper times,
by the I.P.M. in the pursuance of his duties, the S.D. at the obtaining of
light from the sacred fire, and the Thurifer when he censed the altar.
215.
The exceeding importance
of squaring the Lodge accurately is another aspect of the same idea. The
currents of force are rushing along and across that pavement in lines like the
warp and woof of a piece of cloth, and also round the edges of it, and anyone
who has to cross it, or even come near it, should be careful to move with the
force and not against it. Hence the imperative necessity of always keeping to
one direction. In modern days less care seems to be taken of the mosaic
pavement; I have even seen a case in which the attendance-book, which all have
to sign, was placed on a table in the middle of it. With us in Egypt that
pavement occupied almost the whole of the floor of the Lodge; now it is often
only a small enclosure in the middle of it.
216.
THE INDENTED BORDER
217.
All round the mosaic
pavement runs the tesselated border. In older Masonry it is said that it was made
of threads twining in and out, but now it is a machicolated border, a sort of
dog-tooth arrangement. In the early eighteenth century, we are told, the
symbols of the Order were marked out in chalk upon the floor, and this diagram
was then encircled with a wavy cord, ornamented with tassels, and was therefore
called “the indented tassel”, later corrupted into the “tesselated border”. The
French call it “la houpe dentelée”, and describe it as “a cord forming true
lover’s knots, which surrounds the tracing board”. The tesselated border refers
us, says the masculine ritual, to the beautiful border formed round the sun by
the planets in their various revolutions. The Co-Masonic ritual makes it an
emblem of the Guardian Wall protecting humanity, composed of Adepts or men who
have attained the perfection of human evolution in past centuries and
millennia. They stand around humanity in the spiritual worlds, it is said in a
Buddhist scripture, to save mankind from further and far greater misery and
sorrow.
218.
There is a similar dual
interpretation also for the four tassels which appear in the corners of the
border. In masculine Masonry they are usually considered to mean temperance,
fortitude, prudence and justice; their significance is always interpreted as
ethical. But they stand also for four great orders of devas connected with the
elements earth, water, air and fire, and their great Rulers, the four
Devarajas, agents of the law of karma, which is always balancing and adjusting
the affairs of man, and seeing that there is no injustice between living
creatures in God’s universe, just as there is no maladjustment in the relations
of material substances and bodies. At the initiation of candidates in
Co-Masonic Lodges these four Rulers of the elements are invoked, and the
consequences of that are very real and beneficial, little as many members of
the fraternity may be aware of the fact.
219.
THE BLAZING STAR
220.
The Blazing Star is
properly six-pointed, and is made of glass, set in the middle of the ceiling
and illuminated from inside by artificial light. Below it there should be
another and movable star on the floor. The Blazing Star is the sign of the
Deity, and to make that more evident, in the middle of it is usually inscribed
the letter G, for God. In the old Jewish form of Masonry they had instead of
that letter their sacred word YHVH, standing for Jehovah. In Co-Masonic Lodges
the usual form of this figure is a serpent curled round with its tail in its
mouth, a symbol of eternity. This was the original form, but the head of the
serpent was altered so as to form the letter G. The Sacred Fire below the star
is a reflection of it; in some Lodges, as for example at Adyar, in India, it hangs
just underneath the ceiling on a pulley arrangement, and is lowered that light
may be taken from it and carried to the candles. The Blazing Star also
represents the sun, the dispenser of innumerable blessings to mankind and the
world in general; but as the sun is the symbol of God there is no difference
between these two interpretations. In many Lodges the Blazing Star is made
five-pointed, and it formerly had wavering points or rays; this is usual in the
English and American Obediences.
221.
The spiritual verity
expressed in the Blazing Star and its reflection in the Sacred Fire indicates that
God’s reflection is ever in our midst. The statement that man was made in the
image of God is familiar to all; there is a reflection of God in man more than
a reflection. The image of God in man is an expression or continuation of God
Himself, for God is the light which carries the image, and insomuch as a man
can receive that light in himself and reflect it he is a part of it, one with
the Divine. As Emerson beautifully expressed it in his essay on the Over-Soul:
“There is no bar or wall in the soul where God the cause ceases and man the
effect begins.”
222.
Several different kinds
of stars are to be seen in the Masonic Lodge, and it is well to consider the
special significance of each of them, for there is nothing in the Lodge that is
mere ornament, without meaning - on the contrary, even the simplest thing is
there for a purpose and has great significance. The six-pointed star is, as we
have seen, an emblem of the unity of spirit and matter, of God in manifestation
in His universe. The five-pointed star is placed in the east on the wall over
the head of the R.W.M. and is called the Star in the East, and also the Star of
Initiation. It is the symbol of the perfect man, God manifesting through man,
not through the universe as a whole. Man is a five-fold being - physical,
emotional, mental, intuitional and spiritual; and when all these parts of his
nature are perfectly developed as far as that is possible in a human state of
existence, he becomes the perfect man, the Adept, master of himself and the
five worlds or planes in which he has his being. Such a man has fulfilled the
instruction: “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
223.
On the t … b … there is
the seven-pointed star above the ladder reaching up into the heavens. It is a
symbol of the seven great lines along which all life is moving slowly upwards
to completer union with the divine, of the seven ways in which man may realize
perfection, and the seven rays or emanations of God through which He has filled
the whole universe with the light of His life. This star also typifies the
Christian thought of the seven great Archangels, the Seven Spirits who stand
before the throne of God. It is likewise another symbol for the perfected man
or Adept, because while he is master of the five worlds, he is also the wielder
of seven powers; he has developed his nature to human perfection on all seven
rays, in all seven of the lines of activity of the divine life.
224.
THE FURNITURE
225.
The furniture of the
Lodge is also threefold, and consists of the V. S. L., the square and the compasses.
Without them the Lodge cannot legally be held. The Lodge is described as just,
perfect and regular: it is just because the V. S. L. is open in it; it is
perfect because it contains seven M.M.s or more; it is regular because it holds
a warrant or charter from a Supreme Council, Grand Lodge, or other supreme body
having an unbroken line of Masonic authority. It is to be understood, of
course, that the Volumes of the Sacred Lore are not only the Bible of the
Christians, but the sacred books of other religions as well, for the members of
a Lodge may and often do belong to various religions. In a Lodge meeting
on one occasion in Bombay
there were among the Brn. present Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Parsis, Jews,
Sikhs, Muhammadans, and Jains. It is the custom there to place on the altar the
sacred books of all who are likely to attend that Lodge. The Rev. J. T.
Lawrence, the well-known author of many Masonic handbooks, tells us that he
himself has initiated Jews, Muhammadans, Hindus and Parsis, and at least one
Buddhist. He writes:
226.
According to a
pronouncement of Grand Lodge, the Bible need not be in the Lodge at all. The
Volume of the Sacred Law, we have been told, is that which contains the sacred
law of the individual concerned. That is to say, it may be the (Quran, the
Zendavesta, the Shasters, the Rig-Veda, or any other volume.* (*Sidelights on Freemasonry, p. 47.)
227.
In the Grand Lodge of
all Scottish Freemasonry in India
a (Quran-bearer, a Zendavesta-bearer, and the like, are numbered among the
officers.* (*Sidelights on Freemasonry, p. 50.) Freemasonry has always
been liberal in its views. The Grand Lodge of England has declined to limit or
define the belief in God which is expected from every candidate; in the charge
concerning God and Religion in the Book of Constitutions of 1815 it is said:
“Let a man’s religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded
from the Order, provided he believes in the glorious Architect of heaven and
earth and practise the sacred duties of morality.” It will thus be seen that
the ideals of Masonry are very high, and its views extraordinarily tolerant,
and that its power for good in the world is unquestionably enormous.
228.
In Co-Masonry the term
“lore” is employed as describing all these scriptures, since in the use of them
we are in pursuit of wisdom. The term “law” is used in many other Lodges, but
even then it is explained in the ritual that the object of the Volume of the
Sacred Law is to illumine our minds. So in the three articles of furniture we
have the V.S.L. to enlighten the mind, the square to regulate our actions, and
the compasses to keep us within due bounds in our relations with all, and
especially with our Brn. in Freemasonry. Yet at the same time all these objects
have much larger meanings.
229.
With the Egyptians the
compasses were a triangle and the square was a geometrical square - the
ordinary figure with four equal sides and all its angles right angles. In
modern days we use the tool that a working Mason calls a square, by means of
which he tests the two adjacent sides of any flat stone to find out whether
they are at right angles to each other. In Freemasonry when the candidate is
now asked, “What is a square?” he replies: “It is an angle of ninety degrees or
the fourth part of a circle.” This is obviously not a correct description of a
square, but only of one corner of a square.
230.
The square which lies on
the V.S.L. has quite a different genesis, and a different reason for its
existence, from the implement which is worn by the R.W.M. It was originally a
mathematical square, but it has lost its full shape, and is now represented
only by one corner of the square. It is usually considered identical with the
carpenter’s or mason’s tool of that name, which is worn by the R.W.M. as the
symbol of his office, but the two ideas are in reality quite distinct.
231.
In Egypt the
triangle represented the triad of spiritual will, intuitional love and higher
intelligence in man; while the square typified the lower quaternary, that is,
his body with its visible and etheric divisions, his emotional nature, and his
lower mind. Thus the triangle stool for the individuality or soul, and the
square; fur the personality, the two together constituting septenary man.
232.
The three articles of
furniture were also regarded as intended to help men on their way; the V.S.L.
drew attention to the value of tradition, the triangle spoke of the importance
of inspiration, and the square emphasized the high use of facts, with also in
the background the idea of the value of common sense. The tradition was handed
down by the forefathers, the inspiration came from the higher self, and the
facts were to be studied and used with common sense.
233.
THE MOVABLE JEWELS
234.
The three movable jewels
are the square, the level and the plumb-rule. They are worn, depending from
their collars, by the three principal officers, and are then called their
jewels of office. They are movable because they are transferred by Master and
Wardens to their successors on the day of installation of new officers. The
collar was also worn in ancient Egypt,
but it was much more nearly circular, like a necklace, instead of being pointed
and hanging low on the breast, as it is now worn.
235.
The square is usually considered
to represent morality, the level equality, and the plumb-rule uprightness or
justice. It will be seen that in this case the term “square” is applied
exclusively to the tool, and not to the geometrical figure. In his Masonic
Encyclopaedia, Kenning mentions that the square was often seen in churches
as an emblem of the old operative builders, and that upon an early metal square
found near Limerick, in Ireland,
the following words and the date 1517 are inscribed:
236.
I strive to live with
love and care
237.
Upon the level, by the
square.
238.
This seems to show that
our speculative interpretations were already known at the early date
mentioned.
239.
There is also a
translation from an ancient Persian inscription, which runs:
·
square thyself
for use; a stone that may
240.
Fit in the wall is not
left in the way.
241.
The R. W. M. has as his
jewel the square, which indicates the Third Outpouring of divine force, from
the First Logos, the First Person of the Trinity, and has therefore the same
significance as the gavel, his instrument of government. The symbolism of the
gavel is very profound; to explain it I must draw attention to what is probably
the oldest symbol in the world. (Fig. 8a).
242.
Figure 8.
243.
244.
This long line with two
crossed bars upon it has for uncounted thousands of years been the special sign
of the Supreme Being. The pygmy race is probably the most primitive at present
existing, but even they have that symbol for their chief. Older people will
remember the excitement that was caused when the famous explorer Stanley
journeyed into the centre of Africa to find
Dr. Livingstone, and came back to us with the story of the pygmies living in
the forests there. His new s way a confirmation of that which a French
explorer, Du Chaillu, had brought some quarter of a century before, but it had
not been generally accepted until Stanley’s
evidence arrived.
245.
That pygmy race is a
relic of the old Lemurians, and represents them more purely than any other
people. The Lemurians were at one time a gigantic people, but in process of
dying out they diminished in size. The African bushmen are also remnants of the
same race, but with very mixed blood, and the same thing is true of those who
are usually called the Australian aboriginals, except that in their case there
is a very alight admixture of Aryan blood.
246.
At one time the pygmies
were spread over a great deal more of Africa than at present, and some of them
were the first people to enter Egypt
when the marshes were partially drying up after the great flood that followed
the sinking of the island
of Poseidonis some nine
thousand five hundred years before Christ. They were driven out a little later
by the Nilotic negroes, but that more advanced race was finally dispossessed
(and, I think, to some extent absorbed) by the true Egyptians when they
returned to their country. As I have explained in Chapter I, the wise men of Egypt had foreseen that there would be a great
flood, and the Aryan portion of the Egyptian population had left the country
and gone over to Arabia, where it was
mountainous. When the returned a long time after the flood they found the
Nilotic negroes in possession of their country, and to some slight extent they
blended with them; that is the explanation of the traces of negro blood which
are found in the ancient Egyptians.
247.
These Nilotic negroes
also used the same symbol, but they altered it somewhat; instead of having the
two sticks crossed (Fig. 8 a), they laid them across the vertical rod one above
the other (Fig. 8 b), thereby making the double cross which is still used by
the Greek Church, having come to it via the Coptic Church. But in the meantime
another development of this symbol had taken place. If we draw lines joining
each of the two ends (Fig. 8 c & d), we get the double axe - the
double-headed battle-axe, which appeared when hafting was invented. That was
the sign of the chief or king in many parts of the world. Among the Chaldeans,
for example, it was the token of Ramu, which was their name for the Supreme
God, and one of His titles was the God of the Age. The same symbol was also
found among the Aztecs, which shows their connection with Egypt. They
represented their chieftain by this symbol of the age, which was their sign for
God, because the chief was looked upon as God’s representative. There are still
tribes in Central Africa among which that
double axe has a hut to itself, as a great chief would have.
248.
Quite recently extensive
archaeological researches have been made in the island of Crete, and among
other things discovered there was this symbol of the double axe, which there
also stood for the Deity.* (*Fig. 9 is reproduced (with permission) from an
illustration in The Palace of Minos in Knossos, by Sir Arthur Evans.)
In the outer courts of the temples of the great kingdom of Knossos there
were many statues, but when one penetrated to the Holy of Holies there was no
statue, but the double age was there set up as a symbol of the Supreme, and was
called the Labrys. That is the
249.
Figure 9
250.
251.
origin of the word
labyrinth; for the first labyrinth was constructed in order that this sacred
symbol might be put in the middle of it, and the way to it was confused in
order to symbolize the difficulty of the path which leads to the Highest. The
stories of the Minotaur and Theseus and Ariadne came much later than this.
Until these recent discoveries the Greek word “labyrinth” was marked as a
foreign word of unknown derivation.
252.
The gavel of the Master
of the Lodge has descended from that, and it is held by the Master because in
his humble way, in the symbolism of the Lodge, he is representing the Deity. It
is a sign of government, and is held by him in exactly the same way as it was
long ago by the first of the Pharaohs. It has now become modified in shape, and
often takes the form of the mason’s stone-hammer. The name gavel came from the
word “gable”, so that name belongs to an object of this later shape, rather
than to the old double-axe.
253.
In Egypt the
double axe was also the sign for Aroueris, the first name given to the risen
Horus, and Horus was called the Chief of the Hammer because this sign was
sometimes drawn as a hammer. One of the old Egyptian gavels is still in
existence, and there may be others also which have not been identified for what
they are. That one is in the possession of the H.O.A.T.F., who uses it today in
His own Lodge. It is the gavel which was used by Rameses the Great in Egypt - a most
lovely implement of green jade inlaid with gold. With it the H.O.A.T.F. also
has a cloak which was used by Rameses when acting as Master of his Lodge; I do
254.
Plate VIII
255.
256.
not know its material,
but it somewhat resembles the feathered cloaks which used to be worn in Hawaii.
257.
The square of the I.M.
is equally an instrument of government, as is indicated in its use as the seat
of Osiris in the Judgment Hall, mentioned in Chapter I.* (*Plate II (b)) From
it Osiris governs or judges the souls of men who are brought before him, and
decides as to whether they are sufficiently perfect to pass onward. From this
we have our modern idea of acting on the square; that is to say, with perfect
justice to our neighbour.
258.
The figure is in this
case the working mason’s square, an angle of ninety degrees, used for testing
the sides of a stone to see that they are at right angles to each other, and
that therefore the wall built of them will stand perpendicular, safe and
strong. The difference between the two kinds of squares will now be clearly
seen. The quadrilateral is intended when we speak of the compasses as
dominating the square, but this right angle is signified when we refer to the
tool wherewith the Master measures and decides. Although the R.W.M. has this
symbol of the square, he is in fact the Son governing and judging on behalf of
the Father, who remains in the background, since our Lodges are of the Christ
or Sun-God type.
259.
In Egypt they had
a symbol of very great significance, called the Arrow of Ra, which includes
both the square of the R.W.M. and his gavel of office. (Plate VIII)
260.
In our plate the
different parts are separate, but sometimes they are joined together, and
then one gets the effect of an arrow, whence it is named the Arrow of Ra,
the Sun-God, who was also called Horus of the Double Horizon, the Son of Osiris
and Isis, and yet a reincarnation of Osiris, God in evolution. The lower
portion of the drawing refers to His descent into matter, the inverted square
signifying descent, and the angle beneath symbolizing the cavern of matter
into which He went down. The upper square then indicates that He ascended or
rose again. The symbol in the centre - that of the double axe - is that of the
Most High God; so the complete glyph is thus a kind of symbolic creed,
which for those who drew it affirmed their faith in the descent of the Deity
into matter and His final triumphant ascension from it: “descended He; ascended
He”. If we were to interpret it along lines of Christian symbology we might
call it the emblem of the crucified and triumphant Christ; but it is also a
token of the whole method of evolution.
261.
This device appears in
many places. It is to be seen in the museum of the Louvre in Paris, engraved upon a Chaldaean intaglio
made of green jasper. It is also to be found on the walls of some very old
churches in Devonshire and Cornwall in England, where
it must have been engraved by the wandering Freemasons who built those
churches, for the orthodox Christians could have known nothing of it.
262.
While we are considering
the symbols of the R.W.M. we may note also the three levels which appear upon
his apron in place of the three rosettes. These are not true levels, but
figures formed of a perpendicular line standing upon a horizontal - an inverted
T, thus ┴. This has the same significance as the W.S.W.’s column standing
erect while the W.J.W.’s is recumbent in the open Lodge; it indicates that the
life of the Second Logos, the Christ, is flowing. It is not that the life of
the Third Logos, which is represented by the horizontal line, or by the
W.J.W.’s column, has ceased to flow (it is flowing always while an external
world exists) but that the Second Aspect of the Divine is also outpouring
His life, and causing the evolution of living forms. Thus this emblem refers to
the two outpourings, and shows that the Master presides over all three
representations.
263.
This figure, called the
Tau, has another very important meaning, for the upright line signifies the
masculine element, and the horizontal line the feminine, in the Deity - thus
slowing that God manifests as Mother as well as Father, as we are told in The
Stanzas of Dzyan.* (*The Secret Doctrine, vol. I, p. 59 et passim.)
I shall refer to this again later when writing of the H.R.A. In ancient Egypt it took
to a large extent the place of the cross and, conjoined with the circle or
oval, it became the ankh, the symbol of everlasting life.
264.
The jewel of the I. P.
M. resembles that of the Master in that it contains the square, but it has
certain important additions. The jewel of the I.P.M. in England was formerly a square on a quadrant, but
it is now the forty-seventh proposition of Euclid’s Book I, engraved on a silver plate
suspended within a square. In the United States it is a pair of
compasses extended to sixty degrees on the fourth part of a circle, with a sun
in the centre. The proposition is of course well known, and a practical
application of it is widely used by builders, in laying out walls at right
angles to each other and in other work, in the form of a triangle having its
sides in the ratio 3 : 4 : 5, the first two sides of which are invariably at
right angles. Plutarch says that a triangle of this kind was frequently
employed by the Egyptian priests, who regarded it as a symbol of the universal
Trinity, Osiris and Isis being the two sides at right angles to each other, and
Horus their product, the hypotenuse. The extent to which this measure was used
by the Egyptians can be judged from the following extracts from the Exposition
du Systeme Metrique des Anciens Egyptiens of M. Jomard, as given in Dr.
Mackey’s Lexicon:
265.
If we inscribe within a
circle a triangle, whose perpendicular shall be 300 parts, whose base shall be
400 parts, and whose hypotenuse shall be 500 parts, which, of course, bear the
same proportion to each other as 3, 4, and 5; then if we let a perpendicular
fall from the angle of the perpendicular and base to the hypotenuse, and
extend it through the hypotenuse to the circumference of the circle, this chord
or line will be equal to 480 parts, and the two segments of the hypotenuse, on
each side of it, will be found equal, respectively, to 180 and 320. From the
point where this chord intersects the hypotenuse, let another line fall
perpendicularly to the shortest side of the triangle, and this line will be
equal to 144 parts, while the shorter segment, formed by its junction with the
perpendicular side of the triangle, will be equal to 108 parts. Hence, we may
derive the following measures from the diagram: 500, 480, 400, 320, 180, 144,
and 108; and all these without the slightest fraction. Supposing, then, the 500
to be cubits, we have the measure of the base of the great pyramid of Memphis. In the 400
cubits of the base of the triangle we have the exact length of the Egyptian
stadium. The 320 gives us the exact number of Egyptian cubits contained in the
Hebrew and Babylonian stadium. The stadium of Ptolemy is represented by the 480
cubits, or length of the line falling from the right angle to the circumference
of the circle, through the hypotenuse. The number 180, which expresses the
smaller segment of the hypotenuse, being doubled, will give 360 cubits, which
will be the stadium of Cleomedes. By doubling the 144, the result will be 288
cubits, or the length of the stadium of Archimedes; and by doubling the 108, we
produce 216 cubits, or the precise value of the lesser Egyptian stadium. In
this manner, we obtain from this triangle all the measures of length that were
in use among the Egyptians.
266.
Figure 10
267.
268.
For the demonstration of
the proposition in general, that in a right-angled triangle the sum of the
squares on the two shorter sides is equal to the square on the hypotenuse, the
modern world is indebted to Pythagoras. It is interesting that as the I. P. M.
stands in the Lodge as a watcher to see that all is in order, and test
everything by his judgment, so does an architect test the rectangularity of a
structure by the triangle of ratio 3 : 4 : 5. It is he who also declares that
“His light is ever in our midst”, pronouncing his final authority upon the
presence of the Divine, and opening the V.S.L.
269.
The W.S.W.’s jewel is
the level, an emblem of the equality and harmony which he must endeavour to
preserve among the Brn. in the Lodge; but, as we have seen, this is also a
symbol of the second member of the Trinity, the universal Christ-principle,
the life-force in evolution. The two ideas, are not, however, inconsistent, for
in Christ all men are brothers, since all lives are part of the one great Life
in which we have our being. The most perfect equality should exist in the
Lodge, just as in the sight of God, who treats all equally, with the same
judgment and according to the same laws. An additional interpretation of this
symbol is that it indicates that only those buildings which are erected on a
good level can stand firm and strong.
270.
The W.J.W. has the
plumb-rule as his jewel. It is taken as an emblem of the rectitude which should
mark the conduct of the Brn. during the time of refreshment, when they are
outside the Lodge. Such conduct at all times leads to a life that is full of
grace and beauty.
271.
The remaining officers
also wear jewels of office. Those of the Orator, Secretary, Treasurer and D.C.
are respectively a book, crossed pens, crossed keys and crossed wands, of which
the meaning is obvious. In Co-Masonry, the S.D. and J.D. have each a dove as
their jewel, signifying their quality as messengers; but in some other Lodges
they have a square and compasses, with a sun in the centre for the S.D. and a
moon for the J.D. The square and compasses are intended to indicate their
qualities of circumspection and justice, for theirs are the duties of seeing to
the security of the Lodge and the introduction of visitors. A lyre, a purse,
crossed swords, and a single sword, are once more obvious as the jewels of the
Organist, the Almoner, the I.G., and the T. respectively. The jewel of the
Stewards is the cornucopia. They take their appointment from the W.J.W.,
provide the necessary refreshments, collect dues and subscriptions, and make
themselves generally useful. It is said that the horn of plenty should remind
them that it is their duty to see that the tables are properly furnished, and
that every Bro. is suitably provided for.
272.
THE IMMOVABLE JEWELS
273.
The t … b … and the
rough and perfect ashlars are called the immovable jewels, because they lie
open and ever present in the Lodge, so that they may reflect the divine nature,
and serve at all times for the Masons to moralize upon. In some Masonic books,
however, especially those published in America, the square, the level and the
plumb-rule are called the immovable jewels, because they are always in the same
place in the Lodge, and the t … b … and the rough and smooth ashlars are spoken
of as the movable jewels, because they can be moved about.
274.
In the description of
the t … b … which is given in some rituals we are told that it is for the
Master to lay his plans upon. It is, however, obvious that it is not precisely
suitable for that purpose, because it is already very fully occupied with the plan
or drawing of an ideal Lodge. What is intended is simply that the R.W.M., with
the assistance of the other Brn. assembled, should bring the Lodge down here as
closely as possible into harmony and accurate relation with the ideal Lodge. It
means that as T.G.A.O.T.U. has laid His plans up above, so should we down
here make ours as nearly as may be in harmony with His and in imitation of
them. To put it in other terms, the t … b … was intended to mean the plan in
the thought of the Logos, which the Greeks called the “Intelligible World”.
They said that all things came down out of that into the world which we know,
that everything is planned out beforehand, and that the world existed in the
divine thought before it materialized. In the Lodges of two centuries ago, the
t … b … was drawn afresh on the floor with chalk for each meeting, instead of
being printed; and it was considered part of a good R.W.M.’s knowledge that he
should be able to draw it quickly and quite perfectly without having to look at
a copy.
275.
In the diagram of the t
… b … we see the altar, and on it the V.S.L. From that a ladder goes up to the
seven-pointed star, which represents the Monad in man, in whom the seven types
of life or consciousness are all to be perfect to the limits of human possibility.
That star represents also the Logos, the supreme consciousness of our solar
system, God’s consciousness, which is already perfected in a degree altogether
beyond human comprehension.
276.
The ladder has many
steps, which indicate the virtues by means of which we may ascend to the perfection
symbolized by the star. In Egypt
those steps were taken to express the initiations leading upwards; but of
course these are only two interchangeable methods of expressing the same thing.
If we take them to mean initiations, they represent definite steps taken, but
if we regard them as indicating the virtues, they are the qualifications for
initiation. In all cases the idea of degrees leading up to a condition of
perfection is quite definitely recognized. Or it may be considered in another
way, as Bro. Wilmshurst takes it in his wonderful book Masonic Initiation,
in which he writes:
277.
It is a symbol of the
Universe, and of its succession of step-like planes reaching from the heights
to the depths. It is written elsewhere that the Father’s house has many
mansions; many levels and resting-places for His creatures in their different
conditions and degrees of progress. It is these levels, these planes and
sub-planes, that are denoted by the rungs and staves of the ladder. And of
these there are, for us in our present state of evolutionary unfoldment, three
principal ones; the physical plane, the plane of desire and emotion, and the
mental plane, or that of the abstract intelligence which links up to the still
higher planes of the spirit. These three levels of the world are reproduced in
man. The first corresponds with his material physique, his sense-body; the
second with his desire and emotional nature, which is a mixed element resulting
from the interaction of his physical senses and his ultra-physical mind; the
third with his mentality, which is still further removed from his physical
nature, and forms the link between the latter and his spiritual being. …
278.
Thus the Universe and
man himself are constructed ladder-wise, in an orderly organized sequence of
steps; the one universal substance composing the differentiated parts of the
Universe “descends” from a state of the utmost ethereality by successive steps
of increasing densification, until gross materialization is reached; and thence
“ascends” through a similarly ordered gradation of planes to its original
place, but enriched by the experience gained by its activities during the
process.
279.
It was this cosmic
process which was the subject of the dream or vision of Jacob. … What was
“dreamed” or beheld by him with supersensual vision is equally perceptible
today by any one whose inner eyes have been opened. Every real Initiate is one
who has attained an expansion of consciousness and faculty enabling him to
behold the ethereal worlds revealed to the Hebrew Patriarch as easily as the
uninitiated man beholds the phenomenal world with its outer eyes. The Initiate
is able to see the angels of God ascending and descending; that is, he can
directly behold the great stairway of the Universe, and watch the intricate
but orderly mechanism of involution, differentiation, evolution and
resynthesis constituting the Life-process. He can witness the descent of human
essences or souls through planes of increasing density and decreasing vibratory
rate, gathering round them as they come veils of matter from each, until
finally this lowest level of complete materialization is reached, where the
great struggle for supremacy between the inner and the outer man, between the
spirit and the flesh, between the real self and the unreal selves in veils
built round it, has to be fought out on the chequer-work floor of our present
existence among the black and white opposites of good and evil, light and darkness,
prosperity and adversity; and he can watch the upward return of those who
conquer in the strife and, attaining their regeneration and casting off or
transmuting the “worldly possessions” acquired during their descent, ascend to
their Source, pure and unpolluted from the stains of this imperfect world.* (*Op. cit. pp. 64-66.)
280.
On the ladder appear
three emblems, a cross, an anchor, and a cup with a hand stretched out to reach
it. The explanation of the t … b … in the ritual speaks of these as the three
principal virtues, faith, hope and charity. Strictly speaking, the standard
symbol for charity is a heart, and this does actually appear on some t … b … s
instead of the cup; but the cup is the more ancient symbol, and really means
much more to us.
281.
Another and a very
beautiful interpretation of the cross upon the ladder is given to us by
Bro. Wilmshurst, who takes it to represent all the aspirants who are
engaged in mounting that ladder. He says:
282.
Each carries his cross,
his own cruciform body, as he ascends; the material vesture whose tendencies
are ever at cross purposes with the desire of the spirit, and militate against
the ascent. Thus weighted, each must climb, and climb alone; yet reaching out -
as the secret tradition teaches, and the arms of the tilted cross signify - one
hand to invisible helpers above, and the other to assist the ascent of feebler
brethren below. For, as the sides and separate rungs of the ladder constitute a
unity, so all life and all lives are fundamentally one, and none lives to
himself alone.* (*Op. cit. p. 69.)
283.
These three symbols also
refer once more to the three outpourings of the divine life, which have their
correspondence in the development of the self in man. First he has to realize
the world of material things, then that of consciousness or life, and finally
he must rise to the real self. Since Egyptian times both the cross and the
anchor have been modified, but the cup has not. The cross was originally what
is now called the Greek cross, with equal arms. That has always been the token
of the first outpouring of divine life through the Third Aspect of God, or the
third member of the Trinity, called among the Christians God the Holy Ghost,
and sometimes the Life-Giver, who brooded over the waters of space.
284.
A further point in the
symbology is that the cross contains within itself the square, the level and
the plumb-line combined; and we find in the Epistle to the Ephesians
written by St Ignatius (who according to tradition was the little child whom
Christ once took and set in the midst of His disciples as a type of those who
should inherit the kingdom of heaven), this remarkable Masonic passage:
285.
Ye are stones of a
Temple, which were prepared beforehand for a building of God the Father, being
raised to the heights by the working-tool of Jesus Christ, which is the cross,
and using for a rope the Holy Spirit, your faith being a windlass, and
love the way leading up to God.
286.
Sometimes the rose is
impressed upon that equal-armed cross, and then we have the Rose Croix, the
great emblem of the Rosicrucians, which figures largely in the Eighteenth
Degree. The Maltese cross is another form of it, with the arms widening or
spreading out, conveying the idea that the force that is pouring out is
constantly increasing. Again, we find it with flames shooting out from the ends
of the cross; and when it is in active revolution, with the flames trailing at
right angles to the arms of the cross, we have the well-known form called the
swastika.
287.
In these days the cross
on the ladder is usually drawn in the Latin form, which makes it a sign of the
Second Outpouring, from the Second Person of the Trinity, and it is usually
considered as the cross of Christ, though crosses of many forms were used as
symbols thousands of years before Christ incarnated in Palestine. The First Outpouring, typified by
the Greek cross, prepares the world for the reception of life; it brings into
being the material elements, but not bodies formed by their combination. We
might have oxygen and hydrogen produced by this outpouring, but not their combination,
water; for combination of the elements into bodies of ever-increasing
complexity of organized structure and function is the work of the Second
Outpouring of the divine life or power.
288.
The Second Outpouring is
indicated by the anchor, for that was originally in Egypt a little pendulum swinging
over a scale, curved to coincide with the arc of its motion. It is not
difficult to see how that might be changed into an anchor, especially among
people who were thinking of the cross and anchor as representing faith and
hope. Such a modification may easily have come about without deliberate
intention; and when it had been determined that the third virtue should be
charity, we can understand why the cup was sometimes changed into a heart. The
cup may stand also as suggesting charity, as being the cup of life from which
the overflow is charity; but many people would feel the heart to be an easier
symbol for that virtue.
289.
Those who have read
Greek philosophy or the Gnostic systems will remember that the krater or
cup plays a prominent part in them. It was the vessel into which the wine of
the divine life was poured. In Christian thought it is the Holy Grail filled
with the precious blood of Christ; the chalice used at the institution of the
Holy Eucharist, the cup which Joseph of Arimathea is supposed to have held to
catch the sacred blood of Jesus as He hung upon the cross. All these things
are, however, an allegory. The real meaning of the symbol is that the cup is
the causal body of man, and the wine is the life from God that flashes into it
in the Third Outpouring from the First Logos, at the moment of
individualization, which makes the animal into a human being, not
perfected yet, of course, but capable of perfection.
290.
So the three symbols
represent the respective gifts of the divine life, or three great emanations of
the Logos. In Egyptian times the Greek term Logos did not yet exist, and they
spoke of Osiris and Horus, but the teaching was the same, for there is only one
fundamental truth about these things. The t … b … thus shows that the man who
intelligently comprehends the scheme of the evolution of life in the world can
deliberately co-operate with the divine plan, until he becomes perfectly
evolved as man and reaches the seven-pointed star; and that then he is ready to
pass on into still higher conditions, which are indicated on the t … b … by the
clouds, the sun, the moon and the stars above. In fact, true philosophy
discerns the plan drawn by T.G.A. on the Tracing Board of Time for the building
of the Universe.
291.
The remaining jewels,
the rough and smooth ashlars, are seen in the t … b … near the pillars which
represent the columns of the W.J.W. and W.S.W. respectively. The smooth ashlar
is generally suspended from a pulley, and held by the lewis,* (*See fig. 11.) an
implement
292.
Figure 11
293.
294.
consisting of
wedge-shaped pieces of steel which are fitted into a dovetailed mortise in the
stone to be hoisted. This instrument was so named, by the architect who
invented it, in honour of the French King Louis XIV. One who is the son or
daughter of a Mason is called a lewis (because he is supposed to support his
parents in their old age), and it is generally held that he may be initiated
into Masonry when only eighteen years old. Though some assert that this can be
done only by special dispensation, the custom is to regard it as a right.
295.
The rough ashlar
indicates the untrained mind of the candidate. He is supposed to be in a state
of darkness and ignorance, but gradually through Masonic work and knowledge his
mind will be polished, and it may then be tested by the square, the plumb-rule
and the level, and will be found accurate. The smooth ashlar represents the condition
which should be attained by the F.C. In the light of evolution and
reincarnation we may regard the rough ashlar as the symbol of the young soul.
Through much experience and effort life after life he must polish his nature
and develop his powers. The three degrees in Masonry represent three stages in
that process. The business of the E.A. is to take himself in hand morally and
conquer the physical body, so that its impulses will not stand in the way of
his rapid progress or evolution. The E.A. of Egypt used to remain seven years in
the First Degree, because he had to fit himself thoroughly for the illumination
which could come only to one who had his emotions under control and
sufficiently purified to reflect and serve the higher self. That being done,
the smooth ashlar was to be perfected until it was ready to be used as a living
stone in the temple of T.G.A.O.T.U., fit to form part of the heavenly Man of
the future.
296.
CHAPTER IV
297.
PRELIMINARY CEREMONIES
298.
THE CO-MASONIC RITUAL
299.
IN commenting upon the
ceremonies of Freemasonry I shall take those of Co-Masonry as the basis of my
disquisition, because they have been arranged largely with a view to their
effect on planes other than the physical. The workings there described were
prepared with the aid of several of the best existing rituals and in
consultation with experienced Brn. They will be found to embody some of the
best points of these rituals, in addition to many valuable features peculiar to
our own workings. It has been found eminently desirable to give to the Brn. in
the columns a larger share in the working of the Lodge, so certain verses of
the V. S. L. and some well-known Masonic hymns have been inserted for their
use.
300.
The Supreme Council of
Universal Co-Masonry has with the utmost liberality and the widest tolerance
allowed those who owe their allegiance to it to choose between several variants
of the Ritual. Some Lodges prefer the simplest form, which is practically
identical with that used by the masculine Craft; others find a slightly more
elaborate working more inspiring and helpful, because it expresses somewhat
more fully the work upon inner planes which is to them the main object of the
ceremony. It is this latter working which I am about to try to expound; but I
wish to make it perfectly clear that the interpretation which I place upon it
is my own private opinion only, and that the Supreme Council under which I have
the honour to serve must not in any way be considered as endorsing that opinion
because it permits the use of the Ritual.
301.
It must not be supposed
that the shorter Masonic ritual of the masculine Craft is ineffective; all that
we claim is that the objects of the various ceremonies are more fully and more
expeditiously achieved when their real intention and signification are
thoroughly understood.
302.
THE PROCESSION
303.
Everywhere on the
surface of the earth there are great magnetic currents passing both ways
between the poles of the earth and the equator, and others coming at right
angles to them round the earth. The Co-Masonic procession of entry into the
Lodge makes use of these currents, forming of the space which we circumambulate
a distinct eddy or specially magnetized portion of space.
304.
As the Brn. march round
the floor, singing, they should be thinking of the words of the introcessional
hymn and canticle, and taking care that the procession is well done and in good
order; but in addition they should be deliberately directing their thoughts to
the magnetization of the mosaic pavement and the space above it. In ancient Egypt it was
considered to be the duty of the R.W.M. to direct the currents and form the
eddy in them, so as to magnetize very strongly the floor round which he passed.
It is for this purpose that the officers and distinguished visitors pass clear
round the Lodge, and even go over some of the ground twice; for they do not go
straight to their places on first approaching them as do the E.A.s, the F.C.s
and the M.M.s, but continue so as to complete the circumambulation, as
described in The Ritual of Universal Co-Masonry (5th
Edition).
305.
With us also it is the
Master of the Lodge who is responsible for the magnetization of the double
square, but the Brn. ought all to help in that work. The object is to charge
that space heavily with the highest possible influence, and to erect a wall
round it in order that the influence may be kept in place. The part played by
the thought-form is much like that of a condenser. It matters not how much
steam may be generated, it is useless for work unless it is enclosed and kept under
pressure. In this scheme we accumulate and use the force which otherwise would
scatter itself freely over the surrounding neighbourhood.
306.
As has been explained in
Chapter III, when the floor has thus been set apart and prepared, no one passes
across it except the candidates who are taken there for the purpose of
initiation and are intentionally submitted to the influence of its magnetism,
the Thurifer when he is censing the altar, and the I.P.M. when he goes down
from the dais to perform the duty of opening the V.S.L. or of altering the
position of the s … and c … as we change from one degree to another. One other
exception is made when the S.D. during the ceremony of lighting the candles
comes to the altar to receive the sacred fire from the I.P.M. The I.P.M. lights
a taper at the sacred fire, and with it kindles the small candle standing in an
ornamental brass vessel, which the S.D., as Lucifer, carries to the R.W.M. and
the W.W.s.
307.
The floor has now
rushing across it magnetic currents or lines of force like the warp and woof of
a piece of cloth, and this forms the foundation upon which we build the great
thought-form which is one of the objects of our Masonic meeting. In view of the
enormous value of the thought-form made on the floor of the Lodge, we can see
how important it is that none should disturb or confuse the currents by walking
in the wrong direction, or by bringing into the Lodge thoughts of
ordinary business-the cares and worries and conflicts of the world of daily
life. We go to the Lodge to do a definite piece of work for humanity, and we
must devote our entire attention to it during the whole time of the meeting.
308.
The singing of the
introcessional canticles is intended to help us to harmonize our minds.
The words of the canticles tell us of the basis upon which all edifices
are built, T.G.A.O.T.U., who is Himself the foundation and structure of all
things, because there is nothing that is not part of Him. Every member, as he
goes round in the procession, should be dedicating himself and all his thought
and strength to the great work about to be undertaken. These words that we sing
have a strong Masonic association, for this metrical version of the hundredth
psalm has been used at the opening of Lodge Canongate Kilwinning ever since its
foundation in 1723. There is one word in that version to which I want to make
special reference in passing. In the first verse, where we sing “Him serve with
mirth”, some uncomprehending hymnologist has changed the word “mirth” to
“fear”, which is entirely inaccurate and utterly indefensible. In the Bible we
are asked to praise the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with a
song, and we must be careful to preserve the correct spirit and
rendering. The other canticle: “I was glad when they said unto me: we
will go into the house of the Lord”, consists of texts taken from the V.S.L.,
put together so as to form a beautiful and appropriate invocation.
309.
All this dedicated
thought forms the basis of the splendid edifice which the Lodge is about to
build, the true temple of which the earthly one is an outer symbol, a temple of
finer matter through which perfectly real work can be done and enormous volumes
of spiritual influence can be distributed. This temple is also an image of the
vortex which T.G.A.O.T.U. made when He was about to form His solar system. He
began by limiting Himself, by marking out the limitations of His system, within
which He set up a vast etheric vortex, the remains of which we find today in
the system of revolving planets condensed from the original nebula, as it
cooled and descended into denser physical matter.
310.
In Co-Masonic Lodges the
procession has at its head a Thurifer swinging a censer, giving off the smoke
from aromatic gums specially compounded with other substances for the purpose.
After him comes the T. with his sword, and behind him the D.C. That little
group is especially entrusted with the business of purifying the Lodge. The
D.C. is supposed to be the directing brain in this work, and the T. with his
sword is the hand used to drive out of the mental and emotional atmosphere all
thought that is not wanted there.
311.
Behind this purifying
wedge come all the ordinary members, arranged in reversed order of precedence.
At the end of the procession come the officers and those of higher degree, and
eventually the R.W.M., who has to complete the work of all those who have gone
before him, using the devotion which the other people have supplied, and
building the walls of the cella as far as possible with the material
available. The form that we are building is that of the old Greek temple with
the columns outside it, and inside the inner shrine called the cella,
which was enclosed and dark, the only opening being its entrance. In the Lodge
the members stand outside around that, like the columns of an old temple, such
as that shown in our illustration (Plate V).
312.
THE APRON
313.
Every Mason at a Lodge
meeting must wear the distinctive badge which is called an apron, and it is
only when doing so that he is, in Masonic parlance, “properly clothed”. He may
wear additional decorations, such as collars or jewels, indicating the special
office which he holds, or the degree which he has taken, but unless he wears at
least the apron he cannot be admitted to the Lodge - the only exception being
in the case of a candidate for initiation, who, not being yet a Bro., has no
right to wear that distinguishing badge. There are certain higher degrees in
which the apron is not worn, but its place is taken by other insignia. That is
only because the need for it is past. There are some Lodges in which people put
on and take off their aprons in the temple, but that should never be
countenanced.
314.
The necessity that
Masons should be properly clothed brings with it an interesting suggestion of
the ancient Mysteries, and also explains why the essential part of the Masonic
clothing, to be worn by all with the exceptions above mentioned, is the apron.
Our modern apron has departed somewhat from the form used in ancient Egypt; no doubt
it was modified at the time when it was found necessary to merge the
speculative and operative Freemasons, in the days of persecution by the Church.
The ancient Egyptian apron* (*See Plate I, and Fig. 12.) was triangular, with
the apex upward, and its ornamentation differed in several respects from that
used at the present time. But the most important change is in the thought that
now prevails, that the apron itself is everything,
315.
Figure 12
316.
317.
and that the band which
passes round the body exists merely to secure it and retain it in place. In old
days the belt of the apron was the most important practical feature, and it was
far more than a mere symbol. This belt was a highly magnetized circle, intended
to enclose within itself a disc of etheric matter, separating the upper part of
the body from the lower, so that the tremendous forces which it was the object
of the Masonic ceremonial to set in motion might be entirely shut off from the
lower part of the man’s body.
318.
In The Meaning of
Masonry Bro. Wilmshurst writes:
319.
Masonry is a sacramental
system, possessing, like all sacraments, au outward and visible side consisting
of its ceremonial, its doctrine and its symbols which we can see and hear, and
an inward, intellectual and spiritual side, which is concealed behind: the
ceremonial, the doctrine and the symbols, and which is available only to the
Mason who has learned to use his spiritual imagination and who can appreciate
the reality that lies behind the veil of outward symbol.* (*The Meaning of Masonry, p. 21.)
320.
He reminds us how, in
the case of the E.A., the point of the apron is turned up, making it therefore
a five-pointed figure, symbolical of the fivefold man. The triangle made by the
uplifted flap, he explains, is then above the square, and it symbolizes the
fact that the soul is hovering over the lower body at that stage, but yet can
hardly be said to be working through it. Later on that flap is turned
down, showing that the soul is within the body and acting through it. He tells
us also how the lambskin is first of all a symbol of purity, but also typifies
the blankness of the undeveloped soul, or of what in Theosophy is called the
causal body. In that, as some of us know, in the course of development a great
quantity of glorious colour shows as new vibrations are awakened in it. Some
account of that will be found, illustrated with coloured plates, in Man,
Visible and Invisible.
321.
Bro. Wilmshurst further
explains that the pale sky-blue colour of the rosettes on the F.C. apron and
the blue lining and edging and silver tassels of the M.M.’s apron indicate that
at that stage the blue of the sky begins to break through the whiteness that
innocence, however beautiful it may be, is being replaced by knowledge to some
extent, and as the higher degrees are reached more of colour and beauty
appears. He especially mentions that there are two lines of influence, or
spiritual force, which come down from above, each ending in seven silver lines
- a kind of tassel - indicating the seven colours of the spectrum. These are
really symbolical of the seven great divisions or varieties or temperaments of
life. In American Masonry, according to Mackey’s Encyclopaedia* (*Art. Apron.)
the apron is the same in all the three degrees of Blue Masonry, being made of
white lambskin with a narrow edging of blue ribbon. Co-Masonry follows the
usage prevailing in the Grand Lodge of England, save that instead of sky-blue
for the edging and rosettes, an edging of deeper blue with a narrow border of
crimson is prescribed, and the rosettes are made of similar material. The
tassels are gilded instead of silvered, and their seven lines symbolize the
seven rays of life and the seven grades of matter. Our illustrations give an
idea of the M.M. aprons as worn in Egypt and at the present day. (Fig.
12.)
322.
THE CEREMONY OF CENSING
323.
When all have taken
their places the ceremony of censing begins. The Thurifer advances to the
pedestal of the R.W.M., who places upon the charcoal in the censer some incense
which he has previously magnetized, or better still, he magnetizes the incense
as it is melting in the censer, for that is the condition in which it is most
responsive to his power. As the ceremony is not known in some Lodges I reprint
it here from the Co-Masonic ritual:
324.
During the ceremony
appropriate music is played, the Brn. remaining standing. When all are in their
places, the Thurifer advances to the pedestal of the R.W.M., who places upon
the charcoal in the censer some incense which he has previously consecrated. The
Thurifer steps back and bows to the R.W.M., who returns the bow. He then censes
the R.W.M., with three triple swings *** *** *** the chains being held short
and the censer extended at the level of the eyes, but slightly lowered after
the first and second sets of triple swings. The censer is then grasped firmly
by the chains in the right hand, and swung with full chain (if space permits)
in the form of a V, three long dignified strokes to the right of the pedestal,
then three to the left. Then, with the arm extended in front, the censer is
swung in seven graduated circles, each circle above the other, so that by the
time the seventh and smallest circle is made, the arm is raised to its full
height. The Thurifer bows again to the R.W.M., and then passes directly to the
altar, which he encircles, beginning at the E., swinging the censer at short
chain with a circular motion. He then returns to the R.W.M.’s pedestal, bows
and squares the Lodge to the W.J.W.’s pedestal, where the ceremony which took
place at the previous pedestal is repeated, save that the W.J.W. receives five
swings of the censer, one triple and two single *** * *. A pause is observed
between single swings, just as between triple swings. He next passes to the
W.S.W.’s pedestal, censing him in identical fashion, save that he receives
seven swings, two triple and one single *** *** *. The Thurifer now turns to
the J.D., bows to him, and after the bow has been returned, censes him with
three single swings * * *, after which they bow as before, and the Thurifer
squares the Lodge to the S.D., who is censed in a similar manner, but with four
swings, one triple and one single *** *. The Thurifer now censes the
distinguished visitors according to their rank, beginning with those of highest
dignity (nine swings for 33°, seven for 30°, five for 18° and visiting
P.M.s.-the swings to be divided as above), bows as he passes the R.W.M.’s
pedestal and censes the P.M.s (the I.P.M. receives seven swings). He then takes
up his position before the Master’s pedestal, having returned directly thereto;
then, having bowed to him, he turns and faces the Brn., bows to them
collectively, and (himself remaining stationary) censer them successively,
beginning with those on his left hand, and ending with those on his right. This
is accomplished by a number of short swings, aimed down the S., column and up
the N. in rapid succession. The Brn. stand with the hands joined before the
breast and the palms laid together, and bow successively as the gaze of the
Thurifer meets theirs. This ceremonial should be carefully carried out, each
Bro. bowing a moment later than his predecessor. The above-mentioned position
of the hands should be adopted by all officers while they are being censed. The
Thurifer squares the Lodge and passes to the position of the I.G., whom he
censes with two single swings * *; then he hands the censer to him. The I.G.
censes the T. with a single swing *, and then hands the censer to him. The
whole ceremony should be carried out as briskly as is consistent with dignity;
there should be no unnecessary delay. As the Thurifer censes the different
pedestals the Brn. should unite in thought upon the three principles which they
represent R. W.M. - Wisdom; W.S.W. - Strength; W.J.W. - Beauty. This should
also be done while the candles are being lighted at each pedestal. When the
altar is reached the thought should be on the Unity of Brotherhood.
325.
The censing of the
pedestals in this manner produces in front of each of them a highly magnetized
cone, or beehive-shaped form, in which the candidate stands when he comes
before any of the pedestals. It is erected for that purpose, and can be
stretched when several candidates come together, but it becomes a little
tenuous if the number is large. The censing of the officials is intended to
prepare them for the work which they have to do. The varied number of swings is
given not only to honour the person, but to strengthen him for his work, and it
does so by setting up a line of communication with the forces of the inner
planes. The higher the man is in degree, the more does he himself give in
proportion to what is received. The Master gives most of all, but the columns
receive more than they give; yet each one should try as the Thurifer turns to
him to give as much as he possibly can.
326.
This use of incense is
perfectly scientific. All occult students are aware that, as was said in the
last chapter, there is no such thing as really dead matter, but that everything
in nature possesses and radiates out its own vibration or combination of vibrations.
Every chemical element has thus its own set of influences, which are useful in
certain directions and useless or even hostile in others. It is in this way
quite possible, for example, to mingle certain gums which, when burnt as
incense, will strongly stimulate the purer and higher emotions; but one could
just as easily make another mixture whose vibrations would promote the most
undesirable feelings. This is a matter about which some people are sceptical,
because humanity is at present passing through a stage in its evolution during
which its development is almost exclusively that of the lower mind, which is
fiercely intolerant of anything which it has not specially studied. We all
know how difficult it has been until quite lately to gain any recognition for
non-physical phenomena, such as those of telepathy or clairvoyance, or indeed
anything outside the most materialistic science.
327.
Now the time has come
when men are beginning to see that life is full of invisible influences, whose
value can be recognized by sensitive people. The effect of incense is an
instance of this class of phenomena, as is also the result of the use of
talismans and of certain precious stones, each of which vibrates at its own
rate and has its own value. Such things are not usually of importance so great
that we need give much time to their consideration, but they all have their
effects, and are therefore not to be entirely neglected by wise people.
328.
The incense used in the
Lodge tends to purify that part of man’s nature which is sometimes called the
astral body, as it is made of gums which give off an intensely cleansing
vibration. In this respect its effect is analogous to the sprinkling of a
disinfectant, which will spread about in the air and destroy undesirable germs,
though in this case the operation is on higher levels and in finer matter. It
has also the effect of attracting denizens of the inner worlds whose presence
is helpful to our working, and of driving away those which are unsuitable.
329.
Two of the most
important constituents of such incense as is useful for our work are benzoin
and olibanum. The benzoin is a vigorous purifier, and tends to drive away all
coarse or sensuous feelings and thoughts. The olibanum has nothing to do with
that, but it creates a devotional and restful atmosphere, and tends to
stimulate those vibrations in the astral body which make people responsive to
higher things. Attar of roses is also useful, and adds greatly to the effect
produced.
330.
If the incense is
intelligently magnetized its strength is increased enormously; for example, by
putting into olibanum the definite force of the will in the direction of
calmness and devotion, its influence may be increased by perhaps a hundredfold.
That is why the incense in church is always taken up to the celebrant to be
blessed, and why in the Lodge it is brought to the R.W.M. in order that he may
magnetize it with whatever special quality he thinks will be helpful for the
work of the day. The sprinkling of holy water in a church is another way of
producing a similar effect, but incense has the advantage that it rises into
the air, and wherever a single particle goes the purification and blessing is
borne with it.
331.
It is desirable on all
occasions, and especially in Lodge, in the interests of the work, that the Brn.
should have in their minds but a few definite and strong vibrations of emotion
and thought; but instead of that they sometimes have forty or fifty small
vortices of emotional and mental activity all whirling at once, each
representing some small worry or care or desire. It is difficult for a person
to do good work while these are present, and almost impossible for him to make
real progress in the evolution of consciousness. If he is trying to attain a
better emotional and mental condition, the incense will offer him a
strengthening current of vibration which will help very much in combing out the
tangle and producing calm and steadiness.
332.
We sometimes find that
there is much prejudice against the use of incense, because it is supposed to
be connected exclusively with the ceremonies of the Roman Church, for it is
only there and in some of the higher Anglican churches that Western people ever
see it. Those who have travelled in the East, or are interested in the study of
other faiths, know that practically all the religions of the world use incense
in one form or another. It appears in the temples of the Hindus, the
Zoroastrians, the Jains, and in the Shinto of China and Japan. It was
used in Greece, in Rome, in Persia,
and in the ceremonies of Mithra. All these people, including the Roman
Catholics, avail themselves of it because they know it to be a useful thing;
why then should not we?
333.
For a time in England there
was a very strong puritan wave, shortly after the Reformation, which led to the
murder of King Charles, to the Commonwealth and to Cromwell’s rule. True,
there was a reaction at the time of the Restoration, but the puritan feeling
seems to have been of the most intense kind, and traces of it still remain in
England, some of them showing themselves in the most amazing and unreasoning
prejudice.
334.
That feeling has
sometimes entered Masonic circles, and efforts have been made to induce the
Grand Lodge to limit the definition of the Great Architect, so as to exclude
the possible association of Masonry with non-Protestant beliefs. But the Grand
Lodge has liberally refused to create any such limitations. Under the Grand
Lodge of England incense is prescribed for the ceremony of consecrating a
Lodge* (*See The Chaplain’s and Organist’s Work, by the Rev, J. T.
Lawrence.) and the Consecrating Officer and the Wardens are censed, though no
definite number of swings appears to be laid down. Incense is also used in the
Consecration of a Chapter of the Holy Royal Arch, under the Supreme Grand
Chapter of England, and in the ceremonial of many of the higher degrees. Thus
its introduction into Co-Masonic Lodges is in no way an innovation, but is in
full accordance with Masonic usage.
335.
The number of swings
given to each of the non-official Brn. indicates his particular rank in the
Order, for the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite are taken into
account in Co-Masonry. Each thus receives the influence he needs, that he may
be strengthened for the work which his rank qualifies him to do. Each Bro., as
he is censed, bows out of respect, and as a token that he dedicates all the
force that he has to T.G.A.O.T.U.
336.
LIGHTING THE CANDLES
337.
The S.D. is the Lucifer,
who bears the light to his fellow-men. The light having been given to him from
the Sacred Fire by the I.P.M., he carries it to the R.W.M., who by means of a
small taper lights from it the tall candle standing on his right, and then puts
out his taper with an extinguisher. He must not blow it out, because that would
suggest the pollution of the sacred fire by the breath, which is unclean. It is
for the same reason that the Parsis, who are sometimes called fire-worshippers,
because they regard that element as the greatest symbol and expression of the
divine, will on no account pollute it with refuse. The R.W.M. says: “May the
light of wisdom illumine our work” (here he lights his candle); “His wisdom is
infinite.” The S.D. then carries the light to the W.S. and J.W.s, who light
their candles and speak appropriately of the strength and the beauty of
T.G.A.O.T.U.
338.
In this ceremony we are
reminded once more of the three Aspects of T.G.A.O.T.U., and here they
are symbolized as coming forth from the unconditioned into conditioned form in
the order of wisdom, strength and beauty, in preparation for the opening of the
Lodge, the commencement of the work of the building of the temple. When the
work begins, as we shall see in the next chapter, the process is reversed, but
here we have only the preparation, the coming forth of the wisdom to plan, the
strength to execute, and then the beauty to adorn.
339.
The use of fire in
ecclesiastical or Masonic ceremonies is but little understood. The lighting of
a candle with religious intention is analogous to a prayer, and always invokes
a downpouring of force from on high. Thus the three principal officers, in
uttering these phrases as they light their candles, are not only announcing in
symbol that they represent certain Aspects of the divine, but are actually
opening the way to a definite link with those Aspects, which is made in
response to their request. The electric lights which are used instead of
candles in some Lodges do not produce the same effect; they give light, but not
fire, and therefore fail of their full result. Electric light is, however,
permissible for the Blazing Star and the Star of Initiation, where the action
and the symbolism are solely that of the light.
340.
What I have said before
about the assistance that should be given to the officers by the Brn. applies
here most emphatically. When the R.W.M. says: “May His wisdom illumine our
work,” all should join with him in a strong effort to call down the divine
wisdom, so that through him it may pour out upon the Brn. So also when the
W.S.W. says: “May the light of strength sustain our work,” all should think earnestly
of the divine strength, and send up an aspiration that it may flow through him;
and once more a similar effort is to be made when the W.J.W. says: “May the
light of beauty make manifest our work,” and the I.P.M. declares: “His light
dwelleth ever in our midst.”
341.
We must not attach to
these thoughts the old, and I think false, idea of prayer - that we need to
beseech the attention of T.G.A.O.T.U. We know that He is always sending down
His force; it is our business to open the channel. His symbol down here is the
sun, which is always pouring out light and life and glory without being asked
to shine. In the utterance of these words, therefore, we are only seeking to
make ourselves and the Lodge channels for His service.
342.
During all these
processes the thought of the Brn. is important, but most of all when the altar
is censed should they think of the divine love. It falls to the R.W.M. to
direct the whole work and to each of the officers to bear his part, but the
full success of the scheme depends upon the recollectedness and unselfishness
of every Bro. in the Lodge. Without that there is no real life in the work. It
is to be feared that in many Masonic Lodges, though their work is deeply
coloured by the great ideal of charity, there is an entire failure to radiate
the spiritual influence. They perform the ritual accurately and beautifully,
but they have not realized how much depends upon the thought given to it, and
the comprehension of all that it means and implies. The blessing of the Great
Architect is invoked not so much by the mere formula of words and acts, as by
the spirit that underlies the work of the Lodge.
343.
CHAPTER V
344.
THE OPENING OF THE LODGE
345.
THE BRETHREN ASSIST
346.
WHEN the ceremony of
lighting the candles is completed, the Brn. take their seats, and the R.W.M.
asks them to spend a few moments in aspiration to T.G.A.O.T.U., earnestly
resolving that the work to be done that evening shall be well and thoroughly
done, and that each member shall never forget that he is doing it in His name
and to His glory.
347.
The R.W.M. then gives a
single k … k and calls upon the Brn. to assist him in opening the Lodge. Some
may ask why he needs their assistance in so simple an act as declaring the
Lodge open; but the fact is that it is by no means so simple as this. The
opening of a Masonic Lodge is in itself an exceedingly beautiful and
interesting ceremony, and the success of the evening’s work depends upon its
being properly and thoroughly done. The work before us is no light matter, for
it is nothing less than a concerted effort to carry out the duty that is laid
upon us, as those who possess the Light, to spread that Light abroad through
the world, and actually to become fellow-labourers with T.G.A.O.T.U. in His
great plan for the evolution of our Brn.
348.
He pours spiritual
strength into the world just as the sun pours out its light; but as there are
many dark places in the world which the sunlight cannot directly reach, so are
there many souls in the world who are unable to receive and assimilate this
divine force. As man by means of mirrors can reflect the sunlight into a cave
or cellar, so also can man reflect the spiritual light upon those darkened
souls, and perchance present it to them so that they may be able to receive it
and profit by it. All light in the world is but transmuted sunlight; if we burn
coal and make gas, or if we burn oil in a lamp, the energy is none the less
converted solar energy.
349.
The Great Architect
sends forth His power at all levels, but most of all on the higher planes. But
the majority of men are not yet sufficiently developed on those higher planes
to be directly affected by this force. If, however, those men who are already
somewhat developed at those levels will lay themselves open to receive that
force, and slow down its vibrations by passing them through their own subtle
bodies, it can then be poured out upon the world at large in an assimilable
form. And this is a great part of the work that is being done by all those who
wish to co-operate with Him.
350.
I have explained in The
Masters mad the Path how one who approaches a Master of the Wisdom with a
view to becoming His pupil and working under Him for the good of mankind, is
first drawn into a wonderfully intimate association with that Master, so that
he may become a perfect channel for the distribution of spiritual forces.
Precisely the same thing on a much smaller scale is being done by every human
being who wishes well to his fellow-man. Being developed somewhat above the
average, he is able to receive and to profit by some at least of these forces,
and he assuredly pours them out again on lower levels in good-will and kindly
feeling. The ceremonies of all great religions aim at producing such results on
a larger scale by some sort of common action. In The Science of the Sacraments
I have explained the mechanism of this common action as far as the great
Christian services are concerned; and the ceremonies of Freemasonry attain a
similar object, though in a different way.
351.
The Christian service
begins by building a great thought-form to act as a kind of storage-battery or
condenser for this force, in order that as it is gradually generated it may be
stored up for use instead of being allowed to dissipate itself uselessly in the
ambient air; and we in Freemasonry have to take the same precaution. In both
cases we invoke the aid of non-human entities - the inhabitants of those
subtler planes, who are thoroughly accustomed to deal with and control the
forces belonging to their respective levels; but there is a certain difference
between the methods adopted in the Christian religion, and in the old Egyptian
Mystery-faith from which Masonry is derived.
352.
In Christianity we
invoke great Angels who are far above us in spiritual unfoldment, and place ourselves
to a considerable extent in their hands, supplying them with the material of
love and devotion and aspiration which the service calls forth from us, and
leaving them largely to do the form-building and the distribution.
353.
In Freemasonry also we
invoke angelic aid, but those upon whom we call are nearer to our own level in
development and intelligence, and each of them brings with him a number of
subordinates who carry out his directions. All around us there is a vast unseen
evolution, which may be thought of as parallel to our own.* (*See plate, “The
Evolution of Life” in The Hidden Side of Things, vol. i, p. 116 (1st
edition) And just as our line of progress passes through the vegetable
kingdom, the animal kingdom and the human kingdom, and then carries us on to
the superhuman developments of Adeptship, so does that parallel evolution run
through the various elemental kingdoms, the kingdom of the nature-spirits, and
then the kingdom of Devas or Angels. There are many levels of intelligence and
holiness in this great angelic kingdom; and while it stretches upwards to
heights far above those at present attainable by human beings, it has also
members who are hardly at a higher level than our own.* (*In the course of
involution the Second great Outpouring of divine Life descends from the Second
Logos into the matter already vivified by the Third Logos. Very slowly and
gradually this resistless life pours down through the various planes, spending
in each of them a period equal in duration to one entire incarnation of a
planetary chain - a period which, if measured as we measure time, would cover
many millions of years. As a whole, this life-wave is spoken of as monadic
essence when clothed only in the atomic matter of the various planes at
different stages of its descent. When it energizes the matter of the higher
mental plane, it is known as the First
Elemental Kingdom.
When it descends to the lower or rupa levels of the same plane it is the Second Elemental
Kingdom, and on the astral plane it is
the Third Elemental Kingdom.
Even when this monadic essence first comes before us, in the earliest of the
elemental Kingdoms, it is already not one monad, but very many - not one great
life-stream but many parallel streams, each possessing characteristics of its
own. The monadic essence ensouls the matter of the sub-planes below it on each
plane or division of a plane, and thus forms the Elemental Kingdoms. It is the
same life that goes on into the mineral kingdom, and then begins to ascend, and
proceeds through the vegetable and animal kingdoms until, upon its junction
with rays from the life of the First Logos, human beings are formed. See Man,
Visible and Invisible, Chapter vi.)
354.
Those, however, are only
the lowest members of the angelic kingdom; next below them in development come
the highest of the nature-spirits, in the same way as the highest members of
the animal kingdom come only just below the lowest human beings; and indeed in
many cases the kingdoms overlap, for the most intelligent of the animal kingdom
are frequently superior in many respects to the most degraded of human beings.
In the Church service we invoke the great Archangels - beings very far above
ourselves - though they also have their cohorts of assistants at a level much
below their own; in Freemasonry we call rather upon beings at our own stage or
slightly above it, and they bring with them assistants from the kingdom of the
nature-spirits and even of the elementals.
355.
In both cases the work
is initiated by someone who is specially qualified and set apart to do it; in
the Church the priest; in Freemasonry the R.W.M. Still, the assistance of the
brethren present is always a matter of importance and significance. In
ecclesiastical circles they often speak of the priesthood of the laity.
Certain things the priest is commissioned to do, and only he can do them. But
he requires the help and co-operation of the laity in order that he may work at
the highest degree of effectiveness. It is exactly the same with the Master of
a Masonic Lodge; he also has certain work to do, and unless there are other
P.M.s. present, he is the only man who can do it; but it will be done better
and more easily if the Brn. understand and co-operate.
356.
I remember well that
when first I was elected R.W.M. of my Mother Lodge, I had to do all the
magnetization in the opening procession myself; I had to march round the
Lodge, making an eddy in the flowing forces, building the preliminary
thought-form and filling it with a strong current of magnetism. Presently I
explained matters to some of the older members of the Lodge and told them how
they could help in this work, and when they got into the habit of doing so I
found that it made my own labours very much less.
357.
But remember that what
the H.O.A.T.F. wants is not a sort of bored acquiescence, but cordial co-operation.
He wants the members really to be thinking vividly all the time and keeping
their minds on what they are doing. If we hear the same thing over and over
again, there is a certain tendency for it to become a matter of course, so that
people give only half of their attention to it. That is not the way to get the
best results; we must fig our minds strongly upon what we are saying and what
we are doing. Only the officers have to give the responses at the opening of
the Lodge, but every member ought to know these responses by heart. When we
come to the temple, we come for a definite purpose-not to get, but to give; and
the amount that we are able to give in the way of spiritual force and help
depends largely upon the intentness with which we fix our thought upon what we
are doing, and the amount of definite understanding that we bring to it. It
means a considerable mental effort, no doubt; but it is very well worth while
to make it.
358.
When the R.W.M. asks for
the assistance of the Brn. he also means that they should specially prepare
themselves to co-operate in the work of the evening, and this important
preliminary is achieved by his next questions.
359.
TYLING THE LODGE
360.
The Brn. being
upstanding, the R.W.M. begins the proceedings by asking from the W.J.W. (carefully
addressing him by name, and not using the title of his office) the
characteristic question which is the keynote of every Masonic meeting: “What is
the first care of every Freemason?” and receives the traditional reply: “To see
the Lodge close tyled.” He continues: “Direct that that duty be done.” The
W.J.W. passes on the command to the I.G., who goes to see that the T. is at his
post, and reports that he is, this report being at once passed on to the R.W.M.
361.
What is the symbolism
here? The first requisite when we are about to do a great piece of work is to
concentrate upon it, and in order to do that we must be free from interruption;
so the fortress of Mansoul (to adopt John Bunyan’s picturesque terminology)
needs a strong wall all round outside, and our entrance must be well guarded.
Therefore the Spirit calls to the intelligence, which is its link with the
lower worlds; the intelligence asks the etheric double, who in turn signals the
dense physical body to know how things look from the outside, and receives the
satisfactory reply that all the defences are in order, so that the Spirit is
reassured on the important point that the Lodge may labour in safety.
362.
Each one of us has to
tyle his own Lodge on various levels, and this must be done with great care and
wisdom. Through thousands of years of past evolution each man has been learning
to build a strong shell for himself, so that within it he may grow into a
powerful centre, capable of radiating spiritual force upon his fellows.
Inevitably in the earlier stages of that growth he becomes a self-centred
being, thinking and caring only for his own interests - tyling his Lodge
indeed, but shutting out from it much that is noble and beautiful. Only by
degrees does he learn that power is given to him for use in the service of
others, and that while he must so tyle his Lodge as always to maintain the
strong centre of consciousness which he has been at such pains to create
(because without that centre he would be useless in the work of the world) he
must at the same time watch ceaselessly to see that the force generated in that
centre is employed only in the helping of mankind and in the furtherance of the
designs of T.G.A.U.T.U. The man does not lose his individuality and initiative,
but he learns to use them rightly.
363.
The man must learn to
tyle the Lodge of his mental body; but this must be done with discretion and
indeed with exceeding great care. We often find the physical world
uncomfortably crowded, especially if our lot imposes upon us the necessity of
living or working in one of the great cities. But we must remember that the
astral and mental worlds are also crowded - very much more so than the
physical, although not quite in the same way. Those finer worlds have far
greater extension than the physical, and also in them bodies freely interpenetrate
one another. So the crowding is not of the same nature; but nevertheless, we
need to shield ourselves even more strictly on those higher levels than down
here.
364.
It is not only that on
the mental plane there are many millions of people. It is also full of centres
of thought on all kinds of subjects, which have been established mostly by men
like ourselves. We who are students are earnestly trying to raise ourselves
somewhat above the thought of the average man; therefore a very large
proportion of all this insurgent thought which is so constantly pressing upon
us is at a lower level than our own, and we require constantly to guard
ourselves against its influence. There is such a vast ocean of thought upon all
sorts of utterly unimportant subjects that, unless we rigidly exclude it, we
shall find ourselves unable to concentrate upon the higher subjects about which
we really wish to think. Therefore in that respect we must tyle the Lodge of
the mental body and must exercise great care to whom and to what we open its
doors.
365.
There are also other
respects in which care is necessary on the mental plane. For example, there are
many who are cursed with an argumentative nature. Such men throw open the doors
of their mental fortress and rush eagerly out to battle on the slightest
provocation, or on none at all - quite forgetting that they thereby leave the
fortress undefended, so that any thought-forces which may happen to be in
their neighbourhood can enter in and possess it. While they are wasting their
strength in wrangling over points of no importance, the whole tone of their
mental bodies is being steadily deteriorated by the influences which are
flowing into it. Such a man should learn to tyle his mental body, so that only
those thoughts may enter it which he as an ego really approves.
366.
The Lodge of the astral
body must be tyled also, for it is even more difficult to resist the surging of
emotions than the pressure of thoughts. The majority of emotions in the world
are ill-directed, being motived by selfishness in some one among its many
protean forms - jealousy, envy, pride, anger, or intolerance. To keep our own
feelings pure and high, to retain the philosophical calm which is as necessary
for right feeling as it is for right thinking, we must sternly tyle the Lodge
against all this vast ocean of unnecessary excitement. Yet on the other hand we
must take great care that we never fail in true sympathy. Our ears must ever be
open to the appeals of suffering, even though we close them resolutely against
the meaningless babble of those who pursue only their own ends. In this, as in
so many other ways, the middle path of occultism is narrow as the edge of a
razor, as we are told in the old Indian books; and we must watch ceaselessly
lest on the one hand we are wrecked upon the Scylla of indifference or
overwhelmed on the other in the confusion of Charybdis.
367.
Even as regards our
physical bodies there is the same reason for strict tyling of the Lodge. We do
not despise or shun our fellow-creatures, though we do shun some of their
undesirable haunts. No one who knows anything of the inner side of things will
voluntarily approach such a centre of ghastly influence as a prize-ring, a
butcher’s shop or a drinking saloon; anyone who has even to pass by such places
in the course of his daily avocations should make a strong shell round himself
that he may not draw into himself even the least trace of their psychic
infection.
368.
Again, there are many
people who are unconscious vampires; without being in the least aware of it,
they draw out vitality from those who are near them, so that if one sits and
talks to such an one for a little while, one feels utterly exhausted and
incapable of useful work. If such a person were helped by the strength which he
draws from his healthier friends, one might at last regard it as an act of
charity to allow him to deplete one; but the fact is that these unfortunate
people are themselves incapable of retaining what they take, so that they gain
nothing from the transaction, while their hapless victims lose health and
strength. In approaching such cases, we shall do well to tyle the Lodge of our
physical bodies by making a strong etheric shell round them, even while we
radiate all love and kindly feeling upon the unfortunate vampire.
369.
The constantly repeated
charge to see that the Lodge is close tyled should bring to our minds a
succession of useful warnings; and whenever we hear it we should remember to
ask ourselves: “Is my heart full of the divine love, and have I kept it close
tyled against all evil and foolish thought since last I heard these mystic
words?”
370.
So when this question
comes now, just before the opening of the Lodge, it serves to remind us of the
instant necessity of bringing ourselves into the right frame of mind for the
wonderful piece of work which we are going to do.
371.
The Egyptians taught
that this phrase had yet another meaning, though one which scarcely concerns
us. They understood the necessity of tyling the world as a whole. Our earth is
surrounded by a gaseous atmosphere in which the lightest matter tends to find
its way to the top. Hydrogen is the lightest, and what little of it there is in
a free state
gradually rises to the top of the atmosphere, and some of it escapes and
becomes lost in space. That is one of the reasons why the older planets always
have less hydrogen than the younger - it leaks away to a certain extent as the
planet rushes along through space. That reduces the amount of water on the
globe. Thus we find that Mars, which is older than the earth in proportion to
its size, and is in a later period of its life, has slightly more land than
water on its surface, while Jupiter and Saturn which are younger, not in actual
age, but in proportion to their size, are almost entirely liquid. There is a
great being called the Spirit of the Earth, who uses the earth as his physical
body; he has made his own arrangements to prevent the too rapid escape of
his hydrogen, and takes constant care to tyle his Lodge; but we of course
have nothing to do with that.
372.
In thinking of all these
symbolical meanings, we must not forget the actual tyling of the Lodge in which
we sit. There are several reasons for our extreme care in this matter. We want
to keep the Lodge shut not merely to preserve our mysteries from the outer
gaze, but because only so may we keep its influence pure and undisturbed. The
thought-form that is about to be built is a thing very delicately balanced and
carefully graduated, and is composed not only of the etheric substances of our
material plane, but also of the still finer matter of the emotional and mental
worlds. This thought-form is constructed for a definite purpose, and if
outsiders, whose minds are working along different lines, were present, they
would quite unintentionally cause a good deal of friction and destroy the
balance and efficacy of the form. It is not that we consider ourselves to be
superior to those other people, but that we are training ourselves to think
along certain definite lines, and they as a rule arc not.
373.
We must also keep
prominently in our minds the obligation to preserve absolute secrecy in the
outer world about our Masonic meetings and all that takes place at them. There
unquestionably is a certain danger of inadvertence in these matters. None are
likely even for a moment to contemplate the betrayal of any Masonic secret, nor
to exhibit any lack of caution with regard to the w … s and s … s which we have
solemnly sworn never to reveal, but in other matters there is sometimes
incaution; for example, on one occasion I heard some Brn. discussing in a tramcar
the excellent manner in which a certain J.D. performed his work in the Lodge.
This is, of course, no betrayal of any of the secrets, but it contains an
element of distinct danger, for it is so easily possible when speaking of the
ceremony to make some reference from which an intelligent and inquisitive
bystander might deduce more than he ought to know.
374.
THE E.A. S … N
375.
After it has been seen
that the Lodge is close tyled, the next thing to be done is to see that all is
right within - that all present are Freemasons. As a matter of fact we are
already sure of that, for the members of a Lodge are well known to each other,
and any stranger presenting himself is always carefully proved before he is
admitted. But this is the formal proof appointed in the ritual, to make
assurance doubly sure; so the R.W.M. calls his Lodge to order, and all adopt a
certain attitude of attention with a s … p and s … n, both of which are highly
symbolical, and have remained unchanged for a very long period. It should be
distinctly understood that a man who joins Freemasonry does thereby take a step
forward in evolution, and the fact that his identification as a Freemason
begins with that s … p is a constant reminder and acknowledgment of that.
376.
The l … f …, because it
is nearest to the heart, symbolizes the intuition, while the r … f … is supposed
to represent intellectual faculty. The meaning of the s … p is therefore
obviously that in occult matters intuition always takes precedence over mere
reasoning processes. The position adopted is intended to show that reason must
always spring from the centre of right feeling.
377.
Having thus indicated
the method of our advancement, we proceed in Co-Masonry to give the
Dieu-garde, a contraction of the French “Dieu vous garde,” which means “God
keep you,” though in English it has been corrupted into due-guard. In addition
to the thoughts suggested by the s … p, this shows us that we learn but to
bless, for this position is that which the candidate adopted at the moment when
he took his O. It indicates that the E.A., being himself but a beginner, has as
yet neither the right nor the power to give any blessing but that which is
prescribed in the V.S.L.; he may use only the words which are taught to him,
for he is not yet in the position to be either a direct channel or a reservoir
of the higher force.
378.
Then follows a gesture
which is at the same time a salutation to God and a declaration of power. The
rest of the s … is commonly interpreted as a reminder of the p … y attached to
any violation of the E.A.O.; and it is certain that the idea of that p … y has
been associated with it from an early period in history, as may be seen by
reference to the works of Dr. Albert Churchward. There is, however, yet another
more occult meaning for that s … than the explanation usually given. Students
of the inner side of man’s constitution and of Oriental occultism are aware
that there are seven great force-centres (called in Sanskrit chakras) in the
human body, and that in the course of occult progress all of them have to be
opened, developed and made effective.
379.
There are many methods
of psychic development, some of which commence with the opening of one centre
and some with another; but in the scheme advocated in ancient Egypt and
continued in Freemasonry the centre indicated by that s … is taken first. So
when the Freemason makes that movement he not only designates the opening up of
that centre as the special work, from the occult point of view, of this degree,
but he also commands the aid of the powers in nature connected with and
controlled through that centre in whatever work he is about to undertake.
The gestures and words taught in Freemasonry are not chosen at random; each has
a definite meaning and a definite power in the world of the unseen, quite apart
from its signification on the physical plane. Lodges in Europe
usually know nothing whatever of all this; perhaps there may be some in
Oriental countries which are better instructed.
380.
The force-centres exist
as points of connection at which energy flows from one vehicle or body of a
man to another. Anyone who possesses a slight degree of clairvoyance may easily
see them in the etheric double, where they show themselves as saucer-like
depressions or vortices in its surface. When quite undeveloped they appear as
small circles about two inches in diameter, glowing dully in the ordinary man;
but when awakened and vivified they appear as blazing, coruscating saucers,
much increased in size. We sometimes speak of them as roughly corresponding to
certain physical organs; in reality they show themselves at the surface of the
etheric double, which projects slightly beyond the outline of the dense body.
If we imagine ourselves to be looking straight down into the bell of a flower
of the convolvulus type, we shall get some idea of the general appearance of a
chakra. The stalk of the flower in each case springs from a point in the spine,
so another view might show the spine as a central stem, from which flowers
shoot forth at intervals, showing the opening of their bells at the
surface of the etheric body.
381.
The seven centres with
which we are at present concerned are indicated in the accompanying illustration.
(Plate IX.) It will be seen that they are situated at: (1) the base of the
spine; (2) the spleen; (3) the navel or solar plexus; (4) the heart; (5) the
throat; (6) the space between the eyebrows; and (7) the top of the head. I have
described them fully in The Inner Life; and I have also published a
monograph on them, called The Chakras, with unique coloured
illustrations.
382.
There are several
force-centres besides these, and there are schools of magic that use them; but
the dangers connected with them are so serious that we should consider their
awakening as the greatest misfortune. It is precisely in order to avoid the
arousing of those lower centres that so much importance was attached in Egypt to the
belt or girdle of the apron, and the etheric web which stretched across it.
383.
When at all in action,
these centres show signs of rapid rotation, and into each of their open mouths,
at right angles to the surface of the body, there rushes a force from the
higher world - one of those which
384.
Plate IX
385.
386.
T.G.A.O.T.U. is
constantly pouring out through His system. That force is sevenfold in its
nature, and all its forms operate in each of these centres, although one of
them in each case greatly predominates over the others. Without this inrush of
energy the physical body could not exist. Therefore the centres are in
operation in every one, although in the undeveloped person they are usually in
comparatively sluggish motion, just forming the necessary vortex for the force,
and no more. On the other hand, they may be glowing and pulsating with living
light, so that an enormously greater amount of force passes through them, with
the result that there are additional faculties and possibilities open to the
man.
387.
This divine energy which
rushes into each centre from without sets up at right angles to itself, that is
to say, in the surface of the etheric double, secondary forces in undulatory
circular motion, just as a bar magnet thrust into an induction coil produces a
current of electricity which flows round the coil at right angles to the axis
or direction of the magnet. The primary force itself, having entered the
vortex, radiates from it again at right angles, but in straight lines, as
though the centre of the vortex were the hub of a wheel, and the radiations of the
primary force its spokes. The number of these spokes differs in the different
force-centres, and determines the number of waves or petals which each of them
exhibits. Because of this these force-centres have often been poetically
described in Oriental books as resembling flowers.
388.
Each of the secondary
forces which sweep round the saucer-like depression has its own characteristic
wave-length, just as has light of a certain colour; but instead of moving in a
straight line as light does, it moves along relatively large undulations of
various sizes, each of which is some multiple of the smaller wave-lengths
within it. The number of undulations is determined by the number of spokes in
the wheel, and the secondary force weaves itself under and over the radiating
currents of the primary force, just as basket work might be woven round the
spokes of a carriage wheel. The wavelengths are infinitesimal, and probably
thousands of them are included within one of the undulations. As the forces
rush round in the vortex, these oscillations of different sizes, crossing one
another in this basketwork fashion, produce the flower-like form to which I
have referred. It is, perhaps, still more like the appearance of certain
saucers or shallow vases of wavy iridescent glass, such as are made in Venice. All of these
undulations or petals have that shimmering iridescent effect, like
mother-of-pearl, yet each of them has usually its own predominant colour.
389.
In the vivification of
the particular centre with which this degree of E.A. is principally concerned,
three factors are important. When the centre in the emotional body which
corresponds to this is awakened, it gives to the man the power of hearing in
the subtle world at that level - that is, it causes a development of that sense
which, in what is usually called the astral world, produces on our consciousness
the effect which on the physical plane we call hearing. So, if the etheric
centre were fully working, the E.A. would be clairaudient as far as the etheric
and astral planes. Its slow and partial unfoldment gradually tends to dissipate
prejudice in the man, to open his mind to suggestions and, generally speaking,
to widen and liberalize his thought.
390.
Secondly, the
development of the brain largely depends upon the opening up of this centre, because
it plays an important part in the division and distribution of one of the main
streams of vitality which course through the human body. I have already
explained the detail of this action in The Chakras and The Hidden
Side of Things, to which I must refer any reader who desires further
information on the subject of vital circulation.
391.
Thirdly, another
important action of this centre deserves our notice, as the especial object of
the first Degree is the conquest of the passions of the physical body and the
development of morality. Among the various kinds of vitality is an orange-red
ray, which contains also a certain amount of dark purple. In the normal man
this ray energizes the desires of the flesh, and also seems to enter the blood
and keep up the heat of the body; but if a man persistently refuses to yield to
his lower nature, this ray can by long and determined effort be deflected
upwards to the brain, where all three of its constituents undergo a remarkable
modification. The orange is raised into pure yellow, and produces a
decided intensification of the powers of the intellect; the dark red becomes
crimson and gradually increases the power of unselfish affection; while the
dark purple is transmuted into a lovely pale violet, and quickens the spiritual
part of man’s nature. The man who achieves this transmutation will find that
lower desires no longer trouble him; and it is with that consummation in view
that the development of the centre in which those modifications and
transmutations are achieved is so strongly emphasized in the preliminary stages
of Freemasonry.
392.
The unfoldment of this
centre is closely associated with the power of paying attention, as well as
with the opening of higher forms of hearing. In all occult systems of training
great importance was attached to this in the case of the neophyte. In the
school of Pythagoras the pupils were kept for several years in the order called
Akoustikoi or Hearers; in the mysteries of Mithra the lowest order was that of
the Ravens - a name which signifies that they were allowed only to repeat that
which they had heard, precisely as a raven or a parrot does; for in all these
ancient systems students were strictly forbidden to launch out upon the
perilous waters of originality until they were thoroughly grounded in the
established principles of philosophy. The s … also evokes or calls to the
assistance of the man who uses it a particular class of non-human intelligences
of the subtle world.
393.
In view of the great
influence of this s … of power, all will see the necessity that it should be
preserved with the greatest care and secrecy. If it is made wrongly, not in
exact form and at the proper place, the effect will be lost. In these matters
we are working what is commonly called magic; and that is a dangerous thing to
play with and should be taken up only with the greatest seriousness of purpose
and precision in work.
394.
If a member should make
this s … carelessly and without thinking what ho is doing, he opens
himself up to influences of which he is unaware, for which be is unprepared;
and things may happen which should not happen. It is this idea which is at the
basis of the grossly exaggerated and misleading statement that a man who takes
the Holy Sacrament in the Church, while permitting his mind to be full of evil,
really eats and drinks damnation to himself. The man who receives the Holy
Communion becomes a very high centre of radiating force, and is also made
receptive to the highest degree; let him be sure therefore to eliminate
evil thoughts, lest such thoughts may draw into him other influences like unto
themselves. It is the same with the Masonic s …. He who performs it as a
salutation to another opens up his heart towards that person, and that is good;
but all should be on guard lest they carelessly open themselves to unpleasant
influences which might otherwise have passed them by.
395.
When made thus at the
opening of our Lodge, this s … reminds us that we must put ourselves in a
receptive attitude, so that we may obtain the greatest possible benefit from
the influx of spiritual force which we are about to invoke.
396.
THE OFFICERS
397.
Having thus done our
best to prepare our selves for the work of the evening (a) by the purifying of
the Lodge-room by means of the censing, (b) by closing our hearts and minds
against all distracting thoughts and feelings, and (c) by putting ourselves in
a receptive attitude, we now proceed to set in motion the marvellously arranged
Masonic machinery by which we can invoke the assistance of non-human beings in
our altruistic labours. The method by which this is done is exceedingly
ingenious and most skilfully concealed. Man is a complex being, and the rough
division into body and soul is not sufficient for scientific working. For the
purposes of his evolution he exists upon five of the seven planes of nature,
and has sheaths or bodies built of the matter of the lower of those planes, and
principles or constituents within himself which correspond to the higher.
This will be made clearer by Fig. 13, and its accompanying diagram.
398.
Therefore for our work
we need forces of all these different levels, and each officer of a Masonic
Lodge has, besides his duties on the physical plane, the function of
representing one of these levels, and acting as a focus for its special energies.
The arrangement made by the Founders of Freemasonry is that the enumeration of
the officials and the recitation of their positions and duties shall act as an
evocation of the devas or Angels belonging to and working on those respective
levels. The fact that thousands of R.W.M.s have asked the appointed questions
without the faintest idea of producing an effect in unseen worlds has not
deprived them of angelic assistance which, if they had known of it, would have
astounded them beyond expression, and probably even terrified them.
399.
So the spirit turns
again to the intelligence, and calls on it to formulate the great divisions;
intelligence responds and names the three lines through which the force flows,
thereby attracting the attention of the Angels of those lines. To symbolize
that, the R.W.M. asks how many principal officers there are in the Lodge, and
receives the answer that there are three. These are the R.W.M., the W.S.W., and
the W.J.W., who represent the divine or spiritual trinity which appears in the
Deity, and also in man, who is made in the image of that Deity. These three
principles in man are familiar to many students of Theosophical psychology
under the names of atma, buddhi and manas, which may be rendered into English
as the spiritual will, the intuitional love and the higher intelligence.
400.
Then the R.W.M. asks how
many assistant officers there are, and is told that these are likewise three,
not including the O.G. or. T. These represent the personal constitution of man
or his lower self-composed of the lower mind, which the S.D. represents, the
emotional nature, personified by the J.D., and the etheric double of the
physical body, for which the I.G. stands. The T. represents the dense part of
the physical body.
401.
The porchway of the
Lodge is the entrance to the inner world which is invisible to ordinary sight.
Therefore the T., who typifies the denser part of the physical body, is the
only officer of the Lodge who stands outside it, visible to the sight of the
profane. All the other six principles of the human constitution are beyond
physical sight, which deals with only one grade of the matter of the world, and
that the lowest and densest. Those principles exist on distinct planes of
nature, of ascending degrees of subtlety or fineness of matter.
402.
Fig. 13 and the diagram
connected with it show the seven principles in man, the planes of nature on
which they exist, and the corresponding officers in the Masonic Lodge.
403.
The upper triangle, containing
the first, second and third principles, represents the ego or higher self in
man, commonly called the soul, who in the course of his long pilgrimage or
evolution towards human perfection, takes many incarnations, each of which is
called a personality. The lower triangle is a reflection of that higher one in
the matter of the lower planes, and it forms with the dense physical body the
lower quaternary, which constitutes the personality, and lasts through one
incarnation. The evolution of man is really the development of the ego or
higher self, but in most people at the present stage of human progress that ego
may be described as still in his infancy; he has not yet fully awakened to the
positive and purposeful life of a man on his own planes, nor has
404.
Figure 13
405.
406.
he realized what can be
learnt through incarnation in the lower planes. In course of time and many
incarnations the three higher principles gradually unfold themselves, and the
man realizes more and more of the divinity which is truly his. Though the
principal object of Freemasonry is the collection and distribution of spiritual
force for others, it is also deeply concerned with the welfare and progress of
the Brn., so its ritual and its teaching clearly indicate the path which man
should tread, and offer him the most valuable help as he passes along it.
407.
THE DUTIES
408.
The list of situations
and duties is then rehearsed. It is commonly supposed that the object of this
enumeration is to make sure that the facts are thoroughly known to all the
Brn., and that all the officials are duly present. It has in reality another
and far more important function, as I have explained.
409.
Several interesting
points of symbolism are brought out in the apparently curious answers which are
given with respect to the duties attached to the various offices. The physical
body should protect the lodge of a man’s soul from the dangers of the outer
world, from temptations or evil influences. The T. is ordered to keep out all
cowans and intruders to Freemasonry, and when we recollect that the word
“cowan” is simply the Greek kuon, a dog, and that from time immemorial
the dog has been used as a symbol of violent animal passions, we shall readily
comprehend what the work and office of the T. are intended to typify.
410.
The etheric double, in
the person of the I. G., also joins to defend the Lodge, and is especially
under the command of the higher mind or intelligence, the W.J.W., who is
concerned with testing all who seek to enter; which shows that it is the duty
of the intelligence to discriminate, and to decide what thought or emotion
shall receive lodgment within the temple of man. The R.W.M. communicates with
the T. only through the W.J.W. and the I.G., which signifies that spirit does
not act directly on dense matter, but through his intelligence impresses
himself upon etheric matter; though when he has once sent out his enquiry, the
mind may instruct the etheric double to report directly to the R.W.M. on the
particular subject. To typify this, in many Lodges it is the custom that the
W.J.W., in passing on his command, should say, “Bro. I.G., you will see who
seeks admission, and report to the R.W.M.”
411.
The reflection of the
upper triangle in the lower takes place point for point, and there is therefore
a sympathetic relation between principles 2 and 5, as well as between 3 and 4,
and between 1 and 6. It is with the aid of the emotions, by their purification
and development, that the man unfolds principle 2, the intuitional love, so
that it is brought into activity in his life. And it is with the aid of the
mind that he casts off the five fetters to further progress (namely, the
delusion that his personal self is the real self, doubt about the reality of
spiritual things, superstition, and unreasoning likes and dislikes) and so
enables the spiritual will to express itself in his life. About these stages,
and the great Initiations that accompany them, I have written in full in The
Masters and the Path. They are mentioned here to show why it is that the J.D.
acts between the W.S.W. and the W.J.W. and the S.D. acts between the R.W.M. and
the W.S.W. They explain also why it is that the W.J.W. takes charge of the
E.A.s, and the W.S.W. of the F.C.s, while the M.M.s may be considered to be
under the immediate charge of the R.W.M. As the open Lodge is a place where the
Brn. are symbolically undergoing the advanced course of evolution before
mentioned, the officers who represent the principles in man must show those
principles acting in relation to one another as they do in man in the course of
that evolution.
412.
The Third Aspect of the
Divine Being is typified by the W.J.W. when he directs the passage from the
labour of evolution to the refreshment of periodic rest; while it is the Second
Aspect which is symbolized by the W.S.W. when he closes the Lodge at the
R.W.M.’s command, because when the Second Aspect of Deity withdraws from the
forms that He has made, everything is resolved into its primal elements and the
universe as such ceases to exist, and so the Lodge of the solar system is for the
time closed. This is what is called among the Hindus the end of the manvantara
and the beginning of the pralaya.
413.
It is not implied that
the officials who happen to hold the positions representing the principles in
man in any given Lodge are necessarily able to function upon the planes to
which they correspond; but it is to be understood that not only the
nature-spirits, but also the strange half-conscious creatures which we have
called elementals, existing on the downward arc of evolution on each of these
levels, will and do respond to the invocation which is employed in this
closely condensed formula of opening. The enumeration of the officials in
answer to the earlier questions of the R.W.M. is in the nature of a call
to attention - a call which reverberates through these different kingdoms of
nature - and lets devas, nature-spirits and elementals know that an opportunity
is about to be offered to them. For that, remember, is the way in which these
creatures at all levels look upon such a call. It is one of the chief methods
of their evolution to be used in work such as this, and they therefore greatly
rejoice to respond.
414.
That general enumeration
by the W.s is quickly followed by the specific questions addressed to each of
the officers; and of these the first enquiry as to their situation in the Lodge
sets the machinery in motion, acts as a call to a deva of the particular type
required, who immediately presents himself and acts as a captain of the
nature-spirits and elementals who next gather round. The second question and
answer in each case, as to the special duty of the officers in question, brings
round him these myrmidons of his, and he influences them to arrange themselves
as required. For example, when the J.D. is mentioned a thrill shoots out through
the astral levels, and when he is asked what is his situation in the Lodge, a
deva, having for his lowest vehicle a body of astral matter (what is called in
Buddhism a kamadeva), at once steps forward and takes up his position
above the head of the J.D. At the same time the attention of a number of
nature-spirits wearing bodies of astral matter is aroused, and also a great
mass of the elemental essence belonging to the third of the great elemental
kingdoms is awakened into activity. Then when the question as to the duties is
asked, the deva captain draws round him those astral myrmidons, and arranges
them as he needs them, and at the same time seizes upon the floating mass of
elemental essence and welds it into thought-forms such as he requires to carry out
the work that has to be done.
415.
In exactly the same way
the S.D. is represented by a deva captain whose lowest vehicle is built of the
matter of the lower sub-planes of the mental plane (a rupadeva), and lie
employs nature-spirits and elemental essence at his own level. It will be
noticed that in each case not only the actual situation and duty of the
official are defined, but also his relation to other officials, his part in the
work as a whole. The deva captains corresponding to the three principal officers
are all what are called in the East arupadevas, and they possess the
consciousness and wield the forces of the planes which they respectively
represent. It is not easy for us to understand the working of forces at such
levels, as they act upon the corresponding principles in man, and those
principles are only slightly developed as yet in the majority of human beings.
416.
By the time, therefore,
that the last of the list of questions and answers has been exchanged, the
whole Lodge is pulsating with elemental life, all of which is filled with the
most intense eagerness to launch itself upon the work in hand, whatever that
may be. The elementals and nature-spirits of the different levels vary greatly
in development and intelligence, some being fully defined and exceedingly
active, whereas others are comparatively vague and cloud-like. But a very
striking appearance is presented by the Lodge when these various groups of
beings are gathered together, each group showing its distinctive colour and
floating over the head of the official who is its physical plane representative
- all this taking place while the Lodge is still in semi-darkness, lit only by
the three candles and the sacred fire. It is to this condition that the R.W.M.
refers (whether he knows it or not) when he says: “Our Lodge being thus duly
formed.”
417.
In the case of the lower
officers, at any rate, it requires but a slight development of clairvoyance to
see these creatures floating in their appointed places, each group making a
sort of luminous sphere or cloud. (See Plate X.) This cloud is violet-grey in
the case of the I. G., crimson for the J.D. and yellow for the S.D. It is not
so easy to define the hues of the three principal officers, for each of them
seems to carry something of all possible colours; but it may perhaps be said
that a golden hue predominates in the W.J.W.’s sphere, and a strong electric
blue in that of the W.S.W. The R.W.M’s light-globe is the brightest of all,
glowing equally with rose, gold, blue and green, each of which flashes out into
prominence at certain points of the ceremony. It is through these deva
representatives of the various officers that the building of the thought-form
and the outpouring of the force is really done; but on the physical plane the
officer of the Lodge should also participate in the work to the extent of his
power. If he reaches upward to his deva representative, and allows the force
to flow freely through him, blending his will with it as it flows, his higher
principles will become one with that deva; and he will not only be an excellent
channel for the divine force, but will himself be greatly helped and strengthened
in the doing of the work.
418.
THE OPENING
419.
The deva-representative
of the R.W.M. is a highly developed and very capable seventh-ray Angel, and the
moment that he arrives with his cohort of assistant-angels and elementals he
takes full charge of the whole of the proceedings. The captains of all the
other little groups spring to attention, and everything is at once made ready
for the supreme moment of the opening of the Lodge. The R.W.M., having
declared that his Lodge is duly formed and that he stands there as its head and
representative, turns to express his gratitude to T.G.A.O.T.U. for this, and
then offers up an earnest wish that the work of the evening, having thus begun
in order, may be continued in harmony and closed in peace. To this his whole
Lodge replies with a ringing response, like the cheer of an army: “So mote it
be.” “Mote” is an old Anglo-Saxon form of “may”, and this expression is the
Masonic “Amen”. But just as “Amen” is often interpreted “so may it be”, so is
this splendid Masonic expression often degraded to the level of a mere assent
or pious wish. And again, just as “Amen” is not a wish but an assertion - the
most sacred oath of ancient Egypt, which none would ever dare to break – “By
Amen it shall be so” - so is this Masonic exclamation to be taken as the
strongest affirmation – “so shall it be”. Not: “We pray or we hope that
it may be so”, but “We shall make it so”. This is shown by the emphatic
outstretching of the right hand at the level of the shoulder, this being a
well-known sign of power and command.
420.
Immediately after this
the R.W.M., acting in the name of T.G.A.O.T.U., declares the Lodge duly open,
and all the lights are turned fully on. It is not only the physical light which
leaps forth at this moment, for as the R.W.M. says the opening words his
deva-representative also lifts his staff, and all the seven groups of assistant
spirits, which until now have been seen even by clairvoyant sight as merely
luminous clouds, flash out into their full brilliancy and their natural beauty
of colour. At once also each group is connected by a line of living light with
the physical official over which it hovers, and through this line its force is
poured down upon him whenever he is called upon to take part in the ceremony.
The deva representative usually remains floating above the regular situation of
the official, but as the latter moves about the Lodge in the course of his work
the line of light never leaves him for a moment, though it becomes more vivid
during his activity.
421.
Just before the Lodge is
opened, the I.P.M. is escorted by the two D.s with crossed wands to the altar,
where he kneels and awaits the exact moment of opening. As the R.W.M. utters
the word “open” the I.P.M. opens the V.S.L., and arranges upon its pages the s
… and the c … thus displaying what we esteem the three great emblematical
lights in Freemasonry simultaneously with the physical illumination. It is the
I.P.M. who thus brings the symbolical light to the Lodge, just as it was he who
gave the physical light from the sacred fire to the S. D., because he
represents the Silent Watcher, the influence which sees that everything is
correctly done and stands ready always to supply anything that is needed. He
has reached the Light in its fullest sense; he has done his work and is
therefore in a position to help others. It should be specially noted that he
should open the sacred volume at random, not searching for any particular
passage; it is the whole book that is given to us to illumine our minds, not
only this verse or that. It will be found most convenient to open it somewhere
about the middle.
422.
To show that the sacred
volume is here being used as a symbol, the I.P.M, solemnly recites the ancient
formula quoted by St John
the Evangelist at the beginning of his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We all know that the Greek
translated in this text as “word” is in the original “Logos”; and so the
opening of the V.S.L. typifies the manifestation of the Logos at the beginning
of a solar system, while the c … s and the s … show further that He manifests
Himself as spirit and matter; for there is nothing which is not God. To
indicate that the Second Person or Aspect of the Logos is about to descend into
His universe, the column of the W.S.W. is now erected, and that of the W.J.W.
is laid down. The brooding of the Holy Spirit over the waters of chaos is now
no longer the only divine activity; the groundwork is laid, and the active life
of the system is to begin. The tracing-board which indicates the plan of its
activity is now exposed, and the nature of that activity is indicated by the
fact that we commence it with a hymn of praise to T.G.A.O.T.U., during the
singing of which the Brn. should pour out all the love and devotion of which
they are capable.
423.
In those Lodges which
use a portrait of the H.O.A.T.F. it is just before the singing of this
hymn that that portrait is unveiled, all the Brn. turning towards it and
saluting. In instant response to this salutation the great Adept projects a
thought-form which is an exact image of Himself; just as at a higher level the
Lord Christ projects that thought-form which is called the Angel of the
Presence at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist. So fully is this
thought-form a part of the H.O.A.T.F. that the Lodge has the benefit of His
presence and His blessing just as though He stood there in physical form. The
Deva representative of the R.W.M. bows low before the Head of his Ray, and
leaves the direction of affairs in His hands. It will be seen that those of us
who know of the existence of this great Adept, and of His keen interest in our
work, have a great advantage; but it must not be forgotten that every regularly
constituted Masonic Lodge is in charge of a Seventh Ray Angel, however little
the Brn. may know about the matter.
424.
I have explained how at
the moment of the opening of the Lodge all the assistant angels,
nature-spirits and elemental creatures and their deva captains flash out into
brilliancy, and stand round ready to spring forward at the word of command. To
say that they are ready is far from expressing the fact; they are overflowing
with eagerness, like dogs straining at a leash. And now comes the moment for
which they have been waiting, for immediately after the return of the I.P.M. to
his seat and the display of the tracing-board by the S.D. comes the opening
hymn, with the first note of which the super-physical entities burst into
tumultuous yet ordered activity. The hymn itself, or rather the devotion and
enthusiasm with which we sing it, provides them with the material for
their building, and immediately they are all working away at its erection, each
at his own level, and with the materials belonging to that level with which the
Brn. supply him.
425.
In the opening
procession the R.W.M. and his officers have already constructed the lower part
of the cella, or interior chamber of the temple, shutting in the whole
of the mosaic pavement and charging it heavily with magnetism. These creatures
pounce upon that first of all and rapidly make its walls both thicker and
higher, the greater ones reinforcing its magnetism by filling it with the
splendid power of their respective levels. Again with lightning-like rapidity
they spread a ceiling over the whole of the Lodge, and from that ceiling,
beginning at the edges, just within the walls of the physical Lodge, they drop
supporting columns from above downwards like the roots of a banyan-tree, one of
them surrounding each of the non-official Brn. It will thus be seen that our
thought-form is very nearly a reproduction of a Greek temple-the rows of
columns which support its tremendously heavy roof being outside the central
chamber, which is the only part of the temple fully enclosed. The accompanying
picture may help to make this clear, and we give at the same time in Plate V a
drawing of an existing Greek temple for the sake of comparison. The mere
outline of the temple is always finished during the singing of the opening
hymn, but in certain circumstances friezes and other decorations may be added
later on under the direction of the controlling Angel.
426.
It will thus be seen why
the unofficial Brn. who sit at the sides of the Lodge are sometimes spoken of
as the columns; and some light is also thrown on an ancient text which runs:
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall
go no more out.” Incidentally, we see how necessary it is that the Brn. should
put their hearts and souls into the words that they sing or say, for upon their
efforts in this direction depends the amount of material provided for our
super-physical fellow-workers, and consequently the massiveness and
richness of the thought-form which they build. All through the ceremony that
follows, whatever it may be, the deva representatives of the three principal
officers continue to pour into the cella their beneficent influence; and
though its strongest force is reserved for those who enter upon the mosaic
pavement as candidates, it also somehow filters through the roof and down the
columns upon all who are present.
427.
THE E.A. K … s
428.
At the moment of opening
the Lodge the R.W.M. also gives the E.A. K … s.
429.
K … s in Freemasonry
have a double significance and a very definite use. The latter is based on the
fact that they are a recognized method of communication with certain orders of
earth-spirits whose attention is attracted by them, whose eager service is at
once at the disposal of those who are duly qualified to summon them, though
they will take no notice of a call from one who has not been properly introduced
to them by initiation into the E.A. degree. Their main use in the ceremony is
to create an atmosphere - the atmosphere appropriate to the degree which is
being worked; and in that special work they become extraordinarily proficient,
answering instantly to the call of the k … s with military promptness and
precision, so that even when the Lodge is being raised or lowered by the short
method they are able to produce the required changes as quickly as the commands
can be issued.
430.
This generation of the
proper atmosphere is one of the most important special features of Freemasonry,
indispensable to really efficient working. Any one who is at all sensitive to
such influences may feel the change which takes place when we pass from one
degree to another, but only those who have opened the sight of the soul can see
the variations of colour, or watch the busy workers who are so energetic in
producing them. The Deva captains of the three principal officers take charge
of this important part of the work - the W.J.W. of the servants of the First
Degree, the W.S.W. of those of the Second, and the R.W.M. of those of the
Third; but the earth-spirits themselves obey the call of the k … s, appearing
at the first round and unobtrusively returning to their normal haunts when
another battery announces that their work is done. The k … s of the closing
correspond to the “Ite, missa est” of the Catholic Church. It may be noted that
similar creatures are fond of announcing their presence by k … s at a
spiritualistic seance.
431.
The k … s of the First
Degree have also a moral significance, indicating that the E.A. has three
planes in front of him to conquer, the physical body with its impulses coming
from the past, the astral with its strong desires and emotions, and the
mental with its curiosity and waywardness. With each of these every man in the
course of his evolution has a twofold work to do first he must conquer it,
govern its impulses and bring them into a state of obedience to the soul
within, and secondly he must develop it as a positive, well-trained, useful
instrument for his service.
432.
The E.A. is supposed to
have conquered the physical body before entering into Masonry - without that
he could not be well and worthily recommended for admission - but he has still
to develop it; and while he is doing that be is supposed to be gaining complete
control of his astral nature; that is the special work of this degree as far as
self-development is concerned, though of course the Mason is trying to perfect
himself in every way all the time. The k … s of the Second Degree indicate that
the physical work is complete, and that the F.C. has still two planes to
conquer. He is engaged in making his astral body into a perfect instrument for
the expression of high emotion, and is at the same time learning to gain
control of his mind. In this stage a Mason should be making every day some
advances in Masonic knowledge, till presently the mind will no longer be
wayward and fickle, but controlled. At this point he will pass on to the Third
Degree, and then the k … s indicate that he has but one plane to conquer, has
but to perfect the mind as an instrument in the service of the higher self.
This work will go on for as many years as are necessary before he passes
through the Chair.
433.
From the above it will
be seen that there are four stages in Craft Masonry - three degrees and then a
further attainment when the M.M. becomes an I.M. There is a similarity between
these stages and those which have been prescribed in the Christian Church,
although one is at a much higher level than the other. This is shown in the
following diagram:
434.
Diagram X
435.
436.
In the Church certain
people are set apart as priests - but they have to pass through the earlier
stages before reaching that position. First the man must be a subdeacon; his
business then is to prepare himself for the great surgical operation which
takes place at the diaconate, when he is definitely joined with the
World-Teacher, in a way which has been fully explained in The Science of the
Sacraments.
437.
In the stage of the
subdiaconate, which corresponds somewhat to the E.A., the man is supposed to
learn to control himself perfectly. In the next grade, during the time of the
diaconate, he has to learn; he is preparing himself for the work of the
priesthood, just as the F.C. is preparing himself for the work of the M.M.
438.
As I have said in
speaking of the due-guard, the power of blessing of the E.A. is contained within
the book from which he learns. He may use only the words of the book, and must
not go beyond them. He is not himself yet a direct channel for the divine
power, so he puts the book between his hands. But the F.C. puts one h … on the
b … and raises the other in the f … of a s … He corresponds to the deacon,
because he is a channel linked with the Christ, but only that which comes down
and pours through him may he give. He is not yet himself filled with grace and
power, but he is able to act as a channel. His holding of the l … h … in that
way corresponds, though at a lower stage, with the bishop’s holding his crosier
in the left .hand. He is drawing down divine power through that highly
magnetized staff, while he is pouring it out on the people with the other hand.
It is the same gesture, though of course in the case of the bishop it is far
more highly specialized.
439.
Then the M.M. puts both
his h … on the b … He is supposed when he has attained that high degree to be
in a position of power, to be filled with the energy which has been poured into
him in the symbolical death and rising again. Therefore he can give that
energy; he may give a blessing to other people just as a priest does, and as
the priest has authority to administer certain sacraments, so is the M.M.
qualified to accept office in the Lodge.
440.
Still, neither the M.M.
nor the priest can convey his power or authority to anyone else. The bishop
alone has power to ordain priests or to consecrate other bishops, and only the
I.M. is able to initiate, pass and raise Masons, and to create other I.M.s.
Both the bishop and the I.M. have also the power to give a fuller blessing than
the priest or the M.M. can bestow. Thus there is a succession of I.M.s in
Masonry, just as there is a succession of bishops in the Church.
441.
In The Science of the
Sacraments I have explained something of the inner meaning of the apostolic
succession, the method designed by the Christ for handing down the spiritual
powers of the Catholic Church. It will be seen that we have a similar succession
in Masonry, extending back to the priests of the Mysteries of ancient Egypt,
and beyond.
442.
There is a further
analogy between the degrees of Freemasonry and the orders of the Church, for
just as the clergy of the Church are linked in various degrees of connection
with the Head of the Church, the Lord Christ Himself, and with the reservoir of
power which He has set apart for the celebration of the sacraments, so are the
initiates of the various degrees in Freemasonry linked according to their rank
with the H.O.A.T.F., and with the reservoir of power set apart for the work of
the Craft. Every Freemason has a certain touch with Him; but the first great
link directly with Him is given in the degree of I.M. (for it is practically a
separate degree, although it is not called so), and closer links still are
conferred in the higher degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; so
that the earnest Mason becomes a veritable outpost of His consciousness, a
channel of His power and a minister of His will. Such Brn. act as His
representatives in their Lodges and Chapters, and have the right to give His
blessing according to their Masonic rank. It is a matter of deep regret that so
few of our modern Brn. realize in the least the sacredness of their office, and
the heavy responsibility laid upon them to use their power without thought of
self in the service of the world.
443.
There are, however,
considerable differences between the methods of transmission in these two
great sacramental systems. It is recognized in Catholic theology, and confirmed
by occult investigation, that the spiritual powers given at ordination are
invariably conferred, provided only that the bishop be in the line of the
apostolic succession, that he have the intention to confer Holy Orders and that
the recipient have the intention to receive them, and that the laying on of
hands take place according to the ancient tradition. The particular beliefs of
the bishop and the candidate do not affect the validity of the sacrament in the
slightest degree, nor will it be withheld if they are out of communion with any
particular branch of the Church, or even if they are persons of questionable
moral worth.* (*See notes to page 25.) The Lord Christ out of His great love
for His Church is willing to overlook the human frailties of the minister, so
that His flock may be fed.
444.
But the transmission of
power in Masonry seems to he by no means so unalterably fixed, probably because
of the fact that Masonry is a secret Order and is not therefore in direct
relation with the outer world; the whole scheme of transmittal is much more
elastic than that of the Church. Although it would appear that the succession
both of I.M.s and Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General has been to a large extent
handed down on the physical plane, it is by no means necessary that it should
be so handed down, and the sacramental powers may be introduced or withheld as
the H.O.A.T.F. sees fit. When a clandestine meeting is held, even though a duly
qualified I.M. be present, the inner recognition is not given, and the powers
are not conveyed. Two such cases of the withholding of inner recognition are
within my personal experience. In the Church a priest can anywhere and by
himself perform a sacrament, and a bishop can also pass on his power at his own
discretion, but in Craft Masonry the unit is the Lodge, and the presence of a
number of Brn. is essential to the validity of the rites, except when degrees
are conferred by communication by one who has due authority. It is said that
“three rule a Lodge, five hold a Lodge, and seven or more make it perfect”.
445.
In making this
comparison between Masonic degrees and Church Orders, I am not for a moment
asserting that the powers conferred upon the many in the degrees of freemasonry
are in any sense equal to those bestowed upon a few carefully selected and
prepared candidates in the Major Orders of the Church; I wish only to draw
attention to a series of curious correspondences between the two systems, too
numerous and remarkable to be due to mere coincidence. Masonry does give powers
commensurate with those appertaining to the Church, but only in its very
highest degrees, and to the very few.
446.
CHAPTER VI
447.
INITIATION
448.
THE CANDIDATE
449.
WHEN any member of the general
public wishes to become a Freemason, he usually applies to some friend whom he
knows to be a member of the Craft. This friend will probably introduce him to
the Secretary of the Lodge, who then supplies the applicant with certain
papers. The candidate will then find that he is expected to give some particulars
with regard to himself - his age, his occupation in life, his reason for
wishing to join the Craft, etc. Also, in Co-Masonry the following notice will
be handed to him:
450.
The Candidate should
clearly understand the obligations he takes upon himself in joining the Order.
These obligations are of the most serious and solemn character, and he is
expected to discharge them honourably.
A.
The candidate
undertakes to try to lead a noble and upright life, and to work at the
improvement of his character.
B.
He undertakes
to attend regular meetings of the Lodge, unless prevented by cause sufficiently
grave. These are usually held once or twice a month, except at holiday seasons.
Sometimes Emergency Meetings are called for special work, but attendance at
these is not obligatory. The true Mason, however, regards it not only as a
solemn duty, but also as a great privilege to attend his Lodge, realizing that,
though the Lodge exists to help its members, it has a far greater and wider
function in shedding the spiritual influence of Masonry upon the world. By his
regular attendance at the meetings he is definitely participating in that great
work. His progress in the Order will depend upon the zeal and assiduity which
he shows in this service.
C.
He undertakes
to remain in the Order and in his Mother-Lodge for at least three years. He is
permitted, after Initiation, to visit other Lodges, and after he is a Master
Mason to join other Lodges, if he so desires; but he must not leave the
Mother-Lodge under the specified period. It is to the Mother-Lodge that he owes
allegiance and the duty of loyal co-operation. Where there is more than one
Lodge near his place of residence the Candidate should ask his introduces for
information regarding the work of the several Lodges, so that he may be sure of
entering the Lodge whose work and members are likely to be most congenial to
him..
D.
The Candidate
is bound to true Masonic secrecy and caution concerning Freemasonry and the
affairs of the Order, and this promise is to be regarded as binding for all
time, even if he leaves the Order.
451.
DIVISIONS OF THE
CEREMONY
452.
We now come to the
consideration of the ceremony by which the candidate is admitted to Freemasonry,
a ceremony which is commonly called his initiation. We must recognize from the
beginning that this ceremony is no mere form; first because it produces
definite inner effects, and secondly, because it contains a great deal of most
valuable symbology, the understanding and application of which will be of great
moment in the candidate’s future life.
453.
As I have stated earlier
in the book, one chief object of freemasonry is to train its members for the
work which they have to do in the world, and therefore to cultivate within them
the qualities necessary for that work. The various degrees in Masonry are all
stages in that training; and in each stage not only is certain definite
education given, but also definite powers are conferred. It is to be feared
that through ignorance of these facts many Masons make but little real
progress; for unless the developments initiated in each degree by the ceremony
of admission are duly understood and put into practice by the candidate, he is
in no true sense prepared to pass on to a higher stage, or to take advantage of
the opportunities which that in turn puts before him.
454.
The outer ceremony
confers certain powers and opens up certain possibilities; but it remains for
the neophyte to develop them and make use of them. Some neophytes take the
hints offered to them, and accordingly make progress; others understand little
of the inner requirements, and so are only temporarily affected. The very word
initiation is derived from initium, a beginning; and that is precisely what it
is intended to be - the beginning of a new and higher life. But it is not
enough to begin; one must also continue.
455.
In the Buddhist teaching
it is said that in each of the great steps which are the true Initiations there
are four stages
(1)
The Way, in which the neophyte is mastering the
lessons of his new step, casting off (as they put it) the fetters which have
previously bound him, finding himself at his new level, and learning how to use
the powers conferred upon him.
(2)
The Fruit, when he finds the results of his action in
so doing showing themselves more and more.
(3)
The Consummation - the period when, the results having
culminated, he is able to fulfil satisfactorily the work belonging to the step,
on which he now firmly stands.
(4)
The Readiness, meaning the time when he is seen to be
in a fit state to receive the next Initiation.
456.
We see, therefore, that
initiation involves something more than the mere outward ceremony - more even than
the upliftment of the inner nature which accompanies that ceremony; all that is
but the gateway at the entrance of a path along which we may proceed as
quickly or as slowly as we will.
457.
In considering this
ceremony of initiation to the stage of the E.A. it will be useful to regard it
from three aspects or points of view. (1) As an impressive ceremony of
admission. (2) As a preparation for and an indication of the life which the
man must lead and the work which he must do while in the degree to which it
admits him. (3) As putting in a powerful and effective symbolical form the
teaching which it is one of the purposes of this degree to impress upon him.
When we examine the ceremony in detail I think we shall find that every
incident in it falls under one or other of these three heads.
458.
Thinking of the ritual
from the point of view of a ceremony of admission into the Order, it seems
naturally to divide itself into three parts. The central point of the ceremony,
the climax of our effort, is the definite admission into the Order - the point
at which a certain centre or chakra is opened, a certain potentiality of power
given. All that precedes that in the ceremony is of the nature of preparation
for that point; all that follows it is in the nature of explanation of what has
been done, or of exhortation as to how the power can best be developed and
used. All through the ceremony everything is arranged so that the candidate may
receive the greatest possible benefit from the forces which are being
outpoured; and that is the principal object of the very curious preparation
upon which Masonry has always insisted, even before the candidate is allowed
to enter the Lodge.
459.
PREPARATION OF THE
CANDIDATE
460.
Before his admission he
is divested of all m … s and v … s, is h … d, and has his r … a …, l … b … and
l … k … b …, and his r … h … s … d. All Masonic bodies agree in viewing the
continuance of this conventional form of preparation as a matter of the
greatest importance, and give as their reason for this the practice of ancient
times. It was a rule among the Jews, says a treatise connected with the Talmud,
that “no man shall go into the Temple with his staff, nor with shoes on his
feet, nor with his outer garment, nor with money tied up in his purse”.
461.
The very specific character
of the preparation, which is different in each degree, points, however, not to
a general rule of this kind, but to real knowledge of the occult physiology of
the process of initiation on the part of those who originated the method which
has been so faithfully preserved. Certain forces are sent through the
candidate’s body in a definite manner during the ceremony, and especially at
the moment when he is created, received and constituted an E.A.F.
462.
Certain parts of the
Lodge have been very heavily charged with magnetic force, especially in order
that the candidate may absorb as much as possible of this force. It will be
remembered that in the process of censing the Lodge a beehive-shaped structure
was erected in front of the pedestal of each of the principal officers; and the
cella or enclosed central space, founded upon the mosaic pavement and
including the altar, is the most highly magnetized of all. The first object of
this curious method of preparation is to expose to this influence those various
parts of the body which are especially used in the ceremony. Thus, the r … a …
is made b … because the candidate must use that, as soon as he is taught to
extend it in the sign of power which accompanies the asseveration: “S … m … i …
b …” It is also said to be a token of sincerity, to shove that the candidate
has no weapon about him.
463.
The l … b … is made b …
because upon it is received the touch of the point of the s … on entering the
Lodge. The masculine Craft adds as another reason that they are hereby assured
that their candidate is not a woman in disguise. The l … k … is that upon which
he kneels when he is received, so it also is made b …, and the r …, h … is s …
d because that must touch the floor when he holds the r … k … in the form of a
s … The 1 … k … and the r … h … are his supports or points of contact with the
floor at the moment of his admission. Another reason sometimes given for the r
… h … being s … d is that this is in accordance with the ancient Jewish custom
when a man was taking upon himself an obligation or making an agreement.* (*See
Ruth, iv, 7, 8.)
464.
In ancient Egypt there
was yet another reason for these preparations, for a weak current of physical
electricity was sent through the candidate by means of a rod or sword with
which he was touched at certain points. It is not practical here to say more
about this part of the ceremony, except that it is concerned with the
stimulation of an etheric current in the spine that is known to the Hindu
occultists under the name of the ida nadi; it will be more fully
described in explaining the ceremony of raising.
465.
It is partly on the same
account that at this first initiation the candidate is deprived of all m … s,
since they may very easily interfere with the flow of the currents. Very great
importance has always been attached to this part of the preparation, and the
strictest adherence to the rule is necessary. The vigilance of Co-Masonic
officials in this respect should be even greater than is necessary in the
Masculine Craft, because in the intricacies of a lady’s costume it is more
easily possible to overlook some breach of the regulation. Most kinds of
hairpins must of course be rigorously excluded; the same caution applies to
hooks and eyes and many types of buttons and garters. Our Indian Brn. need to
exercise care with regard to the embroidery on dhoties and saris. We have
sometimes encountered sentimental objections on the part of ladies to the
removal of the wedding ring, and I think that similar difficulties sometimes
exist in India with regard to bangles and other ornaments.
466.
Direction on this point
was asked from the H.O.A.T.F., and he said very definitely that modification of
this rule should not be permitted, though He also said that in several cases in
the past, where an official was ignorant of the stringency of the rule, He had
Himself performed an act of healing which validated the initiation. Otherwise;
He requires its strict fulfilment, and intimates that those who feel unable to
comply with this requirement should not join the Co-Masonic Order. We had a
case in which a man inadvertently went through the ceremony with a gold charm
or medal sewn into the lining of one of his garments. This was not remembered
until the conclusion of the ceremony, which of course had to be repeated from
the beginning.
467.
There was another
instance in which by an unworthy subterfuge a feminine candidate succeeded in
retaining a wedding ring until the conclusion of the ceremony and, when this
was discovered, absolutely refused to have it removed that the initiation might
be repeated. The question then arose as to the status of this candidate, who
had irregularly received certain secrets. The decision of the H.O.A.T.F. was
clear and uncompromising, that in spite of the ceremony of initiation she was
not a Mason, and could not in any way be recognized as such. There have been
cases in my Mother Lodge in which it has been found necessary to file through a
tightly-fitting ring; but that can easily be done by a skilful operator, who is
also able to restore the ring quite perfectly to its previous appearance.
Obviously, care must also be taken with regard to spectacles and eyeglasses. We
are given to understand that gold and silver in teeth are not objectionable,
as they are a permanent part of the person.
468.
Another suggestion which
has been made as to the meaning of this stringent prohibition is that the
wearing of m … s would render the candidate ceremonially unclean, therefore his
initiation would be null and void, so that it would be necessary to remove the
m … l and to repeat the ceremony. Some writers have supposed that this feeling
that m … s are to a certain extent impure probably dates from the close of the
stone age. The same idea of conservatism dictated that only a stone knife might
be used in the offering of sacrifices or in the rite of circumcision.
469.
This part of the
preparation is also supposed to refer to the fact that at the building of King
Solomon’s Temple there was not heard within its precincts the sound of any axe,
hammer or tool of iron, as the stones were fully prepared in the quarries and
were laid in their places by means of wooden mauls.
470.
That the candidate
should enter without any v … s on his person is symbolic of the fact that he is
going into a brotherhood in which money, titles, and other distinctions of the
outer world do not count.
471.
The rich man leaves his
rank and state
472.
Outside the Mason’s
door;
473.
The poor man meets his
true respect
474.
Upon the chequered
floor.
475.
The Freemason is equal
to a prince, but brother to a beggar, if he be worthy. In the Lodge this
brotherhood is seen in the entire absence of any favouritism; everyone who
becomes a M.M. may in due course rise to the position of Master of the Lodge.
476.
There is also a personal
side to the matter. He must be “poor”; that is to say, he must not be dependent
upon external wealth and possessions, for they will not avail him in the
progress of the evolution that he is now taking in hand. On the contrary, great
possessions may be a hindrance to him, unless he is a man of such strong
character that he is entirely their master, and can take them up and put them
down at will, and can see them come and go without elation or sorrow. Strictly
speaking, he who enters on the occult path owns nothing at all; though he may
have to handle great wealth and large interests, he cannot feel them as his
personal possessions, to be held for the delight or benefit of his separate
self. He deals with them only as a steward on behalf of God in the service of
man. He has in that sense given all that he had to the poor, and has thus at
the same time become one of the poor himself.
477.
The candidate is
blindfolded for the obvious reason that he shall not see the Lodge or any of
its decorations or arrangements till he has taken the solemn O. on no account
to reveal them to any outsider. Until the O. is taken the candidate is at
liberty to withdraw. There have been cases in which the candidate objected to
the form of the O. offered to him, and declined to proceed further. In such
rare instances he may honourably be permitted to withdraw, and he will be
conducted from the Lodge still blindfolded, so that no question can arise of
his disclosing anything that should be kept secret. As soon as that solemn O.
has been taken, the very first step is to remove the handkerchief from his
eyes. If at any time subsequent to that the candidate should wish to withdraw
he is of course nevertheless bound by the oath of secrecy which he has taken.
478.
The h … g typifies the
state of mental darkness of the candidate. The man in the street thinks that he
sees and knows, but the candidate must now realize that that is not so. He
begins to understand the words of an ancient sage, who said that when it is day
with ordinary men it is night to the wise, but when it is night to ordinary men
it is day to the wise. What looks to men in the world like light and knowledge,
he sees to be ignorance and darkness; and where all is dark to them, he sees.
It seems sad that so little of the true knowledge vital to the well-being and
progress of the human soul is taught in our schools at the present day. Much
time and energy are expended in trying to make a boy a good classical or
mathematical scholar; far less attention seems to be devoted to making him a
man of noble life, an honourable, unselfish, loyal and upright citizen.
Therefore about many of the most important points in life we are truly left to
walk in darkness; and it is precisely from that particular sort of darkness that
Freemasonry delivers its candidates. Therefore they symbolically acknowledge
the existence of the darkness, and are willing to go forward through it in
search of Light.
479.
Moreover, as is said in
the Mystic Charge, it also symbolizes the blank unconsciousness which follows
the passage through the gateway of death, ere the subtler part of the physical
body has fallen away.
480.
The candidate wears a c
… t … about his neck, with the loose end hanging in front, and he is admitted
to the Lodge upon the p … of a naked s … pressed to his left b … These two
things typify the fact that in life men have responsibilities and limitations,
both of which must be taken into account by every wise man; there can be no
turning back from the former, nor any impetuous rushing forward regardless of
the latter. Here again we have a symbol of the two great laws of dharma and
karma. Through dharma - the use of the powers that we have, in the duties of
life that those powers make us fit to perform - there is growth or evolution
from within. Through karma - the outer environment that comes to us as the
result of the actions that we have done in past lives - come opportunities for
progress and sometimes obstacles, which, however, when rightly faced, increase
our inward strength. As Emerson put it, man learns in this world through
tuition and intuition - both externally and internally he is being taught. On
the occult path it is still more important that the aspirant shall proceed
without impetuosity or reluctance, without rashness or fear. Just as one
wishing to walk on a line must go neither too slowly nor too fast, so must the
candidate proceed on the path which is narrow as the edge of a razor. “Festina
lente” might well be taken as his motto.
481.
It should be noted that
the symbolism of the c … t … requires that whoever conducts the candidate
in these earlier stages of the ceremony should in all cases lead him by it, as
well as grasp him by the hand or elbow. It also, as well as the h … k, has been
described as symbolical of the bondage of ignorance under which the candidate
remains until the light of Masonry shines upon him.
482.
This emblem of the c … t
… has also been considered to typify the psychic umbilical cord - the
connecting thread of matter which joins the etheric double to the dense physical
body when the former is temporarily partially withdrawn from the latter - the
“silver cord” mentioned in a well-known biblical passage as being definitely
loosed at death.*(* Ecclesiastes, xii, 6.) Bro. Wilmshurst tells us that
“silver is the technical esoteric term for psychical substance, as gold is for
spiritual, and iron or brass for physical”.* (*The Masonic Initiation,
p. 85.) He suggests also that the c … t … is intended to hint to us that all
the true and higher Initiations take place out of the physical body.
483.
THE INNER PREPARATION
484.
But little is said in
the ritual about the other and even more important aspect of the necessary
preparation of a candidate for initiation into Freemasonry - the inner and
spiritual part of it. At a later stage, when the neophyte is about to pass on
into a higher degree, he is asked: “Where were you first prepared to be made a
Freemason?” and the beautiful and suggestive answer which is put into his mouth
is: “In my heart." In one of the masculine rituals the R.W.M. reminds the
candidate that internally he was prepared to be made a Mason in his heart by
having a preconceived good opinion of the Order, a wish to be ranked among its
members, and a desire for knowledge. Furthermore, in the first lecture the
questioner asks: “What come you here to do?” and the answer is: “To learn to
rule and subdue my passions, and to make further progress in Masonry.”
485.
Before the door is
opened to his knock the candidate has to convince the I.G. that he is rightly
prepared in his mind and heart, as well as in external form. He comes,
announces the T., of his own free will and accord, humbly soliciting to be
admitted to the mysteries and privileges of ancient Freemasonry, and hopes to
obtain them by the help of God, and the t … of g … r …, being free. No man can
tread the occult path on the inspiration of another; he must feel within
himself the impulse, a lack of satisfaction with the things that the world of
ordinary life can give, an inner hunger for the things of the spirit, which
among the Hindus is called mumukshatva. It is a path on which external
things do not stand by to support the traveller, who has nothing but his own
inner strength to sustain him and urge him on.
486.
Though this is so, it is
also happily true that when the man makes this effort for himself he does find
a response from within, and so he is justified in saying that he hopes to
obtain initiation by the help of God as well as by the t … of g … r …
487.
He solicits humbly
because he is looking upwards to the light; his attitude is the exact opposite
of that of the man of pride, who is content to look downwards, enjoying the
comparison of his own greatness with the littleness of inferior persons and
things that come within his supercilious vision. Humility is the possession of
the man of ideals, who is never self-satisfied, because he regards always that
which is above. It is thus the key to the gateway of the upward path. The
humble man will not think that he achieves his triumph by his own proud prowess
alone, but, realizing that all strength is the divine strength, he will
recognize that, like the heroes of old, he is but employing the powers with
which he has been endowed from on high - just as Arjuna in the battle of
Kurukshetra used the celestial weapons presented to him by Shiva during his
pilgrimage in the Himalayas - just as Perseus, in the fearful adventure which
he undertook against the Gorgon, used the helmet lent to him by Pluto, the
shield or mirror of Pallas Athene and the wings of Mercury - just as King Arthur
received the mystic sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. And even Christ
said: “I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, and he that
sent me is with me.”
488.
The t … of g … r …, it
is said, has already been heard in his favour in the Lodge. This phrase has a
double sense. It may undoubtedly be taken as referring to the testimony to the
candidate which has already been given by his proposer and seconder. But
it has also another and more esoteric meaning, which has been beautifully expressed
by Bro. Wilmshurst in Masonic Initiation as follows:
489.
This does not mean of
good reputation. It means that on being tested by the initiating authorities he
must be found spiritually responsive to the ideals aimed at and “ring true”,
giving back a good sound or report like a coin that is tapped to determine its
genuineness. In the wonderful Egyptian rituals in The Book of the Dead,
one of the Titles always found accorded to the Initiate was “true of voice”.
This is the same thing as our reference to possessing the “tongue of good
report”. It does not mean that he was incapable of falsity and hypocrisy, which
goes without saying, but that his very voice revealed his inherent spirituality
and his own speech reflected and was coloured by the divine Word behind it. The
vocal and heart nervous centres - the guttural and the pectoral, as we say -
are intimately related physiologically. Purity or impurity of heart modifies
the tonal quality and moral power of one’s speech. The voice of the real
Initiate or saint is always marked by a charm, a music, an impressiveness, and
a sincerity absent in other men; for he is “true of voice”; he possesses the
“tongue of good report”.* (*Op. cit., p.
31).
490.
Every man pronounces his
own true name. Just as he has his own odour materially, by which a bloodhound
can track him, so has he his sound spiritually; and those who can hear that
sound of his in the inner worlds know where he stands on the ladder of
evolution, and what he can and cannot do. The distinctive sound which every man
has is often spoken of as his chord. Each of his vehicles contains vibrations
of all sorts of different rates, and these blend together so as to make for
each vehicle a certain complex sound - the average sound of the whole vehicle,
somewhat analogous to the composite photographs which we sometimes see, in
which a number of faces are superimposed upon the same plate. Such composite
notes are produced by each of the vehicles - etheric, astral and mental - and
these taken together make up the distinctive chord of the man, by which those
who can hear it can always identify him. This is sometimes called the occult
name of the personality; the true name which is first heard at his Initiation
as an Adept is that belonging to other and far higher vehicles. Much ancient
magic took its power from the knowledge of such names. Thus it is his own
knock, his own report, made with the t …, of the inner self, that opens for the
man the way into the true Lodge.
491.
The stipulation that the
candidate must be a free man takes us back in thought to those ancient days in
which a large majority of men were not free, in which vast hosts of people
lived in the condition of serfs or slaves. We need not think of that great
class as being necessarily ill-treated or degraded. Many of them were men of
other races, whose fate it had been to be taken prisoners in battle; they were
consequently quite often of just as good birth as their captors. In ancient
Egypt at any rate this fact was fully recognized, and it was by no means infrequent
for a slave to marry into the family of his master, when of course he became at
once a free man. It was, however, the immemorial tradition in times of old that
only one who held the status of a free man could be admitted into a Masonic
Lodge. The definition now given of the man who is a fit and proper person to be
made a Mason is that he shall be just, upright and free, of mature age, sound
judgment and strict morals; and this enumeration of qualities gives us some
idea of the inner preparation necessary before the Masonic initiation.
492.
To this qualification
also there is a symbolical meaning, for the man who is aspiring towards the
light ought even already at least to have begun to free himself from the
domination of circumstances, which so hopelessly enslave the ordinary man of
the world. He ought at least to have some glimmering of the truth that these
very circumstances which so limit and oppress him may themselves be used by
the strong soul as steppingstones to a wider and more glorious life.
493.
All these preliminaries
being finished, the R.W.M. issues the command that the candidate shall be
admitted in due course. The I.G. receives him between the two p … s and touches
his 1 … b … with the p …, of the p …, asking him whether he feels anything.
Receiving an affirmative reply he then gives the candidate the solemn warning
that the remembrance of this action should always operate as a reminder if he
should ever be in danger of forgetting his O. to guard the s … s of
Freemasonry.
494.
Just inside the door of
the Lodge stand the S. and J.D.s with crossed w … s, representing thereby the
triangular door of the ancient Egyption Lodge, and also the first of the
symbolical portals through which the candidate has to pass. As he stands within
that portal the candidate is directed to bow his head as a further token of the
humility which should mark the aspirant. From the emblematical point of view
the Lodge typifies the higher world into which man passes when he leaves this
physical plane, so that this first portal represents the gate of death, and in
relation to this the bowing of the head signifies that submission to the divine
will with which the man should enter upon this new field of life, calm, and
ready to receive without agitation whatever may come.
495.
The I.G., having
performed his office, has nothing further to do with the candidate. This we may
take as indicating the fact that the man should withdraw entirely from his
etheric double as soon as may be after entering the portal of death. He is now
taken in hand by the J.D., who signifies the astral body in which the newly
deceased has to live for a time.
496.
The candidate now kneels
at the left of the S.W. while the R.W.M. invokes the blessing of the Ministers
of T.G.A.O.T.U. and that of the Most Worthy and Venerable Master of the Wisdom,
who is the H.O.A.T.F. throughout the world. Once more a true name is sounded,
and the great Master and others stand ready to help the candidate to attain to
wisdom in himself, to display the beauty of divine humanity in his outward form
and actions, and to co-operate with the Supreme Will in evolution, so
preserving perfect harmony between the inner life and the outer form.
497.
By this invocation the
R.W.M. acknowledges that our temple is but a lodge at the gate, an entrance to
the driveway of a greater Temple, the hidden Lodge of which the M.O.T.W. has
charge. In the cyclic progress of civilization the seven rays or types of life
take pre-eminence in turn. During the middle ages devotion, the sixth type, was
predominant, but now the seventh type, which includes many forms of ceremonial,
is coming into force, so that everywhere interest in it is on the increase, and
the time is ripe for a large extension of Masonry, and for the more perfect
working and understanding of its ritual.
498.
Plate X
499.
500.
THE THREE SYMBOLICAL
JOURNEYS
501.
When a man joined the
Lesser Mysteries in Greece or Egypt, it was considered that the first and most
important teaching to be given to him was the truth about conditions after
death, since they felt that a man might die at any moment, and should therefore
be in possession of that knowledge. We continue that practice to the present
day, and as a prominent part of that teaching we take the candidate on the
three symbolical journeys.
502.
There are three portals,
or doorways, through which the candidate must pass. They are invisible to
physical eyes, but are nevertheless perfectly real, because they are made by
thought. The first one, as has already been explained, is an emblem of death,
the passing out of the physical world into the next stage of life in the lowest
part of the astral plane. The candidate enters without sight into that world,
but feels the touch of a friend, who takes hold of his hand or arm and guides
him on his journey. This friend is the J.D. who, it will be remembered,
represents the astral or emotional principle in the human constitution. The
I.G. presides over the first portal on behalf of the R.W.M., of whom he is an
expression on the physical plane.
503.
In the first circuit of
the Lodge, or the first symbolical journey, the candidate finds himself
surrounded by horrible noises, including the clanking of chains and the
clashing of swords, which are intended to tell him of the din and confusion of
the lowest sub-plane of the astral world, where are gathered after death those
who are in bondage to sensual pleasures, or filled with fear, hatred, malice or
revenge. Afterwards the W.J.W. explains that this journey is a faint copy of
the trials through which the candidate had to go in the ancient Mysteries, when
he was led through gloomy caverns, symbolizing the underworld, amid tumultuous
sounds, in darkness, surrounded by perils which he could pot understand.
It is not probable that the average decent person who presents himself for
admission to the Masonic fraternity will have after death any consciousness at
all of passing through this lowest region, but if it should happen so, he will
be prepared to go through the experience calmly and without fear.
504.
As the candidate
approaches the W.J.W.’s pedestal he arrives at the second portal, and is there
introduced to the elementals of earth and water, who are related to the region
through which he has just symbolically come, which may be thought of as
consisting of the solid and liquid sub-planes of the astral world. First he
turns to the north and makes a suitable offering to the earth-elementals, and
then to the south to make his offering to the elementals of the water. They are
not the same creatures as those who were engaged in building the temple, but
they stand quite definitely under their captain, who in turn obeys the W.J.W.
as the guardian of the second portal. These elementals, which are of the kind
sometimes called nature-spirits, gather round, and recognize thenceforth the
man who has been presented to them. After this ceremony, should the man find
himself in any kind of non-physical danger, or in the presence of a malignant
influence, he can draw round him a bodyguard of these beings, on account of the
brotherhood with them that has now been established.
505.
Plate X is an attempt to
show the appearance of this portal. The W.J.W. is seen seated at his pedestal,
which is as it were within the thickness of the wall of the second portal. Over
his head floats the sphere of his Deva-representative, who is surrounded by his
band of assistants. At the right hand side of the portal the earth elementals
are grouped, and on the left side those of the water - tricksy sprites, ready
to play with great gusto their part of resisting intrusion upon their domain
until the candidate is properly presented to them, and demonstrates his
friendly intentions by a formal offering. For the purpose of clearness we omit
from this illustration all that is not necessary for our object; the candidate
and the J.D. who is leading him are not shown, nor are the Brn. in the columns.
Only the W.S.W. appears in the distance, seen faintly through the second
portal. The third portal is of course close to his pedestal; but as it is
exactly similar in shape to the second, though differing in colour, no attempt
is made to represent it.
506.
It is the quality of
discrimination between the higher and the lower, between the real and the
unreal, which has enabled the candidate to pass scatheless through these
regions of the astral world. The J.D., seeking passage for his charge, tells
the elementals that he is a blinded child of mortality, seeking immortality.
Passing through their regions in the course of his pilgrimage to the higher
planes, the candidate is prepared to give up all that belongs to them - all that
matter which appertains to these levels, earth to earth and water to water. In
this region after death must linger all those who cling to the low grade of
emotional existence that embodies itself in this order of matter; only when
they have become purified through suffering, and are ready to give up their low
emotions, can they shake off this matter from their astral bodies, and pass to
higher parts of the astral plane. The candidate will not linger here, for
discrimination has taught him that there are better things. He must henceforth
be recognized as one of the brothers of light and immortality, not in a state
of darkness so far as this level is concerned.
507.
The second symbolical
journey is similar to the first, except that the noise is gentle instead of
harsh. The candidate is still in the astral world, but in the middle part of
it, which is much finer and subtler than that through which he has come. This
is the place of the common human emotions; the former was rather that of blind
passion. The desires that attach ordinary men to the matter of these middle
regions are by no means reprehensible, but on the other hand they are not
uplifting. All the pleasures of the body that are not coarse or gross
build their tenements here, for the abiding of the souls of the dead
until they have tired of these things, and are ready to pass onwards. I have
given an account of these regions and the people living in them in The
Astral Plane and The Other Side of Death, and The First Lieutenant
Sovereign Grand Commander of the Co-Masonic Order, the Very Illustrious Bro.
Annie Besant has also dealt with them at length in The Ancient Wisdom.
508.
The candidate arrives at
the third portal, near the pedestal of the W.S.W., who is its guardian. There,
facing east, he is introduced to the elementals of the air, who guard the right
side of the portal, and facing west, to the elementals of the fire, who guard
its left side.
509.
Desirelessness is the
quality which can pass him through the allurements of this region, so that once
more he gives to the elementals what he carries that belongs to them, and
passes on, their friend, to whom they will be ever ready to lend their
treasures, because they know him as a Brother of Light who will not keep them
for himself, but will use them well and return them in due season.
510.
Of this journey it is
explained by the W.S.W. that in the ancient Mysteries, as the candidate left
the gloomy caverns behind him, he passed into a quiet region, symbolizing the
higher sub-planes of the underworld, whereinto the rougher, harsher sounds did
not penetrate, though still there was some disharmony amid the souls.
511.
It is not inappropriate
that life in the astral plane after death should be thought of as a journey, or
a series of journeys. The “dead” person does go through a series of well-marked
changes, as his astral body becomes more and more purified by the elimination
of its denser grades of matter. During life the man’s emotions have been acting
like magnets, drawing into the astral body coarse astral matter of the lower regions
when they have been base, and fine matter of the higher levels when they have
been lofty. After death the man has to sojourn on each of these levels in turn
until he has eliminated its grade of matter from his astral body. The Mason who
knows this meaning of the symbolical journeys will be prepared after death to
use his will so as to vanquish his lower emotions, free himself quickly of the
heavier matter, and pass rapidly onward into the heaven-world.
512.
The third symbolical
journey is trodden in the perfect silence that typifies the highest part of the
astral plane, on the very borders of the heaven-world. At the end of this the
R.W.M. tells the candidate that the dead man whose experience he has been
repeating had at this stage reached the threshold of the heavenly world, where
perfect silence lulled the weary senses and calm peace enfolded him. The lower
world lay below him; before him the joys of heaven; and in the interspace was
silence. This was, and is, his experience in the true Mysteries; it was
symbolized by utter silence in the mysteries of Egypt and Greece; in
Freemasonry it is kept in memory in the silence of the third symbolical
journey.
513.
At this point the
journeys end. No further elementals or portals are mentioned in the ceremony,
though there are seven orders in all, and many ancient peoples have recognized
them in their worship by bowing to the devas of the N., S., E. and W., the
zenith, the nadir and the centre of all. The candidate is not going beyond that
particular region of the astral plane on this occasion; he is merely being
introduced to a world which he will have to visit many times before he can
traverse it readily, and live and work there with perfect ease. In this stage
of his career he symbolizes the pupil on the probationary path, and must
practise the three qualities of discrimination, desirelessness and
good-conduct or self-control, which will make him free of the emotional plane,
as he was free of the physical plane before he entered the Lodge. Further
information as to these requirements will be found in At the Feet of the
Master, by J. Krishnamurti, The Path of Discipleship, by the V
.·.·. Ills .·.·. Bro .·. Annie Besant, and my own book The Masters and the
Path.
514.
Three kinds of dangers
these qualities will help him to overcome - dangers from the outside world,
dangers from his own lower nature, and dangers from within himself, that is,
from his own virtues, if they be unbalanced. The s … d at his b … typified the
first of these; later on he will find the s … of his own lower nature in place
of it, and later still the c … s that typify the triangle of his higher self,
whose very virtues may be exaggerated to become his undoing unless he is ever
watchful to keep poise and calmness, and to walk on that Middle Way which the Lord
Buddha has described as the path of safety.
515.
In course of time the
candidate, through the practice of these three qualifications, will be able to
range the entire plane at will. For this activity discrimination will give him
the mental power, desirelessness the emotional power, and good conduct the
will-power; and in the highest part of the region no ceremony will ever be
needed in order that he may pass through without hindrance, for everything
there is instantly responsive and obedient to the enlightened human will. The
Brothers of Light are easily recognized there.
516.
This portion of the
ritual is mainly derived from the symbolic or blue degrees of the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite, but does not appear in the working of the Grand Lodge
of England. In the Scottish Rite ritual worked in Lodges under the auspices of
the Supreme Council of France the three symbolical journeys exist, with noise
and clashing of swords in the first, with a “cliquetis d’armes blanches”
in the second, and perfect silence in the third, but there is no invocation of
the elementals, although the journeys are compared to the ancient trials by
earth, air, fire and water.
517.
An interesting
confirmation of the use of these trials or journeys is given in the
transactions of the A.Q.C., in an account of his own initiation by Robert
Guillemand, the man who killed Lord Nelson at Trafalgar by shooting him from a
French ship. He was initiated during the siege of Strasburg, and tile account,
which is dated 1807, says:
518.
It took place accordingly,
with all the splendour circumstances admitted, in a hut about 15 ft. in length
and 6 in breadth, where there was no room to stand up, but which served as a
Temple notwithstanding. After having made my journeys, which were not very long
ones, undergone the trials by fire and water, and the usual tricks, received
the signs, words, touches, and other forms, the adjutant, who was our orator,
addressed me a very fine speech, in which he explained to me the sublimity of
the character I had just obtained, creating me a child of the Light.
519.
In masculine Masonry in
England swords are not brought into the Lodge, and in the days when gentlemen
used to wear swords, they left them outside; but with the Co-Masons they are
used in Lodge as powerful instruments of love in the practical magic of the
ritual.
520.
THE O …
521.
The candidate is now
standing in the north-west corner facing the east, and the W.S.W. presents him
to the R.W.M. as one properly prepared to be made a Freemason. At this point he
is given an opportunity to withdraw if he so chooses, but having declared his
determination to go forward without fear or rashness, he is led to the altar,
the place of Light, by the p … s … s. The first s … is taken with the l … f …
pointing forward, and the r … f … is brought up to it at right angles, h … to h
… - a s … about n … i … long. The 1 … f …, is first moved because it is nearest
the heart, and should remind the candidate to let love have the primary
authority in all his decisions. The second and third s … are similar, but of t
…, and f … i … respectively. Three s … s there must be, because the qualifications
are three; the quality of love is sometimes counted as a fourth, but really it
must permeate them all, and when it is strong it will carry the disciple up
into the higher path of the next degree.
522.
There are two reasons
for the length of these three s … s. Each one carries a man forward further
than the preceding one. That is the way of evolution. Every step that is taken
adds to a man’s strength, so that his next step will be both stronger and
longer. Always something is gained but nothing is lost, so that his speed
increases on this path by arithmetical progression, and later on he may expect
geometrical progression and even progression by squares, in his advance.
523.
Again, nine, twelve and
fifteen are in the proportions three, four and five, which reminds us of
the Pythagorean theorem, which is of constant use to the human architect, and
presumably in some greater way in the plans of the G.A. Himself. To the P.M.
especially belongs the use of this great tool, but even now the E.A. should
learn to reverence it and aspire to use it later on.
524.
While the candidate k …
s at the a … to take his O. some Brn. from the seats in the west of the Lodge
usually stand round behind the candidate, forming a hollow square touching the
corners of the altar, with their s … pointing towards the candidate while the
Master takes from him his O. While standing in this attitude each Bro. should
fig his attention upon the candidate, and should endeavour to pour forth upon
him with all his strength the blessing which, as a M.M., it is within his right
and power to give.
525.
Many candidates are
surprised at the terrible solemnity of the O., which has come down to us from
the Middle Ages. In those times the Masons were teaching facts about the inner
life and the nature of man for knowing which the Church would have burnt them
alive, and there was thus great need for secrecy, to an extent that excuses the
strong language used in the O., especially when it is remembered that had one
person revealed anything, it would have placed all the rest of the Lodge in
danger of being judicially murdered.
526.
The recitation of the O.
being completed, the Brn. standing round bring their swords to the carry, that
is, upright in the hand, with the elbow in the form of a s …, and the Brn. in
their seats in the east stretch out their r … a … horizontally in blessing, and
swords and arms are both raised as all sing, “May the vow be kept”. When these
words are uttered every Bro. should wish with all his force that the candidate
may have the strength to keep the vow which he has just taken.
527.
The R.W.M. now creates,
receives, and constitutes the candidate an E.A.F., with k … s with the g …
upon the f … s … placed upon his s … s and h … in turn. Though the R.W.M.
confers the degree, he is of course acting on behalf of the H.O.A.T.F., and is
a channel for his power. Obviously also the three touches of the f … s … convey
different aspects of that power, corresponding to the three Aspects of the
blessed Trinity, the first conveying strength to the brain, the second love to
the heart, and the third executive ability to the right arm. The general effect
of this downpouring of force is to widen somewhat the channel of communication
between the ego and the personality of the candidate - another example of the
curious correspondence between the admission to this degree and the ordination
of the sub-deacon.* (*See The Science of the Sacraments, p. 315.)
528.
Now that the solemn O.
of secrecy has been taken the h … k is removed and the blessing of light is
restored to the candidate. In commenting upon this Bro. J. S. M. Ward says:
529.
Notice the word restored.
Mystical re-birth marks the beginning of our journey towards the light, of our
ascent towards God, but it is a restoration - a journey back to Him from whom
we came. Exactly the same procedure is followed in the initiatory rites of the
Turkish dervishes. Among them the incident is followed by a beautiful exposition
of the mystical meaning of Light. It is the divine light, emblem of God
Himself, and of divine inspiration. It is present not only in the sacred
writings, but in every true believer’s heart. The light of the sun itself is
but a faint similitude of the divine light of God’s love through which and in
which we have our being.
530.
THE E …1 I … s
531.
On being restored to the
blessing of light, the eye of the new A. falls upon the t … g … e … l … s in
Freemasonry. The furniture of the Lodge here reappears under this new name, but
as we have already discussed the matter in Chapter III, we need not repeat here
the explanation of the symbology involved.
532.
In the Co-Masonic ritual
the R.W.M. now raises the newly-made brother to his feet and turns him round so
that he sees for the first time the Brn. with their s … s at the carry. He
explains to him that he must not regard this martial display as a menace, but
as a symbol of the protection with which Freemasonry henceforth surrounds him.
The Brn. then return to their seats.
533.
The neophyte is led to
the north, facing the W.J.W., and stands there, within the cella,
subject to the special force which plays in that region, while the R.W.M.
stands in front of him and instructs him. First the Master draws the
candidate’s attention to the three great columns upon which a Lodge of Freemasonry
symbolically rests - those of the R.W.M. and his two Wardens, symbolizing
respectively wisdom, strength and beauty or harmony. These have already been
explained in Chapter II. In the masculine ritual this explanation of the three
columns is put somewhat differently, as they are there described as the three
lesser lights, which are explained to be the sun, the moon and the Master of
the Lodge. This connects up modern Masonry with much old symbology in which the
moon and the sun largely figure.
534.
THE S … AND P …
535.
In this situation the
R.W.M. also instructs the N. in the s … s of this degree, a s …, a g … and a w
… The s … in this degree is often supposed to be related to the p … mentioned
in the O., but the s …, existed long before the p …, which was invented to fit
it. Among the Egyptians the same p … existed, and even before them among the
Nilotic negroes in Egypt, and probably in other places as well. It mattered
enormously to an ancient Egyptian that his body should be cast into the
waves, and that he should not be decently buried with the proper rites, which
he believed would set him free from the physical body, to which otherwise he
might be tied. In the ghost stories of Homer, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, in
nearly all cases when unhappy ghosts returned they did so because they wanted
their bodies to be buried with proper rites, in order that they might be set
free. The same idea appears in Hindu thought, as, for example, in the Garuda
Purana, in the story of the ghost of Sudeva, who was released by King
Babhruvahana. This neglect of ceremonial would not matter to us in modern
times, because we have not those ideas; but it is a literal fact that after
death a man’s own thought could keep him bound in that way until he knew or
believed that his body had been properly interred. So this was a very ancient p
… In reality the s … refers to a certain chakra and its working, as I have
already explained. It is, of course, not permissible to describe the g …, but
it will not be difficult for a Freemason to understand that it implies the
repression of the astral body, which is the first of the superphysical
principles of man.
536.
EXAMINATION AND
INVESTITURE
537.
The J.D. next takes the
N. to the pedestals of the W.J.W. and the W.S.W. for examination of his
knowledge of the s … g … and w …, and he stands before each for a little while,
during the series of questions and answers, within the beehive form which has
been described in Chapter IV. While he is standing in that place, the force of
the inner planes plays upon him with concentrated intensity, and strengthens
him in the qualifications which he has to develop.
538.
At the command of the R.W.M.
the W.S.W. now invests the new Bro. with the distinguishing badge of a
Freemason, the a …, which has already been described in Chapter IV. Having thus
invested the neophyte, the W.S.W. delivers a little homily, in which he refers
to the great antiquity and dignity of this symbol, and the R.W.M. adds to this
a remark on the importance of not entering the Lodge if one Bro. is at variance
with another. On this point Bro. J.S.M. Ward makes the following very
suggestive remarks:
539.
At first sight this may
seem a somewhat unnecessary charge. Normally well-conducted gentlemen are not
likely to start an unseemly wrangle in Lodge, even if they are at enmity; and
should two men so far forget the common decency of life as to do so, the R.W.M.
has ample power to deal with the situation. The real significance of the
injunction is that it implies that the mere presence of two brethren who are at
variance will disturb the harmonious atmosphere of the meeting. This is a
purely spiritual atmosphere, and the belief that such disturbance would occur
without any open disagreement is correct. In short, such differences disturb
the spiritual atmosphere, preventing concentration, and can be detected by
sensitive individuals. Every Lodge has an atmosphere of its own, and any sensitive
man who comes to it can detect it. I have myself noticed the different
atmospheres of various Lodges, and also variations in that of my own. Too much
regard therefore cannot be paid to this rule, and if it is ignored the Lodge
will certainly suffer.* (*The E. A.
Handbook, pp. 78, 79.)
540.
After this advice has
been given, the new A, is directed to his seat in the north-east part of the
Lodge, that being the point of the compass where the Egyptians believed that
the sun began his journey when he was first created.
541.
THE WORKING TOOLS
542.
The interpretation given
to the working tools of the E.A. in ordinary Craft Masonry is explained to the
new Bro. by the W.J.W. at his initiation. This officer does it because he is in
charge of the chamber where the E.A.s work.
543.
In masculine Craft
Masonry the t … f … i … g … is described as indicating a measure of time, to
remind him that the hours of his day are to be spent not in mere carelessness
or selfishness, but partly in meditation and study, and partly in labour,
refreshment and sleep; in Co-Masonry we add “but all in the service of
humanity”. It is also explained that this symbol indicates that accuracy and
precision are essential for the proper conduct of our lives.
544.
The E.A. is further
taught that the c … g …, reminds us that skill without exertion is of little
avail, and that labour is the lot of man. It also represents the force of
conscience, which should keep down all vain and unbecoming thoughts, so that
our feelings and actions may be pure and unpolluted. Thirdly, comes the c … l,
which points out that education and perseverance are necessary to establish
perfection, and that the rude material of our natures receives its polish and
refinement from repeated efforts alone.
545.
In ancient Egypt rather
a different signification was given to these tools - a little nearer to the
original, since it is obvious that education and conscience are not exactly
tools for a man to use. It will be noticed that all three are specially connected
with the shaping of the stone. As the operative mason shapes the rough ashlar
into the perfect ashlar by removing the excrescences and smoothing and
measuring it, so must the E.A. in speculative masonry train himself perfectly
in morality. In ancient Egypt the apprentice remained in that condition
usually for seven years, until he satisfied those in authority that he was fit
to pass on to the second degree. In the present day the qualifications have
become little more than the lapse of time and the answering of certain
questions.
546.
In early Christianity
there were three recognized stages through which everyone had to pass who
wished to make progress - purification, illumination and perfection. St. Paul
said: “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.” This is often
misunderstood. Obviously, if the people were perfect in the modern sense of
the term, they would not need to be taught at all. These words are not used in
their ordinary sense; they are technical terms used in connection with the
Mysteries, and well known by all educated people of that period as being so
used. What St. Paul said was: “We teach the gnosis, the secret wisdom, only to
those who have attained the degree of perfection,” or, as a Mason would put it,
the degree of the M.M., because those three stages correspond in a general way
to the three degrees in Masonry. Nowadays, the Christian Church seems to stop
at the first stage – purification - and to regard it as its greatest work to
make people saints. That is indeed a very high and noble thing, but in the
older days of Christianity, to make a man a saint was only a preliminary stage.
St. Clement of Alexandria, one of the greatest of the Christian Fathers, says:
“Purity - that is only a negative virtue valuable chiefly as a condition of insight.”
When the man had made himself perfectly pure and holy in his life, he was
eligible for the second stage, that of illumination, and only after he was
fully illuminated could he pass on to the stage of perfection, and so become a
channel for God’s power.
547.
EGYPTIAN INTERPRETATION
OF THE WORKING TOOLS
548.
In ancient Egypt the t …
f … r i … g …, or as it was then, the t … f … e i … g … or sacred cubit of the
great pyramid, was nearly the same as ours. Their unit of measure, the inch,
was derived from the accurate knowledge which the Egyptians had of the polar
diameter of the earth, one five-hundred-millionth division of this being the
pyramid inch. Our English inch of the present day was derived, through Greece
and Rome, from this Egyptian measure, but it is not quite the same unit as that
which was used in the building of the great pyramid. In the course of time it
has been made a little shorter; it has lost about one thousandth part of
itself, so that the pyramid inch is 1.0011 of the English inch. It is only in
the last century that men have come to know the length of the equatorial
diameter of the earth, but the polar diameter was known long ago.
549.
Many countries still
retain measures of length derived from the pyramid inch, but in France the
decimal system was adopted. There they have the metre, which was intended to be
one ten-millionth part of a quadrant of the earth, measured over the surface
from the pole to the equator. Later they discovered that this measure was not
perfectly accurate, so a metre is now a conventional length standardized by a
bar kept in Paris, just as a standard yard is kept in London.
550.
Scientific knowledge in
that ancient land was in some respects fully as advanced as our own indeed even
more advanced than was ours until very recently. The Mysteries included a
thorough and liberal education, and especial stress seems to have been laid
upon chemistry, astronomy and geodesy. In the very early ages when the great
pyramid, the House of Light, was built, a vast amount of information was already
in the possession of those who erected that stupendous monument, and they so
designed its proportions as to enshrine within it in what they hoped was an
indestructible form a great deal of this invaluable knowledge. For example, the
perimeter of the base (36,524 pyramid inches) is to the height (5,813 pyramid
inches) as is the circumference of a circle to its radius, i.e., mathematically
2π. It is interesting, too, that the base circuit measures in pyramid
inches exactly the number of days in a hundred years. The exact size of the
earth is also indicated there, as well as a number of other calculations
connected with the solar system. Many of these have been carefully worked out
by R. A. Proctor, the English astronomer, and Sir Gaston Maspero, the French
Egyptologist, to whom I was introduced by Madame Blavatsky. Davidson and
Aldersmith, in The Great Pyramid, present a large amount of information
on this subject. They remark:
551.
The external features,
dimensions and units of the Great Pyramid, when studied in plan, will be found
to give precisely and accurately every essential value of the earth’s orbit and
its motions. This includes the values of the sidereal and solar years, the mean
sun-distance, the sun’s diameter, and the maximum and minimum values of the
eccentricity of the earth’s orbit.* (*Op.
cit., p. 95.)
552.
The great pyramid was a
house for initiations, and if some criminal Muhammadan fanatics had not
destroyed the outer casing of it we should still have there, enshrined in
stone, measurements of many astronomical phenomena more accurate than any that
were available to us until the last century. It is only recently that reliable
measurements have been obtained by European astronomers of the average distance
of the earth from the sun. When I was a boy we were taught that it was
ninety-six million miles; then they got it down to ninety-three million; later,
calculations were made from very careful measurements of the mean equatorial
horizontal solar parallax, taken at the time of the transits of Venus in 1874
and 1882, and they estimated it at ninety-two and a half million miles. I
remember that Mr. Gladstone announced that in the House of Commons, and it
aroused great interest at the time. In the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica it is given as 92,998,000 miles. The ancient Egyptians made it
92,996,08 miles; who shall say that they may not have been nearer to the truth
than we?
553.
In ancient Egypt the t …
f … i … g … was taken as the symbol of instinct. I am using there a word which
is generally applied only to animals, and I do not want it to be
misunderstood. By instinct was meant an inner feeling - the instinctive
feeling that we have with regard to things. To this they attached a great deal
of importance. They considered it as having two sides - the negative or the
receptive, which gives us the feeling as to whether a thing is good or bad, or
suitable or unsuitable for us - and an active side which we should now call
taste; that is, the knowing exactly what is the right thing to have and to do,
and what things will go together, will fit and harmonize. In relation to our
fellow-creatures that would be tact. So the meaning of this idea of instinct
was much wider than that of the present day.
554.
In those days people -
at least in Egypt, in Crete, in Greece - lived very close to nature, in the sunshine
and fresh air, and they enjoyed those things in a way which we see now only
perhaps among great poets and artists. They were nearer to the heart of things,
and therefore their instincts were much more trustworthy than those of most
people at the present day. Instinct was thus with them a definite tool to be
used in the shaping and building of character. A good deal of that has been
lost, as modern people have for so long led such artificial lives and have
usually allowed their reason to override their instinct, even when that reason
has had little material on which to found its judgments. I have myself had
these instincts on many occasions, and I believe the experience is quite
common; sometimes I have put them aside as not prompted by reason, as many men
do, but in the long run I have always been sorry for not paying more respect to
them. The instinct is not dead, and when encouraged can be revived by many
people to quite a large extent.
555.
The Egyptians took the c
… l to symbolize the intellect, which they regarded as a keen-edged instrument.
They considered that the man who used his intellect would be able to remove the
excrescences of superstition from the beliefs which presented themselves to
him, until he became a perfect ashlar, when his thought would be well-defined
and true. The c … g … was considered to be the divine force behind the c …, and
was interpreted as the will. This must not, of course, be confused with the
Master’s g … 1, with which it has nothing in common, from which it differs even
in shape. The distinction is also made clear by the fact that this tool is
always spoken of as the c … g …
556.
In his work, The
Magic of Freemasonry, Major A. E. Powell has made an interesting study of
the working tools of the first degree, in a chapter specially devoted to them.
He takes the t … f … i … g … as a symbol of the wisdom of the R.W.M., who has
to measure and plan as he rules, the g … as an emblem of the strength of the
W.S.W., it being the instrument for the transmission of force, and the c … for
the beauty of the W.J.W., it being the tool used for shaping the material. He
points out that all our accurate or scientific knowledge is based on
measurement, symbolized by the t … f … i … g …, that all our work in life is
done by the movement of matter, effected by our energy which gives blows to it,
for which the g … is the symbol, and that the c … is typical of the
concentration of our purpose, as it cleaves through matter. Thus, he says, we know
with the t … f … i … g …, we feel with the c …, and we act with the g … Each of
these tools, he adds, must be taken as typical of a class - the t … f … i … g …
for all measuring instruments, the g … for all implements and machines for
applying force, the c … for all tools used for cutting and penetrating matter.
557.
CHAPTER VII
558.
THE SECOND DEGREE
559.
THE QUESTIONS
560.
A PARALLEL has already
been drawn between the three degrees of Blue Masonry and the three stages of
progress recognized by the early Christian Church. Just as the conquest of
passions and emotions is prescribed for the first degree, thus corresponding
with the idea of purification, so in the second degree the idea of illumination
is put before us in the reminder that its special object is to develop the
intellectual, artistic and psychic faculties. As is stated in our ritual, the
candidate for this degree must first give proof of his proficiency in the
First Degree. I mentioned in an earlier chapter that in ancient days the E.A.
remained at that stage for a period of seven years; and indeed in some cases
the period was even longer, since the candidate was carefully watched in the
conduct of his daily life by his superiors, and it was only when they were
fully satisfied that he had fairly developed the necessary qualities within
himself that he was permitted to pass on. In these days no time limit seems to
be set, although in the Co-Masonic constitution it is understood that he shall
have attended a certain definite number of Lodge meetings and also a special
class held at regular intervals for the instruction of E.A.s. He is also
expected to be able to repeat by heart the O. of the First Degree and to answer
in open Lodge a few prescribed questions.
561.
To the first of these we
have already referred; it is of importance because it strikes the keynote of
the whole, for when the candidate is asked where he was first prepared to be
made a Freemason, he is instructed to reply: “In my heart”, thus showing that
the inner preparation is regarded as of even greater importance than the outer.
He has then to describe the physical-plane preparation and to explain that he
was initiated in the body of a Lodge just, perfect, and regular.* (*See p. 88.)
562.
Then comes the quaintly
expressed idea that the sun is always at its meridian with respect to Freemasonry,
which may be interpreted that the Logos is always pouring forth His full power
through each Masonic Lodge, wherever it may be situated. There seems to have
been a stage in Masonic history in which it was the custom to divide the Lodge
into three, or to hold it in three rooms, the outermost being that of the
E.A.s, with the W.J.W. in the chair, while in the second room the W.S.W.
presided over the F.C.s, and it was only in the third room that the R.W.M. sat
in charge of the M.M.s. That has been given as a reason why the S.D., having
conveyed the commands of the R.W.M. to the W.S.W., has to await the return of
the J.D. from the outer room. According to that theory, as the W.J.W. presides
over the Lodge of the E.A.s, and as he represents the sun at its meridian, it
is fitting that the ceremony of initiation should be said figuratively to take
place at midday.
563.
Then comes Freemasonry’s
curious description of itself as “a peculiar system of morality, veiled in
allegory and illustrated by symbols”. This reply has always seemed to me
somewhat misleading. It is not the Masonic morality which is peculiar, for that
is the same which is proclaimed by every religion in the world; what is perhaps
rightly to be claimed by Freemasonry is that its statement of the system is
peculiarly felicitous, and that the method of its illustration is unique and
forceful. Freemasonry is certainly one of the most interesting and influential
of the secret societies of the world, numbering in its ranks some five millions
of men pledged to observe the ties of brotherhood; and in its wonderful
pageants of ceremonial - in the rituals of its many degrees, orders, chivalries
and rites are enshrined splendid ideals and deep spiritual teaching of the
most absorbing interest to the student of the hidden side of life.
564.
Although today Masons do
not call their Craft a religion, it has nevertheless a religious origin, as we
have already seen, and it does religious work in helping its initiates and
through them the rest of the world. To many of the Brn. it is the only real
religion they have ever had, and certainly many of them put its principles
nobly into practice: for masculine Masonry is a stupendous charitable
organization as well as a “system of morality”, and it offers a splendid
training in practical kindliness and fraternity. In England and its colonies
and in the United States of America Masonic charities are on a magnificent
scale, and there are many exceedingly well-managed Masonic schools and
orphanages. On this account, and because of the excellent character of
its members, Masonry is highly respected, although in France and Italy it
has lost caste to some extent because it has there allowed itself to become
identified with anti-clerical political parties. Unfortunately Modern Masons
have altogether lost sight of what might be called the inner charity - their
power on higher planes. They would scarcely understand if one should say to
them: “You ought to be sending out streams of thought-power; that should be one
of your forms of charity.” It is a pity that that inner work should be so much
overlooked, for it is a tremendous agency for good, and one in which every Bro.
can take part. External charity depends upon the private wealth of the few; but
any Mason, however poor, can give his thought.
565.
Naturally, Masonic
Lodges are not all at the same intellectual level, and some spend far too much
time in banquets and too little in study; but one has only to read the
literature on the subject to see that, in English-speaking countries at least,
the aims of the Craft have always been noble and uplifting. Note, for example,
the following statements:
566.
The real object of
Freemasonry may be summed up in these words: to efface from among men the
prejudices of caste, the conventional distinctions of colour, origin, opinion,
nationality; to annihilate fanaticism and superstition, extirpate national
discord, and with it extinguish the fire-brand of war; in a word - to arrive,
by free and pacific progress, at one formula and model of eternal and universal
right, according to which each individual human being shall be free to
develop every faculty with which he may be endowed, and to concur heartily and
with the fullness of his strength in the bestowment of happiness upon all, and
thus to make of the whole human race one family of brothers, united by
affection, wisdom and labour.* (*History
of Masonry, Rebold, p. 62.)
567.
The whole world is but
one Republic, of which each nation is a family, and every individual a child.
Masonry, not in any way derogating from the different duties which the
diversity of States requires, tends to create a new people, which, composed of
men of many nations and tongues, shall all be bound together by the bonds
of Science, Morality, Virtue.* (*Morals
and Dogma, by Albert Pike, p. 220.)
568.
That the sentiments
expressed above have not remained mere theories is shown by the following
extract from Dr. Churchward’s Arcana of Freemasonry:
569.
Only a few years ago we
in this country went through great and acute tension - that danger which
threatened war between us and the United States of America. That has passed,
and will never return in an acute form again. Why? Because the Brotherhood sent
their great representative, the Grand Master of Illinois, to this country, and
I had the great pleasure to meet him at the Q. C. Lodge, when he gave the
message of peace and brotherhood: “There shall be no war between the United
States of America and England; we are of one Brotherhood, and the Freemasons of
the United States have decided that there shall be no war, now or ever, between
the two countries, and I am delegated to come here and tell you this, representing
over a million of Brothers, and ask you in return to say there shall be no
war.”* (*Op. cit.., p. 75.)
570.
This is a splendid
testimony to the power of the Masonic tie. It is unfortunate that an attempt
made later to prevent the great European war should have failed; for the
Prussian Grand Lodges, when a similar appeal was made to them, refused to
support the movement for peace.
571.
The next question asked
is as to the principles on which our Order is founded, which are usually given
as brotherly love, relief and truth. Great prominence is rightly given to these
three virtues in the ritual of the masculine Craft, and in the lectures
officially prepared to be used in its Lodges they are described as follows:
572.
By the exercise of
Brotherly Love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family,
the high and low, rich and poor, created by One Almighty Being, and sent into
the world for the aid, support, and protection of each other. On this principle
Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion, and by its dictates
cultivates true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a
perpetual distance.
573.
To relieve the
distressed is a duty incumbent on all men, particularly among Masons, who are
linked together by one indissoluble bond of sincere affection; hence, to soothe
the unhappy, sympathize in their misfortunes, compassionate their miseries,
and restore peace to their troubled minds, is the grand aim we have in view; on
this basis we establish our friendship and form our connections.
574.
Truth is a Divine
attribute, and the foundation of every Masonic virtue; to be good men and true
is a lesson we are taught at our Initiation; on this grand theme we
contemplate, and by its unerring dictates endeavour to regulate our lives and
actions. Hence hypocrisy and deceit are or ought to be unknown to us, sincerity
and plain dealing our distinguishing characteristics, while the heart and
tongue join in promoting each other’s welfare, and in rejoicing in the
prosperity of the Craft.
575.
The rest of the
questions, though quaint, seem self-explanatory, and the various points which
they raise have been already considered.
576.
The p … g . . . and the
p … w … are then given to the candidate. In connection with these it is
interesting to note that a sheaf of corn is often carved on the chair of the
W.S.W. as his emblem; and this is probably connected with the fact that an ear
of corn was shown to the aspirant as symbolical of the supreme mystery at
Eleusis, indicating to him at the same time the universality of evolution and
the indestructibility of life. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”* (*John,
xii, 24.) It is perhaps worth noting that the p … g … between the First and the
Second Degree indicates the necessity for the conquest of that peculiar entanglement
of the lower mind in the meshes of desire which in Theosophical literature is
spoken of as kama-manas. Bro Wilmshurst remarks:
577.
This [the p … w …] is
meant to be descriptive of the candidate himself, and of his own spiritual
condition. It is he who is an ear of corn planted near and nourished by a fall
of water. His own spiritual growth, as achieved in the Apprentice stage, is
typified by the ripening corn; the fertilizing cause of its growth being the
downpouring upon his inner nature of the vivifying dew of heaven as the result
of his aspiration towards the light.* (*The
Meaning of Masonry, p. 119.)
578.
THE PREPARATION
579.
It will be noticed that
in the preparation of the candidate the same principle is followed as that
which governed the corresponding ceremony in the first degree. The l … a … is
made b … because it is through that that the power is to be poured down, and
also because during the ceremony of Passing the 1 … e … is to be supported by
the s … In the same way the r … b … is treated in a similar manner because the
I.G. will touch it with the s … on admitting the candidate to the lodge. As
before, the r … k … is uncovered and the l … h … s … p - s … d, because these
are the points in contact with the highly-magnetized floor or altar-cushion,
during the taking of the O. and the actual conferring of the degree.
580.
THE INNER PREPARATION
581.
The inner preparation in
this degree is in part the same as that in the first, for the C. hopes to
obtain the privilege of being passed to the Second Degree by the help of G …,
the assistance of the s …, and the virtue of a p … g … and p … w … The square
here mentioned is the quadrilateral of the personality. Two things must happen
with reference to that: it has been brought into subjection, as is implied in
his treading upon it on entering the Lodge, but it has not lost its strength
and activity thereby; it is as active as ever, but now all its energy is turned
to the service of the real man, the higher self. That higher self incarnated in
a personality for the sake of acquiring definiteness; the ego on his own plane
is magnificent, but vague in his magnificence, except in the case of men far
advanced on the road of evolution. Now, in the symbolism of this degree, the
personality has seen with all clearness that the purpose of life is to serve
the higher; he throws himself into the task with vigour and so gives some of
his definiteness to make the purpose of the ego clear to himself; he makes a
call to the Warrior within, to use the symbology of Light on the Path.
582.
THE OPENING
583.
While the preparation of
the C. is taking place the R.W.M. once more calls upon the Brn. to assist him
in opening the Lodge, but this time in the Second Degree; and yet again he
begins with the universal question, but very slightly varied: “What is the
first care of every F.C.F.?” And he receives the invariable answer: “To prove
the Lodge close tyled.” In the same form as in the First Degree he directs that
that duty shall be done, and the inquiries and answers come just as before. Yet
this tyling is not quite the same as the former. In each case the building of
the enclosing wall takes place on all the planes; but in the First Degree
attention is principally focused upon the astral world, and the defence set up
at that level is incomparably stronger than the others, because that is most
needed when a determined effort at astral purification and development is being
made. It is as though in that purification the density of the candidate’s
astral body is reduced, and therefore the pressure on it from without becomes
greater than usual, so that a special defence is required. In the effort made
in the ceremony of the Second Degree it is upon the mental body that a similar
pressure is exercised, and therefore the effort at strengthening the defences
is centred in the mental plane. Thus the tyling of the Lodge in the opening of
the Second Degree is not by any means a repetition of the previous ceremony,
but gives rather an added security at a higher level.
584.
Nevertheless it is
eminently necessary that on the lower level also there should be no possibility
of disturbance; consequently the next step is to reinforce the astral defences
by calling upon the Brn. to stand to order as E.A.s, that action being as
before a definite assertion of the power of the Brn. at that level and a
calling together of its forces. When that is done the R.W.M, calls upon the
W.J.W. asking whether he is a F.C.F. Although he is in essence the leader, the
teacher and the mouthpiece of the E.A.s., he is also the representative of the
higher mental; and consequently he answers immediately that he is a F.C.F., and
asks that that fact shall be proved. The R.W.M. inquires by what instrument he
will be proved, and he at once replies: “By the s …”
585.
The next question and
answer as to the character of the square shows us that what is meant here is
the tool of the working mason, the tool which symbolizes the spiritual will,
not the quadrilateral. On the other hand, as the candidate enters the Lodge in
this degree the other form of the s … is also brought into requisition, for
that upon which he treads as representing the lower nature, the personality, is
certainly the geometrical figure. The Brn. are then asked to prove themselves
as F.C.s, and when they have done so first the W.J.W. and then the R.W.M.
repeat with emphasis the proof which has been given, thereby striking the
keynote and expressing the peculiar quality of this degree. For just as the
conquest of the passions and emotions is the prominent object of the E.A., so
is the conquest and control of the lower mind the especial purpose of the
Second Degree.
586.
This is for most people
a far more difficult conquest than the other; and in the case of many
candidates the mental faculty has first of all to be aroused. We all believe
ourselves to be at least capable of thinking; and yet the truth is that
comparatively few people can think effectively. A person possessing a slight
degree of clairvoyance can speedily convince himself of this if he will take
the trouble to examine closely the thought-forms of those whom he meets in
daily life. The vast majority of these are of vague and uncertain outline; it
is among the rarest of phenomena to see clear and definite forms among the
thousands that float about us. Thus before real progress can be made in the
control of thought it is necessary for the average candidate to acquire the
power of clear thought. As Ruskin remarks in The Ethics of the Dust:
587.
The great difficulty is
always to open people’s eyes to touch their feelings and break their hearts is
easy; the difficult thing is to break their heads. What does it matter, as long
as they remain stupid, whether you change their feelings or not? You cannot be
always at their elbow to tell them what is right; and they may do just as wrong
as before or worse; and their best intentions merely make the road smooth for
them - you know where. For it is not the place itself that is paved with them,
as people say so often. You cannot pave the bottomless pit, but you may the
road to it.
588.
So the first necessity
for our candidate of the Second Degree is to control his mind, if he has
anything worth calling a mind to control; and if he has not, to develop it. And
this is the whole trend of the Degree and of its ceremonies; to that end he
must study; to that end he must strive to open various centres in his higher
bodies. He is told that it is his duty to make a daily advance in Masonic
knowledge.
589.
It will be remembered
that the S.D. is the especial representative of the mental body, so naturally
it is he who takes charge of the candidate, and bears the principal part in the
work of this degree. It is interesting to note the change of colour that comes
over the Lodge when it is opened in this degree - not that the distinctive hues
of the light-globes of the various officers are lost, but that they are all
modified by the admixture of a dominant tint which blends itself with them
all. That master-colour was crimson in the E.A. degree, while in the F.C. it is
yellow.
590.
The chakra which we seek
to awaken in this degree is a centre within the astral body which gives the
power to sympathize with the emotional vibrations of others, so that the man
instinctively knows their feelings; and when the corresponding etheric chakra is
also stimulated it brings those experiences into the physical body, so that he
becomes aware even on this plane of the joys and sorrows of his fellow-men.
Forces from the spleen centre, such as have been described in Chapter V, are
playing through this chakra also, but this time it is the yellow ray which goes
to the heart, and after doing its work there passes to the brain and permeates
it, directing it principally to the twelve-petalled flower in the midst of the
highest force centre at the crown of the head. The connection of this especial
centre with the Second Degree is obvious when we remember its characteristics
of companionship and service, its association with T.G.G.O.T.U., the second
member of the Trinity, and the buddhic principle in man.
591.
The prayer which is
offered just before the Lodge is declared open is that the Craftsmen may be
enlightened in the paths of virtue and of science, and the Lodge is declared to
be opened on the s … for the instruction and improvement of F.C.F.s.
592.
It is of deep significance
that in the invocation of this degree the R.W.M. uses for the Logos the title
of the Grand Geometrician. Long ago Plato said that God geometrizes, and a
study of crystallography will show vividly how true that is with regard to the
building up of beautiful mineral forms. In the higher kingdoms also the student
finds the same wonderful evidence of order and regularity. Indeed, the more
deeply we study the processes of nature the greater in every direction becomes
our admiration for the wonderful work of Him who made it all.
593.
THE E.A.’S LAST WORK
594.
The candidate having
once more proved himself as an E.A. has to perform his last work in that
capacity. On this occasion it is the S.D. who leads him, as he is now
especially concerned with the lower mind, which must be controlled and
developed by the F.C. He brings him first to the pedestal of the W.J.W., gives
him a mallet and chisel, and instructs him to k … on his l … k … and give three
blows with the mallet, striking the chisel on the rough ashlar. The stone taken
from the quarry has all its sides irregular. Strictly speaking, it is not an
ashlar until the A. has made it regular in form, and at this point he puts the
finishing touches to that work; but still the stone will have to be smoothed
and polished before it is ready for lifting into the edifice, and that is part
of the work of the Second Degree. Looking over with the inner sight a number of
people gathered together, such as the audience at a lecture or theatre, or the
congregation at a church, one sees that most of them are astrally and mentally
very much out of shape, like rough stones, or even like twisted, stunted trees,
that have grown in an unfavourable clime. Such are not yet apprentices in any
kind of Lodge.
595.
THE FIVE STAGES
596.
The five stages are
journeys round the Lodge, at the end of each of which the candidate is given
certain instructions, from a printed card and by word of mouth, while he
carries the tools appropriate for their practical realization. The journeys are
outward signs of the raising of the candidate’s consciousness through the
planes.
597.
In the first stage he
carries the mallet and chisel, and learns about the five senses-touch, hearing,
sight, taste and smell. This is the physical stage, for the physical body is not
valuable in itself, but only as the vehicle of the senses, through which a man
gains knowledge of the physical world with which to direct his work. It is
these senses in his body which must now receive his attention, that they may
serve him well.
598.
On the journey of the
second stage the A. carries a rule and compasses, and learns something of the
Arts. These are classified as architecture, sculpture, painting, music and
poetry - all forms of beauty - a sufficient indication that all true work
produces what is beautiful. The rule and compasses are to remind him to apply
the principle of geometry to his feelings, guiding and controlling his astral
body, so that his work will express high emotion and arouse it in others.
599.
In the third stage the
A. is supplied with a rule and level, and he reads and hears about natural
science - mathematics, geometry, philosophy, biology and sociology. He is now
dealing with the mental plane and his bodies thereon, and the rule and level
tell him of the order, balance and common sense that are necessary in this
work.
600.
At the next stage the
candidate finds himself no longer dealing with the things of his personal
nature, but looking upwards to that higher part of himself which will come to
flower in the later part of his path. He sees such matters first of all in the
lives of great men and women who have adorned the pages of history. He carries
a pencil and book, and learns of the benefactors of humanity - sages, artists,
scientists, inventors and legislators. All of these exemplify the unity of
mankind, since they live not for themselves alone, but with a clear
consciousness of the happiness and sorrows of mankind, and a great desire to
help and to give. Here is expressed that quality of human nature which springs
from the principle of buddhi on the plane beyond the mental, where there
is direct intuitional vision of the unity of life.
601.
Beyond this is the last
and fifth stage, which the candidate treads with his hands free, ready to take
up any instrument that is required at any moment. In this he learns of service
- that the highest ideal of life is to serve. Well do the brethren sing:
602.
Thou shalt show me the
path of life; in Thy presence is the fullness of joy; and at Thy right hand
there is pleasure for evermore.
603.
I will behold Thy
presence in righteousness: and when I awake up after Thy likeness, I shall be
satisfied with it.
604.
For this is the path of
the spirit, the One behind the many, the first cause. Of that first cause the
Christ said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work,” and Shri Krishna,
speaking as the Deity, explained in the Bhagavad Gita that were He to
abstain even for a moment from His activity, His service of the world,
everything would fall into ruin. The rule that service is the highest ideal in
life was thus initiated by the Most High, and it is the plain duty of those who
would be His faithful servants to follow in His steps.
605.
THE FIVE S … S
606.
The candidate must now
advance to the east by the proper s … s. These are five, and are taken as
though ascending a winding staircase, which in the t … b … brings the F.C. to
the door of the middle chamber of the temple. With regard to the middle chamber
Major Meredith Sanderson writes as follows:
607.
This term is a
misreading of the original Hebrew, and is admitted as such by all authorities.
The correct reading of I. Kings vi., 8, is as follows: “The door for the lowest
row of chambers (not ‘for the middle chamber’) was in the right side
of the house, and they went up with winding stairs into the middle row, and out
of the middle into the third.” That is to say there was a row of chambers on
each storey and the winding stairs reached from the ground floor to the top
storey (cf. v. 6, where the word chamber should read storey, and Ezek. xli,
7.)* (*An Examination of the Masonic
Ritual, p. 31.)
608.
The F.C.s pass into that
chamber, says the explanation of the t … b …, to receive their wages, which
they do without scruple and without diffidence. The F.C.s have no scruple about
taking that which they have earned, and have no doubt that they will be paid
exactly what they deserve. This refers not only to the perfect fairness and
absolute justice of the Masters of the Great White Lodge (one of whom once
said, “Ingratitude is not one of our vices”), but also to the great law of
karma. That is a divine law relating living beings to their environment in this
world, so that a man shall be given that for which he has worked, neither more
nor less. It is therefore God’s will that every man shall have what is his
due; he need not fear to take what comes to him (which embodies an opportunity
for greater service) and he need not imagine that anything which he deserves
can be stolen from him or mislaid. “Be not deceived,” said St. Paul, “God is
not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”* (*Gal. vi, 7.)
609.
Not only will he receive
in the future the exact result of what he does now, but it also follows that
what he is receiving now is the exact result of what he has done in the past,
either in other lives or in the earlier part of this life. Therefore if
suffering comes he knows that he has deserved it, for otherwise it simply
could not happen.
610.
Another interesting
point is that we are told, in the explanation of the t … b … that the
F.C.s were paid in specie, which symbolizes the reward of toil not
directly remunerated by its results, but that the E.A.s received their
wages in corn, wine and oil.
611.
Corn and wine at once
call to mind the sacred elements in the Christian Eucharist, and also the myth
of the sun-god, who rises into mid-heaven to ripen the corn and the grape, and
thus gives of his life for the benefit of others. These are types of the things
most valuable to man; and to say that anyone is paid in corn and wine thus
means that the richest of earth’s treasures are the reward of his work, and
that at the same time they carry with them the blessing of God.
612.
The oil typifies the
great gift of wisdom. As oil is expressed from the olive, so is wisdom culled
by the soul of man from all his experiences on earth. When all the material
results of work have perished, as in the case of the dead and gone
civilizations of antiquity, still the wisdom resulting from all the efforts
made and the experiences suffered remains in the heart of man. The reward of work
in the world is not only outward, in the things that are gained, but also
inward, in the heart and mind of man himself.
613.
All these rewards came
to the E.A. as the natural result of his work, according to karmic law, he
feeling and enjoying them all, and learning without special intention; but the
F.C. is more wide awake to what is happening. He uses discrimination, and
should have completely controlled his feelings, so that he is in a position to
decide for himself what he will have as the result of his labour, what shall be
his eating and drinking, his giving and taking, his reading and companionship.
He takes his pay in specie, and buys what he will - no longer a child, but a
responsible man. He seeks experience and wisdom; it need not be thrust upon him
or given from the outside.
614.
But in all that use of
his wealth and power and opportunity, the C … n’s ideal should be service. He
has to be as an ear of corn by a fall of water for others, so that his presence
shall always be a blessing to them, a source of their spiritual nourishment,
their happiness and true prosperity.
615.
The winding form of the
staircase may be thought to indicate that evolution is always in the form of a
spiral, not of a straight line. We are constantly coming round again to the
kind of work and knowledge and duty that we have done before, but always at a
higher level. So in successive incarnations on his human pilgrimage each man
will go again through childhood, youth, maturity, ripening and fruitful age,
but as he evolves each of these stages will be more perfect than it was before.
616.
The spirals of evolution
are still more far-reaching, so that the successive divisions of human life
give us an epitome of the kingdoms of nature. The human embryo in the course of
its growth takes on the appearance of each of the earlier kingdoms in
succession; and besides that, in the development of the human body the
gestation period reflects the downward course of the elemental kingdoms
mentioned in Theosophical literature; from birth to about the age of seven we
have a time in which the wisest educationists consider that the child’s
physical nature should receive more attention than the emotional and
mental; next up to the age of about fourteen there is an epoch in which the
right development of the emotions should have chief consideration; then follows
another term to the age of about twenty-one when the teacher should appeal
especially to the unfolding powers of the mind.
617.
The last three ages may
be taken to correspond to a certain extent to the mineral, vegetable, and
animal kingdoms; in the first of them consciousness is in the physical plane,
in the second it is developing in the emotional plane, and in the third the
lower mind gradually gains ground, and leads on to the stage when man becomes
the true thinker. There is then a long period of middle life - the real human
career. That is followed in turn by the epoch of old age, which ought to
bring wisdom; this is as yet often imperfect in most people, being but an
adumbration of the superhuman heights of future attainment.
618.
When the Lord Buddha
walked the earth He was once asked by a disciple to sum up the whole of His
teaching in one verse. After a moment’s thought He replied:
619.
Cease to do evil;
620.
Learn to do well;
621.
Cleanse your own heart;
622.
This is the religion of
the Buddhas.
623.
We may surely trace here
some correspondence to the teaching of the three degrees in Masonry. The
teaching of the First Degree is that of purification, of the purging from the
nature of all that might lead the man to selfish and ill-considered action.
That of the Second Degree instructs the man to seek knowledge - to acquire the
mental development which will not only preserve him from evil-doing, but will
clearly prescribe for him a definite course of altruistic action. The first
makes the man negatively good, while the second is positive; but both refer to
actions upon the physical plane. The third instructs the man to rise to a
higher level and to consider not merely outward action but the inner condition
of which all outer manifestation should be an expression.
624.
THE O.
625.
This brings us to the O.
of the candidate, which however contains singularly little that can be thought
of as applicable to the special study and development of the Degree. He
pledges himself to act as a true and faithful C … n, to acknowledge s …, obey s
… s, and maintain the principles inculcated in the First Degree.
626.
The R.W.M. then proceeds
to create, receive and constitute precisely as in the First Degree; but anyone
who possesses the inner vision will notice a more decided widening of the link
between the ego and the personality, so that it is opened up as a definite
channel for the downpouring of force - a channel which the candidate can
utilize with marked effect if he sets himself to work upon it and through it.
Unfortunately most candidates receive no instruction as to the inner side of
the ceremony, and are consequently unable to avail themselves of the really
wonderful privilege. In this respect also, as in the former degree, there is a
certain parallel between the passing of a F.C. and the ecclesiastical
ordination to the diaconate; and at the same time a link is made between the C
… n and the H.O.A.T.F. in those Lodges where He is acknowledged.
627.
As in the case of the
widening of consciousness which we have just mentioned, this wonderful link
with the great M.O.T.W. is for the candidate exactly what he likes to make of
it. It may be of the very greatest benefit to him; it may change the whole of
his life and enable him to make rapid progress along the path of initiation; or
on the other hand, if he entirely neglects it, it may make but very little
difference to him. When such a link is made with the Lord Christ for the deacon
at his ordination, the very work which the deacon has to take up keeps the
possibilities of his destiny before him; but with the uninstructed Freemason
this is usually not so, and he often continues to live his ordinary life all
unaware of the magnificent opportunity which has opened before him. We see
therefore how heavy is the responsibility of the Master of the Lodge when the
duty is laid upon him to employ and instruct his Brn. in Freemasonry.
628.
Bro. Ward, in his F.C.’s
Handbook, strongly emphasizes the idea that in this degree we are dealing
especially with the preservative Aspect of the Deity. He writes:
629.
The s … of f … implies
not merely fidelity to his O …, but obedience to the rules of T.G.G.O.T.U. We
can hope to be preserved only if we conform to those rules laid down by Him for
our preservation … The h … s … is said in our rituals to be the sign of p … y …
r or p … r s … e, but in its essence it is the sign of preservation, the sign
associated with God the Preserver, under whatsoever name He is called,
throughout the world.* (*Op. cit., p.
31.)
630.
He goes on to explain
that it is found in this association in Egypt, in India and in Mexico,
and that it was so used by the Roman Collegia and the Comacini. He also
draws attention to the fact that the distinguishing badge of this degree has on
it two blue rosettes, symbolizing the rose. Blue was the colour of Isis, and is
that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose emblem is the rose. The triangular flap,
which in the First Degree was worn with the point upward, to indicate that the
spiritual had not yet entered into control of the material, is now turned down
to show that the higher is supposed definitely to be taking charge of the
lower. We shall see this same symbolism carried further still when we consider
the sublime degree of the M.M.
631.
Just as the g … of the
First Degree showed the necessity of the conquest of the desire nature, so does
that of the Second Degree show the need at this stage of full control of the
lower mind. We may compare the instruction implied here with that given in
Light on the Path on the killing out of various kinds of desire, and that in The
Voice of the Silence: “The mind is the slayer of the real; let the disciple
slay the slayer.”
632.
In the Co-Masonic ritual
the R.W.M. tells the neophyte twice over in almost the same words that he
is now expected to make the hidden mysteries of our science his future study;
but
633.
Bro. Ward remarks that
in the masculine ritual the second statement is that he is now permitted to do
so. He attaches great importance to this, as showing that the compilers of the
ritual were well aware of the danger, both for themselves and for others, which
exists for men who attempt to develop and use higher powers without having
first given proof of exalted moral character in the previous degree.
634.
THE WORKING TOOLS
635.
The working tools of
this degree are the same as the movable jewels, and we have already dealt fully
with them under that heading.
636.
The new F.C. is now
promoted from his seat in the N. E. to another in the S.E. of the Lodge.
He is following the path of the sun which (in the northern hemisphere), rises
in summer north of east and proceeds through the east to the south, giving more
and more service to the world as he advances, until he rises to his highest
point in the south, and then goes towards his setting in the west, and his
resurrection to a new day, of which we shall hear more in due course.
637.
CLOSING THE LODGE
638.
In the closing of the
Lodge in the Second Degree there is only one matter that calls for special
mention. The R.W.M. asks the J.W. what he has discovered, where it is situated,
and to what it alludes, and he receives the reply: “A s … d S … l, in the c …
of the building, alluding to T.G.G.O.T.U.” There seems to be considerable
diversity of opinion as to what this sacred symbol should be. All are agreed
that it is set underneath the Blazing Star, and is in some sense a reflection
of it. Since the letter G appears within the star, the same letter is sometimes
inlaid in the floor. This is thought by Major Sanderson to be merely a modern
substitute for the all-seeing eye, to which in the masculine ritual the R.W.M.
makes reference in explaining the symbol. Bro. Ward, however, prescribes that
the point within a circle limited by two straight lines should be inlaid in the
floor in brass. Both these arrangements seem open to the objection that the
symbol would be always present, and could therefore hardly be described as
discovered in the working of the Second Degree only. It has been our practice
in a certain Lodge to use the movable seven-pointed star as the symbol, and to
lay it on the floor only during the working of the F.C. Degree. In the
Co-Masonic ritual the comment that the R.W.M. makes is as follows:
639.
Brn., let us remember
that, as He is the c … of His Universe, so is His reproduction of Himself the c
… of ourselves, the Inner Ruler, immortal, and that our whole nature must be
conformed to That whereby it lives.
640.
CHAPTER VIII
641.
THE THIRD DEGREE
642.
THE OPENING OF THE LODGE
643.
WHEN all is ready for
the opening of the Lodge in the Third Degree the R.W.M. once more commands the
W.J.W. to see that the Lodge is properly tyled. This time the forces with which
we have to deal in the work of the meeting will be mainly on the higher mental
plane, so the defences of the Lodge are now reinforced at that level by the
invisible hosts, and therefore a blue tinge henceforward predominates, though
the lower levels are by no means neglected.
644.
The Brn. are then called
to order as Craftsmen, and the R.W.M. turns to the W.J.W. again, with the
question: “Are you a M.M.?” On his replying that he is, the Master asks him by
what instrument in architecture he will be proved, and he replies: “By
the square and compasses.”
645.
This means that a M.M.
may be tested and known by the fact that both the higher self and the lower
self are in working order, are functioning together and in harmony. The M.M. is
symbolical of the Initiate of the fourth degree, whom the Buddhists call the
Arhat; at that stage of attainment on the occult path the battle against the
lower quaternary is practically over, and the latter has become an obedient
instrument in the hands of the higher triad, which is awake and active in all
its three parts.
646.
Next the R.W.M. puts a
number of questions alternately to the W.J.W. and the W.S.W., and they answer
as acting together. A little later on it will be seen that they act together
also in the work of raising an F.C. to the degree of M.M. On the present
occasion the W.s tell the R.W.M. that they have come from the east and are
going to the west to seek the genuine s … s of a M.M., which were lost by the
untimely death of the Master H.A., and that they hope to find them on the c …
647.
THE C …
648.
It will be remembered
that at the closing of the F.C. Lodge it was asked of the J.W. what the
brethren had discovered while in the position of F.C.s, and the reply was that
they had found a s … s …, in the c … of the building, which stood for God. The
consummation of the F.C. work was to discover that c …; but the M.M. has his
eye upon it all the time as the place where he hopes to find the lost truth.
649.
It is on the c …, the
officers now say, that they hope to find the genuine s … s of a M.M. It is by
finding in himself that deeper Self which is the Monad, beyond even the higher
triad, that the M.M. will at last discover the supreme secret of life, and will
then find in very truth by his own living experience that he is and always has
been one with God. There is something almost Vedantic in this Masonic
conception of lost s … s, for the Vedantins say that in this maze of life men
have lost themselves, as it were, in a great and terrible forest, and now
their entire aim in life is to escape from it and to find that real happiness
which is the very nature of their own true and essential being.
650.
A study of the meaning
of the working tools of a M.M. throws much light on this subject of the c …; we
will therefore treat of them here, instead of later on in the chapter.
651.
The working tools of the
third degree are the s … t, the p … and the c … The s … t is an
implement which acts on a centre pin, whence a line is drawn to mark out the
ground plan of the intended structure. Pith the p … the skilful architect
delineates the building in a plan for the instruction and guidance of the
workmen. And the c … enable him to ascertain with accuracy and precision the
limits and proportions of its several parts. So runs the ritual.
652.
But there is a meaning
deeper than this, for these are the tools with which the Arhat is to become an
Adept. In earlier degrees his consciousness had to be raised from the s … to
the c …, that is, from the quadrilateral to the triangle, from the lower to the
higher self; but now it has to be raised from the triangle to the point, from
the higher self to the Monad. The Monad is now beginning to work its will in
the higher self, as before the higher self worked its will in the lower. The s
… t represents the action of that Monad, as it turns upon a centre pin, and
sends out a line from its own body as it spins the web of life, just as a spider
spins its web from its own body. The p … marks that chosen path or ray of
the Monad, the line of life and work which the Arhat must discover and on which
he must specialize in order to make rapid progress. And the c … once more
represent the triangle, the powers of the triple spirit which he must use in
his work.
653.
The conversation between
the R.W.M. and the W.s goes on to define the c … as a p … within a c …, from
which all parts of the c … ce are equidistant, and to say that it is a p …
from which a M.M. cannot err. I have already written on this subject in Chapter
II, but I could here add that there is a great distinction between the things
of the natural world and those of the inner life of consciousness. All
material objects are characterized by boundaries - they are delineated; but the
inner life always proceeds from a centre, so that it is quite impossible to set
bounds to love or thought. They take their rise in and stand upon a centre, and
radiate from that. The circumference of their circle is nowhere, but the centre
is within the man. When he has risen to the fullness of his divine nature the
circumference will still be nowhere, but the centre will be everywhere; no life
whatsoever will be excluded from his sympathies. That is what is symbolized by
the statement that all parts of the c … ce are equidistant from the c … The
M.M. who keeps his eye on that c … and acts from that p … cannot err. It is on
that c … that the R.W.M. opens the Lodge.
654.
Still one point in the
conversation remains for consideration. The officers state that their journey
is from the east to the west. This may be taken to refer to the path of the
sun, which is typical of the path of the Initiate. Here we have the well-known
solar myth again. The sun is new-born at the beginning of the year in the
darkness of winter; he struggles through the clouds of the early spring, which
seem to threaten his life; in the summer he rises to his highest point in the
sky, giving freely of his life to ripen the corn and the grape. But now enemies
close around him; autumn hems him in with its shadows, and at last he falls
stricken before the onset of winter. Yet, passing through a figurative death in
the west, he discovers the secret of renewed life, and rises once more in the
east and ascends again into the mid-heaven. So in many successive lives he has
to deal with the world, and gradually to disperse the clouds of ignorance which
resist the unfoldment of his potentialities, before he can rise into the high
noon of his glory at the completion of his work of temple-building, when he
finally travels onward into the west and finds the secret of perfect
immortality. Then he need journey no more, for he has reached the centre and is
at rest; he has become a pillar in the temple of God, and he shall go out
therefrom no more.
655.
But in the preparation
for this high consummation both East and West take part. Although the East has
always been the place of light, whence comes all knowledge, yet when the sacred
word was lost men journeyed westward in the hope of finding it, and the
chivalry of the West joined with the philosophy of the East in that high
quest. The East contributes the spiritual teaching, but the West provides the
accuracy and definiteness which make it readily assimilable, and the practicality
which enables us to apply it to the helping of the outer world.
656.
THE PREPARATION
657.
In the preparation of
the candidate both a … are made b … because in the due-guard both are raised in
blessing; both b … are laid open to the double influence of the c …, which have
always at the same time a positive and a negative quality, conferring
simultaneously power and sensitiveness, one point being always at rest in the
centre, while the other describes a circumference.
658.
However far we may
travel from God, and however long and hard the journey, the divine spark within
us can never be truly separated from Him, or err from that Centre.* (*The M.M’s Book, by Bro. J. S. M. Ward, p.
22.)
659.
Both k … are b …,
because both are used in the ceremony, and both h … are s … p - s … d because
in this way the fullest advantage is taken of the very concentrated
magnetization of the mosaic pavement.
660.
THE INTERNAL PREPARATION
661.
In this degree the
candidate seeks his object by the united aid of the s … and c …, which may be
taken to signify that his development depends upon the right use both of the
body and the soul, the square and the triangle. In the method of symbolism
adopted the candidate is always required to look forward to that which shall
be, rather than to rest content with that which is. The perfection at which the
M.M. is aiming will be attained in its fullness only when the three points of
the triangle, the spiritual will, the intuition and the intelligence shall be
fully aroused and in entire control of the four lower vehicles - the mental,
astral, etheric and dense physical bodies.
662.
As Bro. Powell has said:
663.
In the Third Degree in
Freemasonry we find an appeal quite different and distinct from those of the
two preceding degrees. The M.M. comes within the range of a fresh influence,
entering a new world, piercing through another of the veils which separate him
from a true understanding of life - and death. Perhaps the most characteristic
feature of the Degree is this atmosphere which it creates, so real and yet so elusive
in description - a sense of mystery.* (*The
Magic of Freemasonry, p. 92.)
664.
ENTERING THE LODGE
665.
As he enters the Lodge
he is received upon the points of the compasses, and through them he gains the
first touch of this higher atmosphere, this new influence of the M.M, degree.
The raising of the Lodge to a higher degree changes the dominant vibrations,
not only of the Lodge as a whole, but of every Bro. present. That is why it is
necessary that a Bro. who was not present at the opening of the Lodge in a
higher degree - as for example the candidate for passing or raising - needs a
special pass-word, a word of power, which is intended to do quickly for his
vibrations what the opening ceremony has done more gradually for those of his
Brn. In the p … g … leading from the Second to the Third Degree is shown the
necessity of extending self-control still further, and gaining some mastery
over that strange intermediate tract beyond the lower mind which in a certain
school of thought is denominated the subliminal consciousness.
666.
In this Degree, as in
the others, he kneels under a triangle made by the crossed wands of the deacons
while the blessing of T.M.H. is invoked; indeed, it is noteworthy that all the
O.s in Craft Masonry are taken within that same triangle, indicating that the
whole of the threefold man, body, soul and spirit, is engaged in the work that
is being done. Bro. Ward draws attention to the fact that the candidate now
takes three symbolical journeys, as in the First Degree, but with a different object:
667.
He first satisfies the
W. J.W., representing the Body, that he is an E.A. - i.e., a man of good moral
character. He next satisfies the W.S.W., representing the Soul, that he has
benefited by the lessons of life and acquired intellectual knowledge. Then
comes the third journey, when he is once more challenged by the Soul, who
demands the P.W. … Let us combine these meanings. He comes laden with worldly
possessions, which in themselves carry the seeds of death, unconsciously
representing in his person the worker in metals who made the twin columns and
is about to be entombed. Therefore the Soul presents him to the Spirit as one
properly prepared to carry out the part of his great predecessor.* (*The M.M.’s. Book, by J. S. M. Ward, pp. 28,
29.)
668.
THE SEVEN S …
669.
In all the Degrees the
candidate advances towards the East, the place of Light, but in each Degree
more than in the previous one. In the first he takes three s … s - though even
then they steadily increase in length - 9, 12, 15; in the second not only are
there five instead of three, but they tend definitely upwards and form a
staircase. In the third there are seven, and furthermore, the first three are
symbolically over an o … g …, showing that, on the higher plane to which the
winding staircase led him, the candidate has triumphed over death, and marches
on unwaveringly along his path of progress on the other side of it. Some
writers think that in taking these s … s over the o … g … the candidate should
after the first s … face due north, after the second due south, and after the
third due east, looking thus at the three entrances to the temple, through
which H.A.B. endeavoured to escape.
670.
THE O.
671.
He then takes the M.M.’s
O. - perhaps one of the finest and most far-reaching that have ever been
written. If only every M.M. kept his pledge to the uttermost, in spirit as well
as in letter, this earth of ours would soon become a veritable heaven. To quote
again from Bro. Powell:
672.
“Faithful unto death”
may well be taken as the motto of the M.M., and if this were truly the keynote
of his whole life, then indeed would Freemasonry have performed a splendid
service to all men, and its name would be honoured above all other names from
generation to generation. If every M.M, could carry out his O … without
evasion, equivocation or mental reservation of any kind, and prefer to suffer
death rather than slander a Brother’s good name or fail to maintain at all
times the honour of a Brother as his own, then indeed would there be, right in
the heart of humanity, such a brotherhood as would bring the completion of the
H.T. almost within range of our earthly vision. Such a standard of fidelity
amongst M.M.’s would in time lead humanity to so high a level of goodwill that
not only would men cease from injuring one another, but even inaction in a deed
of mercy would become action in a deadly sin. This, and nothing else, is the
true meaning of the F … P … of F …, to uphold which the M.M. is pledged. It is no
light matter to enter the First Portal and become a Freemason; it is an even
more serious undertaking to take the O … of a M.M. and swear to be faithful
unto death. Let every M.M. ponder this well and re-affirm to himself, by all
that he holds sacred, his determination, in all cases of trial and difficulty,
to follow the noble example of the great symbolic figure who suffered death
rather than be false to his oath.* (*The
Magic of Freemasonry, p. 98.)
673.
The O. needs no comment,
save perhaps a reference to the promise to attend meetings when called “if
within the length of my c … t …” It has apparently been the custom to interpret
this as meaning “within three miles”; it probably was originally equivalent to
“within convenient walking distance”. Assuredly no M.M. who understands how
great is the privilege of taking part in the work of the Lodge will be likely
to disregard any such call if it is in any way possible for him to respond to
it.
674.
In this case, as so
often in others, Bro. Wilmshurst gives us a beautiful mystical interpretation,
taking the c …, t … to represent the “silver cord” which links the subtler part
of the body to the denser, and suggesting that a Bro. who for some good reason
cannot obey a summons physically may yet attend astrally and take part in the
ceremony on a higher plane. If this explanation be accepted, the length of the
c … t … would be the distance to which the M.M. finds himself able to travel
astrally. It is perfectly possible and even eminently desirable that the M.M. should
attend Masonic meetings astrally, in this way giving his strength and his
blessing to many Lodges, and doing much more work for the Craft than he can do
by confining himself to his own Lodge. A closer study of the physics of the
higher life will show him that the actual “silver cord” is observable only when
etheric matter is withdrawn from the dense body, as in the case of a medium and
that the connection between the astral and physical vehicles of the ordinary
man is a wonderfully exact sympathetic vibration; perhaps better symbolized by
a chord of music than a cord of silver; but the interpretation is nevertheless
quite permissible.
675.
THE ETHERIC FORCES
676.
The O … being taken, the
R.W.M. proceeds to the actual ceremony of admission, the external ritual
of which is the same as in earlier degrees, except for the k … s and the name
of the degree; but the inner effect is very different.
677.
In each of the previous
Degrees I have referred to certain currents of etheric force which flow through
and around the spine of every human being. Madame Blavatsky writes of them as
follows:
678.
The Trans-Himalayan
school … locates Sushumna, the chief seat of these three Nadis, in the central
tube of the spinal cord, and Ida and Pingala on its left and
right sides. Ida and Pingala are simply the sharps and flats of
that Fa of human nature, which, when struck in a proper way, awakens the
sentries on either side, the spiritual Manas and the physical Kama, and subdues
the lower through the higher. …* (*The
Secret Doctrine, vol. iii, p. 503.)
679.
It is the pure Akasha
that passes up Sushumna; its two aspects flow in Ida and Pingala.
These are the three vital airs, and are symbolized by the Brahmanical thread.
They are ruled by the will. Pill and desire are the higher and lower aspects of
one and the same thing. Hence the importance of the purity of the canals. …
From these three a circulation is set up, and from the central canal passes
into the whole body. …* (*Ibid., p. 537.)
680.
Ida and Pingala play along the curved wall of the
cord in which is Sushumna. They are semi-material, positive and negative, sun
and moon, and they start into action the free and spiritual current of
Sushumna. They have distinct paths of their own, otherwise they would radiate
all over the body.* (*Ibid., p. 547.)
681.
It is part of the plan
of Freemasonry to stimulate the activity of these forces in the human body, in
order that evolution may be quickened. This stimulation is applied at the
moment when the R.W.M. creates, receives and constitutes; in the First Degree
it affects the ida, or feminine aspect of the force, thus making it
easier for the candidate to control passion and emotion; in the Second
Degree it is the pingala or masculine aspect which is strengthened, in
order to facilitate the control of mind; but in this Third Degree it is the
central energy itself, the Sushumna, which is aroused, thereby opening the way
for the influence of the pure spirit from on high. It is by passing up through
this channel of the sushumna that a yogi leaves his physical body at
will in such a manner that he can retain full consciousness on higher planes,
and bring back into his physical brain a clear memory of his experiences. The
little figures below give a rough indication of the way in which these
forces flow through the human body; in a man the ida starts from the
base of the spine just on the left of the sushumna, and
682.
Figure 14
683.
684.
the pingala on
the right (be it understood that I mean the right and left of the man,
not the spectator); but in a woman these positions are reversed. The lines end
in the medulla oblongata.
685.
The spine is called in
India the brahmadanda, the stick of Brahma; and the drawing given in
Fig. 14(d) shows that it is also the original of the caduceus of
Mercury, the two snakes which symbolize the kundalini or serpent-fire
which is presently to be set in motion along those channels, while the wings
typify the power of conscious flight through higher planes which the
development of that fire confers. Fig. 14(a) shows the stimulated ida
after the initiation into the First Degree; this line is crimson in colour. To
it is added at the Passing the yellow line of the pingala, depicted in
Fig. 14(b); while at the Raising the series is completed by the deep
blue stream of the sushumna, illustrated by Fig. 14(c).
686.
The stimulation of these
nerves and the forces which flow through them is only a small part of the
benefit conferred by the R.W.M. when he wields the sword at the moment of
admission. I have already referred to the widening of the connection between
the individuality and the personality, and to the formation of a link between
certain principles of the candidate and the corresponding vehicles of the H.O.A.T.F.
The changes induced are somewhat of the same nature as those which I have
described on page 319 of The Science of the Sacraments, but of a less
pronounced character.
687.
I cannot emphasize too
often or too strongly that while these effects are absolutely real,
unmistakable and universal, their result in the spiritual life of the candidate
depends entirely upon himself. The link made with the H.O.A.T.F. and the
widening of the channels of communication offer the man an opportunity quite
unparalleled in the ordinary life of the layman; but they in no way compel him
to take that opportunity. If through ignorance or sluggishness he makes no
attempt to utilize the new powers bestowed upon him, they remain dormant; if he
uses them intelligently they steadily increase in effectiveness as he becomes
more familiar with them. As Bro. Ward remarks: “The spiritual benefit a man
receives from Freemasonry is in exact proportion to his desire and ability to
comprehend its inner meaning.”* (*The M.M.’s Book, p. 3.)
688.
HIRAM ABIFF
689.
It is only after the
candidate has received this wonderful outpouring of spiritual strength that he
is subjected to “the greater trial of his fortitude and fidelity” which is
involved in the symbolical part of the Degree. A most remarkable drama now
unfolds itself before him, and he finds himself quite unexpectedly enacting the
part of its hero. The setting of the piece is well-arranged and effective; the
darkening of the Lodge, the verses which are sung, the music which is played,
the special vestments adopted both for the officers and the candidate - all the
surroundings are admirably calculated to enhance the general impression which
it is desired to create. Under such circumstances the newly-made M.M. hears
for the first time the traditional history which plays so important a part in
the Masonic scheme.
690.
The name commonly given
to this extraordinary narrative is perhaps somewhat inappropriate, for a little
consideration soon shows us that it cannot seriously be considered as
historical in the ordinary sense of the word; but if we accept it as a legend,
and invest it with a moral significance, we shall find that it has much
to teach us. We need not doubt that its central figure Hiram Abiff really
lived, nor that he was sent by his namesake, Hiram, King of Tyre, to work for
King Solomon in connection with the decoration of the temple. He is described
in Jewish scripture as a clever worker in metals, and those of us who
investigated the making of the pillars fully confirm that statement, though they
do not find him suffering the sanguinary death which the legend asserts. As I
mentioned in an earlier chapter, King Solomon himself appears to be responsible
for introducing into Jewish Masonry the original form of the story, but not for
the insertion of the name which we now use for its hero. Moses brought from
Egypt the myth of the death and resurrection of Osiris, and that persisted in a
modified form until the time of David. Solomon for patriotic reasons
transferred the theatre of the drama to Jerusalem, and centred its interest
round the temple which he had built, winning popularity at the same time by
bringing his ritual into accordance with that of surrounding peoples, who were
mostly worshippers of the Phoenician deity Tammuz, afterwards called by the
Greeks Adonis.
691.
Although he recast the
legend, and made it wholly Jewish, it was not he who imported into it the
name which we know so well, for we find Hiram Abiff acting as what we should
now call W.J.W. at a great private ceremony of consecration and dedication at
which Solomon’s new ritual was performed for the first time. On the same
occasion Hiram, King of Tyre, took the part of W.S.W., though for some obscure
reason his visit was kept secret, and he returned home almost immediately, his
place being taken for the public ceremonies by Adoniram. Rehoboam, Solomon’s
son, seems to have taken an intense dislike to Hiram Abiff, who had more
than once reproved him for arrogance and unworthy conduct; so when after
Solomon’s death he came to the throne, he took a curious, perverted revenge
upon Hiram by decreeing that the victim of the 3° should bear his name for
ever. Exactly why this should have afforded satisfaction to Rehoboam it is
difficult to see; but perhaps we should hardly hold him responsible for his
actions, as he was obviously a decadent, a degenerate of the worst type. His
enmity may possibly have shown itself in other ways also, for Hiram Abiff
presently found it desirable to return to his own country, where he died full
of age and honour.
692.
I am told that only a
few years ago a Javanese prince imitated Solomon’s procedure, for much the same
reasons as actuated the Jewish monarch. He and his people were at least
nominally Muhammadans; but he said to them: “Why should you turn towards Mecca
for your devotions? I have a very fine temple here; turn to it and not to
Arabia when you recite your prayers.” They seem to have accepted the
suggestion, and in this way arose a variation - in the cult which may well
puzzle the historians a century later.
693.
Bro. Ward, in his recent
book Who was Hiram Abiff? argues that the whole legend is nothing but an
adaptation of the myth of Tammuz, that Hiram Abiff was one of a group of
Priest-Kings, and was slain by the others as a voluntary sacrifice at the
dedication of the temple, in order to bring good fortune upon the building. He
adduces much evidence in support of this theory, and displays a vast amount of
erudition and research, gathering together an amazing collection of the most
interesting facts. I strongly recommend his book to the perusal of our Brn.,
even though I personally still cling to the idea that Masonry originally
reached the Jews from Egypt, however much it may afterwards have been
influenced, as it certainly was, by the Tammuz-worship of neighbouring nations.
Bro. Ward cites instances of the survival of traces of the cult of Adonis in
the most unexpected quarters; for instance, he writes:
694.
When the Pope has died,
a high official, armed with a small ivory hammer or gavel, goes up to the dead
man and lightly taps him once on each temple and once on the centre of the
forehead. After each knock he calls on him to arise, and only when the third
summons has been made in vain does he officially proclaim the sad news that the
Pope is dead, and therefore a successor must be elected.* (*Op. cit., p. 74)
695.
Bro. Ward further
identifies Hiram Abiff with Abibaal, the father of Hiram, King of Tyre, and
even suggests that Hiram was not a personal name at all, but a title of the
Kings of Tyre, just as Pharaoh was of those of Egypt.
696.
From another source
comes the somewhat fantastic suggestion that Solomon also was not a personal
name, but is capable of the subdivision Sol-om-on; sol meaning the sun, om
being the sacred word of the Hindus (a substituted word, because the real word
is a Name of Power, the Name of the Logos, to pronounce which would shake the
world and destroy the speaker) and on, from the Greek to on, the
absolute existence. This interpretation may be fanciful; but it seems true that
the King’s compatriots called him Solomon, pronouncing his name as an
amphibrach, not as a dactyl, as we do.
697.
The name of Hiram Abiff
is somewhat altered in higher degrees, and even in the Bible it sometimes
appears as Huram. A further modification is Khairum or Khurum. Khur by itself
means white or noble. There is a variant Khri, which under certain
circumstances becomes Khris. This would suggest some possible connection with
Krishna and Christ. There are certain passages in the Book of Job where he
speaks of the orb of the sun, and the word he uses is Khris. It is on record
that Hiram, King of Tyre, was the first man who offered the sacrifice of fire
to the Khur, who afterwards became Herakles. Plutarch tells us that the
Persians of his day called the sun Kuros, and he connects it with the Greek
word Kurios, which means Lord, which we find in the Church service as “Kyrie
eleison”. Khur is also connected with the Egyptian name Horus, who was also
Her-Ra and Haroeris, names of the sun-god. The Hebrew word Aoor also means
light or fire or the sun, and from that we get Khurom, which is equal to the
Greek Hermes. Bro. Wilmshurst also regards the name Hiram as identical with
Hermes, and thinks that a connection can he traced between the form Huram and
the Sanskrit word Guru, which means “spiritual teacher”. He therefore takes
Hiram Abiff to signify the Father-Teacher, or the Teacher from the Father.*
(*The Masonic Initiation, p. 100) That Hiram was a widow’s son is also a
significant fact. Horus as the child of Isis was the reincarnation of his own
Father Osiris, and so as a posthumous child might well be described as a
widow’s son.
698.
Though of the tribe of
Naphtali, he was born and resided in Tyre, and may well therefore have learned
from the Dionysian fraternity which had a centre there.
699.
DEATH AND RESURRECTION
700.
Whatever we may think of
the traditional history as a story it is clear that it is a myth of death and
rising again. The expression of it is perhaps somewhat clumsy, for no reference
is made to the soul; it is merely the body which is raised to its feet, but it
is obviously implied that when this was done in the proper manner life returned
to it, as was said to be the case when Anubis raised Osiris from the bier with
the very same gesture.
701.
In the exoteric religion
of Egypt two prominent features were the mourning for the dead Osiris and the
universal rejoicing over his resurrection. Both of these are commemorated in
the Co-Masonic ritual; the former by the various readings prescribed for the
Orator, and the latter by the little anthem “Thanks be to God, who giveth us
the victory”.
702.
In the exoteric religion
of Egypt two prominent features were the mourning for the dead Osiris and the
universal rejoicing over his resurrection. Both of these are commemorated in
the Co-Masonic ritual; the former by the various readings prescribed for the
Orator, and the latter by the little anthem “Thanks be to God, who giveth us
the victory”.
703.
Apart from the
instruction given as to life after death, there is in this strange story an allegorical
lesson which should be taken to heart by every M.M. Once more Bro. Wilmshurst
expresses it for us, explaining that just as:
704.
… the turning away from
the attractions of the outer world … the purification and subdual of the bodily
and sensual tendencies … the work of detachment and self-purification is our
Entered Apprentice’s work … [just as] the analysis, discipline and obtaining
control of one’s inner world - of the mind, of one’s thoughts, one’s
intellectual and psychic faculties - is the extremely difficult task of the
Fellow Craft stage … [so] the “last and greatest trial” lies in the breaking
and surrender of the personal will, the dying down of all sense of personality
and selfhood, so that the petty personal will may become merged in the divine
Universal Will, and the illusion of separate independent existence give
way to conscious realization of unity with the One Life that permeates the
Universe. For so only can one be raised from conditions of unreality, strife
and figurative death to a knowledge of ultimate Reality, Peace and Life
Immortal. To attain this is to attain Mastership, involving complete domination
of the lower nature, and the development in oneself of a higher order of life
and faculty.* (*The Masonic Initiation,
pp. 19, 20.)
705.
This realization of
absolute unity is perhaps the most wonderful experience that comes to man in
the course of his evolution-a depth of bliss which is utterly indescribable. No
person, no thing is separate from any other, and yet everything is perfectly
clear; all are “partial expressions of a single, sublying, inexpressible
unity”. Lord Tennyson wrote of it thus:
706.
All at once, out of the
intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seems
to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this is not a confused
state, but the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest, where death
is an almost laughable impossibility, the loss of personality (if so it were)
seeming no extinction, but the only true life. I am ashamed of my feeble
description. Have I not said the state is utterly beyond words? This is the
most emphatic declaration that the spirit of the writer is capable of
transferring itself into another state of existence, is not only real, clear,
simple, but that it is also infinite in vision and eternal in duration.
707.
Another Bro. of the
Craft has written:
708.
You know everything and
understand the stars and the hills and the old songs. They are all within you,
and you are all light. But the light is music, and the music is violet wine in
a great cup of gold, and the wine in the golden cup is the Scent of a June
night.
709.
THE STAR
710.
Even after the symbolic
resurrection has taken place we are still warned that any light which can
penetrate to these lower planes is but darkness visible, and that for true
light and fuller information we must lift our eyes to that bright and morning
Star whose rising brings peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient among
men. There is no doubt that in the myth as taught in ancient Egypt the star to
which reference was made in these terms was originally Sirius. Bro. Ward
remarks:
711.
The association of these
ideas with the Dog Star is undoubtedly a fragment which has come down from
ancient Egypt, for the rising of Sirius marked the beginning of the inundation
of the Nile, which literally brought salvation to the people of Egypt by
irrigating the land and enabling it to produce food.* (*The M.M.’s Book, p. 50.)
712.
For us, however, the
star is invested with a symbolical meaning, and reminds us of the Star of
Initiation which marks the assent and approval of the Lord of the World when a
new candidate has joined the mighty Brotherhood which exists from eternity to
eternity. So we endeavour to carry out the precept of our ritual:
713.
Let that Star be ever
before your eyes, and let its light illumine your heart; follow it, as did the
Wise Men of old, until it leads you to the gateway of Initiation, where it
shines above the portal of that glorious temple, eternal in the heavens, of
which even King Solomon’s was but a symbol.*
(*The Masters and the Path, p. 157.)
714.
THE RAISING OF HUMANITY
715.
Humanity is but one
stage of the mighty ladder of evolution. The divine life which is now manifesting
through us has in long past ages animated in succession the elemental, mineral,
vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Now that particular life-wave has reached the
human kingdom. It entered that kingdom by the gate of individualization ages
upon ages ago; it will leave that human kingdom by the gateway of initiation -
that Fifth Initiation which makes a man into a superman or Adept. Humanity is
slowly - very, very slowly - treading a great broad road that winds round and
round a mountain, ever rising gradually until it reaches the summit. The
process is deliberate and often irregular, until the soul suddenly realizes the
purpose of his evolution, God’s plan for man, and resolves to use all his
power to reach the goal as soon as possible. Then he begins to climb straight
up the mountain side, and each time that his path crosses the winding road he
achieves a definite stage of his progress; at each such point there is an
Initiation.
716.
The great Initiations
are five; the first marks the soul’s stepping off the beaten path, and the last
his entering the Temple at the summit of the mountain. To make this shorter but
steeper path a living reality should be the effort of every M.M.; and the three
degrees undoubtedly typify stages on this road.
717.
The E.A. should as a
personality be employed in organizing his physical life for higher use; but at
the same time as an ego he should be developing active intelligence in his
causal body, exactly as does the pupil of the Masters who is preparing himself
for Initiation. I do not of course suggest that each E.A. is doing this, or
even as yet can do it; but the Degree is intended to put that development
before him as a goal, and the sooner he begins his upward climb, the better. In
the same way the F.C. is organizing his emotional life at the lower level,
while he unfolds intuitional love in his buddhic body; and the M.M., while
arranging his mental life down here, should as an ego be strengthening his
spiritual will.
718.
FIRE, SUN AND MOON
719.
We encounter in the
Indian scriptures certain tests which seem to approach the same ideas from a
different angle, and so should be of interest to Masons. The navel, heart and
throat centres in the human body are mentioned as the places of fire, the sun
and the moon respectively, and it is said that he who meditates in those
centres will find there the Devis Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati or Girija, in
that order. Those Devis are outward-turned powers or shaktis of Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and have
respectively the qualities of giving knowledge, prosperity and self-control -
in other words, of helping the man to reach his highest mental, astral and
physical aims; for the physical, astral and mental principles are a reflection
(inverted, like that of a mountain in water) of the three principles of the
higher triad.
720.
Saraswati is the
patroness of learning and practical wisdom; Lakshmi fulfils desires and makes
life rich and full, and when she is truly worshipped she sanctifies all
material prosperity; Girija or Parvati blesses the physical body and makes its
powers holy. The E.A. has to bring his physical body to perfection, so the aid
which he needs is precisely what is symbolized by Girija’s will; the F.C, has
to do the same for his astral body, with the help of Lakshmi’s love; the M.M.
repeats the process for the mental body, aided by Saraswati’s kriyashakti
or power of thought.
721.
To conquer and organize
the physical nature for the use of the higher self the E.A. must use his will,
the power of Shiva, the First Person, reflected by his Devi Girija. To
transmute the passions of the astral body the F.C. must use his intuitional
love that comes from Vishnu, the Second Person, through Lakshmi. To conquer the
wavering mind and make it a perfect instrument for the higher self, the M.M.
must use the power of his thought, the divine activity of Brahma, the Third
Person, reflected by Saraswati. Madame Blavatsky said that the aspirant should
make a bundle of the lower things and nail them up to the higher self; when he
has done this he will have fulfilled the destiny which is indicated for him -
he will have stepped with t … s … over his o … g …
722.
This allusion is similar
to that of the k … s in the three Degrees, and in no way affects the fact that
the E.A. is at the same time learning to control the emotions, and the F.C. is
gaining mastery of the mind. The Mason is simultaneously doing two pieces of
work - developing and advancing on higher planes, and yet controlling and
perfecting his personal instruments.
723.
How are these connected
with fire, the sun and the moon? Remember the three lesser lights: (1) the
R.W.M., (2) the sun - the W.S.W., and (3) the moon - the W.J.W. In their
capacity of lesser lights these officers correspond to the Devis. It is the
W.J.W. who especially helps the E.A., the W.S.W. the F.C., and the R.W.M. the
M.M.
724.
It is interesting to
note that in the above explanation fire corresponds to the mind. Another
aspect of the same truth is seen in the fact that it is the power behind modern
science. Without fire chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy and all the
practical applications of these sciences could not exist. The M.M. is
symbolically a wielder of this power; he is a worker in metals, a caster of
pillars, hollow within, to contain the archives of the soul and spirit. In his
hand is kriyashakti, the creative power.
725.
The path of the moon is
said to typify the life of the ordinary man, who clings to objects of desire
and parts with them reluctantly at death. After a period in the astral and
heavenly worlds he returns to earth, to repeat the process. It is the path of
rebirth after intervals. The path of the sun is that of the occult aspirant,
the man of spiritual desires, who values life only for what it can give to the
higher self in others as well as himself. He also is reborn, but usually
without an interval, or after a very short one. The path of fire is the path of
ascension, from which there is no longer any rebirth under the law of
necessity, but only at the choice of the ego - only for the helping of the
world.
726.
THE VILLAINS
727.
Little need be said of
the remainder of the traditional history. We may note the curious similarity
between the names given to the three villains, and the fact that the three
terminations when put together make the sacred word Aum or Om. Jubel or Yehubel
is said to signify “good and evil”; or it may be interpreted as containing the
two names of Jah (Jehovah) and Bel or Baal - which to a Jew of that period
would have been simply good and evil over again.
728.
THE INSCRIPTION
729.
Lastly, we may mention
the mysterious inscription on the plate of the c … n on the t … b … of this
degree, written in the Masonic cipher. In its ordinary straightforward form
this cryptogram is known to almost every schoolboy; but it is capable of a
number of permutations. In this case its letters are arranged in a somewhat
unusual manner, and it must be read from right to left. Treated in this way, it
yields the initials of our Master, the alleged date of his death, and the word
and password of the degree. But none but a Mason is likely to decipher it.
730.
CHAPTER IX
731.
THE HIGHER DEGREES
732.
THE majority of
masculine Freemasons hold that the Craft comprises only the three Degrees of
E.A., F.C., and M.M., though in English Masonry they allow the Mark Degree and
the Holy Royal Arch as nominally extensions of the Second and Third Degrees respectively,
and they have also a ceremony of Installation for the Master of a Lodge which
is practically an additional Degree though it is never called so.
733.
Among the masculine
Masons only those who belong to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite work the
higher Degrees, though various other small bodies of Masons use some of them.
The Rites of Memphis and Mizraim used to have a list of 97 degrees, but have
now reduced them to 33. Nevertheless though many Masons do not admit them,
these higher Degrees are definitely part of the great scheme of Freemasonry,
standing out as landmarks upon the upward Path which leads to conscious union
with God, enshrining in their ritual and symbolism a series of pictures of the
successive stages of spiritual attainment, and conferring sacramental power
calculated to quicken the growth of man’s inner faculties at various levels and
in various ways.
734.
Therefore in the
Co-Masonic Rite we recognize both sets of Degrees, and regard them as
constituting a coherent whole, leading those who work them properly to a very
high stage of development. But they are clearly intended to provide for two
distinct types of people - for the many and the few. For the ordinary man of
the world the three Degrees of Craft Masonry are all-sufficient; when he has
learnt the lessons which they have to teach, he is no longer the ordinary man;
he stands high above the average. If he can supplement them by the knowledge
conveyed by the Mark Degree and the Holy Royal Arch, he has a rule of life and
a philosophy which will carry him creditably through the rest of this
incarnation, and ensure for him a good opportunity of progress in the next. In
the Royal Arch he passes beyond the substituted secrets and learns the genuine
Word which has so long and so unhappily been lost. For the true Word is the
Name of God, and those who entertain an unworthy conception of the nature and
attributes of God are in ignorance of that true Nature.
735.
THE MASONIC PLAN
736.
The Masonic plan is
obviously meant to develop the principles of man in regular order. The work of
the Blue Lodge is concerned primarily with the transitory personality, the
temporary instrument of the soul. If the tongue of good report is heard in a
man’s favour, we may assume that he has his physical vehicle fairly under
control; but in the Degree of E.A. he is instructed to bring it completely into
subjection, to smooth and polish the rough ashlar, and at the same time to keep
his emotional nature within due bounds, repressing its lower aspects and
developing its higher side. As F.C. he learns absolutely to control those
emotions, while he is working at the gradual unfoldment of the powers of his
mental body, the awakening and training of his intellectual faculties.
737.
As M.M. he is taught to
live up to that sublime title by gaining complete mastery over the personality,
the mind as well as the emotions, to develop a magnificent attitude of
brotherhood and altruism which compels him ever to take the standpoints of the
ego, so that never again may the square be allowed to obscure the compasses,
and leads him through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to the threshold of
that heavenly world where the immortal Self for ever dwells. For the mystic
death and raising again relate not only to the contained existence of man’s
personality in the astral world after the death of the physical body, but in
a higher sense typify a death to all that is transitory and impermanent,
and the attainment of an eternal Reality beyond the veils of space and time.
738.
THE CEREMONY OF
INSTALLATION
739.
It has always seemed to
me a matter of great regret that in the workings of Continental Masonry the beautiful
ceremony of the installation of the Master of a Lodge should be so greatly
truncated or even entirely omitted. The position of R.W.M. is one of great
difficulty and responsibility, and to hold it successfully requires a
combination of qualities not often exemplified. Firmness and perfect justice
must be conjoined with tact, adaptability and persuasiveness. The R.W.M. should
have an enthusiastic interest in Masonic work, a strong determination to
maintain its immemorial traditions and the sanctity of its landmarks, and an
earnest resolve ever to uphold the dignity of the Craft, yet never for a moment
to forget that gentleness and brotherly love are the very essence and
foundation of all its labours.
740.
The Bro. whose duty it
is to develop these characteristics within himself manifestly needs all the
help that can be given to him, and he unquestionably receives more power from
on high from the use of a stately and impressive ceremony than from the mere
fact of being elected by the Brn. and taking his seat in the Master’s chair.
Apparently the H.O.A.T.F. accepts and endorses the custom of the maimed rite in
those countries where it prevails, for the succession is passed on, even though
there is quite a different feeling about the effect produced. (See p. 175.)
741.
The actual conferment of
the authority occurs at the moment when the R.W.M. is solemnly placed in his
Chair with a certain s … and w … of power, but there is also a charming and
appropriate symbolism hidden behind the other s … s. The b … s … is that of a
mighty and dignified monarch singling out one upon whom he is about to bestow a
favour; the p … l … and the s … of s … give most valuable hints as to what
should be the behaviour of the Master in the Chair, and the s … of a m … of a …
and sc … well expresses the courtesy and dignity which should characterize his
every action.
742.
THE MARK DEGREE
743.
In the Mark Degree the
aspirant is encouraged to add to that general growth which is expected of all
Masons the disclosure of whatsoever special talent or power he may happen to
possess, in order that his abilities may thus be at the disposal of his
brethren and be used for the benefit of his Lodge, so that such work as passes
through his hands may bear upon it the mark of his private characteristics, and
thus be recognized from all others. Thus to develop his talent, not for
self-glorification but for the good of his Brn., is the special duty of the
Mark Mason; while the work of the Mark Master is to find in those under his
charge talents as yet unsuspected even by their possessors, and to draw them
out under his kindly and fostering care.
744.
At the same time the
neophyte is taught by the ritual the necessity of humility and patience. He
makes a k … s …, a beautiful and excellent piece of work, but one for which the
builders are not yet ready, and consequently it has for the present to be
thrown aside. The candidate in his disappointment feels at first that his
life-work has been wasted; but he is exhorted to exhibit patience and
fortitude, and in due course the time comes when his work can be accepted and
utilized. Such experience is inevitable in the life of one who is striving to
serve humanity; the student must be prepared to find that ideas, unquestionably
good in themselves, have yet to be rejected when put forward prematurely; he
must learn to subordinate his will to that of T.G.O.O.T.U., to work at the task
prescribed for him, and to play the part assigned to him in the great plan of
which he is but an infinitesimal though necessary fraction.
745.
However full the world
746.
There is room for an
earnest man;
747.
God hath need of me, or
I should not be;
748.
I am here to aid the
plan.
749.
We may see in the
Degrees of Craft Masonry a prophecy or adumbration of the True Initiations that
lie far ahead on the Path of the neophyte, taking the E.A. Degree as imaging
the entry upon the Probationary Path, the F.C. as representing that entering
upon the Stream which is the First of the Great Initiations, and the M.M. as
typifying the Fourth Step, the Initiation of the Arhat.
750.
The characteristic of
the F.C. Degree is Service; all its five stages are forms of service, and they
lead up to that condition in which the candidate’s hands are perpetually free
to take up whatever tools may be needed at the moment in the work of helping
others. As the Mark Degree is recognized as having originally been part of the
F.C., Ex. and Perf. Bro. Wood takes the Mark Man and the Mark Master as
respectively symbolizing the Second and Third of the Great Initiations, thus
leading up very satisfactorily to the M.M. Degree, which is obviously a
foreshadowing of the Arhat Stage.
751.
He also finds in the
Hindu system an interesting analogy to the teaching of the Mark Degree. The man
who has entered upon the First Stage of the Path proper is called parivrajaka,
the Wanderer, and this is taken to signify that the Initiate has no real home,
no foundation or anchorage in this physical world. As it is expressed in a
hymn: “I’m but a stranger here; heaven is my home.” He has realized the first
part of that quotation, but not quite yet the second; he feels as though he
were merely a visitor to these mundane regions where most people settle
themselves and make themselves at home, yet he is not definitely established in
spiritual work. When he has cast off the three fetters of self-centredness,
doubt and superstition, he is called kutichaka, the Hut-Builder; he is
now no longer a wanderer, unsettled in both worlds, for he has found for
himself a definite place and work on the buddhic plane. When this is
achieved a Mark is given to him, typified in Masonic and biblical phraseology
as a white stone, upon which a new name is written - the true name of the ego.
752.
The Hindu term for the
man who takes the Third great step is hamsa, the Swan; and this name is
supposed to be founded upon an ancient fable which endowed that bird with the
apocryphal faculty of separating milk from water after they had been mixed. He
is therefore taken as a symbol of the man whose discrimination is perfect, who
can distinguish what is worth doing and do it, and therefore “marks well”.
753.
The Officers in a Mark
Lodge represent the seven principles in man, as they do in the ordinary Lodge,
but we have in addition three Overseers, who guard the South, West and East
Gates. These also are in their right place in the series of principles if we
take them to typify the antahkarana, which in the Initiate has becomes
an active channel between the ego and the personality. As the Lords of Karma
select the portion of accumulated karma to be worked out in one lifetime, and
this is expressed in the man’s bodies and his environment, so does the ego,
says Bro. Wood, select a portion of himself to be the internal agent (antahkarana)
between himself and the personality. (This is explained in his book The
Seven Rays.) This antahkarana, which is triple, thus contains the plan of
work of the incarnation, and the Overseers, as agents of the Lords of Karma,
guard that plan.
754.
When the man has passed
the Second Initiation, having cast off three fetters aforesaid, he begins to
see and to act upon the greater plan of the ego, which is superior to the
portion incarnated. But the Overseers will not permit him to follow his vision
to the neglect of the lower work in the inferior part of the plan which he has
still to do. He must not lose sight of his vision, but yet must humbly submit
himself to the duties which remain to be done on ordinary lines.
755.
THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH
756.
As the Mark Degree is an
extension of the F.C., so is the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem a logical continuation
of the M.M. Degree. I am intentionally putting aside all consideration of the
elaborate confusion of its history, though I have introduced a few notes about
it into my second volume, Glimpses of Masonic History. Suffice it to say
here that all the higher Degrees, to which I am referring in this book, have
their roots in the Ancient Mysteries of the remotest past. They have not been,
as is often supposed, created anew by ceremonialists of the Middle Ages, but
have been revived and re-introduced at the direct or indirect suggestion of the
H.O.A.T.F. when He thought their re-emergence desirable. Let it never be
forgotten that all through the ages He (or His predecessor in Office) has been
“The Hidden Life in Freemasonry”, and that that Life has manifested itself in
many ways and through many unexpected channels when and where it seemed best
for the carrying on of the Great Work.
757.
To explain, to such an
extent as is permissible, the wonderfully illuminative teaching of this truly
sublime Degree of the Holy Royal Arch I shall borrow freely from the exposition
given in the Mystical Lecture of the Co-Masonic Ritual of the Degree, reserving
only such points as are necessary to guard the secrets.
758.
Having symbolically
reached in the 3° the threshold of immortality, the aspirant finds a quest
opening before him, a quest for the G … S … of a M.M., which were lost by the
untimely death of our Master H … A … It may be noted that through the teaching
given in this Degree of the H.R.A. we see for the first time why and how the
Sacred Word was lost because of that death. It was not that it was forgotten,
but that the Three Principals had sworn to pronounce it only when they met
together. For these lost secrets all M.M.s are pledged to seek until they are
found. These are the secrets of man’s eternal being, the secrets of that
Divinity which he has forgotten because of his shrouding in the veil of matter;
and it is said that they may be found by following the guidance of a Star, as
did the Wise Men of old. That Star is the Star of Initiation, the Star of God’s
presence in our hearts.
759.
The Degree of the H.R.A.
leads the neophyte a step further in his quest, and is thus a fitting sequel to
the Sublime Degree of M.M., being indeed an integral part of the same Hebrew
tradition. The symbolical time of the R.A. is that of the commencement of the
building of the Second Temple, the Temple of the man’s soul, even as the Temple
of King Solomon represents that of his transitory personality. But before the
inquirer can find the lost W …, that Hidden Light which dwells in all created
things, which is buried deep in the Temple of Solomon the King, his vision must
be so purified that he can behold His presence with eyes unveiled. This
attainment of true spiritual vision is symbolized by the Passing of the Four
Veils on the road to the Heavenly City, the Sanctuary of Light and Peace; for
the Veils represent those limitations of consciousness which blind his vision
of the Truth. The P … W … s of the Veils explain the means by which he may lift
the barriers that hold him back, and show him the qualities that must be
developed if real spiritual progress is to be made. Such is the work of the
Excellent Master’s Degree, and it is undertaken in the power and the light of
the Star.
760.
In the Chapter of the H.R.A.,
the quest for the W … is carried to a temporary conclusion. By a seeming
accident the Candidate is led to discover the Secret Vault of Solomon the King,
buried deep below the surface of the earth; in that Vault he finds the s … and
m … N … of T.M.H., and for the first time in his Masonic work gains direct
vision of the Divine Presence. The sacramental power outpoured in this Degree
is intended to quicken the growth of the Divine Spark within him, so that a
conscious realization of the truth of God’s immanence may be gained by those
who live its teaching rightly, and the Candidate may be enabled thereby to
recognize the presence of God in all things, however deeply that presence may
be veiled from the eyes of the flesh.
761.
The teaching of the
H.R.A. is beautifully epitomised in the words of the Psalmist:
762.
Whither shall I go then
from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I go then from Thy Presence?
763.
If I climb up into
heaven Thou art there; If I go down to hell, Thou art there also.
764.
If I take the wings of
the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also
shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.
765.
If I say: Peradventure
the darkness shall cover me; then shall my night be turned to day.
766.
Yea, the darkness is no
darkness with Thee, but the night is as clear as the day; the darkness and the
light to Thee are both alike.
767.
(Psalm cxxxix, 7-12)
768.
Certain emblems which
are brought prominently before us in the ceremony of the H.R.A. are for us full
of solemn signification and valuable suggestion. The meaning of the Divine N …
which is discovered in the Secret Vault of Solomon the King is at once simple
and profound. It teaches that God is one and the same God, by whatever Name men
call Him, and that He is immanent in the lowest as well as in the highest.
Proclaiming thus the universal Fatherhood, it maintains also the universal
Brotherhood, and sets before our Companions the noblest of ideals. The entire
symbol is surrounded by the Circle, the emblem of God Himself, the eternal
Reality behind and within all things unchanging, yet containing all the
elements of change. Of this circle it may be truly said that it has its centre
everywhere and its circumference nowhere; for it is Omnipresence made manifest
in symbol. Furthermore, the circle enshrines a profound truth of creation. It
is generated by radiation from a centre; that is to say, its circumference is
determined by the limits of the rays going out from the centre in all
directions. It is this radiation which in the deepest sense constitutes the
circle itself; for centre and circumference are but alternating moments in the
process of radiation. By this we may understand that Creation, or the radiation
from the Divine Centre of all living things, is not an action performed at some
particular moment by God, but is continuous; it is His very Being; creation is
co-eternal and co-existent with God.
769.
All creation truly goes
forth from the Divine Centre. The countless rays move each in its own direction
towards the circumference; but whereas in the centre they are all One, on the
circumference they are manifold, each ray being distinct from all others. Thus
in God both unity and multiplicity are simultaneously contained; at the Centre
all is One, on the circumference all is manifold. In the outer world we live on
the circumference of the Everlasting Circle, and all is in separation and
therefore in pain; the Royal Art of Masonry teaches us that we must travel
along our own ray of manifestation towards that Centre from which a M.M. cannot
err, in order to re-discover the truth of the unity of Divine Life in all
things. When we move on the circumference, we move in time; yet when we behold
the circle as a whole, we see its circumference simultaneously in all its
parts, and thus are led to realize that time is but our distorted vision of
Eternity.
770.
Again, the symbol of the
circle teaches us the mighty Rhythm of Creation; all things go forth from the
centre of Unity to the circumference of Multiplicity, and then return once
more to that Unity whence they sprang. This is the Eternal Breath of God, the
Breath of Creation which is manifest throughout the entire universe, in the
life of man with its cycle of existence from childhood through manhood to old
age, and in Nature with its alternations of day and night and the rhythmic flow
of seasons. In this connection it is of interest to note how many words
denoting Spirit in different languages primarily mean Breath - spiritus
in Latin, pneuma in Greek, ruach in Hebrew, atma in Sanskrit. It
is this Divine Breath, the Holy Spirit, the Creative Fire of God, whom we
especially invoke in the Degree of the H.R.A.
771.
Within the circle the
triangle is placed, teaching us that God, though One in essence, manifests as a
Trinity - Power, Wisdom and Love. The Divine Will is the Centre of the circle
resting in Itself in eternal and unchanging peace; the Divine Wisdom is the
process of radiation, the Holy Spirit who is the Source of Divine Activity,
creating the manifoldness of things as it goes forth from the Centre; the Divine
Love is shown forth in the circumference of the circle, uniting all separated
creatures in the very bond of peace. This threefold nature of the Divine is
present throughout all Creation, in every object and in every creature. In our
own consciousness it is manifest in the Spiritual Will, the Intuitional Wisdom
and the Creative Intelligence which are three aspects or modes of the Spirit of
man, made in the image and likeness of his Creator. In the universe around us
we see it as the three qualities of manifestation - inertia, mobility and
rhythm, known in Hindu philosophy as the three gunas, and in Western
philosophy as space or extension, time or change, and rhythm or qualities which
give to each thing its distinct and essential nature.
772.
Another symbol of creation
is the cross inscribed within the circle, showing how the Divine in manifestation
is crucified upon the cross of limitation, willingly suffered that the world
might come into being. In that process of creation the Divine as life and the
Divine as form seem a duality, even though they are but manifestations of the
one eternal God. This interplay or apparent duality in the universe is also
symbolized by the cross, which thus becomes the emblem of the Fourfold Name of
God. Amongst the medieval Rosicrucians the four arms of this cross were taken
to symbolize the four elements, water, fire, air and earth, called in Hebrew
Iammim, Nour, Ruach and Iabescheh, corresponding yet again to the Four
Beasts about the throne of God, symbolized for us by the Four Great
Banners of the Order.
773.
Since thus we learn that
all life is the Divine life, it follows also that the brotherhood of that life
is in truth universal, and is by no means confined to the human species. Not
only is every man our brother, of whatsoever race, colour or creed he may be,
but the animals and the trees around us - yea, even the very rock under our
feet - are all our younger brethren, all part of the same mighty evolution.
When we realize all that this knowledge implies, when we see how great a difference
it makes in our attitude towards the world around us, and how great a change
the practice of the truth here taught should make in every Companion, we shall
not wonder at the high regard in which Masonic writers hold this Degree of the
H.R.A. of Jerusalem, which they consider as the crown and completion of
Freemasonry, because of the knowledge of God which it gives to us.
774.
A curious but most
instructive symbol characteristic of this Degree is that called the Triple
Tau, formed out of three levels, one standing upright and two lying
horizontally and joined in the centre. The Tau in ancient Egypt was the
symbolic equivalent of the cross; it signified the crucifixion of the Divine
Life in the world of manifestation. It was also emblematic of the androgynous
nature of the Deity; it typified God as Father-Mother. On the Installed
775.
Figure 15
776.
777.
Master’s apron we find
three Taus in separation; in the Holy Royal Arch we see them conjoined, for
here the teaching given is the unity to be found in this entire threefold
universe, conveying also the meaning that each Person in this Trinity has its
male and female aspect - precisely the same idea which is expressed in the
Hindu religion by the statement that each Person has his Shakti, commonly
described as his consort. Thus the Three-in-One becomes Six-in-One, and, with
the surrounding circle which indicates the unmanifested Totality, we have the
Mystic Seven.
778.
The Triple Tau is also
called in Royal Arch Masonry the Key. It contains eight right angles, and is
used as a measure or mnemonic whereby the Platonic Solids can be calculated.
Taken alone, it is commensurate with the Tetrahedron, the sides of which,
being four equilateral triangles, are together equal to eight right angles,
because the interior angles of any triangle are together equal to two right
angles. It is said that this solid was used by the Platonists as a symbol of
the element Fire.
779.
Two of these Keys are
equivalent to the Octahedron, which contains sixteen right angles, and was considered
to represent Air. Three Keys are commensurate with the Cube, the sides of
which contain twenty-four right angles; this figure was supposed to typify
Earth, because it is of all these figures the firmest and most immovable upon
its basis.
780.
Five of these Keys give
us forty right angles, which are equal in amount to those contained in the
twenty equilateral sides of the Icosahedron. This solid was taken to express
the element Water.
781.
The remaining Platonic
Solid, called the Dodecahedron, has for its sides twelve regular pentagons. It
is a rule in geometry that the interior angles of any rectilinear figure are
equal to twice as many right angles as the figure has sides less 4 right
angles; thus the interior angles of a pentagon are 10 – 4 = 6 right angles;
therefore the dodecahedron is contained by seventy-two right angles, and
consequently is represented by nine Keys. So it will be seen that this Key is
the greatest common measure of all these Platonic Solids, and that is why on
the scroll round it in the Jewel of the Holy Royal Arch Degree we find
the Latin phrase: Nil nisi clavis deest, “Nothing is wanting but the
key”, teaching us on the one hand that without the inner knowledge all these
symbols are but lifeless, and on the other that, great as is the teaching
given, there is yet more to be found as we move along on the path of Masonic
progress.
782.
There is a method by
which, by sub-dividing the triangles and the Seal of Solomon into smaller
triangles and adding up the total number of degrees formed by all their angles,
we can yet again work out the number of right angles equivalent to those of the
Platonic solids. This process is complicated, and is of little practical value,
so I do not give it here; although it is true that the Platonic Solids have a
profound meaning in connection with that process of Divine Creation, upon which
the Degree of the Holy Royal Arch contains such priceless teaching.
783.
STILL HIGHER
784.
In endeavouring to give
such idea as may lawfully be given of the splendour and the immense practical
value of the higher Degrees I must briefly recapitulate something of what I
have already written in Glimpses of Masonic History. Though the H.R.A.
so satisfactorily rounds off the system of Masonic teaching for
most men, there are still deeper wells of wisdom for the student who is
determined to win his way to the ultimate goal, whom nothing but the highest
can satisfy. Gradually such a man comes to understand that, although he has
indeed in the H.R.A. found the Divine Name, and contacted for himself at least
one aspect of the Hidden Light of God, there is a further search still before
him, in which he can penetrate even deeper into the consciousness and being of
the Deity. Great and marvellous indeed is the revelation already given to him -
a revelation which has changed for him the whole aspect of life, and made the
selfish and miserably limited existence of the profane for ever impossible for
him. Yet he now begins to see that he is as yet touching only one circumference
of a vast circle - nay, more, that he is working only on the surface of an
infinite sphere.
785.
THE ROSE-CROIX
786.
It is then that he
begins his second great quest, which leads up through a number of stages,
during which different attributes of the All-Father are studied and to some
extent realized, until it culminates in the magnificent illumination given in
the Eighteenth Degree, that of the Sovereign Prince of the Rose-Croix of Heredom,
through which he finds the divine Love reigning in his own heart and in those
of his Brn. He also learns that God has descended and shared our lower nature
with us expressly in order that we may ascend to share His true nature with
Him.
787.
The Name of T.G.A.O.T.U.
which is revealed to the aspirant in this most wonderful 18° was the central
and innermost secret of the ancient Egyptian mystery-teaching. The H.O.A.T.F.
in His incarnation as Christian Rosenkreutz translated the Word into Latin,
most ingeniously retaining its remarkable mnemonic character, all its
complicated implications, and even a close approximation to its original sound.
Naturally it cannot be given here, but the general character of the instruction
which it conveys in so skilful a manner may be indicated by a sentence quoted
from one of the patron saints of Freemasonry: “God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all.” It further teaches us that God sits enthroned in every
human heart, that the inmost Spirit of each man is part of God Himself, a spark
of the Divine; and that therefore all men are one in Him, and there is no
height to which man may not aspire.
788.
From this great central
fact a whole system of philosophy may be deduced, and also a rule of life; when
men are really convinced of it, there is brotherhood, peace and progress, but
when this Word is lost, chaos reigns and evil stalks abroad. Each Knight should
meditate upon it and try to realize all that it involves, for the knowledge
which it gives should permeate the whole fibre of his being, should literally
become part of his very essence, if he is to do the duty which is expected of
him. The deep reverence and thankfulness which that sublime thought inspires
must be his constant attitude; he must live in the light of that glorious
truth; it must never be forgotten even for a moment. For the man who really
knows this, all life is one great glad song of triumph and of gratitude. All
this he acknowledges, in all this he rejoices every time that he remembers that
wondrous Word of power.
789.
It is the clear duty of
every Knight of the Rose-Croix to spread this light abroad - to preach by word
when possible, and always by action, this true “gospel of the grace of God”. In
the Co-Masonic form of this Degree he is instructed to offer himself as a
channel for the Divine force and to make efforts to cooperate with
T.G.A.O.T.U. By this daily work his buddhi or intuitional principle, the hidden
wisdom which in Egypt was called Horus, the Christ dwelling in man,
should be aroused and greatly developed, so that he becomes, to the limit of
his capability, a living manifestation of the Eternal Love, a veritable priest
who is its instrument for the helping of the world.
790.
In this Degree also we
find certain symbols of deep significance. The flower of the Rose has the
threefold connotation of Love, Secrecy and Fragrance, while the Cross bears
also the threefold meaning of Self-sacrifice, Immortality and Holiness. So when
these two emblems are taken in conjunction, as they always are in the name
Rose-Croix, they betoken the Love of Self-sacrifice, the Secret of Immortality,
and the sweet Fragrance of a Holy life.
791.
The Serpent represents
Eternity; the Double Triangle, Spirit and Matter; the Pelican is another
ancient symbol of Self-sacrifice, as the Eagle is of Victory.
792.
It is significant that
up to this point the aspirant, having complied with certain requirements, may
apply for advancement, may demand recognition of his progress. But now that he
is coming in sight of higher Degrees he may no longer make demand - he must
wait for invitation from those who have already attained. It is not for him,
but for them, to decide when he is ready to make a further effort. At the
levels which he must now approach, the brotherhood is so close, so perfect,
that there must be no risk that its fullness may be marred by the introduction
of a discordant element.
793.
Not only do these higher
Degrees carry on further the same process of development which was begun in the
lower, they may be said in a certain sense to repeat it at a higher level. The
E.A. controls and uplifts emotion in the astral body; the Rose-Croix of Heredom
develops far higher love in the buddhi which corresponds to it. The F.C. tries
to strengthen his intellect to comprehend the hidden mysteries of Masonry; the
Knight K.H. unfolds within him that grander intellectual quality which gives
him always perfect balance and a sense of absolute justice, so that he
understands the working of karma. The M.M. combines within himself and carries
farther qualities of the Degrees below him; the due-guard of his Degree shows
that he is intended to be shedding blessing and help around him wherever he
goes; and of course this is true to a far greater extent and at a far higher
level of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33°, for he should have
love, wisdom and power equally manifesting in him, so that in him the true
essence of governance may be set forth.
794.
In Blue Masonry and in
the Degree of the H.R.A. we call in the assistance of certain Seventh-Ray
Angels to assist the officials in conducting the work of the Lodge or Chapter;
in this 18° and in other still higher Degrees we do that, also, but the type of
Angels who respond is different, for each Degree has its own kind of
Deva-attendant. In these cases, however, the support of the Angelic kingdom is
much more fully extended; not only have we the aid of the Devas in the
performance of our ceremonies, but to each Prince of Heredom at the time of his
Perfection a special Angel is attached, to help him in his private and individual
work for the cause. This will be more readily comprehensible if I mention
first the characteristic of the other Degrees.
795.
BLACK MASONRY
796.
Few need anything
further than the splendid revelation of the indwelling Love of God which they
receive in the Eighteenth Degree. But there are those who feel that there is
yet more to learn of the nature of God, who eagerly wish to understand the
meaning of evil and suffering, and its relation to the Divine plan; for them
Black Masonry exists - the teaching and progress comprised in the Degrees from
the nineteenth to the thirtieth. This section of the Mysteries is especially
concerned with the working out of karma in its different aspects, studied as a
law of retribution, and so from one point of view it is dark and terrible. This
is the inner kernel 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 with confusion with regard to 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.
797.
In the ancient Egyptian
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 horror sometimes associated
with the working out of karma was indeed based on absolute justice, although it
appeared as evil to the lesser vision of the profane.
798.
Thus the first stage of
the higher instruction, that of the Rose-Croix or Red Masonry, is devoted to
the knowledge and assurance of good, while to the Second stage, that of the
Knight K.H., is assigned the knowledge of apparent evil and its explanation.
Next, in the first steps of White Masonry, the crown of the whole glorious
structure, the aspirant learns to see the underlying justice of the great and
eternal God, called in Egypt Amen-Ra, who stands behind all alike, whether it
seems to us evil or good. We are told that in older days, before the Kaliyuga,
in which the apparent evil predominates over the good, the Knight K.H. wore regalia
of yellow instead of black.
799.
The 30° links the Knight
K.H. to the ruling rather than to 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. Though the sash is black, 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 Masonry of the early Degrees) edged with gold, including and
yet not drowning the rose of the 18۫º. A higher level of the same energy is transmitted to the Chair of the
Sovereign Commander, who has the ability to pass on the sacramental grace of
the Degree to others.
800.
WHITE MASONRY
801.
The highest and last of
the sacramental powers of the Ancient Mysteries which have been transmitted to
us is that of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33°. The Brn. of
this high Order should 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 Mightiest of Adepts who stands at
the head of the Great White Lodge, in whose strong hands lie the destinies of
the earth - and awakens the powers of the Triple Spirit as far as they can yet
be awakened. This highest of all Degrees is given to but few, yet even among
those few there can have been but a handful who had the least conception of
what they had received, or of the powers given into their hands. Most of those
to whom it comes probably regard it as chiefly an administrative Degree, and
have no idea that it has a spiritual side at all. The actual conferring of the
Degree is a very splendid experience when seen with the inner sight; for
the Hierophant of the Mysteries (the H.O.A.T.F.) stands above or beside
the physical 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 full blessing to the new Ruler in the Craft.
802.
The H.O.A.T.F. makes the
actual links both with Himself and with the reservoir of power set apart for
the work of the Masonic Brotherhood, and also through Himself with that Mighty
King whose representative He is for this work, while the great white Angels of
the Order remain as the guardians of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General
throughout life. This stage combines 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 its most
prominent characteristic.
803.
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 to be given only 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 the blue of Rose-Croix and K.H.; and yet it is also
strongly permeated with 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.
804.
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 Freemasonry today, bestowed in its
fullness upon 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 Bros. alone, for to use it, 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 responsive. The influence of the
33° is a veritable ocean of bliss and splendour, strength and sweetness, for it
is the power of the King Himself, the Lord who reigns on earth as Viceregent of
the Logos from eternity unto eternity.
805.
HOW TO USE THE POWERS
806.
It must of course be
understood in all cases that, though the conferring of the Higher Degrees puts
certain definite powers in the hands of the recipient, it does not instantly
endow him with the knowledge of how he is to employ them; he must grow into
that by long and careful practice, and full comprehension of them is the first
step.
807.
To gain such full
understanding is no easy matter. Those of us to whom these powers are entrusted
have to wield the forces of a new and higher world; we have to learn to do in a
small way what our Masters are doing all the while on a far larger scale; and
that means that we must consciously lift our lives much nearer to Them. A
definite piece of Their work is being turned over to us, to set Them free for
other and higher activities; we must not fail Them, we must not disappoint Them
by showing ourselves unable to do it.
808.
Clearly our task is of
the same nature as one with which we are all of us already theoretically
familiar. All who have worked in the Liberal Catholic Church or in the earlier
Degrees of Co-Masonry know that the chief object of those great organizations
is to draw down spiritual influence from on high, and to radiate it out upon
the surrounding world in a form in which that world can readily assimilate it.
But in each of those bodies the actual work of radiation, of distribution, is
done by non-human entities - by the great Angels or Devas whom we invoke - our
part in the work being rather the provision of the material which they employ.
Ours is the intensity of the devotion and of life and good will which calls
down the response from the Logos; theirs is the labour of sorting out, of
classifying and directing the manifold varieties of that Divine response, and
applying it where it is most needed.
809.
But now in this work of
the higher Degrees we are called not only to collect but to direct - not only
to provide material but to distribute and apply it. We are to exercise the
functions of the Angels on some of the lower planes, thus leaving them free to
concentrate their energies on higher levels where as yet we are less effective.
The great Angels of our respective Degrees will assuredly work with us; it is
for that purpose that they have come to us; but we on our part must do our
share of the work so that the machine as a whole may act at its highest
efficiency.
810.
This is indeed a
prodigious privilege which has been conferred upon us, and it involves a correspondingly
weighty responsibility. None of us; I am sure, would intentionally use our
power wrongly; there is no danger of that; but there is the possibility that
through ignorance we may fail to make sufficient use of these new talents of
ours. We were told long ago that “inaction in a deed of mercy may become action
in a deadly sin”. Since the Great Ones have entrusted us with powers so
portentous it behoves us to try to understand them fully, to study their
working, so that we may learn how to use them to the best advantage, how to do
with them what our Masters intend us to do.
811.
A second point is that,
having received a great accession of strength from our connection with the
Angel, we must keep a doubly careful watch over our words and thoughts, and
guard ourselves most strictly from even a momentary flash of
irritability. With us, after our years of self-training, such a feeling passes
so quickly that, though of course it is always undesirable, it may not
previously have mattered very much; but now it becomes far more serious, for
even its rapid passage may do considerable harm to the object of our wrath.
812.
OUR RELATION WITH THE
ANGELS
813.
We must consider
heedfully the relation with the Angelic kingdom into which these higher Degrees
bring us, for it is a matter of the utmost importance. At the moment of his
Perfecting, there is attached to the Sovereign Prince of the Rose-Croix a
splendid crimson Angel - a Being of beauty, dignity and power beyond the utmost
stretch of our imagination.
814.
What is the nature of
this attachment, and what will be the practical effect of this beautiful
partnership? The Angel links himself with the higher principles of the man,
most of all with the buddhi or intuitional wisdom, and the result should
presently show itself in two ways. The indescribable vitality and versatility
of the Angel’s mind will constantly impress themselves upon the mental body of
the novice, stimulating it into far greater activity, suggesting new
lines of thought and action for the benefit of humanity, strengthening the
quality of love within him and offering it ever new channels through which to
flow.
815.
Conversely, whatever
ideas may arise in the neophyte’s own mind will at once be seized and
intensified by the Angel, and all sorts of hints will be offered as to methods
of putting them into practice. But it cannot be too often reiterated or too strongly
impressed upon the aspirant that all this will happen only if he makes a
definite effort to lay himself open to the Angelic influence, only if he fills
himself with the fiery love which is the common factor and line of
communication between the two evolutions which otherwise differ so widely.
816.
If we are at all to
understand these wondrous denizens of a higher world, which is yet a part of
our world (and it is clearly our duty to try to understand them), we shall need
to widen out our entire conception of life. Our studies in earlier Degrees
should have given us a loftier point of view, and endowed us with a wider
outlook than that of the uninstructed man; but we are still confined within our
human rut, and we must learn to transcend it. As compared to the unimaginable
reality, our ideas are at the best personal and limited - even mean and sordid.
They are good of their kind, but they are restricted to that kind; effective in
some directions, but utterly unaware that there are other directions of greater
importance.
817.
The kingdoms of nature
are curiously related to each other, and mutual comprehension is extraordinarily
difficult. Think how far it is possible for even the most intelligent of our
domestic animals to understand our own life. He sees us sitting reading or
writing for hours together; how can he have any real idea of what we are doing?
The very large section of our existence which depends upon our possession of
those powers is altogether beyond his grasp, and we can never explain it to
him. Just so are there many activities of the Angelic kingdom which are incomprehensible
to us.
818.
Yet when one of these
bright Spirits is attached to us by a Masonic ceremony we must not think of him
either as director or as an attendant, but simply as a co-worker and a brother.
Our self-centredness is so ingrained that when we hear of such wonderful
association we at once think, however unconsciously, what zee can gain by the
relationship. What can we learn from this resplendent being? Will he guide us,
advise us, protect us? Or, on the other hand, is he a servant whom we can send
to do our will? It is just because we are creatures of that sort, just because
we think in that way, just because we are at that stage of evolution, that
admission to the 18° has to be by invitation only. A person who is still in
that condition of what might be called latent selfishness is not yet ready to
be linked with a radiant entity who does not know what selfishness means.
819.
Here is a great and
powerful Being, of an order quite different from our own, but in certain ways
complementary to it; if we two can work together in a union so perfect that
there shall be but one will, one purpose, one thought - and that the Divine
thought - between us, we can achieve very far more, we can be of enormously
more use to the Logos, than we could ever be when labouring separately, no
matter how strenuous might be our endeavours. Such a union is part of God’s
intention for us; if we can attain it, it will be an incredible advantage to
us; yet if we desire it because of that personal gain, we are unworthy of it
and shall fail to realize our hope. We must accept such magnificent comradeship
only because of the benefit which will accrue to the world; as regards ourselves
we must be absolutely impersonal, we must have forgotten ourselves utterly, yet
we must be filled with the Divine fervency of love for humanity.
820.
A man may feel: “These
things are too high for me; who shall be sufficient for them?” If karma puts
the opportunity in his way, the achievement is within his power, even though it
may mean harder work than he has ever yet undertaken. And the fiery love which
is the very essence of the life of his Seraph will awaken ever more and more of
the latent quality in himself, until what now seems impossible has been
realized, has become a part of his daily existence.
821.
The 30° brings its Angel
also, of appropriate character - a great blue Deva of the First Ray, who lends
his strength to the Knight K.H., somewhat as the crimson Angel assists the Ex.
and Perf. Bro. of the Rose-Croix. The 33 ° gives two such splendid
fellow-workers - Spirits of gigantic size as compared to humanity, and
radiantly white in colour. Among the Angels there is no sex as we understand
the word; yet these two Great Ones differ in a sense which is best expressed by
saying that one of them is predominantly masculine and the other predominantly
feminine. He who stands usually on the right hand of the Sovereign Grand
Inspector General has an aura of brilliant white light shot with gold, and
represents Osiris, the sun and the life, the positive aspect of the Deity; she
who stands on the left has an aura of similar light veined with silver, and
represents Isis, the moon and the truth, the negative or feminine aspect of the
Divine Glory. They are splendid beyond all words, and radiant with living love,
though most of all they convey a sense of irresistible, though benevolent,
power; and they give strength to act with decision, accuracy, courage and
perseverance on the physical plane.
822.
They belong to the cosmic
Order of Angels, who are common to other solar systems besides our own, and
their permanent centres of consciousness are on the intuitional plane; though
whenever they think fit they draw round themselves mental and astral matter
(as, for example, at all 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 usually represented on the gauntlets of the
holder of this sublime position, and they are intended to refer to these great
Angelic Powers, who bear a close resemblance to those magnificent members of
their kingdom who attach themselves to a Bishop at the time of his
consecration, and thereafter remain always in connection with him.
823.
This last phrase
requires a little further explanation, for the association is of an unusual
character. This shining retinue of the heavenly host does not visibly accompany
either the Bishop or the Sovereign Grand Inspector General at all times, yet
the consciousness of these high Angelic comrades is never out of touch with
his own, though the link is not easy to explain. The Angel keeps a line of
communication always open, and the end of this line, which rests in the aura of
his human partner, floats there like a star or tiny point of light. If the
Bishop or the Prince-Mason calls upon his inner friend, the latter is instantly
there; indeed, a call, is not necessary - the merest flash of thought is
enough. The link must be of a very remarkable nature, for I myself have found
that the intention to perform any episcopal act - even to give the most
ordinary blessing - at once attracts the attention of these noble
collaborators, though I have not consciously thought of them at all.
824.
I have wondered whether
it would be irreverent to see in that tiny point of light in the aura which
represents the Angel, some sort of analogy at an infinitely lower level to the
Host in the Tabernacle which is the vehicle of the Lord Christ. How often have
I seen, in some small village church on the Continent, the gentle glow which
indicates the Holy Presence; and when some humble peasant-woman comes in on her
way to market, puts down her basket in the porch, and kneels for a few moments
of prayer, how often have I seen that glow flash out into a sun-like radiance
in immediate response to her earnest thought of devotion! The Holy Presence is
never absent, but It certainly exhibits Itself in greater activity in answer to
an appeal. Is the Angel’s force-centre something like a faint reflection of
that?
825.
Perhaps another analogy
may be found in the twelve stars which, following the beautiful description in
the Apocalypse, are so often shown in medieval paintings round the head of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. All these represent powers; perhaps they correspond in
some way to the points of light which the Angels leave in our aura. The Star
always floating over the head of an Initiate betokens the Power of the King,
upon which he can draw at any moment, while the star upon his forehead is the
symbol of his own acquired power.
826.
CHAPTER X
827.
TWO WONDERFUL RITUALS
828.
THE WORKINGS IN EGYPT
829.
IN Chapter VI we have
commented upon the procedure adopted in Lodge when there is a candidate to be
initiated. Naturally this is not always the case, and when it is not, after
disposing of any business that may arise it is usual for the R.W.M., or some expert
Bro. called upon by him, to give some instruction to the Brn. along Masonic
lines, or to deliver a lecture on some historical point of Masonic interest.
Sometimes the formulated “Lectures” of the Masculine Craft are rehearsed - a
very interesting set of documents arranged in the form of questions and
answers, which recapitulate and explain the ritual, and contain a good deal of
miscellaneous Masonic information. Sometimes the official explanation of the t
… b … is recited, with any comment or further elucidation which occurs to the
R.W.M.
830.
In ancient Egypt this was
the point at which in the ordinary Lodges the special teaching of the Mysteries
was given. It seems to have consisted of somewhat informal talks by the R.W.M,
on the various sciences which were included in their rather extensive
curriculum. The Brn. were permitted to ask questions, but everything was done
with the greatest possible decorum, and with a certain archaic and formal but
very real reverence that was charming to see. What we must call examinations,
though they were very different from ours, were held when convenient, and no
Bro. could pass into a higher degree without satisfying the officials as to his
full knowledge and capability with regard to the stage in which he was then
working. Whenever it was at all possible a special point was always made of the
copious illustration of any subject under consideration, and this was effected
sometimes by pictures and models, sometimes by dramatic representations (as of
important scenes from ancient history), and sometimes by actual materialization
of objects and materials which could not otherwise be procured.
831.
In the three Grand
Lodges the procedure differed. Their members had already acquired the necessary
scientific knowledge, so they were able to devote themselves entirely to the
great purpose for which they existed - the pouring forth of spiritual power
over the country. This was done by means of a ritual perhaps as magnificent as
any ever known to man - a ritual of which I will here give a free translation,
though I feel it entirely impossible to reproduce in words the majesty and
splendour of the original.
832.
As already stated, the
Grand Lodges were limited to forty members, but these Brn, were especially and
essentially picked men, and each one had it as a duty to take up some
particular quality or activity and fit himself to be a representative of that.
One man, for example, represented perseverance, and was called the Knight or
Lord of Perseverance; another was the Knight or Lord of Courage; another took
up the virtue of tact, and so on. A list of these qualities is appended; but I
am not satisfied with it, for it is often exceedingly difficult to find English
equivalents for the Egyptian ideas, and in many cases a whole sentence would be
needed folly to explain the latter.
Love and Wisdom
Strength
The Power to discover and appreciate Beauty
Discernment (Good Judgment or Discrimination)
Eloquence
Truth and Accuracy
Industry (Diligence)
Efficiency
Sense of Unity (Sympathy)
Courtesy
Tact
Decision (Promptitude)
Courage
Cheerfulness
Confidence
Calm
Balance
Perseverance
(Steadfastness)
Reverence
Devotion
Foresight (Calculation or
Prescience)
One-pointedness
Sense of Honour
Impartiality (Unprejudicedness)
Justice
Desirelessness
Control of
Thought
Control of
Emotion
Control of Body
Judicious Speech
Control of Memory (Knowing what to remember and what
to forget)
Meditation
Purity
Patience and Gentleness
Persuasiveness
Adaptability
Tolerance
Eagerness for Service (Humility)
Study
40. Perspicuity
|
R.W.M.
W.S.W.
W.J.W.
I.P.M.
Orator or Mouthpiece
Secretary (Recorder and Librarian)
Administrator (Treasurer)
Director of Ceremonies
Director of Music
S.D.
J.D.
I.G.
Tyler
Columns
Columns
|
833.
It was, then, the duty
of each brother to fit himself to expound or express his quality or activity -
not for himself, but as a part of the whole. A man cultivated courage, not that
he might be brave, but that he might represent courage in that group, regarded
as a composite entity, which was in a very real sense a unity. Each one of them
must know his quality not only from his own point of view, but also by an odd
system of cross correspondences. Each person was supposed to be able to deliver
a sermon about his quality from the point of view of each of the other
qualities. Courage tempered by humility; courage affected by love, and so on;
there were many quaint and interesting combinations. These were first-rate men
- and they needed to be to do their work efficiently.
834.
THE FORM OF THE TEMPLE
OF AMEN-RA
835.
The performance of the
beautiful ceremony called “The Building of the Temple of Amen”
was the principal work done by these great Lodges; and, as I have said, the
Brn. regarded it as the chief reason for their existence. As explained in
Chapter I, they held that the Hidden Light of God dwelt within the heart of
every man, however unevolved he might be; and they considered it the duty of the
enlightened one, first, so to live as to let that Light shine unobstructed
through him, and secondly, to try by every means within his power to help to
arouse and unveil that Hidden Light in his fellow-men.
836.
They found by experience
that one of the most efficient modes of giving such help to large numbers
simultaneously was to afford a channel for the outpouring of a vast flood of
spiritual force over the surrounding country, and that was what they
endeavoured to do in the ceremony which I am about to describe. They said: “All
Light comes from the Great One; but because men shut themselves away in the
caves of ignorance and misunderstanding, our earthly mirrors can reflect that
Light where otherwise it would not penetrate, and so the Great One accepts our
help, and condescends to use in the work that part of Himself which is manifesting
through us.” They looked forward to this ceremony with the utmost eagerness and
thought no pains too great to take to prepare themselves for it; and they threw
themselves into its performance with an unsurpassable enthusiasm.
837.
They met for this
function in a subterranean hall of vast size, resembling in appearance a great
cathedral. The Lodge was a small area in the midst of this prodigious cave,
like the cella in a Greek temple. The mosaic floor, the tessellated
pavement and the usual Masonic arrangements were there, just as we have them
now. For the performance of this particular rite the altar stood in the middle;
but the usual form of the Lodge in Egypt was the double square - an oblong
about twice as long as it is broad - and in that case the altar stood at the
middle point of the eastern square; but for “The Building of the Temple of
Amen” the altar was absolutely central. In all Lodges in Egypt they
attached very great importance to the altar, saying that the altars of Masonry
had from time immemorial been the beacon - lights of liberty, and the Lodge a
city of refuge.
838.
Just outside the area of
the Lodge on the north side was a row of nine subsidiary altars, somewhat like
little round-topped tables. Each was a highly carved stone pillar, rising to a
height of a little more than three feet and then spreading out into a round
table-top, perhaps a couple of feet in diameter. On each of those was the name
of one of the great Archangels. These were the altars of the Nine Orders of
Angels, and that which now we represent under the name of the Archangel Michael
was the central point of the nine. Below on the floor round each of these was a
kind of shallow trough in which during the ceremony incense was burning all the
time. I am not quite sure how the fire was kept up, for in the Egyptian
Mysteries they had means of producing exceedingly bright light and intense heat
which were quite different from ours - probably something we have not yet
discovered. They had thus a thin veil of incense rising round each of these
little altars.
839.
The altar in the centre
of the Lodge was peculiar, and requires a little explanation. It was built on
the same general plan as those of the Angels, but it was considerably more
massive. Its edge was thick, and not strictly speaking circular; it was really
a polygon with forty sides - a side for each person present. The altar-top was
perhaps about seven feet in diameter, and each of the forty little facets was
square. The altar was made of some kind of obsidian or possibly
jade-glass-like, not black, but dark blue or green. In the centre of this thick
altar-top there was hidden a very bright light, quite invisible when all the
mechanism was closed.
840.
In the upper surface of
this hollow altar there was a circular opening, closed by a little door, the
two halves of which could slide apart so that the light could shine out upwards
towards the roof through that hole in the top of the altar. Apart from this,
each of the facets had a little door that drew up. One could take hold of the
projecting frame, and draw up the little door, so that a pencil of light shone
out horizontally towards the far-distant wall through the little slit which was
thereby opened. Inside each of these little doors was coloured glass, so that
different rays came forth from each of these forty slits when they were opened.
These colours were chosen to represent the various qualities, or at least to
distinguish one from another. Some were simple colours, but most were
combinations. I mean that a pencil of light would be divided - half yellow and
half blue, let us say; sometimes such a division would be diagonal, and
sometimes horizontal, so that the resulting beams were readily recognizable.
841.
Over the altar in the
centre of the roof was the Blazing Star, which at full power was a really
splendid light, equal to several big electric arcs put together. It was
however, capable of being dimmed down gradually, and could be used at various
degrees of power. Each of the Brn. brought to this ceremony a private light of
his own, which was practically a dark lantern. It was a rather clumsy-looking
bog of blue earthenware, but it had a tube corresponding to that of a
bull’s-eye lantern, so that it could shoot out a powerful pencil of light which
stood out clearly in the incense-laden air. Each person’s ray of light was
different, corresponding to one of those from the altar in the centre. Another
feature which is quite foreign to our modern ideas was the presence of two
attendant acolytes at the ceremony - a boy and a girl of about twelve years of
age, most beautiful children, chosen for their beauty out of the whole land of Egypt. They were sworn under the most
sacred oath (the oath by Amen, which none would ever dare to break) not to
speak outside of what took place in the Lodge. Certain vessels and other
paraphernalia were kept under the R.W.M.’s pedestal, and solemnly fetched
thence by these little acolytes when required.
842.
THE BUILDING OF THE
TEMPLE OF AMEN-RA
843.
When the ceremony of the
Building of the Temple of Amen was to be performed the Lodge was opened
in the ordinary way, and raised straight to the Third Degree by the shortest
method in due and ancient form. The Blazing Star flashed out at the moment of
opening, but not to its highest possibility. After inquiries as to business,
the R.W.M. gave one k … which was answered as usual, and said:
844.
“Brn., we have met to
perform the greatest of our duties - to build the Temple of the Great One, the Great Architect,
the Grand Geometrician, the Most High.”
845.
As he uttered the first
title, all present raised the back of the right hand to the forehead, and at
each of the other titles the appropriate salutes were given, exactly as we
know them now. Remaining at the salute the R.W.M. continued:
846.
“May we be found worthy
to serve Him.”
847.
All present repeated the
words, chanting solemnly in reply:
848.
“May we be found worthy
to serve Him.”
849.
In the same way the
following sentences were repeated:
850.
R.W.M. - May our work be
guided by His wisdom.
851.
All - May our work be
guided by His wisdom.
852.
W.S.W. - May our work be
inspired by His strength.
853.
All - May our work be
inspired by His strength.
854.
W.J.W. - May our work
show forth His beauty.
855.
All - May our work show
forth His beauty.
856.
R.W.M. - May our work be
acceptable in His sight.
857.
All - May our work be
acceptable in His sight.
858.
That last sentence meant
more than is conveyed in the English words, for it also included the idea that
while He saw it, and approved it, He might also be seen in it, might shine
through it and manifest Himself.
859.
Then the R.W.M. said:
860.
“Brn., let us prepare
ourselves by a few minutes of meditation.”
861.
He made a sign with his
hand, and the Blazing Star was extinguished, leaving the Lodge in total
darkness. Each brother had his lamp lit, but the light was perfectly concealed.
At each man’s seat was a sort of socket or stand into which his lamp fitted,
and when it was laid on that socket its tube was accurately aimed at the
corresponding facet of the central altar. Each brother (or sister) retained
always the same seat, and the coloured glass in the tube of his lantern exactly
resembled that in the facet of the altar to which he was opposite.
862.
THE UNVEILING OF THE
HIDDEN LIGHT
863.
After a few minutes of
meditation in the darkness the R.W.M. gave a k …, which was answered as usual,
and the W.S.W, said:
864.
“R.W.M., is it your will
that we pray the God Ra to unveil the Hidden Light?” (The God Ra is the Solar
Logos, manifesting through the sun).
865.
The R.W.M. replied:
866.
“Ra unveils His light
when we unveil ours. So give that you may receive.”
867.
Then he left his seat in
the darkness, and walked down to the altar, with his two little attendants, and
stood with his back to his own throne, but close to the altar. He also had a lamp
like all the rest, and he now carried it in his hand. He drew up the slide of
his lamp and showed his light, as he said: “I give the Light of wisdom,” and
aimed that light at the altar in front of him, and as he did so he stretched
forth his hand and drew up the corresponding little door. There was a little
ledge on which it hitched so that it remained open, and so in response to the
coloured ray from his lamp a similar coloured ray shone upon him from the
altar. He then handed his lamp to his little acolyte, who carried it back to
his chair, and set it in its socket; and then the R.W.M. walked round the table
to the other side.
868.
Then the W.S.W., from
his place, said: “I give the Light of strength,” and uncovered his light, which
also was set in its socket so that the ray of light fell on the edge of the
table exactly opposite to him. The R.W.M. slipped up that little door, and the
corresponding light shone out. Then the W.J.W. unveiled the light of beauty,
and after him each member in turn mentioned his own quality, saying: “I give
such and such a light,” and each time the R.W.M. raised the little door
opposite to the speaker, and the corresponding colour shone forth - always the
double ray, that which the man gave and the ray from the centre which answered
it.
869.
When all the forty
members had uncovered their lights in that way, the R.W.M. said:
870.
“The circle is complete;
let the light shine.”
871.
With these words he
opened the top of the table, sliding back the two semi-circular doors, so that
a strong cylindrical beam of white light flashed up to the roof. The coloured
rays of the qualities were perhaps four inches in diameter, but this beam
measured a couple of feet through - a great funnel of light shooting up to the
ceiling, which was very lofty - at least seventy feet high, I should think; and
then in response to that, the Blazing Star was unveiled at its fullest power.
872.
The symbolism here is
obvious and beautiful. Each person first gives his quota and gets his response.
When all have done their respective parts they have built up the perfect man.
Then the white light which includes all shoots up, and down comes the Light of
the Logos in reply. When the whole vast hall was flooded by this splendid
light from the Blazing Star, the people closed their lamps, all the little
doors in the sides of the altar were dropped down again, and those on the top
of the table slid back into place.
873.
THE OFFERINGS
874.
The next part of the
ceremony was a hymn to Ra, the Logos, the Sun-God, thanking Him for His
response, giving glory to Him and saying: “Let us bathe in His Light, and pay
Him due reverence.” That was the general effect of it, but there were many
verses. When that was finished, the R.W.M. said: “Bring in the offerings”; and
his acolytes went off to his pedestal and produced them.
875.
The children brought him
two golden vessels, which bore some resemblance to those used in the Christian
eucharistic service, and evidently to a certain extent corresponded to them.
This ceremony long antedated Christianity, so it is by no means impossible that
some of its features may have been absorbed by the later religion. We may
clearly regard this as the Egyptian form of the Eucharist, for its object was
identical; the Brn. offered themselves, body, soul and spirit, to God, He entered
into them in an especial manner in return, and they then acted as the channels
of His bounty to the world.
876.
The boy returned from
the Master’s pedestal bearing in his hands a circular golden dish with a domed
cover perhaps twelve inches in diameter; in fact, it was in shape and size by
no means unlike some that are used to hold vegetables at a modern dinner table,
but made apparently of solid gold, richly chased and evidently very heavy. The
girl bore a cup of similar manufacture - not quite the Christian chalice; more
like the two-handled loving-cup of mediaeval times. These vessels were treated
with the utmost reverence, as of immemorial antiquity; they were scarcely in
the Egyptian style, and may quite possibly have been Atlantean. The girl
carried also a curious triangle of gold, in the centre of which was
realistically engraved a human eye. A slight bowl-like depression at the apex
of the triangle enabled the officiant to use it as a kind of spoon, as will
presently be explained.
877.
These vessels were placed
on the altar before the R.W.M., who extended his hands over them and said:
878.
“O thou Most High, Most
Strong, Most Wise, Thou ever-shining Light, from Whom all light forever
comes, we return to Thee herein the light and life that Thou hast given us. Our
life is in this offering; we lay it at Thy feet, we pour it forth before Thee.
As it bears our life to Thee, so may it bear Thy Life to us. Flood Thou our
offering with Thy Life, that it may awaken Thee in us.”
879.
All stretched forth
their hands and chanted the Egyptian equivalent of: “So mote it be.”
880.
The R.W.M. then drew
over himself a wonderful golden robe, which his acolyte had brought from the
pedestal, gave a k … and, turning slowly round, with his arms extended towards
the columns, said:
881.
“Brn., you have given
yourselves to our Lord Osiris-Ra; now Osiris-Ra will give Himself to you.”
882.
And once more all
chanted: “So mote it be.”
883.
Then the R.W.M, removed
the covers from the vessels. In the dish there lay a curious-looking flat cake,
perhaps six inches square and half an inch in thickness, which was scored into
squares like a chess-board - not cut through, but half cut by six lines
parallel to each of the sides, so that it could easily be broken into small
squares. The marking was heavier round the nine squares in the centre. The cake
was of flour, with a slightly sweetish taste, but the top was covered by a thin
layer of whitish-grey material, not unlike the icing on some modern cakes. The
cup contained a colourless fluid.
884.
THE DESCENT OF OSIRIS
885.
As soon as the R.W.M.
had uncovered the vessels, he raised his arms towards the Blazing Star, and
cried three times: “O LORD, descend!” When that tremendous flood of light fell
upon the offerings, a remarkable chemical change was at once set up, presumably
by the actinic action of the light-rays, and the greyish-white icing grew
crimson. It would appear that the same sensitive chemical was in solution in
the cup, for the colourless liquid also became a deep rose. The change of
colour was obviously intended to symbolize the descent of the Divine
Life, and when it was completed, the R.W.M. gave seven k … in a peculiar
sequence (which were repeated by the W.W.s, the I.G., and the Tyler) and said:
886.
“The Lord gives Himself
to us; thank we the Lord.”
887.
All the Brn. repeated
these words, chanting them over and over again in a kind of anthem with many
parts, which was evidently very well known to all.
888.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE
SACRAMENT
889.
When this was finished
the R.W.M. beckoned to the D.C., who marshalled in order eight members from the
south-east corner of the Lodge, and brought them to the altar with him. These
nine grouped themselves around the R.W.M. as he stood at the altar. He then,
facing the altar, broke off the little square at the north-east corner of the
cake, and dropped it into the cup; taking up the strange golden triangle, he
dipped the apex into the cup, brought out the little square in the spoon-bowl,
and reverently consumed it. Then, as he turned from the altar to the nine Brn,
standing round him, they bowed slightly to him, all saying together: “Thou art
Osiris.”
890.
The R.W.M. broke off
another fragment of the cake, and dropped it into the cup; then the D.C.
stepped forward with the salute and handed him a small spoon made of that
beautiful blue highly glazed earthenware which we often find in ushabtis. The
R.W.M. took the spoon, picked up the fragment in it, and administered it to the
D.C. As soon as the latter had received it, the whole group, including the
R.W.M., bowed slightly to him, and said simultaneously: “Thou art Osiris.”
Each Bro. in turn produced his spoon, received his fragment of the cake and the
grave bow and salutation from his Brn.
891.
When the group of nine
had all partaken, the D.C. conducted them to their seats, and brought up to the
altar the W.J.W. and nine others - the south-west corner in fact - who went
through precisely the same ritual. Then the W.S.W. and nine from the north-west
corner came, and finally the Secretary and nine from the north-east. Each Bro.
brought his little spoon and, after using it for administration to him, the
R.W.M. dropped it into a large golden bowl which was held at his side by his
young attendants. An important point noticed was that they held out the bowl in
front of the R.W.M. every time he administered a fragment, lest a drop of the
liquid should fall. As the R.W.M. gave the fragment to each man, he said:
“Receive the Light; thou art Osiris; let the Light shine.” And the nine
brethren bowed gravely and repeated: “Thou art Osiris.”
892.
It will be seen that
when all the forty had received and returned to their places, the central block
of nine squares still remained. The R.W.M. broke off one of these, dropped it
into the cup, took it out in his own golden triangle-spoon, and carried it to
one of the Angel-altars in the north. He was accompanied by his young acolytes,
who walked one on each side, holding a cloth stretched before him to catch any
drop that might fall from the triangle. On each altar was a small square of
linen with a tiny blue saucer upon it, and in this the R.W.M. laid the fragment
of the cake, saying: “The gift of Osiris to …” (mentioning the name of the
Angel). The Brn. chanted in response: “Praise to the holy …” using the
same name. The R.W.M. did this at each of the nine altars, passing back to the
large altar each time; and the last fragment, which was the central square of
the original cake, went to the altar of the Archangel
whom we call St. Michael.
893.
The children then
brought from the pedestal a flagon containing water, and the R.W.M. carefully
washed the dish, cup and triangle, the water being poured into the large bowl
into which the blue spoons had been thrown. The vessels were wiped with the
cloth which the acolytes held in front of the R.W.M. He then proceeded with his
attendants to the nine altars of the Angels, carefully removed from each the
tiny saucer with the fragment of cake, and threw both saucer and cake into the
bowl. Then he took up the little square of linen, wiped the top of the altar
with it, and threw that also into the bowl. It is evident that each Angel was
supposed to have extracted from the offering whatever he wished, so that the
outer symbol might now be removed. The R.W.M. did not in this case make a
separate journey for each, but began at the west end of the line and moved
straight along. When he returned to the central altar he threw into the bowl
the cloth with which the vessels were wiped. The cover of the bowl was then
placed upon it, and the R.W.M. sealed it in two places with his seal. It was
then set aside by the acolytes until the end of the ceremony.
894.
THE REUNION
OF OSIRIS
895.
This being done, the
R.W.M. returned to his chair with his attendants, and all were seated. Then he
gave a k …, and said:
896.
“Brn., the body of
Osiris is broken and buried within you. How shall Osiris rise again?”
897.
And the Brn. took up the
same words:
898.
“The body of Osiris is
broken and buried within us; how shall Osiris rise again?”
899.
They chanted them over
and over again antiphonally. It was an anthem, yet set to a strange weird minor
melody which was wonderfully impressive. This music grew gradually softer and
more melancholy, and as it did so, the light slowly faded until there was
complete darkness. Then the music died down altogether, and there was a period
of silence during which the Brn. meditated upon the death and life of Osiris.
900.
Out of the silence there
presently arose soft, faraway fairy-like music, which swelled and drew nearer
by imperceptible degrees. Though so soft it was no longer sad, but calm and
happy, with a lovely haunting refrain; and after a while a voice emerged, but
so gradually, so skillfully that it was scarcely possible to say when it began.
At first it seemed to be humming the air; then words somehow shaped themselves
little by little, and before one knew it the voice was singing ever more and
more strongly and clearly: “Osiris is immortal, unchanging; Osiris is broken,
divided into thousands of parts, yet ever reunited; though He may be many, yet
is He ever One. We are Osiris; through us shall He rise again; through us shall
He be reunited; for we be one, even as He is One.” Then the Brn. joined in and
sang the same words in gradually swelling chorus.
901.
As their chant ceased
the R.W.M. gave the k … and his voice rang out:
902.
“Rise, Brn., you who are
Osiris; as you have received, so give.”
903.
He himself rose, turned
to the East and uncovered his lamp, throwing its light on the far-away eastern
wall of the great hall, saying as he did so:
904.
“I, Osiris, give the
Light of wisdom.” All the Brn. now faced outwards towards the walls, and the
W.S.W. uncovered his lamp and said:
905.
“I, Osiris, give the
Light of strength.”
906.
Then the W.J.W. in the
same way sent out the Light of beauty, and each brother in turn uncovered his
light and sent out his especial quality with all his might into the dim
vastness of the cathedral, which typified the darkness of the outer world. So
flexible was the language that “the Light of beauty” could just as well be
taken to mean “the beauty of the Light”.
907.
The scene at this point
was most impressive, the pencils of light shooting out in all directions into
the dim surrounding vastness. When the last brother had spoken, the R.W.M.
added:
908.
“As the truest wisdom is
love, I send out also the Light of love, which enfolds and includes all.”
909.
THE SHINING OF THE LIGHT
910.
After a few minutes of
intense silent concentration, the R.W.M. repeated the special sevenfold k …,
which was answered by the Wardens and Guards, all the Brn. faced inwards, and immediately
a chant of triumph rang out:
911.
“Osiris hath risen
again; Osiris is One; we are all one in Him. Rejoice, O brothers, rejoice! for
Osiris hath conquered death and fear. There is no death, there is no fear;
Osiris lives forever, and we live in Him.”
912.
This was re-echoed
anthem-wise, and finally culminated in a great triumphant shout:
913.
“Shine forth, Osiris-Ra;
let the Light shine!”
914.
And at that the R.W.M.
turned on the Blazing Star so that the whole immense hall was flooded with
light once more. All the Brn. then extinguished their lamps, and drew round
themselves beautiful shimmering festal robes in honour of the resurrection of
Osiris; and when they were ready the R.W.M. gave a single k …, and said:
R.W.M. - W.S.W., is Osiris one or many?
W.S.W. - Osiris is ever One, R.W.M., yet shows Himself
in many forms.
R.W.M. - W.J.W., when does He show Himself in many
forms?
W.J.W. - When He divides Himself and descends into the
lower worlds, R.W.M.
R.W.M. - W.S.W., why does He thus descend?
W.S.W. - For our sake, R.W.M.
R.W.M. - How for our sake, W.J.W.?
W.J.W. - Because without Him we could not be, R.W.M.
R.W.M. - W.S.W., are we then Osiris?
W.S.W. - We are Osiris, R.W.M., and through us His
Light should shine.
R.W.M. - W.J.W., whence comes that Light?
W.J.W. - From the Eye of Osiris, R.W.M., when He looks
upon His world.
R.W.M. - W.S.W., what if He turned away His glance?
W.S.W. - The world would cease to be, R.W.M.
R.W.M. - W.J.W., is His light then in all?
W.J.W. - It is, R.W.M., but in some it is hidden through
ignorance.
R.W.M. - W.S.W., what then is our work?
W.S.W. - To unveil that Hidden Light, R.W.M.
R.W.M. - W.J.W., how can we do this work?
W.J.W. - R.W.M., the more clearly the Light shines in
us, the more will it call forth the Hidden Light in others.
R.W.M. - W.S.W., why is that so?
W.S.W. - Because Osiris is one, R.W.M., and Osiris
within us calls to Osiris in our brethren.
R.W.M. - Then, Brn., let us ever express our gratitude
for what He has done for us by making
His Light to shine upon others, as we have done today.
R.W.M. (continuing) - And let us now join in
recognition of Him.
915.
THE PLEDGE AND THE
BLESSING
916.
A procession was then
formed, all Brn. wearing their gorgeous festal robes, and they marched round
the great hall, singing joyous hymns with tremendous enthusiasm. Having
completed their circumambulation, they divided into four groups, one taking
its position at the middle point of each of the four walls of the hall; then at
a given signal, they all moved simultaneously towards the centre, and took up
their original positions in the Lodge. When these were reached, the R.W.M. gave
the peculiar sevenfold k …, and raising his arms above his head, said:
917.
“Brn., we have built
again the Temple of Amen-Ra, who creates, sustains and ends the worlds.
Osiris, Isis, Horus, all are One in Him. We pledge our lives to Him from whom
we receive them; let us invoke His blessing.”
918.
In response, all the
Brn. raised their arms towards the Blazing Star, and solemnly repeated:
919.
“We pledge our lives to
Amen-Ra, to Him from whom they came.” Then, lowering their arms, they broke out
into a wonderful finale, an anthem in which the Sacred Name was repeated many
times, much as it is in the Amen Chorus in Handel’s Messiah, though the music
was more reminiscent of Bach’s fugues: “Praise to Amen, thanks to Amen; Amen,
Amen, Amen-Ra.” The happiness and enthusiasm of the Brn. were indescribable.
920.
When the last glad chord
had died away, the R.W.M. raised his arms again and said with deep feeling:
921.
“Blessing and Peace and
Love and Life be yours from Amen for ever.”
922.
And all stretched forth
their hands, and replied:
923.
“So mote it be.”
924.
Then the Lodge was
lowered and closed in due and antient form.
·
* *
* *
925.
At a convenient time
after the whole ceremony was over, the R.W.M. and some of the Officers took the
golden bowl to the bank of the Nile. They
embarked upon a boat, and were rowed out to the middle of the river, and there
the R.W.M. broke his seals, and emptied out the entire contents of the bowl
into deep water. Then he carefully washed it and it was borne back to the
sanctuary.
926.
THE CEREMONY OF THE HOLY
ANGELS
927.
THE H.O.A.T.F. holds a
Lodge of His own in one of the halls of His castle, and we have at various
times been privileged to see some of His workings. One beautiful ritual that I
witnessed there I am allowed to describe, as it is so unlike an ordinary
Masonic meeting that there can be no infringement of any O.
928.
It is a special ceremony
performed annually on the Church festival of St. Michael and all Angels. It is
worth the notice of the Masonic as well as of the ecclesiastical student that a
number of these festivals of the Christian Church are much more than mere
commemorations; they are definitely occasions on which, for various reasons,
heaven and earth draw nearer together, and communication between the seen and
the unseen worlds is noticeably easier than is commonly the case. Often there
is an astronomical basis for the phenomenon, as in the case of the festivals of
the two St. Johns who are said to be the patron saints of Freemasonry - one
occurring on June 24th, and the other on December 27th -
obviously aiming respectively at the summer and winter solstices, though wrong
by a few days because of the maladjustment of the medieval calendar. Michaelmas
Day is evidently an attempt to mark the autumnal equinox, though now it is a
week behind time; still, it is one of the occasions which I have mentioned, and
each year advantage is taken of that fact to make the wonderful interchange of
forces which I am about to try to describe - though again, as in the former
case, this is one of the many instances in which words seem hopelessly
inadequate.
929.
THE LODGE AND OFFICERS
930.
At the eastern end of a
large hall there was a beautifully carved throne of white marble raised upon
several steps; and upon it sat the H.O.A.T.F., dressed in a splendid crimson
robe like a cope, fastened on the breast by a design of brilliantly flashing
jewels, diamond and amethyst, in the form of a seven-pointed star. Underneath
the cope-like vestment he wore a suit of golden chain-mail, which was once the
possession of a Roman Emperor. At each side of Him, standing upon one of the
steps which led up to His throne, was an attendant dressed in silver
chain-mail, holding his sword upright at the carry. At the western end, facing
Him, sat the Chohan of the Third Ray, magnificently robed in green and gold;
but the clasp of His robe was a golden triangle studded with diamonds and
emeralds, and His throne was of polished porphyry. He was evidently acting as
W.S.W.; and for the W.J.W. on the southern wall, midway between Them, was set a
third throne, of rose-coloured marble, upon which sat another well-known Adept,
dressed in a white garment not unlike a chasuble, heavily ornamented with blue
and gold. On the front of it was embroidered a Corinthian column,
extending from neck to knees, and foliations sprayed out upwards from it over
the shoulders, as do the orphreys of a Gothic chasuble. On His breast
hung by a golden chain a five-pointed star of sapphires, and from it in turn
depended a ruby cross.
931.
The whole central part
of the Lodge was left empty, though a number of Brn. robed in brilliant colours
sat in the columns. The lozenges of the mosaic pavement were pale rose and pale
blue, and there seemed to be some additional design faintly indicated upon it
by lines. There were also lines of different colours round the edge of it, as
is not unusual in Co-Masonic Lodges.
932.
THE TRIANGLE OF ADEPTS
933.
The H.O.A.T.F. was
clearly in charge of the proceedings as R.W.M., and He began the ceremony by
interchanging some rapid sentences with the other Adepts. There were also some
singing and a number of quick simultaneous movements. Then the R.W.M. chanted some
solemn sentences that sounded like a prayer, and came down from His throne and
stood on the floor at a certain point a little distance in front of it. As He
left the throne, the two attendants, facing each other, saluted Him with their
swords as He passed between them, and then stepped down to the floor and
stood in front of the throne awaiting His return. The W.S.W. also chanted a
prayer and came down, and then the W.J.W. did exactly the same thing, so that
They were standing on the floor in a right-angled triangle, all facing towards
the centre. After exchanging ceremonious salutes They chanted together
antiphonally, and seemed to throw flashes of fire towards one another, till the
triangle was marked out by lines of brilliant golden light.
934.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE
ANGELS
935.
Then the R.W.M. turned
towards the W.J.W. and chanted a sentence. The W.J.W. replied, and then They
both turned Their backs on the centre and stood facing outwards at right angles
to the line of fire that joined Them - facing south-east. Then simultaneously
They chanted an invocation, throwing Their arms forward; and suddenly two great
Angels appeared facing Them, standing so as to make a square with Them. They
exchanged certain signs as though in greeting, and then They again chanted and threw
out lines of fire, so that the square was marked out in lines of golden light
like the triangle. Then the W.S.W. turned towards the W.J.W., and They chanted
together, facing outwards at right angles to the line which joined Them -
facing south-west. They too chanted the invocation and repeated the movements
which the R.W.M. and the W.J.W. had made before. Again two Angels appeared
facing Them and forming a square with Them, and again the square was traced in
lines of light. Each time when an Angel came a cry of welcome (H … B … B … H …)
was raised by all present and some kind of salutation was given.
936.
Then the W.J.W. raised
His arms and chanted an invocation, and immediately there stood beside Him a
great Angel dressed at He was. When the Angel appeared, the Adept and He
clasped each the other’s right hand, and raised Their left hands above Their
heads. They exchanged some rapid salutations, the assembly uttered its cry of
welcome, the Angel took the W.J.W.’s place, and the latter returned to His
throne. Next the W.S.W. went through the same ritual, and was also replaced by
an Angel dressed just like Him; and finally the R.W.M. did as the others had
done. As the R.W.M. left the floor and prepared to go to His Throne, He drew
His sword and made a certain sign in the air, replaced it in its scabbard and
then returned to His seat. His attendants saluted Him as before, and resumed
their previous places on the step. All the Adepts left Their chairs by the
left-hand side, and returned to them by the right-hand side. We had now the
Angels representing the seven Rays of our solar system arranged in two squares
meeting in a point, and standing upon the two sides of the triangle which were
adjacent to the right angle.
937.
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE OF THE ANGELS
938.
After some further
singing the R.W.M. rose from His throne and, extending His arms upwards, commenced
a mighty invocation, in which, after He had sung the first sentence, all the
Angels and the two W.W.s joined. Then the three officers and all the Angels turned
sharply to the north, and joined in chanting a longer invocation, as a result
of which two other Angels appeared, completing the third square. But these two
were cosmic Angels, of the types which are not limited to one solar system; so
that now all the nine Angelic Orders were represented; and when they had
outlined their square of golden light we had before us on the floor a fiery
delineation of the forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid - with
the preparation of which the Adept who was acting as W.J.W. was so closely
associated in His incarnation as Pythagoras.
939.
Figure 16
940.
941.
Again the Angels wove
their lines of light, but this time throwing them upwards into the air, so that
upon each of the three squares they erected a pyramid, and upon the original
central triangle a tetrahedron. They then threw their lines downward into the
earth, and thus produced a set of inverted pyramids. The entire figure was thus
a nest of four prisms (one hexahedron and three octahedra), the floor upon
which the Angels stood representing the central plane. A “bird’s eye view” of
this form is attempted in Fig. 15, and Plate XI is another effort to show it in
perspective in colour.
942.
Plate XI
943.
944.
THE CEREMONY IN THE TEMPLE
945.
Having thus built for
themselves a temple of this strange form, the Angels proceeded to perform a
most interesting ceremony inside it. They moved in a wonderful choric dance,
arranging themselves in various figures much as the Adepts do at the Wesak
ceremony, which I have described in The Masters and the Path, though the
figures were no the same. They made a seven-pointed star, a swastika, a cross,
and many other figures, but it was very difficult to see them on account of the
dazzling radiations of coloured fire from the points of the figure. After many
such changes they all joined in a sort of hymn - a most marvellous outburst of
music, in which the voices pealed out like trumpet-calls, like the chiming of
mighty bells. The multiprismatoidal temple was transparent like crystal, and
yet somehow permeated with fire, so that in watching it one realized the
meaning of the strange description in the Revelation of a sea of glass mingled
with fire.
946.
As the angelic chorus
swelled out the glow of this temple grew brighter and brighter, and lines of
dazzling light shot out into the empyrean, bearing messages and greetings to
worlds far away in space. And unmistakably there came a response to this
wondrous call - even many responses. Strange to us beyond all words in
magnetism and in feeling were these replies from other worlds; but that they
were replies there was no question. Some came from other planets of our system;
others just as surely came from worlds of which we at present know nothing.
947.
The end of the ceremony
was dramatic. The prisms glowed with greater and greater intensity, until the
whole figure seemed a mass of living fire, and with a final grand outburst of
triumphant song it suddenly swept upwards and vanished - caught up in a chariot
of fire like Elijah of old. Then a hymn was sung, the H.O.A.T.F. solemnly
blessed the assembly, and all filed out in procession, singing, the three
Officials bringing up the rear as usual.
948.
THE EFFECT OF THE
FESTIVAL
949.
The Festival of St.
Michael and All Angels, on which, as I have said, this Masonic meeting is held
every year, is an anniversary which long antedates the Christian era, though
Christianity quite rightly adopted it, as it did so many of the festivals of earlier
religions. It is an interchange of joyous greetings and hearty good wishes - a
kind of ‘happy new year’ among the Angels. The ceremony is, however, not merely
a celestial greeting, but has other functions as well, many of which are quite
impossible to understand. It was evident, for example, that forces were being
discharged into the interior of our earth; we were in some way being
loaded or charged, and were in turn imparting to other worlds something of
which they had need. I am sure that we are as yet far from fully comprehending
the significance of this magnificent ritual. I remember that Madame Blavatsky
once spoke to us of it, and I also once wavy years previously heard a reference
made to it by one of the Adept Brotherhood.
950.
CHAPTER XI
951.
CLOSING THE LODGE
952.
THE GREETINGS
953.
JUST as at the opening
of the Lodge we gathered together all our forces for the evening’s work, so now
in the closing of the Lodge we marshal them once more for the final effort of
outpouring the Masonic blessing. The ceremony of closing begins when the R.W.M.
asks if any Bro. has any proposition to make, specifying that such propositions
must be for the benefit of the Order in general or for the benefit of humanity.
All business and all proposals connected with business should have been done at
an earlier period in the evening, before the Lodge has commenced the special
work of the meeting. The only matters with which we deal at this stage are the
proposal of candidates for initiation, and the reception of greetings from
other Councils, Consistories, Chapters or Lodges.
954.
The greetings then given
are by no means formal. Each greeting received is a very distinct contribution
to the force which is produced during the working of the Lodge; it brings with
it the peculiar mental atmosphere of the Lodge whose greeting is given. Every
Lodge exists on the mental plane as a definite mental object - a real thing in
the realm of thought. When, therefore, one of its members gives a greeting in
another Lodge, there comes to him from his own a spear of light, bearing good
influence, which radiates through him. When a Bro. is in his own Lodge, a
certain aspect or facet or segment of his aura, which represents his relation
to that Lodge, is galvanized into activity; some portion of his potential being
is vivified because he is part of that Lodge.
955.
The Lodge as a mental
entity is made up of such sections of all its members, welded together to form
a whole, and it is from that whole that the spear of light comes and flashes
out when the greetings are given. When we speak of a Lodge as a mental entity
we do not mean something existing merely in mind or fancy; on the mental plane
each Lodge is a definite thing, a great sphere, with a precise allocation in
space, over the place where the Lodge meets. In the case of a hall where a
number of Lodges meet on different evenings, the several spheres are to be seen
floating above the building; these spheres are then not intermingled at all,
but clustered together over the premises in such a way as to remind one of a
collection of toy balloons.
956.
The mental forms made by
different Lodges vary very greatly. In some cases such a form is a very fine
thing indeed, upheld by a number of people who are intensely in earnest, whose
Lodge is a very real thing in their lives. When the members have considerable
knowledge of the occult meaning of the Lodge and its work, that makes a
splendid form on the higher mental plane; but if the Lodge is composed of
members of little intellectual ability, whose thoughts are for the most part
centred upon good fellowship and banqueting, the astral counterpart of the
Lodge will be strong, but the mental portion of its form deficient. It follows
from this that the greetings from some Lodges are of far more effect than those
from others.
957.
The highest greetings of
all are those from the Supreme Council. The R.W.M. asks the question which
leads to the greetings three times. Therefore the force which the Lodge
receives through the greetings is divisible into three groups, each quite
distinct from the others. Sometimes there are answers to all the three
questions, but often there are not. The first group brings the benison of White
Masonry. That greeting can be given only by members from the 31° to the 33°
inclusive, and it has distinctly the character of a blessing from on high; for
this reason its communications are dated always from the Zenith, signifying
that its benediction descends impartially upon all.
958.
In this same section
greetings may be received also from an Encampment of the 30°. Regalia of that
degree are black; its special teaching is concerned with the working out of
karma, whether it be good or evil, and its special function in Masonry is the
inculcation of order, justice and discipline. For that reason it is established
in an Encampment on the hills, so that it can see all round any subject which
is submitted to it.
959.
The second class of
force comes from Red or rather rose-coloured Masonry. This group comprises all
Masons from the 4° to the 29°, and includes also the Masons of the Holy Royal
Arch. Its central point is the 18° or Rose-Croix, and its special
characteristic is love. Because of its quality of love it dates its
communications from the valleys - the fertile valleys running down from the
mountains, yet descending towards the teeming plains of every-day life.
960.
The greeting of the
first group may be compared to the blessing of a great guru or religious
teacher, while the second is more like the affection which parents give to
children, or that which the pitris or ancestors shower upon mankind. In the 33°
each man exercises a power of blessing not unlike that of a Bishop in the
Christian Church, for the great white Angels who are especially engaged in the
work of the 33° have very much in common with those who exercise similar functions
in that Church.
961.
Then comes the third
group of greetings, from Mark Lodges and from Blue Masonry, given by members of
the three degrees. These bring a great stream of brotherly encouragement and
strength from other Lodges, which stand at the same level Masonically as that
to which the greetings are given. These Lodges are all on the plains, which
extend far into the blue distance. So we have three distinct types of
greetings, giving blessing, love and encouragement respectively.
962.
Sometimes a Mason is
requested by a Lodge other than his own, with which he happens to be personally
connected, to convey its greetings to his own Lodge and other Lodges which he
may visit. In such a case he becomes a kind of envoy for that Lodge,
although he does not belong to it, and he is thereby empowered to carry its
greeting just as effectively as a member of that Lodge could do it.
963.
At this stage of the
proceedings, should it happen that no proposition is forthcoming, the W.S.W.
announces: “The c … s are silent, R.W.M.” Here we have the use of the word c …
s in another sense, referring not to the pillars that stand upon the pedestals,
but to the members who are not in official position, and are sitting in the
north and south. These Brn. are literally in the position of c … s in the
building of the temple, as will be seen in the large coloured Plate which
accompanies this book, and it is their work that supports the Lodge. It is not
that the Brn. make up a c …, horizontally, being in a row, but that each one is
a separate perpendicular c …, helping to support the roof; they stand as
brothers, equal in their work. I will quote here an account of a very beautiful
and most instructive vision which came many years ago to an intimate friend of
mine. He writes:
964.
One day when meditating
on brotherhood there suddenly leaped into existence before my internal vision
a magnificent temple, apparently Egyptian or Grecian in style. It had no outer
walls, but consisted of a large number of pillars supporting a graceful roof,
and surrounding a small walled shrine, into which I did not see. I cannot
express the vividness with which I felt that the building was instinct with
meaning - impregnated, as it were, with magnetism of intelligence which made
it no mere vision, but an object-lesson containing the very highest teaching.
Simultaneously an explanatory sonnet unfolded itself, and described in a few
terse, compact lines how this was a symbol of true brotherhood - how all these
pillars, all in different places, some bathed in the glorious sunlight, some
for ever in the half-shade of the inner lines, some thick, some thin,
some exquisitely decorated, some equally strong yet unadorned, some always
frequented by devotees who used to sit near them, others always deserted - how
all of them silently, ungrudgingly, perseveringly and equally bore together the
one roof, protecting the inner hall and its shrine-all different and yet so
truly all the same. And the sonnet ended: “In this see brotherhood.”
965.
I could not reproduce
that sonnet now, but the richness and the fullness of its meaning, the deep
wisdom so neatly wrapped up in those few words made me see as if in the gleam
of a searchlight what true brotherhood really means - the sharing of service,
the bearing one’s part regardless of all else but the work to be done.* (*Some Occult Experiences, by Johan van Manen,
p. 20.)
966.
There is much to be
learnt, I think, from such a vision as that.
967.
The greetings are
concluded by the rising of all the Brn. of the Lodge, and their exchange of
hearty good wishes with the R.W.M., thus bringing to a focus their feeling of
love and loyalty to him and to the H.O.A.T.F. behind him.
968.
PREPARATION FOR CLOSING
969.
Then inspiring verses
are read by the Orator from the V.S.L., and the R.W.M. calls upon the Brn. to
assist him in closing the Lodge. We have already seen what a large part the
Brn. play in the opening of the Lodge, by the power of their thought and
devotion. All through the ceremony the thought-form made by the visible and
invisible Brn. and workers has been increasing in the richness and strength of
its content; now all turn their attention to the distribution of that force to
the world around.
970.
I may perhaps illustrate
the nature of this effect by reference to the construction of a certain type of
Hindu mantras. Some years ago I was requested by our noble brother Sir S.
Subramania Iyer of Madras
to investigate a mantra which he had been using for many years, which had been
given to him by Swami T. Subba Rao, a great South Indian occultist. I looked
into the matter with considerable care, and also made use of it afterwards,
for it was very remarkable.
971.
This mantra is found, I
am told, in the Gopalatapani and Krishna Upanishads, and is composed of five
parts, as follows: (1) Klim, Krishnaya, (2) Govindaya, (3) Gopijana, (4)
Vallabhaya, (5) Swaha. As one meditates upon this with intent each syllable
makes a line in such a position that a five-pointed star results, as in Fig.
17.
972.
Figure 17
973.
974.
And as the mantra is
repeated these stars pile up behind one another to form a tube having this
five-pointed form of cross-section, which makes a channel for spiritual force
coming from Shri Krishna, who is the same Being as the Lord Maitreya, the
present Bodhisattva or World-Teacher, the Great One who entered into the body
of Jesus as the Christ. With this force coming through it the mantra can be used
for many purposes, such as healing, or the removal of fire and other
elementals, as well as for general good.
975.
I found, however, that
there were three stages in the process. With the recital of “Klim”, which it is
said is called “the seed of attraction” by the Hindu occultists, the attention
of the Source of the force is attracted and what may be called a kind of
downward door or valve is opened; then, throughout the body of the mantra the
force pours into the form; and finally, with the sound “Swaha”, that force is
sent out to do its work.
976.
Our work in the Lodge is
of the same nature as that done by means of such ancient mantras. During
our meeting we have been enriching the form by our devotion and thought, and
now we prepare to let the accumulated force burst forth as a blessing on the
surrounding world.
977.
THE CLOSING
978.
The closing, like the
opening, begins with the momentous question as to the first and constant care
of every Freemason to see that the Lodge is close t … d. With the general
purpose and effect of t … g I have already dealt in Chapter V. The special
reason for putting this query again at this stage is that we are now especially
collecting and generating force which is intended to be used not within the
Lodge, but for projection along certain definite lines outside it. We therefore
see carefully to the t … g of our Lodge, just as a man who has inserted a
cartridge into a breech-loading rifle is careful to close the chamber
hermetically, so that the whole force of the explosion will be directed only
along the barrel, but of course the explosion in this case is not of
destruction, but of blessing to the world.
979.
The next command is that
the Brn. should come to order as Freemasons - not this time in order to see
that no intruders are present, because our doors have been guarded all through
the ceremony, but because this coming to order with the s … p and s … n is the
method appointed to call out the special power of the degree, to increase to
the fullest extent the activity of the chakra concerned, so that each member
may realize and express fully the power conferred upon him as an E.A. When this
is done one may see the chakra light up and glow, flash and scintillate, and
often increase in size.
980.
Then the R.W.M. turns to
the W.S.W. and asks once more what is his situation in the Lodge and why he is
so placed. This is in effect a call upon the W.S.W.’s Angel representative to
do his duty, to see that each Bro. is filled with strength, not only to
take his share in the present work, but to carry on through life until the next
meeting. Again, with the same object, having done everything possible to
stimulate the Brn. and to increase the spiritual power available - by drawing
in help from the Craft, by arousing the loyalty of the members, by the
inspiration of the S.L., by the most careful t … g, by the use of the special
power of the degree in which they are working, and by a call upon the Angel for
assistance - we now turn to the Logos Himself, expressing our heartfelt
gratitude for the blessings we have received and our hope that the Order may
continue to deserve His help by doing its duty of expressing every moral and
social virtue. Still further enthusiasm is evoked by the beautiful words and
thoughts of the closing hymn, and then the R.W.M. sums up our Masonic duty to
our neighbour in the comprehensive injunction that we should meet upon the
level, act upon the plumb, and part upon the square, each officer raising the
symbol attached to his collar as the word is pronounced.
981.
We meet in perfect
equality and friendliness, showing no preference or prejudice, but doing
justice to all. We act always with absolute truth and uprightness, showing ever
the keenest sense of honour; and though the Lodge is now closing, and we are
about to separate on the physical plane, yet we part on the square, never
forgetting the close adjustment which it secures, so that our brother’s
interest is our own in his absence as in his presence, and there can be no
selfishness or forgetfulness, for we are all stones builded together into one
divine temple to the glory of T.G.A.O.T.U.
982.
Then the R.W.M., raising
his hands, speaks the fateful words which release all this splendid accumulation
of force, and send out a vivid pulsation of energy to every member of every
duly constituted Lodge throughout the world. What each Bro. can receive of this
stupendous outpouring depends upon himself, his degree of advancement, his knowledge,
his attitude of mind; but that the gift is one of enormous value, that the
privilege of belonging to the Order is very great, there can be no question in
the mind of any student of occultism.
983.
The elemental hosts
which have been gathered together rush outward to all points of the compass,
only their captains, the representative Angels of the officers, still remaining
in their respective places. When at the command of the R.W.M. the W.S.W., who
typifies Shiva, the destroyer of forms, utters the formula of closing, the
Angels of the assistant officers also fade away, leaving only the three
principals and the august thought-form of the H.O.A.T.F. The R.W.I.P.M., in the
solemn utterance “And the word was with God”, reminds the Brn. that even when
manifestation ceases the Christ still remains within the bosom of the
Father, ready to spring forth again, the Alone-born, the Self-begotten,
when He, the Eternal Word, shall deign to speak once more.
984.
The principal Officers
now extinguish their candles in rotation, each decreeing as be does so that the
quality which he personifies shall nevertheless remain enshrined within the
hearts of the Brn.; and the R.W.I.P.M. explains how this is possible by
reminding them yet again that “His light shineth even in our darkness”. As the
candles are extinguished the representative Angels disappear, each as he goes
bowing profoundly to the Presence of the M.O.T.W., who raises His hands in
blessing, and vanishes only when at the closing prayer for the preservation of
the Craft all turn with uplifted hands towards His portrait.
985.
So ends one of the most
wonderful ceremonies in the world - a ceremony which has survived, practically
unchanged in its essential parts, from an antiquity so remote that history has
forgotten it. Misunderstood, only half appreciated, maimed in many cases of the
glorious and dignified rites which are its true expression, it is nevertheless
still doing its appointed work in an ungrateful and uncomprehending world.
Founded many thousands, perhaps millions, of years ago, by order of the
Spiritual King of the World, it still remains one of the mightiest weapons in
His hands, one of the most efficient channels of His blessing. Some of us have
the wisdom to grasp this, the good karma to be employed in this department of
His service; may we never forget how great is our privilege; may we never fail
to take the fullest advantage of this opportunity which He has given us!
S … M … I … B ….