IV. Series — Cabalistic.

lbth and 16*7* Classes : 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, degrees whose names are concealed from all but the possessors. 17th Class: 87, Sovereign Grand Princes, constituted Grand
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Masters, and legitimate representatives of the order for the First Series ; 88, Ditto for the Second Series ; 89, Ditto for the Third Series; 90, Absolute Sovereign Grand Master, Supreme Power of the Order, and Chief of the 4th Series.
The chiefs of this rite claim the privilege, which, of course, has never been conceded to them, of directing and controlling all the other rites of Freemasonry, as their common source. From an examination of a part of its ritual, and the perusal of some of its official publications, I am inclined to believe the assertion of its friends, who claim for it an eminently philosophical cha- racter. The organization of the rite is, however, too complicated and diffuse to have ever been practically convenient. Many of its degrees were founded upon, or borrowed from, the Egyptian rites, and its ritual is said to be a very close imitation of the ancient system of initiation.
The legend of the third degree in this rite is abolished. HAB is said to have returned to his family, after the completion of the Temple, and to have passed the remainder of his days in peace and opulence. The legend, substituted by the rite of Misraim for that admitted by all the other rites, is carried back to the days of Lamech, whose son Jubal, under the name of Hario-Jubal-Abi, is reported to have been slain by three traitors, Hagava, Hakina, and Haremda.*
MITHRAS, MYSTERIES OF. The mysteries of Mithras were celebrated in Persia. They were instituted by Zeradusht, or Zoroaster, an Eastern sage, concerning whose era the learned are unable to agree, some placing it in the reign of Darius Hvs. taspes, and others contending that he lived centuries before the reign of that monarch. Zoroaster reformed the doctrines of the Magi, and established a theology which was adopted as the reli- gion of the Persians, Chaldeans, Parthians, Medes, and other
* See a singular work, published in 1S35, at Paris, by Marc Bedarride, one
of the chiefs of the rite, under the title of " De VOrdre Maconnique de Mi*-
raim," pp. 25 and 118.
2G*
306 MIT
neighbouring nations. According to the Zend Avesta, the sa- cred book in which these doctrines are contained, the Supreme Being, whose name signifies "Time without bounds/' created Light in the beginning; out of this light proceeded Ormuzd, or the principle of light, who, by his omnific word, created the world. He produced also the superior genii, Amshaspands, who surround his throne, as the messengers of his will, and the infe- rior genii, Izeds, who are the guardian angels of the world, and whose chief is Mithras. The Supreme Being also created Ahri- man, the principle of darkness, and the Dives, or evil genii under him. These are incessantly at war with Ormuzd, endea- vouring to corrupt the virtue and destroy the happiness of the human race. But their efforts, the Zend Avesta declares, are vain; for, assisted by the Izeds, the triumph of the good prin- ciple has been resolved in the secret decrees of the Supreme Being.
Mithras resided in the sun, and hence that luminary was wor- shipped as the abode of the God of Light. He was represented as a young man covered with a Phrygian turban, and clothed in a mantle and tunic. He presses with his knee upon a bull, one of whose horns he holds in his right hand, while with the right he plunges a dagger into his neck. This was an evident allusion to the power of the sun when he is in the zodiacal sign of Taurus. In Persia, the mysteries of Mithras were celebrated at the winter solstice; in Rome, where they were introduced in the time of Pompey, at the vernal equinox.
They were divided into seven degrees, and the initiation con- sisted of the most rigorous trials, sometimes even terminating in the death of the aspirant. No one, says Gregory Nazianzeu, could be initiated into the mysteries of Mithras, unless he had passed through all the trials, and proved himself passionless and pure.* The aspirant at first underwent the purifications by
* Orat. Cont. Julian. Appropriately does be call these trial? Koyaotis, or puniahmenra.
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Water, by fire, and by fasting; after which be was introduced into a cavern representing the world, on whose walls and roof were inscribed the celestial signs.")" Here he submitted to a species of baptism, and received a mark on his forehead. He was pre- sented with a crown on the point of a sword, which he was to refuse, declaring at the same time, " Mithras alone is my crown." He was prepared, by anointing him with oil, crowning him with olive, and clothing him in enchanted armour, for the seven stages of initiation through which he was about to pass. These commenced in the following manner : In the first cavern he heard the howling of wild beasts, and was enveloped in total darkness, except when the cave was illuminated by the fitful glare of terrific flashes of lightning. He was hurried to the spot whence the sounds proceeded, and was suddenly thrust by his silent guide through a door into a den of wild beasts, where he was attacked by the initiated in the disguise of lions, tigers, hyenas, and other ravenous beasts. Hurried through this apart- ment, in the second cavern he was again shrouded in darkness, and for a time in fearful silence, until it was broken by awful peals of thunder, whose repeated reverberations shook the very walls of the cavern, and could not fail to inspire the aspirant with terror. He was conducted through four other caverns, in which the methods of exciting astonishment and fear were inge- niously varied. He was made to swim over a raging flood j was subjected to a rigorous fast; exposed to all the horrors of a dreary desert ; and finally, if we may trust the authority of Ni- csetas, after being severely beaten with rods, was buried for many days up to the neck in snow. In the seventh cavern or Sacellum, the darkness was changed to light, and the candidate was intro- duced into the presence of the Archimagus, or chief priest, seated on a splendid throne, and surrounded by the assistaut dis- pensers of the mysteries. Here the obligation of secrecy was
■j According to Tertullian, his entrance was opposed by a drawn sword, from which, in the obstinacy of his perseverance, he often received more than one wound.
308 MIT— MOD
administered, and he was made acquainted witL the sacred words, among which the Tetractys or ineffable name of God was the principal. He received also the appropriate investiture,* and was instructed in the secret doctrines of the rites of Mithras, of which the history of the creation, already recited, formed a part, The mysteries of Mithras passed from Persia into Europe, and were introduced into Rome in the time of Pompey. Here they flourished with various success, until the year 378, when they were prescribed by a decree of the Senate, and the sacred cave, iu which they had been celebrated, was destroyed by the Preto- rian prefect.
MITRE. One of the vestments of the High Priest of a Royal Arch Chapter. See Hijh Priest of the Jews.
MODERN MASONS. The terms, Ancient and Modern Ma- sons, are no longer known to the craft as distinctive appellations of any classes of the fraternity ; but the time has not long past when the masonic world was convulsed by the controversies of the two bodies who assumed these titles. As an important part of the history of our order, it is therefore necessary that I should briefly relate the origin of the words, Modem and Ancient Ma- sons.^
In the commencement of the eighteenth century, the universal name by which the whole mystic family was known, was that of
* This investiture consisted of the Kara or conical cap, and candy s or loose tunic of Mithras, on which was depicted the celestial constellations, the zone, or belt, containing a representation of the figures of the zodiac, the pastoral etafF or crozier, alluding to the influence of the sun in the labours of agricul- ture, and the golden serpent, which was placed in his bosom as an emblem of his having been regenerated and made a disciple of Mithras, because the ser. pent, by casting its shin annually, was considered in these mysteries as t symbol of regeneration. — See Maurices Indian Antiquities, vol. v., ch. 4.
f The subject has already been alluded to in the article on Grand Lodgei and it is, therefore, unavoidable, that I should here be guilty of repetition foi the purposes of facility of reference, and to preserve the continuity of tin narrative.
MOD 309
" Free and Accepted Masons." At that period there were in England two Grand Lodges, the Grand Lodge of 'England, seated at London, and governing the southern part of the kingdom, and the Grand Lodge of all England, placed at York, and extending its jurisdiction over the northern counties. These bodies at first maintained a friendly intercourse, which was, however, at length interrupted by the officious interference of the Grand Lodge at London, in granting warrants to lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge at York. At this time, in 1738, under the Grand Mastership of the Marquis of Carnarvon, some of the brethren, becoming dissatisfied with certain proceedings of the Grand Lodge of England, seceded from that body, and assumed, without authority, the title of York Masons. In the next year, Lord Raymond being Grand Master, the secessions continuing, the Grand Lodge of England attempted to check the evil by passing votes of censure on the most refractory, and by enacting laws to discourage these irregular associations. In consequence of these measures, the sececlers immediately declared themselves independent, and assumed the appellation of Ancient Masons. They propagated an opinion, that the ancient tenets and usages of masonry were preserved by them, and that the regular lodges, being composed of Modern Masons, had adopted new plans, and were not to be considered as acting under the old establishment.* They, therefore, organized a Grand Lodge, the authority for which they professed to derive from the ancient body at York ; called themselves " Ancient York Masons;" and constituted several subordinate lodges. The brethren who still adhered to the Grand Lodge of England, continued to style themselves " Free and Accepted Masons," but were stigmatized by their opponents with the name of Moderns, the most opprobrious epithet that can be applied to a masonic body. The dissensions between these bodies were disseminated into foreign countries, where each body constituted lodges, and were continued in
* Preston, Must, of Masonry, p. 1S9.
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England until the year 1813, when they were happLy united during the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex. Before that period, in some countries, and shortly after it in others, the union had elsewhere taken place,* and the two terms of Ancient and Modern Masons now exist only in the records of the past.
With respect to the real differences between these two bodies, they appear to have existed rather in name, than in fact. Der- mott, an Ancient Mason, with an illiberal desire of injuring the reputation of his opponents, asserts that " a very material diffe- rence exists between the Ancient and Modern Masons;" but Dalcho, who was also an Ancient York, but acquainted with both systems, declares that " the difference in point of import- ance, was no greater than it would be to dispute, whether the glove should be placed first iipon the right hand, or on the left" The question, however, is definitely settled by the report of the Committees of Conference of the two Grand Lodges of Ancient York, and Free and Accepted Masons, of South Carolina, who met for the purpose of mutually examining the work, prepara- tory to the confirmation of the articles of the Union, which took place between these bodies in 1817. On that occasion the joint committees reported, " That from the reciprocal examinations by the several committees already had in Grand Lodge, it doth ap- pear that there exists no difference in the mode of entering, pass- ing and raising, instructing, obligating, and clothing brothers, in the respective Grand Lodges."
MONITOR. Those manuals, published for the convenience of lodges, and containing the charges, general regulations, em- blems, and account of the public ceremonies of the order, are called Monitors. The instruction in these works is said to be Monitorial, to distinguish it from esoteric instruction, which is not permitted to be written, and can be obtained only in the pre- cincts of the lodge.
* They were united in Massachusetts as early as 1792, and in South Caro- lina in 1817.
MON— MOP 311
MONITOR, SECRET. See Secret Monitor.
MOON. If the moon is found in our lodges bestowing her light upon the brethren, and instructing the Masier to imitate, in his government, the precision and regularity with which she presides over the night, we shall find her also holding a conspicu- ous place in the worship of the first seceders from the true spirit of Freemasonry. In Egypt, Osiris was the sun, and Isis the moon ; in Syria, Adonis was the sun, and Ashtoroth the moon ; the Greeks adored her as Diana, and Hecate; in the mysteries of Ceres, while the hierophant or chief priest represented the Creator, and the torch bearer the sun, the ho epi homos, or officer nearest the altar, represented the moon. In short, moon-worship was as widely disseminated as sun-worship. Masons retain her image in their rites, because the lodge is a representation of the universe, where as the sun rules over the day, the moon presides over the night • as the one regulates the year, so does the other the months, and as the former is the king of the starry hosts of heaven, so is the latter their queen ; but both deriving their heat, and light, and power from him, who, as a third and the greatest light, the master of heaven and earth, controls them both.
MOPSES. In 1738 Pope Clement XII. had issued a Bull, condemning and forbidding the practice of the rites of Free- masonry. Several brethren in the Catholic States of Germany, unwilling to renounce the order, and yet fearful of offending the ecclesiastical authority, formed in 1740, under the name of Mopses, what was pretended to be a new association, devoted to the papal hierarchy, but which was in truth nothing else than Freemasonry under a less offensive appellation. It was patron- ized by the most illustrious persons of Germany, and many Princes of the Empire were its Grand Masters. The title is derived from the German word mops, signifying a young mastiff, and was indicative of the mutua' fidelity and attachment of
312 MOR
the brethren, these virtues being characteristic of that noble animal.
In 1776, the Mopses became an androgynous order, and ad- mitted females to all the offices, except that of Grand Master, which was held for life. There was, however, a Grand Mistress, and the male and female heads of the order alternately assumed, for six months each, the supreme authority.
MORALITY OF FREEMASONRY. No one who reads our ancient charges can fail to see that Freemasonry is a strictly moral institution, and that the principles which it inculcates in- evitably tend to make the brother, who obeys their dictates, a more virtuous mac. What this morality is, has been so well de- fined in a late address before one of our Grand Lodges, that nothing I could say would add strength to the sentiment, or beauty to the language.
" The morality of masonry requires us to deal justly with others; not to defraud, cheat, or wrong them of their just dues and rights. But it goes farther; regarding all as the children of one great father, it regards man as bound by piety, masonic morality, and fraternal bonds, to minister to the wants of the destitute and afflicted; and that we may be enabled to fulfil this high behest of humanity, it strictly enjoins industry and fru- gality, that so our hands may ever be filled with the means of exercising that charity to which our hearts should ever dis- pose us."*
MORIAH, MOUNT. A hill on the north-east side of Jeru- salem, once separated from the hill of Acra, by a valley, which was filled up by the Asmoneans, and the two hills converted into one. In the time of David, it stood apart from the city and was under cultivation, for here was the threshing floor of Oman the
* Address before the Grand Lodge of Kentuck v, by Rev. M. M, Henkle, G. 0. 1844.
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Jcbusite, which David bought for the purpose of erecting on it an altar to Grod. Here also Abraham is supposed to have been directed to offer up his son Isaac. On Mount Moriah, Solomon afterwards erected the Temple, when it was included within the walls of the city. Mount Gihon, the Hill of Gareb, and espe- cially Mount Calvary, are to the westward of Mount Moriah.
Mount Moriah is represented by the ground floor of the lodge, and on it the three grand offerings of masonry were made. See Ground Floor of the Lodge.
MOSAIC PAVEMENT. Mosaic work consists of innumer- able little stones, of different colours, closely united together, so as to imitate a painting. The floor of the tabernacle, and the pavement of Solomon's temple, are said to have bee a thus con- structed.* The Mosaic pavement, in imitation of this pave- ment of the temple, is an ornament of the lodge, and is illus- trated in the Entered Apprentice's degree. It is surrounded by a richly inlaid or tessellated border, commonly called the in- dented tessel, and has in its centre a blazing star. The variety of colours in the pavement, is a fit emblem of human life, a mingled scene of virtue and vice, of happiness and misery ; to- day " our feet tread in prosperity, to-morrow we totter on the uneven paths of weakness, temptation, and adversity ;" the tessellated border, rich in the adornments of figure and colour, represents the many blessings which surround us, and of which not even the most lowly are entirely destitute ; while the blazing star, like that bright meteor which of old directed the steps of the wise men of the East, still points to that eternal source from which each blessing flows
MOST EXCELLENT. The style given to a Royal Arch Chapter, and to its presiding officer, the High Priest.
* The term Mosaic is supposed to have been derived from the fact that Mi sea thus constructed the floor of the tabernacle. Mosaic or tesselated pavements were very commou among the ancients.
27
314 MOS— MYS
MOST EXCELLENT MASTER. The O.h degree in the American rite. Its history refers to the dedication of the Temple by King Solomon, who is represented by its presiding officer, under the title of Most Excellent. Its officers are the same as those in a symbolic lodge.
MOST WORSHIPFUL. The style given to a Grand Lodge, and to its presiding officer, the Grand Master.
MUSIC. One of the seven liberal arts and sciences, whose beauties are inculcated in the Fellow Craft's degree. Music is recommended to the attention of Masons, because as the " con- cord of sweet sounds" elevates the generous sentiments of the soul, so should the concord of good feeling reign among the brethren, that by the union of friendship and brotherly love, the boisterous passions may be lulled, and harmony exist throughout the craft.
MUSTARD SEED, ORDER OF. Ordre de la graine de
Seneve. This association, whose members also called themselves " The fraternity of Moravian Brothers of the order of Religious Freemasons," was one of the first innovations introduced into German Freemasonry. It was instituted in the year 1739. Its mysteries were founded on that passage in the 4th chapter of St. Mark's gospel, in which Christ compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. The brethren wore a ring, on which was in- scribed, " No one of us lives for himself." The jewel of the order was a cross of gold, surmounted by a Mustard plant, with the words, " What was it before ? Nothing." This was sus- pended from a green ribbon.
MYSTAGOGUE. The one who presided at the Ancient Mysteries, and explained the sacred things to the candidate. He was also called the hierophant.
MYS 315
MYSTERIES. This is the name given to those religious assemblies of the ancients, whose ceremonies were conducted in secret, whose doctrines were known only to those who had ob- tained the right of knowledge by a previous initiation, and whose members were in possession of signs and tokens by which they were enabled to recognise each other.* For the origin of these mysteries we must look to the Gymnosophists of India, from whom they passed through Egpyt into Greece and Rome, and from whom likewise they were extended, in a more immediate line, to the northern part of Europe and to Britain. The most important of these mysteries were those of Mithras, celebrated in Persia ; of Osiris and Isis, celebrated in Egypt ; of Eleusis, instituted in Greece ; and the Scandinavian and Druidical rites, which were confined to the Gothic and Celtic tribes. In all these various mysteries, we find a singular unity of design clearly in- dicating a common origin, and a purity of doctrine as evidently proving that this common origin was not to be sought for in the popular theology of the Pagan world. The ceremonies of initia- tion were all funereal in their character. They celebrated the death and the resurrection of some cherished being, either the object of esteem as a hero, or of devotion as a god. Subordina- tion of degrees was instituted, and the candidate was subjected to probations varying in their character and severity; the rites were practised in the darkness of night, and often amid the gloom of impenetrable forests or subterranean caverns; and the full fruition of knowledge, for which so much labour was endured, and so much danger incurred, was not attained until the aspirant, well tried and thoroughly purified, had reached the place of wis- dom and of light.
These mysteries undoubtedly owed their origin to the desire
* Warburton's definition of the Mysteries is as follows : " Each of the pagan gods had (besides the pu b lie and open) a secret icorship paid unto him; to which none were admitted but those who had been selected by preparatory cere- monies, called INITIATION. This secret worship was 'ermed the MYSTE- RIES."—Divine Legation, Vol. 1, B. ii. $ 4, p. 189.
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on the part of the priests of establishing an esoteric philosophy. in which should be taught the sublime truths which they had derived, (though they themselves at length forgot the source,) from the instruction of God himself through the ancient patri- archs. By this confinement of these doctrines to a system of secret knowledge, guarded by the most rigid rites, could they only expect to preserve them from the superstitions, innovations, and corruptions of the world as it then existed. " The distin- guished few," says Oliver, "who retained their fidelity, uncon- taminated by the contagion of evil example, would soon be able to estimate the superior benefits of an isolated institution, which afforded the advantage of a select society, and kept at an unap- proachable distance the profane scoffer, whose presence might pollute their pure devotions and social converse, by contumelious language or unholy mirth."* And doubtless the prevention of this intrusion, and the preservation of these sublime truths, was the original object of the institution of the ceremonies of initia- tion, and the adoption of other means by which the initiated could be recognised, and the uninitiated excluded. Such was the opinion of "Warburton, who says that " the mysteries were at first the retreats of sense and virtue, till time corrupted them in most of the gods."f
The A.bbe Robin, in a learned work J on this subject, places the origin of the initiations at that remote period when crimes first began to appear upon earth. The vicious, he remarks, were urged by the terror of guilt to seek among the virtuous for intercessors with the deity. The latter, retiring into solitude to avoid the contagion of growing corruption, devoted themselves to a life of contemplation and the cultivation of several of the useful sciences. The periodical return of the seasons, the revolution of the stars, the productions of the earth, and the various phenomena of nature, studied with attention, rendered them useful guides to
* History of Initiation, p. 2. f Spence's Anecdotes, p. 309.
"J; Recherches sur les Initiations Anciennes ct Modernes. Paris. 1780.
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men. both in their pursuits of industry and in their social duties These recluse students invented certain signs to recall to the re- membrance of the people the times of their festivals and of their rural labours, and hence the origin of the symbols and hierogly- phics that were in use among the priests of all nations. Having now become guides and leaders of the people, these sages, in order to select as associates of their learned labours and sacred functions only such as had sufficient merit and capacity, appointed strict courses of trial and examination, and this, our author thinks, must have been the source of the initiations of antiquity. The Magi, Brahmins, Gryninosophists, Druids, and priests of Egypt, lived thus in sequestered habitations and subterranean caves, and obtained great reputation by their discoveries in astronomy, chemistry and mechanics, by their purity of morals, and by their knowledge of the science of legislation. It was in these schools, says 31. Robin, that the first sages and legislators of antiquity were formed, and in them he supposes the doctrines taught to have been the unity of Grod and the immortality of the soul; and it was from these mys- teries, and their symbols and hieroglyphics, that the exuberant fancy of the Greeks drew much of their mythology.*
The candidates for initiation were not only expected to be of a clear and unblemished character, and free from crime, but their future conduct was required to be characterized by the same purity and innocence. They were, therefore, obliged, by solemn engagements, to commence a new life of piety and virtue, upon which they entered by a severe course of penance. f
The mysteries were held in the highest respect, by both the government and the people. It was believed that he who was initiated would not only enjoy an increased share cf virtue and happiness in this world, but would be entitled to celestial honours in the next. "Thrice happy they/' says Sophocles, " who de-
* I give these ingenious speculations of the Abbe Robin, although 1 dissent from much of his doctrine, because they add another item to the history of the theories on this interesting subject.
f "^ arburton, Divine Legation, B. ii., Sect. 4.
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fcended to the shades below after having beheld these rites j foi they alone have life in Hades, while all others suffer there every kind of evil." And Isocrates declares that "those who have been initiated in the mysteries, entertain better hopes, both as to the end of life and the whole of futurity/'
The ancient historians relate many circumstances in illustration of the sanctity in which the mysteries were held. Livy tell us the following story : Two Acarnanian youths who had not been initiated, accidentally entered the temple of Ceres, during the days of the mysteries. They were soon detected by their absurd ques- tions, and being carried to the managers of the temple, though it was evident that they had come there by mistake, they were put to death for so horrible a crime.*
Plutarch records the fact that Alcibiades was indicted for sacri- lege, because he imitiated the mysteries of Eleusis and exhibited them to his companions in the same dress in which the hierophant showed the sacred things, and called himself the hierophant, one of his companions the torch bearer, and the other the herald. "j*
Lobeck, one of the most learned writers on this subject, has col- lected several examples of the reluctance with which the ancients approached a mystical subject, and the manner in which they shrunk from divulging any explanation or fable which had been related to them at the mysteries. £
To divulge them was considered a sacrilegious crime, the pre- scribed punishment for which was immediate death. I would no*, says Horace, dwell beneath the same roof, nor trust myself in the same frail bark, with the man who has betrayed the secrets of tha Eleusinian rites. §
* Liv. Hist. xx.i. 14. f Plut. Alcibiad. 22.
J Lobeck's Aglaophamus, vol. i. app. 131, 151 ; vol. ii. p. 1287. $ Vetaoo, qui Cereris sacrum Vulgarit arcanse, sub iisclein
Sit trabibus, fragilemque mccura Solvat phaselum.
[Carm. iii. 3, 26.
MYS 319
On the subject of their relation to the rites of Freemasonry, to which they bear in many respects so remarkable a resemblance, that some connection seems necessarily implied, there are two principal theories. The one, is that embraced and taught by Dr. Oliver, namely, that they are but deviations from that common source, both of them and of Freemasonry, the patriarchal mode of worship established by God himself. With this pure system of truth, he supposes the science of Freemasonry to have been coeval and identified. But the truths thus revealed by divinity, came at length to be doubted or rejected through the imperfection of human reason, and though the visible symbols were retained in the mysteries of the Pagan world, their true interpretation was lost.*
That the instruction communicated in the mysteries of Paganism were an impure derivation from the sublime truths of the pa- triarchal theology, I have no hesitation in believing. But that they were an emanation from Freemasonry, as we now understand the terms, I am not yet prepared to admit, notwithstanding the deep veneration in which I hold the learning of Dr. Oliver. I prefer, therefore, the second theory, which, leaving the origin of the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal doctrines, where Oliver has placed it, finds the connection between them and Free- masonry commencing at the building of King Solomon's Temple. Over the construction of this building, Hiram, the Architect of Tyre, presided. At Tyre the mysteries of Bacchus had been intro- duced by the Dionysian Artificers, and into their fraternity Hiram, in all probability, had, as I have already suggested, been admitted, j" Freemasonry, whose tenets had always existed in purity among the immediate descendants of the patriarchs, added now to its doc- trines the guard of secrecy, which, as Dr. Oliver himself remarks, was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution. f
This, then, it seems to me, is the true connection between the
* Signs and Symbols, p. 217.
f See Antiquity of Masonry, and Hiram the Builder, in this work.
X Hist, of Initiation, p. 2.
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mysteries and speculative Freemasonry. They bc-tt emanated from one common source, but the former soon losing much of their original purity, were compelled, in order to preserve the little that was left, to have recourse to the invention of ceremonies and modes of recognition, and a secret doctrine, by means of which all but a select and worthy few were excluded. These ceremonies, and especially this symbolic or secret mode of communicating in struction, so admirable in themselves, were afterwards adopted by the Freemasons, who had retained the ancient tenets in their original purity, but they divested them of their heathen allusions, and adapted them to the divine system which they had preserved unimpaired.
A third theory has been advanced by the Abbe Robin, in which he connects Freemasonry indirectly with the mysteries, through the intervention of the Crusaders. In the work already cited, he attempts to deduce from the ancient initiations, the or- ders of Chivalry, whose branches, he says, produced the institu- tion of Freemasonry. But this theory is utterly untenable and inconsistent with the facts of history, since Freemasonry pre- ceded, instead of following, the institution of Chivalry, as I have elsewhere shown, and could not, therefore, have been indebted to this system for its primal organization.
These mysteries, so important from their connection with Freemasonry, deserve a still further examination of their origin and design.
Faber, who sought an Arkite origin for every thing, says that " the initiations into the mysteries scientifically represented the mythic descent into Hades and the return from thence to the light of day, by which was meant the entrance into the ark and the subsequent liberation from its dark enclosure. They all equally related to the allegorical disappearance, or death, or de- scent of the great father, at their commencen ent ; and to his in- vention, or revival, or return from Hades, at their conclusion. "*
* Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. ii., b. iv., ch. v., p 384.
MYS 32 L
" They were," says Warburton, " a school of morality and re- ligion, in which the vanity of polytheism and the unity of the First Cause were revealed to the initiated. "~j" This opinion of the learned Bishop of Gloucester is not gratuitous; it is sup- ported by the concurrent testimony of the ancient writers. " All the mysteries," says Plutarch, "refer to a future life and to the state of the soul after death. "J In another place, addressing his wife, he says, " we have been instructed in the religious rites of Dionysus, that the soul is immortal, and that there is a future state of existenee.;,§ Cicero tells us, that in the mysteries of Ceres at Eleusis, the initiated were taught to live happily and to die in the hope of a blessed futurity. || And, finally, Plato in- forms us, that the hymns of Musseus, which were sung in the mysteries, celebrated the rewards and pleasures of the virtuous in another life, and the punishments which awaited the wicked. ^[
These sentiments, so different from the debased polytheism which prevailed among the unitiated, are the most certain evi- dence that the mysteries arose from a purer source than that which gave birth to the religion of the vulgar. That purer source was the common original of them and of Freemasonry.
I conclude with a notice of their ultimate fate. They conti- nued to flourish until long after the Christian era. But they, at length, degenerated. In the fourth century, Christianity had begun to triumph. The Pagans, desirous of making converts, threw open the hitherto inaccessible portals of their mysterious rites. The strict scrutiny of the candidate's past life, and the demand for proofs of irreproachable conduct, were no longer deemed indispensable. The vile and the vic*ious were indiscrimi- nately, and even with avidity, admitted to participate in privi- leges which were once granted only to the noble and the virtuous. The sun of Paganism was setting, and its rites had become con-
f Divine Legislation. j Plut. de Oraculis.
I Plut. Consol. ad uxorem. || I ic. de Legibus.
f Plato in Phaedone.
322 MYS
teniptible and corrupt. Their character was entirely changed and the initiations were indiscriminately sold by peddling priests, who wandered through the country, to every applicant who wa.s willing to pay a trifling fee for that which had once been refused to the entreaties of a monarch. At length these abominations attracted the attention of the emperors, and Constantine and Grratian forbade their celebration at night, excepting, however, from these edicts, the initiations at Eleusis. But finally Theo- dosius, by a general edict of proscription, ordered the whole of the Pagan mysteries to be abolished, in the four hundred and thirty-eighth year of the Christian era, and eighteen hundred years after their first establishment in Greece.*
MYSTES. The Mystes was one who had been initiated only into the lesser mysteries, and who was therefore permitted to pro- ceed no farther than the vestibule or porch of the Temple. When admitted into the greater mysteries, and allowed to enter the adytum, or sanctuary, he was called an epopt. A female ini* tiate was called a mystis.
MYOTIC TIE. That sacred and inviolable bond which unites men of the most discordant opinions into one band of brothers, which gives but one language to men of all nations, and one altar to men of all religions, is properly, from the mys- terious influence it exerts, denominated the mystic tie, and Free- masons, because they alone are under its influence, or enjoy its benefits, are called "Brethren of the mystic tie."
* It was not, however, says Clavel, until the era of the restoration, that tho mysteries entirely ceased. During the Middle Ages, the mysteries of Diana, cinder the name of the Courses of Diana, and those of Pan, un ler the name of Sabbats, were practised in the country.
NAB— NAM 323
N.
NABIIM, SCHOOLS OF THE. We repeatedly meet in the Old Testament with references to the Beni Hanabiim, or sons of the prophets.* These were the disciples of the prophets, or wise men of Israel, who underwent a course of esoteric in- struction in the secret institutions of the Nabiim or prophets, just as the disciples of the Magi did in Persia, or of Pythagoras in Greece. Of these institutions, Oliver says, that " though little is known of their internal economy, their rites and cere- monies being strictly concealed, there can be no doubt that they were in many respects similar to our masonic lodges, and in some of their features they bore a resemblance to the collegiate insti- tutions of our own country.""}"
NAHARDA, FRATERNITY OF. The Jewish Rabbins tell us, that the tribes which were carried into captivity on the destruction of the first temple, founded a fraternity at Naharda, on the river Euphrates, for the preservation of traditional know- ledge, and which they transmitted to a few initiates, and that on the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus, Zerubbabel, with Joshua and Esdras, carried all this secret instruction to Jerusalem, and established a similar fraternity in that city. Oliver says that during the captivity, the Jews practised Freemasonry in regular lodges, until the time of their deliverance, and they had for this purpose three Colleges or Grand Lodges, which were situated at Sora, Pompeditha, and Naharda.
NAME OF GOD. In addition to what has been said upon this subject in the article Jtlwcah, we may observe, that an allu-
* I refer the reader for this expression to the Second B ok of Kings, chap, ii., verses 3, 5, 7, 12, 15.
\ Historical Landmarks, ii., p. 374. Note.
324 NAM
sion to the unutterable name of God, is to be found in the doc- trines and ceremonies of other nations, as well as the Jews. It is said to have been used as the pass- word in the Egyptian mys- teries. In the rites of Hiudostan, it was bestowed upon the as- pirant, under the triliteral form AUM,* at the completion of his initiation, and then only by whispering it in his ear. The Ca- balists reckoned seventy-two names of God, the knowledge of which imparted to the possessor magical powers. The Druids invoked the omnipotent and all-preserving power, under the symbol I. 0. W. The Mohammedans have a science called Ism Allah, or the science of the name of God. " They pretend," says Niebuhr, " that God is the lock of this science, and Mo- hammed the key ; that consequently none but Mohammedans can attain it; that it discovers what passes in different countries; that it familiarizes the possessors with, the genii who are at the command of the initiated, and who instruct them ; that it places the winds and the seasons at their disposal, and heals the bites of serpents, the lame, the maimed, and the blind."
Besides the Tetragrammaton, or incommunicable name, there are other expressive but less holy names of Deity. Maimonides, for instance, mentions a twelve lettered and a forty-two lettered naine.f
Rosenberg gives the following twelve Cabalistic names : Ehie,
* Sir William Jones, speaking of this Hindoo name of God, says : " It forms a mystical word which never escapes the lips of the pious Hindoo. They meditate on it in silence." — Dissertations relative to Asia, vol. i., p. 33. The Brahmins make a great secret of it, and the " Institutes of Menu" are conti- nually referring to its peculiar efficacy as an omnific word. "All rites ordained in the Veda," says this book, "oblations to fire and solemn sacrifices pass away, but that which passes not away is the syllable Aum, thence called aishara, since it is a symbol of God, the Lord of created beings." — Instit. of Me»u, p. 28.
f Urquhart (Pillars of Hercules, vol. ii., p. 67) mentions one name of God among the Hebrews, which I have met with nowhere else, viz., El gibal, the master builder.
NAM 325
Jehovah, Elohiui, El, Gibbor, Eloah, Sabaoth, Tsebaoth, Shaddai, Adonai, Makorn, Agla.
Lanci, whose researches on this subject have been surpassed by no other scholar, and equalled by few, extends his list of divine names to twenty-six, which, with their signification, are as fol- lows :*
1. At. The Aleph and Tau, that is, Alpha and Omega. A name figurative of the Tetragrammaton.
2. Ihoh. ") The eternal, absolute principle of creation and
3. Holii. ) destruction, the male and female principle, the author and regulator of time and motion.
4. Jah. The Lord and Remunerator.
5. Oh. The severe and punisher.
6. Jao. The author of life.
7. Azazel. The author of death.
8. Jao-Sabaoth. God of the co-ordinations of loves and ha- treds. Lord of the solstices and the equinoxes.
9. Ehie. The Being 3 the Ens.
10. El. The first cause. The principle or beginning of all things.
11. Elo-hi. The good principle.
12. Elo-lio. The evil principle.
18. El-raccum. The succouring principle.
14. El-cannum. The abhorring principle.
15. Ell. The most luminous.
16. II. The omnipotent.
17. Elloliim. The omnipotent and beneficent.
18. Elohim. The most beneficent.
19. Elo. The Sovereign, the Excelsus.
20. Adon. The Lord, the dominator.
21. EloL The illuminator, the most effulgent.
22. Adonai. The most firm, the strongest.
23. Elion. The most hidi.
I am indebted to ray friend, Mr. G-liddon. for tin's interesting list 28
326 NEB— NEO
24. Shaddai. The most victorious.
25. Yeshurun. The most generous.
26. Noil. The most sublime.
The ineffable degrees of masonry record a great variety of the names of God -} making the whole system, like the Mohammedan Ism Allah, a science of the name of God. In fact, the name of God must be taken in Freemasonry as symbolical of truth, and then the search for it will be nothing else but the search after truth, the true end and aim of the masonic science. The subor- dinate names are the subordinate modifications of truth, but the ineffable tetragrammaton will be the sublimity and perfection of Di- vine Truth, to which all good Masons and all good men are seek- ing to approach, whether it be by the aid of the theological lad- der, or passing through the pillars of Strength and Establishment, or wandering in the mazes of darkness, beset on all sides by dan- gers, or travelling weary and worn over rough and rugged roads, whatever be the direction of our journey or how accomplished, light and truth, the Urim and Thummin, are the ultimate objects of our search as Freemasons.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR. A king of Babylon, who in the ele- venth year of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, having, after a siege of about twelve months, taken Jerusalem, commanded Nebuzaradan, one of his generals, to set fire to and utterly con- sume the temple, to reduce the city to desolation, and to carry the citizens captive to Babylon. See the entire history under the title of Royal Arch.
NEBUZARADAN. One of the generals of the King of Babylon, who by his order entered Jurusalem with a Chaldean army, and after having taken away every thing that was valuable, burned the city and temple, and carried all the inhabitants, except a few husbandmen, as captives to Babylon.
NEOPHYTE. (From the Greek vew form, a new plant.)
NEV— NIN 327
En the primitive church it signified one who had recently aban- doned Judaism or Paganism, and embraced Christianity; whence it was afterwards applied to the young disciple of any art or science. Freemasons thus sometimes designate the uninstructed candidate.
NE VARIETUR. " Lest it should be changed" These words refer to the masonic usage of requiring a brother, when he receives a certificate from a lodge, to affix his name, in his own hand-writing, in the margin, as a precautionary measure, in enabling distant brethren to recognise the true and original owner of the certificate, and to detect any impostor who may surrepti- tiously have obtained one.
NINE. If the number three is sacred among Masons, the num- ber nine, or three times three, is scarcely less so. The Pytha- goreans, remarking that this number has the power of always re- producing itself by multiplication,* considered it as an emblem of matter which, though continually changing its form, is never annihilated. It was also consecrated to the spheres, because the circumference of a sphere is 360 degrees, and 3 and 6 and 0 are equal to 9.
In Freemasonry, 9 derives its value from its being the product of 3 multiplied into itself, and consequently in masonic language the number 9 is always denoted by the expression 3 times 3. For a similar reason, 27, which is 3 times 9, and 81, which is 9 times 9, are esteemed as sacred numbers in the higher degrees.
* Thus 2 9—18, and 1 and 8—9.
3 9—27, and 2 and 7—9.
4 9—36, and 3 and 6—9.
5 9 — 45, and 4 and 5 — 9.
6 9—54, and 5 and 4—9.
7 9—63, and 6 and 3—9.
8 9—72, and 7 and 2—9.
9 9—81, and S and 1—9.
328 NOA
NOACHIMB, or NOACHITES. The descendants of Noah A term applied to Freemasons. Noah having alone preserved the true name and worship of God, amid a race of impious ido- laters, Freemasons claim to be his descendants, because they still preserve that pure religion which distinguished this second father of the human race from the rest of the world. And even when his descendants began again, in the plains of Shinar, to forget the Almighty, and to wander from the path of purity, the prin- ciples of Noah were still perpetuated by that portion of his race whom the Freemasons of the present day regard as their early predecessors. Hence, Freemasons call themselves Noachidae, or the sons of Noah.
This respect for Noah, as the father and founder of the masonic system of theology, was not confined to the pure Freemasons, but extended, even unconsciously, to the seceders from its spirit, those whom Oliver calls the spurious Freemasons of antiquity. In all their mysteries, they commemorated, even after they had lost the true history, the descent of Noah into the ark, and his subsequent exodus. The entrance into initiation was symbolic of his entrance into the vessel of his salvation ; his detention in the ark was represented by the darkness and the pastos, coffin, or couch in which the aspirant was placed, and the exit of Noah, after the forty days of deluge, was seen in the manifestation of the candidate, when, being fully tried and proved, he was admitted to full light, amid the rejoicings of the surrounding initiates, who received him in the sacellum or holy place.
NOACHITE, or PRUSSIAN KNIGHT. Nbachite ou
Chevalier Prussien. The 21st degree of the Ancient Scotch rite, called by its possessors not a degree, but "the very Ancient Order of Noachites." In this degree the Knights celebrate the destruc- tion of the Tower of Babel, and for this purpose they meet on the night of the full moon of each month. No other light is permit- ted in the lodge than what proceeds from that satellite. The records of the order furnish us with the following histc *y The
NOA— NOR 329
Noachites, at this day called Prussian Knights, are the descend- ants of Peleg, Chief Architect of the Tower of Babel. Thus they trace the origin of their order to a more ancient date than the descendants of Hiram, for the Tower of Babel was built many ages before the Temple of Solomon. And formerly it was not necessary that candidates for this degree should be Hiramites or Blue Masons. But a different regulation was afterwards adopted, and to receive the degree of Noachite, it is now necessary that the candidate shall have performed the duties of a worthy office in a regularly constituted lodge of Blue Masons. The order of Noa- chites was established in Prussia in 1755, and inducted into France by the Count St. Grelaire in 1757.
NOAH, PRECEPTS OF. The precepts of the patriarch Noah, which were preserved as the constitutions of our ancient brethren, are seven in number, and are as follows :
1. Renounce all idols.
2. Worship the only true God.
3. Commit no murder.
4. Be not denied by incest.
5. Do not steal.
6. Be just.
7. Eat no flesh with blood in it.
The " proselytes of the gate," as the Jews termed those who lived among them without undergoing circumcision, or observing the ceremonial law, were bound to obey the seven precepts of Noah.
NOMINATION. The nomination of officers, previous to an election, is contrary to true masonic usage. Officers should be elected in the manner prescribed under the article Election.
NORTH. The north is masonically called a place of dark ness. I doubt whether I am at liberty to explain the reason But I may make this general explanation. The sun in his pro
330 NUM
gress through the ecliptic, never reaches farther than 23° 28' north of the equator. A wall being erected on any part of the earth farther north than that, will, therefore, receive the rays of the sun only on its south side, while the north will be entirely in shadow at the hour of meridian.
NUMBERS. The mystical meaning and divine virtue of numbers formed au important part of the philosophy of Pytha- goras, and from him have been transmitted to the masonic system of symbolism. Pythagoras doubtless brought his doctrines on this subject from Egypt, in which country he long resided, and with whose wisdom he was richly embued. In numbers Pytha- goras saw the principle of all things ; he believed that the crea- tion of the world was produced by their harmonious combination, and that they existed before the world.
According to the doctrine of this sage, numbers are of two kinds, intellectual and scientific.
Intellectual number has always existed in the divine mind ; it is the basis of universal order, and the link which binds all things.
Scientific number is the generative cause of multiplicity, which proceeds from and is the result of unity. Scientific num- bers are equal or odd.
Equal numbers are said to be female, and odd ones, male ; be- cause even numbers admit of division or generation, which odd ones do not. Odd numbers, however, are the most perfect.
To each number Pythagoras ascribed a peculiar character and quality.
One, — the Monad, — represented the central fire, or Grod, without beginning and without end, the point within the circle. It also denoted love, concord, piety, and friendship, because it is indivisible. It was the symbol of identity, equality, existence, and universal preservation and harmony.
Two was unlucky, and as one denoted light and the good principle or God, two denoted darkness and the evil principle.
NUM 331
Hence it was that the Romans dedicated the second month of the year to Pinto, the god of hell, and the second day of that month to the manes of the dead.
Three referred to harmony, friendship, peace, concord, and temperance, and was so highly esteemed among the Pythago- reans that they called this number " perfect harmony.
Four was a divine number ; it referred to Deity, and among the ancients many nations gave to Grod a name of four letters, as the Hebrews nii~I% the Assyrians ADAD, the Egyptians AMUM, the Persians SYRE, the Greeks BEOS, and the Latins DEUS. This, which was the Tetragrammaton of the Hebrews, the Pythagoreans called Tetractys, and used it as a most solemn oath.*
Five denoted light, nature, marriage; the latter, because it was made up of the female two and the male three, whence it is sometimes called a hemaphrodite number. The triple triangle, which was a figure of five lines uniting into five points, was among the Pythagoreans an emblem of health.
Six was also an emblem of health, and it was also the symbol of justice, because it was the first perfect number, that is, one whose aliquot parts being added together make itself, for the ali- quot parts of six, which are three, two and one, are equal to six.
Seven was highly esteemed, and called a venerable number, because it referred to the creation of the world.
Eight was esteemed as the first cube, (2X2X2) and sig- nified friendship, prudence, counsel, and justice. It designated the primitive law of nature, which supposes all men to be equal.
Nine was called rskstoq, or perfect, finished, because nine months is the period required for the perfection of a human being in the womb before birth.
Ten was denominated heaven, because it was the perfection and consummation of all things, and was constituted by the union of One, the monad or active principle, Two, the duad or
"'•'" See Tetractys.
332
NUM
passive principle, Three, the triad or world proceeding from their union, and Four, the sacred tetractys, thus 1 -f- 2 -{- 3 -f- 4 = 10. Hence Ten contained all the relations, numerical and harmonic.
The Pythagoreans extended still farther their speculations on the first three numbers, the monad, the duad, and the triad.
The monad was male, because its action produces no change in itself, but only out of itself. It represented the creative prin- ciple.
The duad, for a contrary reason, was female, being ever chang- ing by addition, substraction, or multiplication. It represents matter capable of form.
The union of the monad and duad produces the triad, which signifies the world formed by the creative principle out of matter. This world Pythagoras represented by the right angled triangle, because the square of the longest side is equal to the squares of the two other sides, and the world as it is formed is equal to the formative cause and matter clothed with form. Thus :
Monad — Creative Principl
In symbolic masonry, three, five, and seven, are mystic num- bers, as is nine in Royal Arch Masonry. In the ineffable de- grees, nine, with its products, such as twenty-seven and eighty- one are sacred.
For further observations on some of these numbers, see in this work, the words, Five, Nine, Seven, Three and Tetractys.
OBE— OBL 333
O.
OBEDIENCE. Submission to the constituted authorities, both in the state and in the craft, is a quality inculcated upon all Masons. With respect to the state, a Mason is charged to be " a peaceable subject to the civil powers, wherever he resides or works, and never to be concerned in plots or conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the nation, nor to behave him- self undutifully to inferior magistrates."* And with respect to the crafty he is directed " to pay due reverence to his Master, Wardens, and Fellows, and to put them to worship. ;;f And another part of the same regulations directs, that the rulers and governors, supreme and subordinate, of the ancient lodge, are to be obeyed in their respective stations, by all the brethren, with all humility, reverence, love, and alacrity."!
Oliver, commentino; on the emblematic allusion of the Master to the Sun and Moon, says: " Hence we find that the Master's authority in the lodge, is despotic as the sun in the firmament, which was placed there by the Creator, never to deviate from its accustomed course till the declaration is promulgated that time shall be no more."§
This spirit of obedience runs through the whole system, and constitutes one of the greatest safeguards of our institution. The Mason is obedient to the Master ; the Master and the lodge to the Grand Lodge ; and this, in its turn, to the old landmarks and ancient regulations of the order. Thus is a due degree of subordination kept up and the institution preserved in its pristine purity.
OBLONG- SQUARE. A parallelogram or four sided figure,
* Old Charges, Sect. 1. f Ibm., Sect 2. J Ibm., Sect. 4.
g Signs and Symbols, p. 205.
S34 OBS
all of whose angles are equal, but two of whose sides are. longer than the others.
This is the symbolic form of a masonic lodge, and it finds its prototype in many of the structures of our ancient brethren. The ark of Noah, the camp of the Israelites, the ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and lastly, the Temple of Solomon, were all oblong squares. See Ground Floor of the Lodge.
OBSERVANCE, RITE OF STRICT. The rite of Strict Observance was a modification of masonry, based on the order of Knights Templar, and introduced into Germany in 1754 by its founder, the Baron Hunde. It was divided into the following seven degrees: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow Craft; 3. Master; 4. Scotch Master; 5. Novice; 6. Templar; 7. Professed Knight.
According to the system of the founder of this rite, upon the death of Jacques Molay, the Grand Master of the Templars, Pierre d' Aumont, the Provincial Grand Master of Auvergne, with two commanders and five knights, retired for purposes of safety into Scotland, which place they reached disguised as operative Masons, and there finding the Grand Commander, George Har- ris, and several Knights, they determined to continue the order Aumont was nominated Grand Master, at a chapter held on St. John's day, 1313. To avoid persecution, the Knights became Freemasons. In 1361, the Grand Master of the Temple removed his seat to Old Aberdeen, and from that time the order, under the veil of masonry, spread rapidly through France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and elsewhere. These events constituted the prin- cipal subject of many of the degrees of the rite of Strict Observance. The others were connected with alchemy, magic, and other super- stitious practices. The great doctrine contended for, by the follow- ers of the rite, was, "that every true Mason is a Knight Templar."*
OBSERVANCE, CLERKS OF RELAXED. The Clerks
*Clavel, p. 184.
OFF— ON 335
of Relaxed Observance were a schism from the order of Strict Observance, described above. They claimed a pre-eminence over not only the latter rite, but over all masonry. The rite was divided into ten degrees, called Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, Master, African Brother, Knight of St. Andrew, Knight of the Eagle, Scotch Master, Sovereign Magus, Provincial Master of the Red Cross, and Knight of Light. This last degree was divided into five sections, comprehending Knight Novice of the third year, Knight of the fifth year, Knight of the seventh year, Knight Levite, and Knight Priest. To be initiated into the mysteries of the Clerks, it was necessary to be a Roman Catholic, and to have taken all the military degrees of the rite of Strict Obser- vance. Alchemy was one of the objects of their secret instruc- tion.*
OFFERINGS, THE THREE GRAND. See Ground Floor of the Lodge.
OFFICERS. See Installation, Jewels, Lodge.
OIL. The Hebrews anointed their kings, prophets, and high priests, with oil mingled with the richest spices. They also anointed themselves with oil on all festive occasions, whence the expression in Psalms xlv. 7, " God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness." See Com.
ON. An ancient Egyptian word signifying the Sun, which was at one time worshipped by the Egyptians as the Supreme Deity. The city of On, in Lower Egypt, which contained a temple dedicated to the worship of this divinity is called, in the septuagint, " Heliopolis," or the city of the Sun, and by Jere- miah (xliii. 13,) " Beth-sheinesh," which has the same significa- tion. In Genesis (xli. 45-50.) we are informed that Pharaoh
*Clavel, p. 187.
336 OPE— ORD
gave Joseph for his wife Asenath, " the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On." On may therefore be considered as the equiva- lent for Jehovah among the Egyptians, as Jah was among the Syrians and Bel among the Chaldees. The modern masonic cor ruption of this word into " Lun" is sheer nonsense.
OPENING OF THE LODGE. The ceremony of opening the lodge is solemn and impressive. Every brother is reminded by it of his duties and obligations. The necessary precautions are employed to avoid the intrusion of the profane, and every member being compelled to assume a share of the necessary forms, is thus admonished, that masonry is a whole, of which each Mason forms a part.
The manner of opening in each degree slightly varies. In the English system, which seems, according to the " Trestle Board'' published under the sanction of the late Baltimore Masonic Con- vention, to have been adopted by that body, the lodge is opened in the first degree " in the name of God and Universal Benevo- lence;" in the second, " on the square, in the name of the Great Geometrician of the Universe j" and in the third, " on the centre, in the name of the Most High."*
OPERATIVE MASONRY. See Masonry.
ORATOR. An officer in a lodge of the French rite, whose principal duty is to give instruction to the newly initiated. The duties of the office are those of a Lecturer.
ORDER. An order is defined by Johnson, to be, among other things, " a regular government, a society of dignified per- sons, distinguished by marks of honour, and a religious frater- nity." In all of these senses, masonry may be styled an order. Its government is of the most regular and systematic rbaracter ;
* See Moore and Carnegy's Trestle Board, ch. iii.
ORD— ORN 337
men the most eminent for dignity and reputation, Lave been its members, and if it does not constitute a religion in itself, it is at least religion's band-maid.
The word was first nsed by the ecclesiastical writers of the tenth century to signify a certain form or rnle of monastic dis- cipline, and was in that sense applied to the different sects of monks.
ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE. A system of the several members, ornaments, and proportions of columns and pilasters, is called an order. There are five orders of columns, three of which are Greek, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian ; and two Italian, the Tuscan and Composite. See these respective titles.
ORDO AB CHAO. Order out of Chaos. A motto of the 38d degree, and having the same allusion as lux e tenebris, which see.
ORIENT. The East. The place where a lodge is situated is called its Orient. The seat of the Grand Lodge is called the Grand Orient.* But on the continent of Europe, some of the supreme masonic bodies are called Grand Orients. In these in- stances, Grand Orient is equivalent to Grand Lodge.
ORIENTAL CHAIR OF SOLOMON. The seat of the W.\ M.\ in a symbolic lodge, and so called because the Master is supposed symbolically to fill the place over the craft once occu- pied by King Solomon.
ORNAMENTS OF A LODGE, These are the Mosaic pave- ent, the Pavement.
ment, the indented tessel, and the blazing star. See Mosaic.
* The term is thus used, because in masonry the East is the seat of light and of authority. It is the station of the Worshipful Master.
338 ORN— ORP
ORNAN THE JEBUSITE. He was an inhabitant of Jeru- salem, at the time that city was called Jebus, from the son of Canaan, whose descendants peopled it. He was the owner of the threshing floor, situated on Mount Moriah, in the same spot on which the temple was afterwards built. This threshing floor David bought to erect on it an altar to God. (2 Chron. xxi. 18-25.) On the same spot Solomon afterwards built the temple
ORPHIC MYSTERIES. These Grecian rites were only a modification of the mysteries of Bacchus or Dionysus, and were thus called, because it was said that Orpheus first introduced the worship of Bacchus into Greece from Egypt. They differed, however, from the other pagan rites, in not being confined to the priesthood, but in being practised by a fraternity who did not possess the sacerdotal functions. The initiated commemorated in their ceremonies, which were performed at night, the murder of Bacchus by the Titans, and his final restoration to the supreme government of the universe, under the name of Phanes.
Demosthenes, while reproaching Eschines for having engaged with his mother in these mysteries, gives us some notion of their nature.
In the day, the initiates were crowned with fennel and poplar, and carried serpents in their hands, or twined them around their heads, crying with a loud voice, enos, sabos, and danced to the sound of the mystic words, hyes, attes, attes, hyes. At night the mystes was bathed in the lustral water, and having been rubbed over with clay and bran, he was clothed in the skin of a fawn, and having risen from the bath, he exclaimed, "I have departed from evil and have found the good."*
The Orphic initiation, because it was not sacerdotal in its cha- racter, was not so celebrated among the ancients, as the other mysteries. It, nevertheless, existed until the first ages of the Christian era, and fell, with the remaining rites of paganism, a
* Demo8th. contra C'esiph. Orat. pp. 568-9.
OSI— PAS 339
victim to the rapid and triumphant progress of the new re- ligion.
*&'
OSIRIS. For the legend of Osiris, see Egyptian Mysteries.
OVERSEER. The title of three officers in a Mark Lodge, who are distinguished as the Master, Senior and Junior Overseer. The jewel of their office is a square. In Mark lodges attached to chapters, the duties of these officers are performed by the three Grand Masters of the veils.
P.
PARALLEL LINES. In every well-regulated lodge, there is found a point within a circle, which circle is embordered by two perpendicular parallel lines. These lines are representatives of St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist, the two great patrons of masonry, to whom our lodges are dedicated, and who are said to have been " perfect parallels in Christianity, as well as Masonry." In those English lodges which have adopted the "Union System" established by the Grand Lodge of Eng- land in 1815, and where the dedication is "to God and his ser- vice," the lines parallel represent Moses and Solomon. See Dedication.
PASCHALIS, MARTINEZ. The founder of a new rite or modification of masonry, called by him, the rite of Elected Cohens or Priests. It was divided into two classes, in the first of which was represented the fall of man from virtue and happiness, and in the second, his final restoration. It consisted of nine degrees,
340 PAS
namely: 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 3, Master; 4, Grand Elect ; 5, Apprentice Cohen ; 6, Fellow Craft Cohen ; 7, Mastei Cohen ; 8, Grand Architect ; 9, Knight Commander. Paschalis first introduced this rite into some of the lodges of Marseilles, Toulouse, and Bordeaux, and afterwards, in 1767, he extended it to Paris, where, for a short time, it was rather popular, rank- ing some of the Parisian literateurs among its disciples. It has now ceased to exist.
PASSED. A candidate, on receiving the second degree, is said to be " passed as a Fellow-Craft." It alludes to his having passed through the porch to the middle chamber of the temple, the place in which Fellow-Crafts received their wages.
PAST MASTER. An honorary degree conferred on the W.-. Master, at his installation into office. In this degree, the necessary instructions are conferred respecting the various cere- monies of the order, such as installations, processions, the laying of corner stones, etc. The ceremonies of the degree, when pro- perly conferred, inculcate a lesson of diffidence in assuming the responsibilities of an office without a due preparation for the per- formance of its duties.
When a brother who has never before presided, has been elected the Master of a lodge, an emergent lodge of Past Masters is convened, and all but Past Masters retiring, the degree is conferred upon the newly elected officer; often the installing officer alone confers the degree.
But the degree is also conferred in Royal Arch Chapters where it succeeds the Mark Master's degree. The conferring of this degree, which has no historical connection with the rest of the degrees, in a chapter, arises from the following circumstance Originally, when chapters of Royal Arch Masonry were under the government of lodges, in which the degree was then always conferred, it was a part of the regulations that no one could re- ceive the Royal Arch degree, unless he had previously presided
PAS 341
in the lodge as Master. When the chapters became independ- ent, the regulation could not be abolished, for that would have been an innovation ; the difficulty has, therefore, been obviated, by making every candidate for the degree of Royal Arch, a, Past Master before his exaltation.
For several years past the question has been agitated in some of the Grand Lodges of the United States, whether this degree is within the jurisdiction of Symbolic or of Royal Arch masonry The explanation of its introduction into chapters, just given, manifestly demonstrates that the jurisdiction over it by chapters is altogether an assumed one. The Past Master of a chapter is only a quasi Past Master ■ the true and legitimate Past Master is the one who has presided over a symbolic lodge.
Past Masters are admitted to membership in many Grand Lodges, and by some the inherent right has been claimed to sit in those bodies. But the most eminent masonic authorities have made a contrary decision, and the general, and, indeed, almost universal opinion now is, that Past Masters obtain their seats in Grand Lodges by courtesy, and in consequence of local regula- tions, and not by inherent right.
The jewel of a Past Master in the United States is a pair of compasses extended to sixty degrees on the fourth part of a circle, with a sun in the centre. In England it was formerly the square on a quadrant, but is at present the square with the forty-seventh problem of Euclid engraved on a silver plate sus- pended within it.
PASTOS. (Greek -aaroq, a couch.') The pastos was a chest or close cell, in the pagan mysteries, (among the Druids, an ex- cavated stone,) in which the aspirant was for some time placed. to commemorate the mystical death of the god. This constituted the symbolic death, which was common to all the mysteries. Id the Arkite rites, the pastos represented the ark in which Noah was confined. We may refer it to the coffin among masonic em
blems.
' 29 *
342 PEC— PEL
PECTORAL. Belonging to the breast, from the Latin pectus, the breast. The heart has always been considered the seat of fortitude and courage, and hence by this word is sug« gested to the Mason certain symbolic instructions in relation to the virtue of fortitude.
PEDAL. Belonging to the feet, from the Latin pes, a foot. The just man is he who, firmly planting his feet on the princi- ples of right, is as immovable as a rock, and can be thrust from his upright position neither by the allurements of flattery, nor the frowns of arbitrary power. And hence by this word is sug- gested to the Mason certain symbolic instructions in relation to the virtue of justice.
PEDESTAL. The pedestal is the lowest part or base of a column on which the shaft is placed. In a lodge, there are sup- posed to be three columns, the column of Wisdom in the east, the column of Strength in the west, and the column of Beauty in the south. These columns are not generally erected in the lodge, but their pedestals always are, and at each pedestal sits one of the three superior officers of the lodge. Hence we often hear such expressions as these, advancing to the pedestal, or standing before the pedestal, to signify advancing to or standing before the seat of the Worshipful Master.*
PELICAN. The pelican is one of the symbols of the Rose Croix degree, and is intended as an allusion to the Redeemer, who shed his blood for the good of man.
Ragon says that in the hieroglyphic monuments the eagle wsr the symbol of a wise man, and the pelican of a benevolent on. and therefore he thinks that the eagle and pelican of the Rose
* The custom in some lodges of placing tables or desks before the three principal officers, is, of course, incorrect. They should, for the reason above assigned, be representations of the pedestals of column, and should be painted to represent marble or stone.
PEN 343
Croix are intended to symbolize perfect wisdom and perfect charity.*
PENALTY. The ceremony of entering into a covenant among the ancient Hebrews, is alluded to in Jeremiah xxxiv. 18. It was usual for the parties covenanting, to cut a beast in twain, and pass between the parts thereof. Jeremiah also relates the penalties to be inflicted upon the people for a breach of their covenant. An English writer, Brother Groodacre, (quoted by Dr. Oliver,) thus fully explains the whole ceremony of making the covenant. The allusion will not escape the attentive Mason.
" After an animal had been selected, his throat was cut across with one single blow, so as to divide the windpipe, arteries, and veins, without touching any bone. The next ceremony was to tear the breast open and pluck out the heart, and if there were the least imperfection, the body would be considered unclean. The animal was then divided into two parts, and placed north and south, that the parties to the covenant might pass between them from east to west ; and the carcass was then left as a prey to voracious animals."
PENNY. The penny a day referred to in the Mark degree as the wages of a workman, was the Roman denarius, equal to about seven pence three farthings sterling, or twelve cents and a half federal currency.
PENT ALPHA. A geometrical figure representing an endless triangle with five points, thus :
* Cours des Initiations, p. 320.
344 PER
It was used by the Pythagoreans as an emblem of health. (Sue Five.) The Pentalpha of Pythagoras, as it is called, is in Masonry the outline or origin of the five-pointed star, and the symbol of fellowship and fraternity. By some writers it has improperly been confounded with the Shield of David or Solo- mon's Seal.
PERFECTION. Grand ecossais de la voute sacree du Jacques