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THE ARCx^NA OF FREEMASONRY
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man.
The Origin and Evolution of Primitive Man.
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN, LIMITED
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THE ARCANA^. Qp. y
FREEMASO n.^Y_,.^
BY
ALBERT CHURCHWARD
M.D., M.R.C.P., F.G.S., P.M., P.Z.
FULLY ILLUSTRATED
LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.
...-C
First published in rgit;
{All rights reserved)
I DEDICATE
THIS WORK TO
ALL MY BROTxlER MASONS
OF WHATEVER CLIME AND WHATEVER CREED
WHO TAKE AN INTEREST IN
MASONIC RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
As many Brothers have requested me to publish in an enlarged and more permanent form my Lectures on the ancient sources of Masonry (some of which have appeared in The Freemason), I have felt it my duty as well as a pleasure to comply with their request, in order that it may enable every Brother who is interested in the past origin of the Craft to gain at least a superficial knowledge of its antiquity, which will be outside the present dogmas of the Order.
Some readers of The Freemason have taken objection to my statements, and I take this oppor- tunity, for the sake of Brothers throughout the world, of replying to those of my critics. As regards my chronology, it is something new to me to find a Brother state that the Pliocene Age cannot date as long ago as 600,000 years — all the best authori- ties that I know would place it much earlier. That 1 am not wrong in dating back the world's history to such great antiquity in my books is proved by the discovery of skeletjns of the present type of man, fourd in the Pliocene strata in Lombardy.
viii INTRODUCTION
It is important to remember that the skeletons found in this strata were of the modern type of man ; proofs that they were Stellar Cult people were found buried with them ; and that they lived and died at this period, and were not accidental burials, we have Professor Sergi's authority — a most unimpeachable one. The Pliocene strata were formed from 600,000 to 800,000 years ago.' Is any further proof necessary? In the Natural History Museum at South Kensington there is an exhibit of peculiar interest, the reconstructed skull of a primitive man, or woman, found by Mr. C. Dawson in a pit at Piltdown Common, Sussex, in the autumn of 191 2, on which Professor Wood- ward gave a most interesting lecture at the Royal Societies Club. In the discussion which followed I then pointed out that the reconstruction of the mandible must be quite wrong, for to pu: on to a skull with a cubic capacity of 1200 cubic centi- metres the jaw of a chimpanzee, is alone sufficient proof that the reconstruction made is incorrect. The Pygmy has a cubic capacity of 900 cubic centimetres, average, and I have found one with only 850 cubic centimetres. The highest anthro- poid ape is 600 cubic centimetres. This skull, in my opinion, was a Nilotic Negro of the first exodus without Hero-Cult, types of which still exist in Australia and inner Africa.
' "Genesis of Rocks," by Brenton Symois.
INTRODUCTION ix
The Stellar Cult existed for at least 300,000 years, and the people of this cult travelled all over Europe, Africa, most parts of Asia, America- North and South (except the extreme North and South), but did not go to Austraha, New Zealand, New Guinea, and some other parts. The Lunar Cult followed this, and after that the Solar, which existed in some parts of Europe (although not in the extreme north), in Asia and Japan, but it did not reach the north of Japan. In America the Solar people reached Yucatan and travelled south as far as Peru ; they did not go to North America, the Pacific Islands, and only to the line of least resistance in South America, down the west side along the Andes. They were stopped at Bolivia by the fierce old Stellar Cult people from going farther south, as they were from going north of Yucatan by the North Mexican tribes.
The art of recording ideas by signs and symbols came before the use of articulate speech. A sign does not demand a word, and may not imply the existence of a word. A sign or symbol was used to represent the thing first — an animal, or bird, or some object for which man had no articulate sound as yet. The articulate sound followed. Primitive man drew a snake to represent a snake — he afterwards called it " fu fu " because the snake made this sound. He drew a goose to represent this bird before he could give it a name — from the saa or
X INTRODUCTION
hiss of the goose he obtained the sound. Hundreds of other examples could be given in support of this, which Professor Maspero acknowledges is correct.
Then as regards the age of the signs and symbols, one friend asks " for one that is more than a few thousand years old— as all that I have shown belong to comparatively recent times ! " Well, it is difficult in fraternal words to answer this question ; some are over 300,000 years, and the earliest over a million years old.
Perhaps I might suggest to my critics that they should study geology and anthropology before rushing into print on these subjects ; likewise I would point out that in studying Stellar Chronology the alphabet must be learnt before one tries to read. The alphabet as regards their time is this : there are seven Pole stars, each one represented symbolically as an eye at the time of its being the centre ; each takes a definite time in revolution before this is attained ; and each of these revolu- tions or times of revolution was divided up again by the old mystery teachers of Egypt. They did not worship the sun or the stars. Brothers who express opinions without the knowledge of the " writings on the walls " must not expect me to take any notice of dogmas which have been proved incorrect. I do not mind their believing them : that has nothing to do with me. I am writing for
INTRODUCTION xi
the truth, and an exoteric rendering of the V.S.L. must not take the place of the esoteric represen- tation of the Ritual of Ancient Egypt.
The meaning of my quoting the V.S.L. is not as a proof of history, but as a proof that even those who believe in the traditions, have traditional evidence that it was not, and is not, correct. As an authority, " sacred historical documents "—i.e. the V.S.L.— are, I contend, not historical at all- only traditions. Let us see what reliance can be placed on these traditions against documents still in existence ; one point only must suffice, because otherwise I should have to write a whole volume.
Clement of Alexandria fixes the date of the Exodus, among other enumerations, by this state- ment : " That it occurred 345 years before the ' Sothic Cycle.' " Now the Sothic Cycle was in existence before the time of Mena, over 4000 B.C., as borne out by " Manetho and the Monuments," and was a cycle of 1,460 years with four years as intercalary.
The Hyksos period of " Shepherd Kings," or their reign at Memphis and Lower Egypt, was 2554 B.C., and when they left Egypt they built Jerusalem. They left in the reign of Tuthmoses— and Moses lived after this, and was driven out of Egypt with his followers. Traditions versus History. It would be unnecessary to add more, I think, to prove my contention correct. Resseignier
xii INTRODUCTION
lived much too late to be any authority, and all he wrote was from traditions he had received himself.
Josephus is supposed to be the most authentic writer on the Jewish antiquities, but he wrote his work in the beginning of Trajan's reign, and there is a great discrepancy in the traditions and varia- tions in the Hebrew and Greek texts which no power can reconcile, and this 2,000 years after Moses lived.
These traditions were derived from Rabbinical comments, and none of the chronology by the most able writers will agree. He leaves out the time of the leadership of Tola and Abdon alto- gether, and never mentions them.
As stated in my writings, I have not, and do not profess to have, brought forward half the proof in existence of my contentions ; I have simply driven a small pathway through a dark and hitherto impenetrable forest, with the hope and firm belief that some future Brother will widen this into a great road, so that there may be true light where there is now darkness ; and although I have cut a small path through and shown the way, it may be a hundred years before all Brothers motor through. That this will be I have not the slightest doubt.
A. C.
CONTENTS
I
PACE
Freemasonry— The Bridge of History— Uniting
THE Past with the Present . . i
i. Different Opinions as Regards the Origin of Freemasonry and a Modern Introduction in Various Countries . • i
ii. The Source of Signs and Symbols . 38
II The Soul of Masonry . . . 7^
in Out of the Silence . . . -78
IV The Divine Name ..... 100
V
The Second Century of Modern Masonry I 106
VI
Some Subjects Suggested for Study . .110
A Lecture before the Essex Masters' Lodge zili
xir CONTENTS
VII
PAGE
Origins of Freemasonry .127
A Lecture before the Dorset Masters' Lodge
VIII Freemasonry, Past and Future . 147
A Lecture before the Mid-Kent Masters' Lodge
IX
The Origin and Explanation of some Masonic
Signs and Symbols .... 168
A Lecture before tiic Heudrc Lodge, Cardiff
X
Egyptology and Masonry .... ^307
A Lecture before the Humber Masters' Lodge
XI The Four Cardinal Points . . . 231
XII Operative Masonry ..... 255
Final Chapter ..... 319
PRINCIPAL ILLUSTRATIONS
THE RAISED TATT CROSS WITH SUPPORTERS (TABLEAU
DES BACABS) . . .
THE CRUCIFIED VICTIM GRAND master's APRON AND COLLAR (EGYPTIAN) Facing 49
Frontispiece
PAGE 41
COMPANIONS (F.C.) APRON (EGYPTIAN)
master's apron and COLLAR (EGYPTIAN)
THE IDOL TANDAYUDHASWAMI .
SEALS MADE BY CASTE HINDOOS
SACRED AXES .....
SHAMASH OF THE CHALDEANS .
RAMMAN, GOD OF THE AXE OF THE SUSIANS
RAMMAN, GOD OF THE AXE OF THE CHALDEANS
TEPOXTECATL. GOD OF THE AXE OF THE MEXICANS
CON TIESl URACOCHA, GOD OF THE AXE FROM TINO GASTA .....
GOD OF THE AXE FROM TEPOZTECO .
LINEAR WRITING FROM EGYPT
XV
51
50 179 180 192
198 199 201
221
223 224
xvi PRINCIPAL ILLUSTRATIONS
PAOE
THE FOUR BROTHERS OF HORUS — EGYPTIAN REPRE- SENTATION ...... 237
DEPICTIONS OF THE FOUR CARDINAL POINTS . 24O-24I
THE FOUR EVANGELISTS IN CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM Facing 243
THE RISEN HORUS AND HIS FOUR BROTHERS (FEJER-
VARY CODEX) .... Facing 243
THE FOUR BROTHERS OF HORUS (VATICAN CODEX) ,, 244 THE FOUR BROTHERS OF HORUS (bORGIAN CODEX) . 247 CALENDAR WHEEL FROM DURAN . . . 248
MEXICAN CALENDAR ..... 249 ENGRAVED SHELLS FROM MOUNDS . . Facing 250
operatives' TEMPLE ..... 305
And numerous Figures and Diagrams in the Text.
The Arcana of Freemasonry
I
FREEMASONRY— THE BRIDGE OF HIS- TORY—UNITING THE PAST WITH THE PRESENT
I.— Different Opinions as Regards the Origin of Freemasonry and a Modern Introduction in Various Countries.
" Egypt ! how I have dwelt with you in dreams So long, so intimately, that it seems As if you had borne me : Though I could not know It was so many thousand years ago ! And in my gropings darkly underground, The long-lost memory at last is found Of Motherhood — you the Mother of us all ! And to my fellow-men I must recall The memory too : that common Motherhood May help to make the common brotherhood."
Gerald Massey.
The origin of Freemasonry is one of the most interesting subjects to which the Masonic student can apply his time and talent.
2 1
2 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
There are authors who attribute the origin of modern Freemasonry to the followers of Pytha- goras, because some of the speculations of that philosopher concerning the meaning of numbers are to be found in the esoteric doctrines taught in Masonic Lodges. Others, on account of the Christian symbols that have been incorporated in the decorating of things pertaining to Masonry, follow the Swedish system, and say that the Essenes and the first Christians founded it. Others, again, make it originate in the building of Solomon's Temple ; many Jewish names, emblems, and legends, taken from the V.S.L., having found their way into the rites of Initiation and in several degrees. And still others state that it goes back to Adam ; ask why — they do not know. Thomas Payne and those of his school say that the Druids were the fathers of the Craft, they being supposed •worshippers of the sun, moon, and stars, these jewels of the firmament being represented on the ceilings of the Masonic Temples.
Dance of Villoison speaks of Herculanasum as its birthplace, because of the many similarities that existed between the Collegia of the Romans and the Lodges of the operative Masons of the Middle Ages.
Michael Andrew Ramsey, a Scotch gentleman, in a discourse delivered in Paris, in 1740, sug- gested the possibility of the fraternity having its
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 3
origin in the time of the Crusades among the Knights Templar, and explains it in this way : The Pope, Clement V, and Philippe le Bel, King of France, fearing the power of the Templars and coveting their immense wealth, resoh^ed to destroy the Order. When, in 1308, Jacques de Molay, then Grand Master of the Order, was preparing an expedition to avenge the wrongs and disasters suffered by the Christians in the East, the Pope, the only Sovereign Power to which, in the spiritual, the Templars owed allegiance, enticed him to France. On his arrival he was received with every mark of friendship ; but soon after the King caused him to be arrested, together with some other dignitaries, accusing them of the most heinous crimes, imputing to them the secret rites of their initiation. By order of the Archbishop of Sens and his provincial council, Jacques de Molay, Guy of Auvergne, and several other officers were burned alive on i8th March, 13 14. The Pope, by a Bull, dated the 2nd of April, and published on the 2nd of May, 1 3 1 2, that he issued on his own responsibility — the Council of Vienne, in Dauphine, being adverse to hasty measures — declared the Order abolished throughout the world. The execution of the Grand Master and his companions gave the " coup de grace " to the Order, but some of the Knights who had escaped to Portugal con-
4 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
tinued the Order. They assumed the title of Knights of Christ, which the order still bears. Jacques de Molay, before his death, had appointed Johan Marcus Larmenio as his successor to the office of Grand Master. The Knights who, fleeing from the persecution, had taken refuge in Scot- land at the Court of King Robert Bruce, refused to recognize his authority ; and pretending to re- establish the Order of the Temple, under the allegory and title of Architects, protected by the King, laid the foundation of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons of the Scottish Rite, in 13 14. The new society soon forgot the meaning of the execratory oath that the members were obliged to take at their initiation ; the death of Clement V, of Philippe le Bel, of the accusers and enemies of Jacques de Molay, and the other Knights who had been executed, having removed the object of their vengeance. Still they continued to decorate their Lodges with tokens commemorative of the death of the Grand Master, and to impose on all new members the obligation of avenging it, which they signified by striking with an unsheathed dagger at unseen beings, his supposed murderers. This allegory is well known to the Knights of Kadosh. A century had scarcely elapsed when this idea was abandoned — the founders and their disciples having passed away, their successors saw only allegories in the Symbols of the Order — and the extensive use
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 5
of words and texts taken from the Bible was intro- duced. The enemies of Cromwell and of the Republic, having in view the re-establishment of the monarchy, created the Degree of Grand Master to prepare the minds of the masses for that event. King William III was initiated.
Masonry, says Preston, was very much neglected as early as the reign of James II, and even after this period it made but slow progress until 1 7 1 4, when King George I ascended the throne. Three years later, in February, 1 7 1 7, the first Grand Lodge was established in London. A committee from the four Lodges then existing in that city met at the tavern of the " Apple Tree," and nominated Anthony Sayer, who was elected Grand Master on the 24th of the following June, the day of St. John the Baptist, and for that reason St, John was selected as the patron of the Order.
This origin of the Craft is credited by many authorities on the subject. They found their opinion on the fact that many of the ceremonies practised by the "Architects" are still observed among Masons, and that the Grand Lodge pre- served the fundamental laws, together with the spirit of the ancient Brotherhood. Others, who claim to be well informed, are of opinion that it did not originate in any Order of Chivalry, but the building fraternities of the Middle Ages.
From 1738, however, Lodges sprang up over
6 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
Europe at a rapid rate, notwithstanding the bitter opposition of the Church of Rome, which ful- minated against it in most terrible anathemas, as early as 1738, at the instigation of the Inquisition. Pope Clement XII, on the 28th of April of that year, caused a prohibitory Bull to be issued against Freemasons, entitled " In Eminenti," in which he excommunicated all Masons ; and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, by edict, in the name of the High Priest of the God of Peace and Mercy, decreed the penalty of death against them in 1739; and in May, 175 1, Pope Benoit XIV renewed the Bull of Clement XII by another, beginning with these words : " Providas Roman- orum Pontificum."
Lodges were established in France in 1725, and on the 14th September, 1732, all Masonic Asso- ciations were prohibited by the Chamber of Police of the Chatelet of Paris.
In 1727 Lord Coleraine founded a Lodge in Gibraltar, and in the succeeding year in Madrid, the capital of Spain, the stronghold of the Inquisition.
In 1740, in consequence of the Bull of Clement XII, King Philip V of Spain promulgated an order against Masons in his kingdom, many of whom were arrested and sent to the galleys. The Inquisitors took advantage of the opportunity to persecute the members of the Lodge they dis-
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 7
covered in Madrid. They caused them to be loaded with chains, to be obliged to row in the galleys, with a scanty supply of food of the poorest quality, but plenty of bastinado. King Fernando VI renewed the ordinance on 2nd July, 17 5^, making Masonry high treason.
In 1735 ^ Lodge was established at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, by some of the descen- dants of the Knights Templar who fled there, under the title of "Knights of Christ." These have kept alive the ancient Order in defiance of the Pope's Bulls.
In .1730 a great many Germans were initiated in England. In 1733 the Grand Master, Lord Strathmore, authorized eleven of the Brotherhood to open the Hamburg Lodge. In 1740 B. Putt- man, of the Hamburg Lodge, received a Patent of Provincial Grand Master from England, and the Lodge assumed the title of Absalom. King Frederick II, who had been initiated when Crown Prince of Prussia, continued to give support, and assumed the title of " Grand Master Universal, and Conservator of the Most Ancient and Most Respectable Association of Ancient Freemasons or Architects of Scotland." He cemented together again the Order which had become scattered, so far as he was able, and signed the Constitution in his Palace, at Berlin, ist May, 1786, saving Free- masonry from annihilation in Germany.
§ THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
In 1732 we find the first Lodge in America; it was held in the " Tun Tavern " in Philadelphia, the brethren having previously met in Boston, which may be regarded as the birthplace of American Freemasonry. Henry Price was the first Provincial Grand Master appointed by the Grand Lodge of England on 30th April, 1733.
It was established in Italy in the same year.
In 1735 ^he Grand Duke Francis of Lorraine was initiated. He protected the Masons, and the Craft flourished in Italy until 1737, when Juan Gascon of Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, issued a decree of prohibition against it. Soon after his death, which occurred the same year, the Lodges which had been closed were reopened. It was not long, however, before they were denounced to Pope Clement XII, who issued his Bull of 28th April, 1738, and sent an inquisitor to Florence, who caused various members of the Society to be cast into dungeons. They were set at liberty as soon as Francis of Lorraine became Grand Duke of Tuscany. He not only protected the Masons, but founded lodges in Florence and other places on his estates.
G. Findel was a great advocate that Free- masonry was not derived from the mysteries of the ancients ; he says : " Seeing that the ancient symbolical marks and ceremonies in the Lodges bear very striking resemblance to those of the
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 9
mysteries of the ancients, some have allowed them- selves to be deceived, and led others astray, imagining they can trace back the history of the Craft into the cloudy mist of antiquity ; instead of endeavouring to ascertain how and when these ceremonies were introduced into our present system, they have taken it for granted that they were derived from the religious mysteries of the ancients."
Now I propose to trace these mysteries, for the information of the Brotherhood throughout the world.
"The cloudy mists of antiquity" may no longer remain ; within the past few years we have dis- covered how to decipher and read the ancient writings on the walls of old ruined temples and cities in Africa, Asia, and North, Central, and South America, as well as the ancient writings on papyri, and these give the key to unlock the mysteries of the past and reveal the origin of our Signs, Symbols, and Rituals ; and these I trace back to Ancient Egypt, and in no other part of the world can the origins be found.
If we take the theory propounded by Krause, what do we find? He has endeavoured to prove that Freemasonry " originated " in the association of operative Masons, who, in the Middle Ages, , travelled through Europe, and by whom the Cathedrals and Monasteries were built. But the
10 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
secrets these operative Masons had were received from the Chaldean Magicians. These Chaldean or Turanian Priests were the working or operative Masons of the old Egyptian Stellar Mythos Cult, from the seventeenth Nome of Upper Egypt, and were styled Companions (see Ritual). » They were initiated in the first and second degree only of the old Egyptian Cult, because they, and they alone, were employed to look after the building of the Temples and keep the secrets of the same.
These Turanians, who were called " Com- panions " in Egyptian, only knew the secrets of two of the degrees out of the Seven Primary Mysteries, which were Astro-Mythological. .We ordinary Masons, M.M.and up to P.Z., only have these Seven Mysteries. The Greater Mysteries belonging to the Egyptian Eschatology were ten in number.
If we trace these old Turanians (operatives) back to Egypt, we find them well established at the commencement of the Stellar Cult — but it is possible to trace them farther back than this, even to Early Totemic Sociology.
In Africa, at the present day, there exist some of the Nilotic Negroes, descendants of those who first formed the " Nomes " in Egypt ; those who formed the seventeenth Nome are now "the Elgunono."
' By the word " Ritual " used I allude to the Ritual of Ancient Egypt, the so-called Book of the Dead.
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 11
These tribes still, at the present time, are mostly formed into a " secret brotherhood," and by some are called the Blacksmiths. " Horus-Behutet," the first worker in metals, is their chief or head Deity ; our word T.C. is thus a substituted word. Their chief priest is called Ol-Aibon, and they still have many of the primary Symbols and Signs we use. These, with the Madi (who were the first builders) and Masai, ultimately all settled in Egypt and formed the early Stellar Mythos people. An early exodus from these tribes, to other parts of the world, was made by the old Turanians. ^ The Stellar Cult existed for at least three hundred thousand years, as witnessed by records found and still extant. These people travelled and went out over Europe, Asia, part of North and South America, Central America, and the Islands of the Pacific, as well as Africa. The remains and ruins of the large cities and Temples found throughout the world were mostly built by these people. The Solar, who came after, built some, but the buildings of each are easily distinguished one from the other. The former were iconographic, the latter were not. They worked out all the revolutions of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and the Ritual of Ancient Egypt upon which all doctrines throughout the world have been founded. So that for the oldest records of our Brotherhood we have to go back as far as Totemic Sociology over six hundred thousand
12 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
years. This is proved by the fact that skeletons of Stellar Mythos people were found in Lombardy in the Pliocene strata — and the above is a low estimate for that.
Now we find from these old Temples that all our Signs and Symbols were in use then just as we use them now ; there is no difference, except that in some cases we have slightly modernised them. Their Rituals, with slight modifications, were the same as ours.
Here we see Krause's theory not without some semblance of plausibility, as Rome, during several centuries, held sway over Gaul and Britain. Roman colonists settled in various parts of these countries, and with their language and customs they imported many of their institutions and associations. That of the Builders, or Collegia, held their Lodges wherever they established them- selves, and no doubt initiated new members, and as these countries freed themselves from the yoke of Rome the associations would still remain. But they at best were only carriers of the " operative masons " — Egypt was their birthplace, and we can identify the Nome as the seventeenth Nome from the Ritual, these names, for instance, " Com- panions " — carried out of Egypt by the Turanians, who spread over Europe ; Asia, except the North ; lower part of North America, Central America, South America, as far down as Chili, in the
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 13
Caroline Islands of the Pacific — but not in North Asia, Australia, Tasmania, or extreme North America.
Chevalier Ramsay stated that modern Masonry had its beginning in the Society of Architects founded in Scotland under the protection of King Robert Bruce, and the title of " Ancient and Accepted Masons of the Scottish Rite " may possibly have been formed in Scotland there and then ; but, if that is so, we must trace the origin of this to the Order of Knights Templar, who fled to Scotland, and through them to the Ancient Mysteries practised in the East. From whence did these Templars obtain them? It is well known that one of the charges made against Jacques de Molay and his associates by their accusers was that " they used sacred rites in their initiations." Their four oaths are well known, but who knew their rites of initiation? The aim of the Society of Archi- tects was to perpetuate the ancient Order of the Temple, and they continued to use their initiations of members, symbols, signs, and some parts of the initiatory rites, which had been obtained in the East, but they only knew three degrees out of the seven less^ and ten greater. The next question is : From whence did the Templars receive those symbols, and their esoteric meaning, in which we plainly trace the doctrines of the old Egyptians? No doubt from the Christians, who, like the
14 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
Emperor Julian, the Bishop of Syrmesius, Clement of Alexandria, and many other philosophers, had been initiated into some of the mysteries by the Priests of Egypt before being converted to Chris- tianity. In this way may be traced how part of the religious mysteries of Egypt, signs and symbols, etc., came to Scotland.
We must remember that the mysteries practised by the Samothracia, Greeks, Romans, Pythago- reans, the mysteries of Eleusis, the mysteries estab- lished by Zoroaster, and the Mahatmas, or Brothers of India, all took their origin from the Egyptian Eschatology. We see also from the above how, in one way, the so-called Higher Degrees (The Ten Greater Mysteries) were introduced here in Britain.
The reluctance of the Egyptians to admit strangers to the holy secret of their mysteries was for a very long time insuperable. They, however, at intervals, admitted to the first and second degrees personages noted for their wisdom and knowledge. They admitted the great philosopher Thales, who went to Egypt to learn Geometry and Astronomy about 587 B.C., and Zoroaster 5000 B.C. Another was Eumolpus, King of E.'eusis, who, on returning to his country, instituted the mysteries of that name, which he had learnt from the Priests of Egypt. Orpheus, the Greek poet, was also initiated into the first degree. Pythagoras
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 15
was initiated, but had not the courage to go through to the third degree, only the first and second. The Pelasgians had initiated to the first and second degrees the Samothracia. These Pelasgians obtained their knowledge from the Egyptian Priests direct.
As regards the origin from the Druids. I have given in " Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man " the proofs of the origin of the Druids, and where they came from. They were High Priests of Egypt, who left the mother country at the early part of the Solar Cult, and were therefore well versed both in the seven Lesser Mysteries and the ten Greater Mysteries ; and these practised their religious rites in England until the edict of Canute prohibited their open worship. Canute reigned from 1015 to 1036. To evade persecu- tion they resorted to private meetings and secret celebrations. I do not entertain any doubt that they formed the first so-called ** Lodges " in England, as a cloak to screen their religious rites and ceremonies, and to keep them as pure as they had received them originally from their parent sources in Egypt. Many of these old Druid Priests joined the Christian Church, and were the so-called Culdees, but although they had joined the Christian Church they kept themselves very much aloof for a long period, up to the twelfth century.
16 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
These were the last remnants of the old Druid Priests — descendants of their Egyptian brethren — who practised the pure Eschatology of their fore- fathers. Gradually they all died out as a separate and distinct class, and those who remained were merged into Christianity ; but up to the twelfth century at least they brought all their doctrines with them, and practised them in secret places, in so-called Lodges.
Here we have one source of the origin of Free- masonry, both in the Lesser Mysteries (seven Degrees) and in the ten Greater Mysteries — so- called Higher Degrees in this country.
The Druids, in Gaul, were mostly put to the sword, others fled to this country for protection, when the Roman Christian doctrines were brought to them. In America it was the same. As soon as the Spanish Roman Priests arrived there they persecuted all the Solar and Stellar people, mur- dered their priests, overthrew their Temples, and scattered them with fire and sword. Yet there is sufficient evidence left in their Signs, Symbols, and writings on the wall which prove my contention that all these had the same Eschatology, signs, symbols, and rites as the Old Egyptians, from whence they came, and that all these are analogous to our own with really very little innovation, con- sidering the many thousands of years that these have been handed down from country to country.
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 17
and generation to generation, as we must acknow- ledge to have been the case if we study the history of the human past.
There were also many who crossed over to Europe from Egypt, and spread from Italy into France, who possessed and clung to the true doctrines, endured torture, and some even death, by the early Roman Priests, who tried to usurp the temporal power by destroying the spiritual ideas ; and yet these brothers would rather suffer death than give up their secrets and beliefs. Many of these migrations can be traced through Europe and finally to Scotland.
We must also remember that from the down- fall of the old Egyptian Empire, up to within the last few hundred years, we have possessed no readable records of the past history of man- kind. Our History of the World is quite recent, all the rest is tradition only. Therefore, if you do not read the Hieroglyphics and Glyphs, " The Writings on the Wall," you still remain in ignorance of the history of the human race, and of the origin and antiquity of Freemasonry. There were no records left otherwise than these. But these records have been left for the future student to decipher and translate. What records will be left in these islands after another twenty thousand years have passed, or less?
Again, is it reasonable to suppose that the huge
3
18 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
continents of North and South America have lain unknown by the great communities of Europe, Asia, and Africa until the yesterday of Columbus ; unknown throughout the ages of the vast time that man has existed? Columbus reached America less than five centuries ago, and Eric the Red and his early Norsemen in 983. The Chinese have written records of trading with America in 500 B.C., and of sending some of their Buddhist Priests there, who returned with the news that they had met Priests with religious writings, signs, and symbols similar to their own, which, you may see by my " Origin and Evolution of the Human Race," had been established in America at least three hundred thousand years before. Let me also state here that there is no question of " having one's faith shaken." What I write and state for all my Brothers throughout the world is The Truth. That is what you want to know; that is what you are all striving to obtain, and if you follow the evolu- tion of the human race in all its phases, you will obtain it, but not otherwise.
I am much indebted to Brother Ham-Smith, P.G.D. Surrey, for the following. It is quite interesting, but I do not vouch for the facts having occurred at the dates as here stated. It is worth recording, however, and research should be made to discover the truth if possible : —
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 19
" The History and Antiquities of the Borough and Town of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis." By George Alfred Ellis, Surgeon, etc. 1829.
Page 4 : " The earliest evidence there is of this town is about nine hundred years ago, where the Saxon Chronicles state that King Athelstan, A.D. 938, in consequence of a false charge being wrought against his half-brother Prince Edwin ' of a conspiracy to dethrone him, ordered him to 36 exposed in an open boat without sails or oars to the fury of the raging waves."
Page 5 : "In the year 980 Dunstan [Arch- ishop of Canterbury] was Grand Master of the fraternity of free and accepted Masons in England."
Page -^-^y : " Ralph of Monthermer [who was married to the widow of Gilbert De Clare, Earl Df Hertford and Gloucester, temp. Edward I] was raised to the degree of Grand Master of the beau- tiful and sublime mysteries of freemasonry in all England at the death of Gilbert De Clare, 1280."
Prince Edwin, it appears, had visited the East, and while here, had been initiated into the subhme mysteries of Free- nasonry ; on his return, he instituted a grand lodge at York, vas elected Grand Master of the Craft in England, and formed he constitution of the English Lodges. It is more than probable hat the necessary meetings of the Craft, whose sublime mysteries ire excluded from the profane eyes of the communis villous, vere the cause of this suspicion of his conspiring against the hrone of his brother and led to his murder.
20 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
The following extracts from an historical record of the successful efforts made for the Union of the Grand Lodges and the final establishment of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813 is reprinted from The Freemason of 27th December, 19 1 3, and will be of interest to readers of the foregoing : —
St. John's Day in winter — the 27th December — has always been recognized as the great Festival of the Order of Freemasons. It was on this day, a hundred years ago, that the Union of the several Grand Lodges in England was consummated.
GRAND LODGES OF ENGLAND.
Formerly England had four Grand Lodges. The oldest, and much the strongest, was founded at the Apple Tree Tavern, Charles Street, Covent Garden, London, in 17 17. Members of it traced their origin to an assemblage of Freemasons by King Athelstan at York, in a.d. 926. The Scotch Lodges did not go back nearly so far. They were content to claim descent from those foreign Masons who came to their country in the twelfth century to build the abbeys of Melrose, Holy- rood, and Kilwinning, and there is abundant evidence that the Lodges of York and Kilwinning were the parents of many Lodges founded in
TEE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 21
various parts of Great Britain. The Brethren of York, conscious that their city was the Mecca of Freemasonry, and believing that their Time Imme- morial Lodge was a direct descendant of that which was existing in the fourteenth century, de- termined that they would not be behind those of London, and in 1725 formed the Grand Lodge of All England. Despite its ambitious title, it had a very chequered career down to the last decade of the eighteenth century. About 1740 it, as did also the private York Lodge, became dormant. Both were revived in 1761, but there is no evidence of their existence after 1792. That Grand Lodge confined its activities within a limited area of "All England." Under its banner were two Lodges in the City of York, one each in Scarborough, Ripon, Knaresborough, Hovingham, Swainton, and Rotherham, in Yorkshire ; one in Macclesfield, Cheshire ; and one in Hollingwood, Lancashire. The Grand Lodge of All England also chartered at York the Grand Lodge of England south of the River Trent in 1779. It consisted of discontented members of the Time Immemorial Lodge of Antiquity, of the Premier Grand Lodge (of which Sir Christopher Wren in its day was the Grand Master), and it granted warrants to only two Lodges, both in London. One was named Perfect Observance, the other Perseverance and Triumph. The career of this
22 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
" Mushroom Grand Lodge," as the late Bro. W. J. Hughan described it, was as inglorious as that of its parent.
FORMIDABLE RIVAL/
The fourth Grand Lodge was the only real rival of the Premier Grand Lodge. It was con- stituted on July 17th, 1 75 1, at the Turk's Head Tavern, Greek Street, Soho, London, as " The Grand Lodge of England, according to the Old Institutions." Its members were designated " Ancients," while those of the body from which it had seceded were known as " Moderns." The " Ancients " were also spoken of as " Athol Masons," they having elected the third Duke of Athol as their first Grand Master in 1772, his son succeeding to the office at his death. Two reasons are offered for the founding of the new Grand Lodge. One is that the Regular Grand Lodge adopted severe measures against recalci- trant and impecunious Lodges. The other is that it introduced innovations in the customs of the Craft which were particularly objected to by the operative section. " The new body," wrote the late Bro. W. J. Hughan in his intro- duction to the monumental work of his friend, the late Bro. John Lane, " Masonic Records, 17 17-1894," "became very popular, and in a few years was no mean competitor ; its prototype and
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 23
senior, but less pretentious organization, liaving also to contend against the introduction of the ' Royal Arch,' which was warmly supported, though not originated, by the ' Ancients,' who became known as the Grand Lodge of ' Four Degrees,' thus (for a time only) placing the parent society at a disadvantage."
BLAST AND COUNTER-BLAST
The " Ancients " having established many Lodges and Provincial Lodges in England and in foreign countries, particularly in America, and having obtained the recognition of the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, and the almost unanimous support of the Grand Lodges of America, were eager to maintain their indepen- dence, and rejected all overtures tendered by the "Moderns" for reunion; and in 1757 unani- mously ordered : —
That if any Master, Wardens, or presiding officer, or any other person whose business it may be to admit members or visitors, shall admit or entertain in his or their Lodge during Lodge hours, or the time of transacting the proper business of Freemasonry, any Brother or visitor not strictly an Ancient Mason con- formable to the Grand Lodge rules and order,
24 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
such Lodge so transgressing shall forfeit its warrant, and the same may be disposed of by Grand Lodge.
In 1801 the older Grand Lodge issued a counter- blast. Some of its members were convicted of having patronized and acted as principal officers in "an irregular society calling themselves Ancient Masons, in open violation of the laws of the Grand Lodge " ; and it was determined that the laws should be enforced against these offending Brethren, unless they immediately abandoned such irregular meetings. These Brethren solicited the indulgence of the Grand Lodge for three months, hoping that during the interval they might be able to effect a union between the two societies. The indulgence was granted, and " that no impediment might pervert so desirable an object, the charge against the offending Brethren was withdrawn, and a committee, consisting of Lord Moira and several other eminent characters, was appointed to pave the way for the intended union, and every means ordered to be used to bring the erring Brethren to a sense of their duty and allegiance." Nothing came of this, for two years later the Grand Lodge was informed " that the irregular Masons still continued refractory, and that so far from soliciting readmission among the Craft, they had not taken any steps to effect a
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 25
union." Their conduct was deemed highly censur- able, and the laws of the Grand Lodge were ordered to be enforced against them. It was also unanimously resolved : —
That whenever it shall appear that any Masons under the English Constitution shall in future attend, or countenance any Lodge or meeting of persons calling themselves Ancient Masons, under the sanction of any person claiming the title of Grand Master of England, who shall not have been duly elected in the Grand Lodge, the laws of the society shall not only be strictly enforced against them, but their names shall be erased from the list, and transmitted to all the regular Lodges under the Constitution of England.
LORD MOIRA'S efforts
In 1806 Lord Moira reported to Grand Lodge that he had visited the Grand Lodge of Scotland and explained the position relating to the . •' Modern " and " Ancient " Masons in England, and that the Scottish Brethren had declared that they had been always led to think that the " Moderns " were of very recent date and of no magnitude, and being convinced of their error were
26 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
desirous that the strictest union should subsist between the Grand Lodge of England and Scot- land, and in proof thereof elected the Prince of Wales Grand Master of Scotland. Lord Moira further stated that when the Scottish Brethren ex- pressed a hope that the differences between the English Masons would be speedily settled, he replied that after the rejection of the propositions of the Grand Lodge by the " Ancients " three years before, it could not now, consistently with its honour, make any further advances, but would always be open to accept the mediation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland if it should think proper to interfere. Two years afterwards the Grand Lodge of Ireland approved the declaration of their Scottish Brethren, and pledged itself " not to countenance or receive as a Brother any person standing under the interdict of the Grand Lodge of England for Masonic transgression." In April, 1809, the Grand Lodge agreed in opinion with the Committee of Charity that "it is not neces- sary any longer for to continue in force those measures which were resorted to in or about the year 1789 respecting irregular Masons, and do therefore enjoin the several Lodges to revert to the ancient landmarks of the Society." This was accepted as a step towards the much desired union. Still, more than four years elapsed before it was achieved ; and then it came about as the result
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 27
of the tactful intervention of three of the sons of George III. The Prince of Wales, who was initiated in 1787 at the Star and Garter Tavern, in Pall Mall, became Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1790. When he accepted the Regency he vacated the office, and his Brother,
THE DUKE OF SUSSEX,
was elected to succeed him. The venerable and worthy head of the " Ancients," the Duke of Athol, was, says a contemporary record, " soon convinced by the Royal Duke's arguments, strengthened by his own good sense and benevolent mind, how desirable must be an actual and cordial relation of the two societies under one head ; for, to pave the way for the Masons, his Grace, in the hand- somest measure, resigned his seat of Grand Master." He recommended as his successor the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, he having been initiated under the " Ancient " constitution in the Union Lodge of Geneva. The Duke of Kent was acclaimed Grand Master in 18 13. The two Royal Dukes, taking into counsel three dis- tinguished Brethren belonging to each society, arranged Articles of Union between the two Grand Lodges of England, and these were ratified, con- firmed, and sealed in each of those Lodges on ist December, 18 13.
28 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
The same day a joint meeting of the Grand Lodges received the articles " with Masonic accla- mation," and to carry them into effect constituted a Lodge of Reconciliation, consisting of equal members of the Old Institutions and the Constitu- tion of England. Every care was taken that the parties to the union should be on a level of equality. As to the precedence of the Lodges, it was arranged that the two first Lodges under each Grand Lodge should draw lots for priority. The draw favoured the " Ancients," whose Grand Masters' Lodge became No. i on the revised roll, the Lodge of Antiquity of the Regular Grand Lodge taking the second position, No. 2 of the " Ancients " in the same -order taking No. 3, and the second of the Time-Immemorial Lodges becoming No. 4. " For two such old Lodges to accept lower positions in the united roll than their age entitled them to says much," wrote Bro. Hughan, " for the truly Masonic spirit of their members, who, to promote peace and harmony, consented to their juniors taking precedence of Lodges in existence prior to the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge." Up to the time of the union " Modern " Lodges placed on the roll numbered 1,085, while "Ancient" Lodges war- ranted between 1751 and 18 13 were 521. The reunion of the two Grand Lodges of England was consummated with great solemnity on
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 29
ST. JOHN'S DAY, 27TH DECEMBER, 1 8 1 3,
in the Freemasons' Hall, London. The platform on the east was reserved for the Grand Masters, Grand Officers, and visitors. Masters, Wardens, and Past Masters, all dressed in black (except regimentals), with their respective insignia, and with white gloves, occupied the sides of the hall, the Masters in front, the Wardens behind, and the Past Masters on rising benches behind them. Care was taken that the Lodges were ranked so that the two Fraternities were completely inter- mixed. The two Fraternities had previously assembled in two adjoining rooms, and having opened two Grand Lodges, each according to its peculiar solemnities, they passed to the Assembly Hall in the following order : —
Grand Usher with his Staff. Grand Usher with his Staff. The Duke of Kent's Band of Music, fifteen in number,
all Masons, three and three.
Two Grand Stewards. Two Grand Stewards.
A Cornucopia borne by a M.M. A Cornucopia borne by a M.M.
Two Grand Stewards. Two Grand Stewards.
Two Golden Ewers by Master Two Golden Ewers by Master
Masons. Masons. The nine worthy and expert The nine worthy and expert Masons, forming the Lodge of Masons, forming the Lodge of Reconciliation, in single file. Reconciliation, in single file, rank to rank, with the rank to rank, with the emblems of Masonry. emblems of Masonry. The Grand Secretary, The Grand Secretary, bearing the Book of Consti- bearing the Book of Consti- tutions and Great Seal. tutions and Great Seal.
30 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
The Grand Treasurer with The
the Golden Key.
The Corinthian Light.
The pillar of the Junior
Grand Warden on a pedestal.
The Junior Grand Warden
with his gavel.
The Deputy Grand Chaplain,
with the Holy Bible.
The Grand Chaplain.
Past Grand Wardens.
Grand Treasurer with
the Golden Key.
The Corinthian Light.
The pillar of the Junior
Grand Warden on a pedestal.
The Junior Grand Warden
with his gavel.
The Doric Light. The pillar of the Senior Grand Warden on a pedestal. The Senior Grand Warden with his gavel. Two Past Grand Masters. The Deputy Grand Master. His Excellency the Count de Lagardje, the Swedish Ambassador, Grand Master of the first Lodge of the North, visitor. The Royal Banner.
The Grand Chaplain with the
Holy Bible.
Past Grand Wardens.
Provincial Grand Masters.
The Doric Light.
The pillar of the Senior
Grand Warden on a pedestal.
The Senior Grand Warden
with his gavel.
Acting Deputy Grand Master.
The Ionic Light.
The Grand Sword Bearer.
The Grand Master of
England,
THE DUKE OF KENT,
WITH THE Act of Union in
Duplicate.
Two Grand Stewards.
Grand Tyler.
The Ionic Light.
The Grand Sword Bearer.
The Grand Master of
England,
THE DUKE OF SUSSEX,
WITH the Act of Union in
Duplicate.
Two Grand Stewards.
Grand Tyler.
Sir George Nayler, the Director of Ceremonies, having proclaimed silence, the Rev. Dr. Barry, Grand Chaplain to the fraternity under the Duke of Kent, offered solemn prayer, and Sir George read the Act of Union. Then the Rev. Dr.
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 31
Coghlan, after the sound of trumpet, proclaimed aloud : " Hear ye : This is the Act of Union, engrossed, in confirmation of articles solemnly con- cluded between the two Grand Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons of England, signed, sealed, and ratified by the two Grand Lodges respectively, by which they are to be hereafter and for ever known and acknowledged by the style and title of
THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT FREE- MASONS OF ENGLAND.
How say you. Brothers, representatives of the two Fraternities? Do you accept of, ratify, and con- firm the same? " To which the assembly answered : " We do accept, ratify, and con- firm the same." The Grand Chaplain then said : " And may the Great Architect of the Universe make the Union perpetual." To which all assembled replied : " So mote it be." Thereupon the two Grand Masters and the six Commissioners signed the deeds, and the Grand Masters affixed the great seals of their respective Grand Lodges to them. The trumpet again sounded, and the Rev. Dr. Barry, stepping forth, proclaimed : " Be it known to all men that the Act of Union between the two Grand Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons of England is solemnly signed, sealed, ratified, and confirmed, and the two Fraternities
32 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
are one, to be from henceforth known and acknow- ledged by the style and title of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England, and may the Great Architect of the Universe make their union perpetual." And the assembly said " Amen."
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.
This was followed by a deeply impressive scene. " The two Grand Masters, with their respective Deputies and Wardens," says a contemporary record, " advanced to the Ark of the Masonic Covenant, prepared under the direction of Bro. John Soane, R.A., Grand Superintendent of Works, for the edifice of the union, and in all time to come to be placed before the Throne. The Grand Masters standing in the East, with their Deputies on the right and left ; the Grand Wardens in the West and South ; the Square, the Plumb, the Level, and the Mallet were successively de- livered to the Deputy Grand Masters, and by them presented to the two Grand Masters, who severally appHed the Square to that part of the Ark which is square, the Plumb to the sides of the same, and the Level above it in three positions ; and, lastly, they gave three knocks with the Mallet, saying, ' May the Great Architect of the Universe enable us to uphold the Grand Edifice of Union, of which the Ark of the Covenant is the symbol,
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 33
which shall contain within it the instrument of our brotherly love, and bear upon it the Holy Bible, Square and Compass, as the light of our faith and the rule of our works. May He dispose our hearts to make it perpetual.' And the Brethren said : 'So mote it be.' The two Grand Masters placed the said Act of Union in the interior of the said ark. The cornucopia, the wine, and oil were in like manner presented to the Grand Masters, who, according to ancient rite, poured forth corn, wine, and oil on this said ark, saying, ' As we pour forth corn, wine, and oil on this Ark of the Masonic Covenant, may the bountiful hand of Heaven ever supply this United Kingdom with abundance of corn, wine, and oil, with all the necessaries and comforts of life ; and may He dispose our hearts to be grateful for all His Gifts.' And the assembly said ' Amen.' "
THE LODGE OF RECONCILIATION.
It having been found impracticable, from the shortness of notice, for the sister Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland to send deputations to the assembly according to the urgent request of the two Fraternities, conferences had been held with the most distinguished Grand Officers and enlightened Masons resident in and near London, in order to establish De.rf--' agreement upon all
34 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
the essential points of Masonry, according to the ancient traditions and general practice of the Craft. The members of the Lodge of Reconciliation, accompanied by Count de Lagardje and Bro. Dr. Van Hess, and other distinguished Masons, with- drew to an adjoining room, where, being con- gregated and tyled, the result of all the previous conferences was made known. Returning to the Temple, Count de Lagardje declared that the forms agreed on and settled by the Lodge of Reconcilia- tion were pure and correct. These forms were recognized as those "to be alone observed and practised in the United Grand Lodge and all the Lodges dependent thereon until Time shall be no more." Then, the Holy Bible spread open, with the Square and Compasses thereon, was laid on the Ark of the Covenant, and the two Grand Chaplains approached. The recognized obligation was then pronounced aloud by the Rev. Dr. Hemming, one of the Masters of the Lodge of Reconciliation, the whole of the Brethren repeat- ing it after him, with joined hands, and declaring, " By this solemn obligation we vow to abide, and the regulations of Ancient Freemasonry now recog- nized strictly to observe."
THE FIRST UNITED GRAND LODGE.
The assembly next proceeded to constitute one Grand Lodge. All the Grand Officers of the two
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 35
Fraternities having divested themselves of their insignia, and Past Grand Officers having taken the chairs, the Duke of Kent stated that when he took upon himself the important office of Grand Master of the Ancient Fraternity, his idea, as de- clared at the time, u^as to facilitate the important object of the Union, vv^hich had that day been so happily concluded. And he now proposed that his illustrious and dear relative, the Duke of Sussex, should be the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England for the year ensuing. This having been seconded by the Hon. Washington Shirley, and carried unanimously and with Masonic honours, His Royal Highness was placed on the Throne by the Duke of Kent and Count de Lagardje, and solemnly obligated. The Grand Master then nominated his officers : Rev. S. Hemming, D.D., S.G.W. ; Isaac Undo, J.G.W. ; John Dent, Grand Treasurer ; William Meyrick, Grand Registrar ; William Henry White and Edward Harper, Grand Secre- taries ; Rev. Edward Barry, D.D., and Rev. Lucius Coghlan, Grand Chaplains ; Rev. Isaac Knapp, Deputy Grand Chaplain ; John Soane, Grand Supt. of Works ; Sir G. Nayler, G.D.C. ; Capt. Jonathan Parker, G. Sword Bearer ; Samuel Wesley, G. Organist ; B. Aldhouse, G. Usher ; and W. V. Salmon, G. Tyler. It was then solemnly proclaimed that the two Grand Lodges
36 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
were incorporated and consolidated into one, and the Grand Master declared it to be open in due form according to ancient usage. The Grand Lodge was then called to refreshment, and from the cup of brotherly love the Grand Master drank to the Brethren, " Peace, Goodwill, and Brotherly Love all over the World," and then passed the cup. As it was going round, a choir sang a piece of music specially composed for the occasion.
THE FIRST ACT OF GRAND LODGE.
The Grand Lodge was recalled to labour, and as the first act of the United Fraternity, the Duke of Sussex moved : —
That an humble address be presented to H.R.H. the Prince Regent respectfully to acquaint him with the happy event of the reunion of the two great Grand Lodges of the Ancient Freemasons of England, an event which cannot fail to afford lively satisfac- tion to their Illustrious Patron, who presided for so many years over one of the Fraterni- ties, and under whose auspices Freemasonry has risen to its present flourishing condition. That the unchangeable principles of the Insti- tution are well known to His Royal Highness, and the great benefits and end of rhis re- union are to promote the influence and opera-
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 37
tion of these principles by more extensively inculcating loyalty and affection of their Sovereign, obedience to the laws and magistrates of their country, and the practice of all the religious and moral duties of life, objects which must be ever dear to His Royal Highness in the government of His Majesty's United Kingdom. That they humbly hope and pray for the continuance of the sanction of His Royal Highness's fraternal patronage ; and that they beg leave to express their fervent gratitude for the many blessings which, in common with all their fellow- subjects, they derive from his benignant sway. That the Great Architect of the Universe may long secure these blessings to them and to their country by the preservation of His Royal Highness, their Illustrious Patron !
Resolutions thanking the Dukes of Kent and Sussex for " yielding to the prayer of the United Fraternities to take upon themselves the personal conduct of the negotiations for a reunion, which is this day, through their zeal, conciliation, and fraternal example so happily completed " ; and commending the proceedings of the day to Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland, were also passed before the Lodge was closed " in ample form and with solemn prayer."
38 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
II.— The Source of Signs and Symbols.
By going back to primitive man, the Pygmy, we find the first symbol we use. He believed in the Supreme Spirit and propitiated elemental powers. In the stage of the Nilotic Negro we find more of our Signs and Symbols. Following the evolution to that of Totemic Sociology, and commencement of the Stellar Cult, we have still many more Signs, Symbols and Rites of our Order, and the whole tale of the Christian doctrines founded. Because it was amongst the Masai group in Inner Africa that the tradition arose, and is still extant, that the Alan-God came from Heaven, suffered, and was crucified and rose again. We must remember that man at this time had very few words to express his ideas and beliefs ;• it was done by signs and symbols, and Sign Language, and although this has been lost for thousands of years, it is now being rediscovered by men who can read this Sign Language. The Solar Cult and the Christian Cult, which have followed one another, have not in either case altered the tale, it is all one and the same from the beginning ; that names have altered is nothing, different languages have different names for the same idea, and because the attributes of the One Great God were expressed in " Zootype form" during the Stellar Cult, and "Gods and Goddesses " in the Solar, whilst at the present day
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 39
these are expressed in words, does not alter the meaning, ideas, or beliefs ; these are only altered and misunderstood by men who cannot read and understand " The Writings on the Walls " ; and as regards dates, few, I believe, now would even think or believe that man has only existed about six thousand years, as assumed from Biblical tradition, when we find the skeletons of the present type of man in strata of the Pliocene age, six hundred thousand years old at least.' Therefore whatever Cult our Brothers may have belief in, the knowledge of the evolution of the human race would only be a greater factor to strengthen their belief. If we take the Chinese, and there are many Brothers amongst them, we know that they went out from Egypt during the Stellar Cult, and they have never risen in evolution since. The Hindu left at the time of the Solar Cult ; he has always remained the same. The white race, generally, left at the end of the Solar. The early Copts were the first of the Christians in evolution, and the white man has gradually developed into a higher type of the human. With this development into a higher type of man, so his spiritual ideas have developed into a so-called higher type of Chris- tianity than that which we find at the commence- ment of the time of the early Copts. Yet it
' See " Genesis of Rocks and Ores, " by Brenton Symons, F.G.S., C.M.E.
40 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
is all one and the same from the beginning, under different names. The original Signs and Symbols which our early Brothers had to use in place of words, which they had not, have now given place to expressions in linguistic and grammatical form, of which they were, at that time, still ignorant. I am bound to bring this before my Brothers because I wish to assure them that I have no intention or wish to shake their faith in the Volume of the Sacred Law, but, quite on the contrary, wish to establish their faith still firmer, more especially those who profess the Christian doctrines, by proving that these are the highest point of the religious conception of the human in his progres- sive evolution.
That the dead were buried in the faith founded on the Mystery of the Cross over thirty thousand years ago is proved by the Pyramid of Medum and other remains still extant ; the so-called Tomb of Olham Fodhla, in Ireland, is an instance of this. The gnosis of the Crucifixion, however, was the same in the Stellar Cult three hundred thousand years before this, as is witnessed by the Pictograph taken from the Central American ruins (see Fig. i). It is over two hundred thousand years old, and represents the Crucifixion during the period of the Stellar Cult. He is crucified on the two Poles — North and South. The Hieroglyphics state that He is the God of the North and South,
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 41
He is the Great One of the seven Glorious Ones (attributes). A Crown of Thorns is depicted on his head. His side is pierced with a spear, from whence blood and water is falling on his Spiritual Name, which, in Egyptian, is Amsu. He is sup-
The Crucified Victim. Fig. I.
ported by his four brothers, Amsta, Hapi, Taumutf, and Kabhsenuf ; representing Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of the Christians, represented by four squares. Tears are in his eyes, " Ye are the tears made by my eye in your name of men." I
42 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
give the different names by which He was known in different countries, namely : Horus, of the Stellar Cult of the Egyptians ; Huitzilopochtli, of the Aztecs ; Zipe, of the Zapotics ; Hacaxipectli, of Guatemala ; Ptah-Seker-Ausar, of the Egyptians in their Solar Cult ; Tien-hwang Ta-Tici, of the Chinese ; Merodach, of the Babylonians ; lu, or Ea, of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Druids of these Islands ; Uiracocha, of the Peruvians, and many other names in various parts of this world ; yet all one and the same, as proved by the same signs and symbols always associated with him in whatever part of the world found.
The signs and symbols herein portrayed read that He is the Great Lord aiid God of Heave i, situated at the North Pole ; He is God of the Pc .e Stars and God of the North and South, and the Heavens and Paradise, and his age is given as thirty-three years in the Mexican Codices 95 f. ; it is written in the Hieroglyphics of Egypt as thirty- three years.
The Eschatology of the Old Egyptians was " Their doctrines of Final Things," and they taught this to the Brothers by Signs and Symbols and various Rites and Ceremonies, in a dramatic form, the more to impress it upon the initiates. Their Code of Morals was the highest that has ever been promulgated by any nation. The Laws of Moses were the old laws of Egypt, which has been proved
THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY 43
by finding the Stelae of Hammurabi, handed on from the Sumarians to the Babylonians. This Stelae was engraved at least two thousand years before Moses lived, and however much it may cause a shock to some people, it is true, because this Stelae is still extant. Our Brotherhood teaches the same, and in the same way. The proof can be seen in the Ritual of ancient Egypt.
Let us now see what the formations of these early Lodges were, and the reasons for the same ; the ceremony of their initiation ; and, lastly, their Signs, Symbols, Secret Words ; and the ex- planation and meaning of these. The Brothers throughout the world can then judge if my contention is not right.
In the Old Stellar Cult, the primary formation was a circle. After, when the whole of the seven Lesser Mysteries were taught, the formation of the Temple was " a double square " end to end (Fig. 2), and the reason of this was because it represented Heaven as a square, and the Earth as a square, and the orientation of Temples was South for fifty-two thousand years ; then North for at least two hundred and fifty thousand years. In the centre of the Temple there were three cubes, one above the other (Fig. 3), representing the Primary Trinity. In some Temples these were
44 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
ornamented by a double axe (Fig. 4). The Temples were sometimes called the House of the God of the Axe, in their language. The single axe, in Egyptian, is termed Neter, and may be translated as The Great One — Prince or Ruler is probably the correct translation. (The late Sir